Ottawa, ON K1S 2S3
Canada
This will be OIC’s annual Christmas and Holiday Dinner Party. I have chosen to focus on the Orthodox Christmas which will be on 7 January. Our speakers will be both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic scholars who will share their historic understanding of Jesus. Cost is a main dish or a $15 donation. No pork items please. Halal, kosher and vegetarian should be labeled and are always appreciated. This is fairly casual and whatever you bring will be our meal. People never let us down, and as a general rule the food is amazing.
Our Main Speakers
Fr Francis Donnelly is our very approachable and respected Roman Catholic speaker. He was born and reared in Galway and Belfast area in Ireland, and came to Canada in 1957(aged 15). He and his family settled in Montreal, alternating work and schooling for years. Father Francis has degrees in Literature(Waterloo), and Medieval Studies(Toronto), Theology(London), and Canon Law( in the Vatican in Rome), He has served in various priestly ministries including 17 years in Montreal before joining Companions of The Cross in Ottawa in 1996. He has taught Early medieval Church History, Marriage, and Canon Law. He has also worked in Houston Texas, and the Philippines.. He has been in Ecumenical involvement and short mission trips in Lithuania, Sudan, Ghana, and Peru, and looks forward to your candid questions on the historical Jesus and the his personal story as it relates to the Roman Catholic experience of Jesus. If you google his name you will see that he is a very respected leader in the church.
http://www.companionscross.org/priests/fr-francis-donnelly
http://foolishnesstotheworld.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/in-praise-of-fr-francis-donnelly/
Peter William John-Baptiste, S.F.O. has taught at Dominican University and has focused much of his scholarly study on the root debates in the founding manuscripts that give us the historical references on Jesus, Paul and the Bible. He is also a respected Eastern Byzantine Christian. Peter is a lighthearted and gifted teacher that will be able to give scholarly insights into the varying roots, traditions and theological convictions of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. He encourages your questions on the historical Jesus by emailing him ahead of time at: [masked]
Links that explain a bit on how the Bible and the understnading of the historical jesus came into being:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_the_historical_Jesus
http://www.gci.org/jesus/historical
Here are some links about the two churches and their historical & theological differences;
http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/a/catholicdenom.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_%E2%80%93_Roman_Catholic_theological_differences
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Orthodox_Church
http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/a/catholicdenom.htm
