The brochure arrived in the mail last week.

I haven't a prayer of getting there this summer.

But this session interests me:

Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives
with Rev. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor

Extracting information from a variety of sources - pagan, Jewish, and Christian - this course will interweave geographical, cultural, and historical elements into configurations that reveal important parallel trajectories in the lives of Jesus and Paul.

We will discuss the births, early years, and family settings of Jesus and Paul, and continue with an examination of their education, refugee status, social class, economic position, political circumstances, cultural influences, and conversion experiences.

The course will contextualize Jesus, the God-Man, alongside Paul, Man of God and Apostle to the Gentiles - leaving students with a greater appreciation for the missions of both.

I know that Fr. Murphy-O'Connor believes in the parallels; his substantiating material will be drawn from the Bk. of Acts. I'm glad that he's well enough to be teaching again. I attended his four-day lecture on St. Paul two summers ago, then that winter he fell ill for a spell.

tags technorati : college st. elizabeth jerome murphy-o'connor jesus paul