The Julian Romance

The Julian Romance is a work of historical fiction in Syriac. It offers a Christian perspective on the reigns of both Julian and Jovian, who in the text are presented as opposites. As regards Julian, the Romance is essentially a hatchet job, while conversely it glorifies Jovian. The Romance divides into three distinct narratives. The first narrative is short in its surviving form, but must originally have been longer because it concludes with the following words: “The celebration of the faith of Constantine and of his three sons who reigned after him is completed.” The second one I have called the Eusebius Narrative and describes at great length the many unsuccessful attempts of Julian to have Rome’s bishop Eusebius renounce his Christian conviction and become a venerator of the old gods. To that end, but also to be acknowledged as ruler of the entire empire by the city of Rome, Julian visits Rome. The third account, which I have entitled the Jovian Narrative, can be characterized as a narrative of war: war between Julian and the Christians, war between Rome and Persia, and in a sense Jovian’s war against Julian in order to protect Christianity and the Church. It is by far the longest of the three parts of the Romance and celebrates Jovian as the ideal Christian emperor. In this chapter the various narratives are introduced and a comprehensive summary is given of the Jovian Narrative.

The Jovian Narrative

The Jovian Narrative is by far the longest of the three parts of the Julian Romance. It offers an exclusively Christian perspective on the reign of Jovian. This chapter discusses a variety of elements and characteristics of the Jovian Narrative with the purpose of analyzing the literary images of both Julian and Jovian sketched in the text. It deals with relations between the various protagonists in the text; the role of cities (Constantinople, Antioch, Harran, Nisibis, and Edessa) as scenes for the various episodes of the narrative; the anti-Jewish aspects of the text; Jovian’s rise to power and his peace treaty with the Persians; Jovian’s eastern connections and his good relations with Shapur II and his second-in-command Arimihr; and his presentation as a new Constantine.

Animal Rights: A Philosophical Evaluation

Animal right is one of the most controversial issues in the contemporary world. A number of scholars have been discussing on whether the animals have rights like human beings or not. Through this debate, their opinions can be put into three groups; those who deny animal moral status, those who give some moral considerations to animals but deny them a fuller moral status, and those who extend rights to animals. This paper then gives a general overview on ‘Do Animals have Rights?’ It gives the meaning of the term “right” and explains whether the term right applies to animals too. It also portrays a drama whereby animals complain against sufferings imposed on them by human beings and a response given by a human being. It is also followed by philosophical debate on animal rights: pro and cons arguments. The Christian perspective is not left out. Finally, the paper ends with critical evaluations and conclusion. In evaluation of the debate on animal rights, the study found that, animals deserve to be treated well based on the argument that they have rights as animals. The main recommendation is that human beings should change their perception concerning animals by respecting animal.

Applying a Christian perspective to educating gifted students through talent development framework

In this article, we examine conceptions of giftedness through a Christian perspective and through a talent development paradigm ( Subotnik et al., 2011 ). We intersect aims of Christian education with a developmental view of giftedness in order to inform pedagogical approaches in educating gifted/high-potential students. In applying the characteristics of Christian pedagogy of uniqueness, purpose, stewardship, and Christian character, teachers of the gifted can create contexts for students to explore authentic learning experiences in ways that develop specific strengths and talents for kingdom purposes.

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Theological and Ethical Responses

Euthanasia and rational suicide were acceptable practices in some quarters in antiquity. These practices all but disappeared as Hippocratic, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs took hold in Europe and the Near East. By the late nineteenth century, however, a political movement to legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) began in Europe and the United States. Initially, the path to legalization was filled with obstacles, especially in the United States. In the last few decades, however, several Western nations have legalized euthanasia, and several US jurisdictions have now legalized PAS, giving state sanction to these once forbidden practices. With increasing social and political pressure to accept PAS, Christians need to understand how to think about this issue from an explicitly Christian perspective. Independent of the question of legalization, there are significant theological and ethical questions. This special issue aims to address those concerns, including: how does the practice of PAS or euthanasia impact our attitudes toward death, and what does it mean to “die well?” Should physicians, as healers, be involved in assisting patients who wish to bring about their own death? Are these methods significantly distinguished from other ethically justified practices in end-of-life care that also lead to a person’s death? Can Christians, both as patients and practitioners, justify the use of these methods to relieve suffering in this manner as compatible with the faith? Although these questions are not new to the debate, it is increasingly important that these controversies are addressed as the practice of PAS is popularized.

Physician Assistance in Dying: An Option for Christians?

Opposition to physician-assisted suicide is widespread in Christian ethics. However, on a topic as controversial as physician-assisted suicide, no one can reasonably speak for “the Christian” perspective. Natural-law and, specifically, just-war thinking are claimed in the Christian tradition, yet the natural-law contribution to a Christian ethical analysis of physician-assisted suicide requires explanation and defense. Natural-law ethical theory affirms the central role of reason in moral thinking and provides a theoretical resource in contemporary ethics to assist in analyzing specific moral issues, problems, and conflicts. This essay seeks to demonstrate how just-war thinking, derived from natural-law tradition, allows movement from the theoretical world of natural-law theory to the practical world of normative ethics. Here the case is made that the just-war model of ethics helps elucidate the moral problematic involved in physician-assisted suicide while clarifying direction on this particularly thorny and controversial problem.

What Christianity?

This chapter teases out many strands of Christian thought that inform the “Christian perspective” these curricula bring to bear in narrating history. It contends that they are unequivocally but narrowly Protestant. They reflect fundamental tenets of Martin Luther and John Calvin but incorporate facets of evangelicalism’s history from the eighteenth-century First Great Awakening to the present. Although the publishers do not acknowledge it, their understanding of “Christian” reflects every important evolution of evangelicalism and the battles fought both within that tradition and with external foes. The chapter highlights the broad variety of religious ideas contributing to these curricula’s undifferentiated “Christianity,” including providentialism, millennialism, and fundamentalism as well as narrower, minority religious views, notably dispensationalism, dominionism, and Christian Reconstructionism. These minority views were influential in shaping the contemporary alliance of the religious and political right.

From Jesus to the Writings of the New Testament

While Jesus is not the author of any of the New Testament writings, the link between the mission and identity of Jesus viewed from the perspective of faith and the content and purpose of the New Testament books is essential for their sacred character from a Christian perspective. This chapter reviews the evolution of the traditions about Jesus in early Christianity, tracking the impact of this tradition on the writings of Paul, on the Four Gospels, and on the Acts of the Apostles and the other New Testament books. The chapter also considers some of the essential elements in the transmission of the New Testament and their writings, including their composition in Greek, the nature of early manuscripts of the New Testament, and the question of translation.