I just flew into London on the red eye this morning.  As many of you know, my wife Sarah is a Brit, and we have lots of family here.   About fifteen years ago we bought a flat in Wimbledon, which is our base of operation when we’re here.  It’s a hoppin’ part of the universe just now, with the tournament starting.   I won’t be going this year, but our sister-in-law Gill (on the blog!), managed to get a couple of tickets for today, so she and Sarah, now, as we speak, are watching Djokovic.  Not that I’m envious.

Tomorrow early I fly to Amsterdam, and then take a train over to Leiden for a meeting of the editorial board of Vigiliae Christianae, one of the premier journals of Patristics (i.e. studies focusing on the “church fathers” and “mothers”).   There are seven editors-in-chief, most of whom are European.  I’m the American.   I’ve been doing this for about eleven years.

It’s an honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity.  Vigiliae Christianae, by any estimate, is one of the three top journals in the world in this field, and is by far the oldest and best established.  Its approach tends to be traditional, focusing on historical and philological studies of the important Patristic texts, from the earliest period (right after the New Testament) on up through Late Antiquity.  My expertise is obviously on the earliest period; other editors are expert in the more central concerns of the field/journal, e.g., theological writings of the fourth to sixth centuries.

The work for the journal is not …

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