Ave Maria University |
|||||||||||
|
Latest News
Hopko lecture opens Spring 2007 Classics Colloquium
February 23, 2007
The Very Reverend Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, a prominent Orthodox Christian theologian and lecturer, was at Ave Maria University Feb. 23 to give a lecture titled "The Sayings of St. Anthony of Egypt for Christians Today." "Fr. Hopko is one of the most insightful American theologians of the Orthodox Church," said Dr. Daniel Nodes, chair of the classics department at AMU. "The desert fathers may seem distant and alien, but their wisdom is of timeless value for all Christians, and Fr. Hopko's talk demonstrated this."
Hopko, an Orthodox priest and Dean Emeritus at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary who has taught generations of students about the Church's deepest roots, was the first of the featured speakers in the AMU classics department's annual Classics Colloquium series. On Friday, March 16, Dr. Francis Cairns, professor of classical languages at Florida State University, will present "The Mistress's Midnight Summons: Propertius 3.16," examining the work of one of ancient Rome's principal elegiac poets.
According to Nodes, these lectures express the classics department's desire to underscore the influence the blending of the Greco-Roman and biblical traditions has had on Western culture.
"Together these two traditions provide the basis for the languages and the social and political structures of the western world," he explained. "Greek is still spoken by millions of people, Latin is the grandfather of many modern European languages and is still the official language of the Roman Catholic Church; we want to show the significance of these languages and their vast literatures to today's students."
For more information about the Spring 2007 Classics Colloquium series, call (239) 280-1622.