Behold the Thief with the Eyes of Faith

by Mark G. Bilby

The Gospel according to Luke uniquely details an exchange between Christ and one of the thieves crucified with "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Lk 23.42–43). This book gathers seventeen late antique and early medieval sermons centered upon the "good thief," who figured prominently in celebrations of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Pascha. This compendium is a theological and rhetorical treasury, with contributions from early Christianity's most talented preachers in Greek and Latin, including John Chrysostom, Severian of Gabala, Proclus of Constantinople, Maximus of Turin, Fulgentius of Ruspe, Caesarius of Arles, and others. Many of these sermons appear in English for the first time.



Mark G. Bilby (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is an expert on St Dismas, the proverbial "Good Thief." His doctoral dissertation, As the Bandit Will I Confess You (published by Strasbourg/Brepols), and other scholarly works are devoted to this theme, including translations of three medieval stories of St Dismas in each volume of More New Testament Apocrypha (Eerdmans) and a Greek critical edition of a Byzantine apocryphon in Le Museon (Peeters).

Genres: Religion

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 22, 2024

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to rate a book which is a collection of sermons from various ancient preachers. I thought the 2 sermons by Chrysostom were excellent (though a lot of same material shared in both), but most of the other sermons I didn't think were worth reading. It does show how in Orthodoxy there is a heavy reliance on simply repeating what others have said before but the refreshing nature of the Holy Spirit lessens over time.