The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Greg Peters

  • Economic Asceticism?

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    Greg Peters
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    Today is Ash Wednesday. I’m sitting here with ashes on my forehead and the words ringing in my ears, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” That’s a fact that none of us can escape. Of course, Lent is that liturgical season when we certainly are to acknowledge our sins for…

  • Desperate for Authority

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    Greg Peters
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    I’ve been given many reasons lately to think about the nature of authority, specifically ecclesial authority. Having recently returned from leading twenty-two students to Rome, where I once again saw and heard Pope Benedict XVI, I have been wondering how did the church go from having apostles (where Peter was one of at least twelve…

  • Christmas Before Christmas

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    Greg Peters
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    For the past twenty years, since becoming a believer, I have been trying to get my head around the incarnation; that is, to understand why Christ had to become a human being and how he became a human being. Growing up my father would read us Luke 2 each Christmas Eve before we went to…

  • Proud to be Protestant

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    Greg Peters
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    In the few years that I have been an Anglican, I have met a number of people who identify themselves as Anglo-Catholics. What these particular Anglo-Catholics mean by this, of course, is that they are Anglicans who see themselves in unbroken communion with the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” What they do not mean…

  • On Remembering Facebook Friends

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    Greg Peters
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    Just the other night I was doing something that all middle-aged university professors do on a regular basis — maintaining my Facebook! Yes, I have a presence on Facebook and, yes, on occasion I visit the site to see what all of my “friends” are doing. I originally created my Facebook presence simply because my…

  • Worship as Gift

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    Greg Peters
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    I was recently directed towards Andrew Jones’ blog entitled “A Gift Economy,” where the author was reflecting on Christian worship and the concept of gift. Jones’ main contention is that much Christian worship is passive, in that most worshippers are expected to receive during the worship time as opposed to giving something of themselves. I…

  • The Communion of the Apostles

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    Greg Peters
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    Joos van Wassenhove (a.k.a. Justus of Ghent) was a Renaissance Netherlandish painter who spent the greater part of his career in Italy. He became a member of the Antwerp Guild in 1460, but by 1464 had moved to Ghent. Sometime after 1468 he went to Rome and by 1472 had settled in Urbino. Joos’s only…

  • In All Things, Be Fearful

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    Greg Peters
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    I just returned recently to southern California after a nice, long vacation with my family. As well, I was able to spend two good weeks at the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh, PA. The Institute, run by the Pittsburgh Oratorians, is a research facility containing all the works of John Henry Newman as…

  • Offering Ourselves to God

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    Greg Peters
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    I write this as I am on my way home from two weeks of teaching at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin. It was a good two weeks and I am grateful to the hard-working, thoughtful students who represent all that is good about the Episcopal Church in the United States. I was teaching a…

  • Reflections on Russia and England

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    Greg Peters
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    I have just returned from a trip with 37 Torrey Honors students to Russia and England. What a great trip! Not only did I see the St. Petersburg of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, but I also had a chance to see The Merchant of Venice performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon. Mainly, however,…

  • Was Job wrong?

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    Greg Peters
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    So began a session yesterday on the book of Job in the Torrey Honors Institute. The question, posed by myself and my colleague Matt Jenson, was intended to start a discussion on Job’s interactions with his friends, especially Elihu. It may seem like an odd, off the mark question given that Job was “blameless and…

  • Life, a Preparation for Death

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    Greg Peters
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    In January, I had the privilege of taking twenty Torrey Honors Institute students to Rome, Italy for two weeks. Not only was I impressed by these students’ attention, interest and appreciation for great art and architecture, but I was also impressed by their appreciation for an opportunity to travel and learn. Though there were many…