6:30pm Christian Classics: The Martyrdom of Polycarp


29 June 2018

Dinner at 6:30 pm, talk at 8:00 pm

Christian Classics, will continue in June with its series on ancient Christian writers, this month looking at the great 2nd bishop Polycarp (in Smyrna, modern day Izmir, Turkey).

Polycarp is among the earliest Christians whose writings survived.  His name 'Polycarp' means 'much fruit' in Greek.  It is recorded by Irenaeus, who heard him speak in his youth, and by Tertullian, that he had been a disciple of John the Apostle.  Saint Jerome wrote that Polycarp was a disciple of John and that John had ordained him bishop of Smyrna.  With Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers.  According to David Trobisch, Polycarp may have been the one who compiled, edited, and published the New Testament.  According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp he died a martyr at the age of 86, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him.  The sole surviving work attributed to his authorship is his Letter to the Philippians; it is first recorded by Irenaeus of Lyons. The letter warns against a number of disorders in the church and against apostasy, and encourages the Christians to persevere in good works. One of the letter's more important features is its use and citation of other early Christian writings, many of which later came to be part of the New Testament.  [Wikipedia]

On each evening we will each receive a copy of the text.  Fr Strengholt will give us a background on the work and then guide us in our reading of the text.

Please let David Vollmer know if you are coming so we can prepare enough materials and also if you intend to come for supper beforehand (on 29 June) so we know how many meals to prepare for: office@holytrinityutrecht.nl

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Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
Romans 13:11