In the main stream of A Perennial Digression this past month, one can find:
In the Public Polyglossia column, “Greek 1.4: Personal Pronouns,” “Greek 1.5: Reflexive Pronouns,” “Greek Interlude: Dialects and Development of Greek,” and “Greek 1.6: Third Declension Nouns I” were all published. (Nota bene: This review post is taking the place of today’s Public Polyglossia release.) Also published in the new Homely Homilies column: “Transfiguration 2023,” and in the Zeitgeist Zephyrs column, “Zephyr I: Summer 2023 in Review.”
News, Forecasts, and the Like
This month, there will be a forthcoming article of mine in The Christian Century reviewing Yonatan Adler’s The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal. I will circulate that when it is available. There will also be soon forthcoming another article of mine in Jacob’s Well, on the possible Asian futures of Christianity, though I am uncertain of the exact release of that issue. Last, a new blog post of mine over on Popular Culture and Theology reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should also appear soon, so be on the lookout if you’re into that kind of thing; likewise, Rob De La Noval and I are nearing glory on our manuscript for Anime, Religion, and Theology. If you’re interested in me and my work (and, really, God help you: there are many better things to do with your time), please know that these things are elsewhere available.
What’s coming down the pipeline on APD? In the main column, this month will see another installment of the “Ethical Cosmopolitanism” series, a sequel to “There Is No Paul Without Plato” entitled “Judaism for Gentiles,” probably a few homiletical attempts in light of the various Christian and Jewish feasts that are scheduled for September, and interstitially between these continuations of the “How to Think” and “Appreciation” series. I also have a planned article for the equinox called “Autumnus in Litteris,” on autumn’s literary and poetic history, from Greek and Roman poetry down to the present (in representative rather than comprehensive fashion). And I suspect, just knowing myself, that as autumn begins in earnest in late September and early October that I will turn my mind towards matters imaginal, dark fantastic, and even spooky, as is my wont.
Please Consider Becoming A Paid Subscriber
Each month, I debate whether to include this on these summative posts, because I am beyond happy that there are so many people interested in APD enough just to be free subscribers and who are happy to read both the archive of the dispatch’s first life as well as the weekly free offerings that are made available on Mondays (and in the Homely Homilies column). It is at the same time obviously true that keeping up with twelve to fourteen articles a month while working my full-time job (teaching full-time Latin to 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders) is a fairly sizeable time commitment, made even harder by the demands of family life. So, just taking a moment to offer the following reminders, for those potentially interested in becoming paid subscribers:
I have kept and will continue, for the foreseeable future, to intentionally keep my prices as low as Substack permits: $5/month, $30/year, $50/founding membership. My goal is that if you believe in the work I’m doing here, it’s easier to support it and it’s worth your while.
Referrals of the dispatch to others come with certain rewards in terms of months compensated on your subscription.
As always, if the dispatch succeeds, it justifies more time spent doing it and more time spent extending the project into new forms. Public Polyglossia is an example of an extension of the work of the dispatch that I felt comfortable taking on the basis of this calculus; I’ve got lots of other ideas, but there’s a time trade-off to each that I have to be responsible about.
And, most importantly, my deepest thanks to all and every for their continued support.