Omnibus: Week 1 of Eusebius and The Hobbit

Eusebius:  Book 1

First let me say, I love this book.  I have always accepted the premise that Jesus was with God in the beginning, but to watch Eusebius lay out scripture after scripture in the Old Testament linking them to Jesus and using scripture to trace Christianity back to the beginning was very eye-opening.  He works meticulously through historical evidence to create a timeline for Jesus life and explains the differences in the genealogies of Jesus between the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  (Obviously, I should pay more attention to genealogies since I hadn't even noticed the difference.)  My favorite portion of the chapter were his definition of a Christian and the story of King Abgar.  To Eusebius a Christian is someone who through the knowledge and teaching of Christ excels in self-control and righteousness, in discipline and virtue, and in confession of the one and only God.  That is a much higher bar than the one set by our current generation. 

Eusebius: Book 2

Book 2 traces the historical events from after the resurrection through the reign of Nero.  Portions of the material were already familiar to me from the Acts of the Apostles and our studies of ancient history.  For me the highlight of the chapter is the story of the martyrdom of James the Just, the brother of Jesus. 

Eusebius: Book 3

Book 3 details the events during the reign from Galba to Trajan.  The early portion of the book deals with the siege of Jerusalem by Titus and the conditions in the city at the time with extensive quoting from Josephus.  The conditions were atrocious and difficult to read through, but for the most part not so detailed as to be inappropriate for Jessie I though with one exception.  Near the end of 1.6 there is a story of a woman named Mary that I found to be over the top and completely disgusting so I have put a post it over and marked for Jessie to skip.  I think the conditions are covered sufficiently without this last portion.  Thankfully the second half of the chapter is much more uplifting with stories of the grandsons of Jude testifying before Domitian and being released as well as a story about the apostle John going to great lengths to bring a young man back to faith after he turns away.  This is the longest book so far with plenty of details of who became "bishop" of which church, a few more persecutions, and a discussion of the Biblical canon listing accepted, disputed, rejected ,and heretical  books.

Summary for the week:

I managed to complete 6 sessions of primary literature and 3 sessions of secondary literature for The Hobbit by Tolkein this week.  I've been taking notes and writing answers to the discussion sections and just answering the recitation questions mentally before comparing my answer with the teacher's CD.  I feel like I'm off to a good start, and I'm actually enjoying myself.

Omnibus 2: Background of Eusebius

Eusebius was born around 265 in the eastern Roman Empire.  He was appointed bishop of Caesarea in 313, became an advisor to Constantine, and was one of the leading bishops at the Council of Nicea in 325.  His history, written at the request of Paulinus the bishop of Tyre, is the first history of the early church designed to record the history of God's people from the life of Jesus through his present day.  His stated intention is to cover the names and deeds of apostles and bishops, major historical events, writings that teach and defend the Christian doctrine, names of heretics, the fate of the Jews who rejected Jesus, and the achievements of confessors and martyrs.

To Eusebius history is more than the story of man.  It is rather the story of God working out his purposes in this world.  He believes that God is sovereign and that nothing can happen apart from His determination.  He clearly states that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, Creator of heaven and earth, and is both fully God and fully man.   Christ came into the world in part to create a new people called Christians, so that now the world is no longer divided into Jews and Gentiles but rather into believers and non-believers.  Because of this division, he recognizes that the church is at war and believes that it will triumph in the end because Jesus has triumphed over Satan.  He also recognizes that within the church the truth of God is working to transform people making them strong and courageous, inspiring them to fight for the purity and unity of the church, and infusing them with compassion.

Omnibus 2: Preparing for fall

Personally I find the idea of Omnibus and teaching the great books both exciting and a little intimidating.  This is going to be new ground for me.  I've read excerpts from a few of the books, but there are several that I haven't read and a few I've never even heard of.  Given my lack of knowledge and experience (and the demanding requirements of the course itself), I've decided I'd better get a head start on Jessie over the summer.  My plan is to post a summary of each author as I read the background material from the text as well as weekly updates on my reading and what I'm learning.  So...  ready or not here I go...