Not Yet Transfigured

In Not Yet Transfigured, Eric Pankey extends his poetic oeuvre in ways simultaneously foreseeable and fresh. This is an essential volume for every lover of contemporary poetry.

At first glance the Markan transfiguration scene (Mk. 9:2-8) is all about light, sound and spectacle. Commentators see revealed in this scene a sparkling vision of God's glory-the light that banishes the shadow of incomprehension and by which the hidden truth of the Gospel finally becomes clear. But have commentators been blinded by their dazzling evaluations of Mark's theology? For, despite all the splendor and sparkle, the Markan transfiguration remains a difficult scene to interpret. Transfigured asks what would be seen if one were to squint past the sun-like glory that dominates this vision. Wilson focuses on the problematic elements, the gaps and inconsistencies of the scene, and re-evaluates them in order to re-read the transfiguration from an altered perspective. The theoretical work of Jacques Derrida, particularly his notion of "otherness," which draws together and realigns the reader (subject), the reading (method), and what is read (text), will be central to the orientation of this re-reading. Ultimately, the transfiguration story can be seen ably to accommodate readings that challenge traditionally prescribed metaphysical structures and presuppositions. In the end, the application of Derridean theory issues its own challenges to traditional scholarship in such a way that the approach to the Markan transfiguration and the theology one inevitably brings to it, require a certain amount of reformulation.

The moral theology of Hans G. Ulrich is presented here in English for the first time. These collected essays represent the culmination of a lifetime of reflection on Christian living from this German theologian in conversation with Luther, Bonhoeffer, and contemporary philosophers and theologians. Ulrich's ethics affirm the lively presence of the living work of God in orienting the daily life of Christians. This presence enables members of the Church to live as creatures trusting in God's promises, bearing witness in political and economic spheres, and trusting in life as a gift in response to bioethical issues. Ulrich's fresh take on living out of the promise of God yields further guidance on issues in international relations, economics, parenting, disability, and more.

Imagine experiencing life not as the gender dictated by birth but as one of your own design. In Trans Figured, Brian Belovitch shares his true story of life as a gender outlier and his dramatic journey through the jungle of gender identity. Brian has the rare distinction of coming out three times: first as a queer teenager; second as a glamorous transgender woman named Tish, and later, Natalia Gervais; and finally as an HIV-positive gay man surviving the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. From growing up in a barely-working-class first-generation immigrant family in Fall River, Massachusetts, to spinning across the disco dance floor of Studio 54 in New York City . . . from falling into military lock-step as the Army wife of a domineering GI in Germany to having a brush with fame as Natalia, high-flying downtown darling of the boozy and druggy pre-Giuliani New York nightclub scene, Brian escaped many near-death experiences. Trans Figured chronicles a life lived on the edge with an unforgettable cast of characters during a dangerous and chaotic era. Rich with drama and excitement, this no-holds-barred memoir tells it all. Most importantly, Brian's candid and poignant story of recovery shines a light on the perseverance of the human spirit.

Clément's Transfiguring Time is an early work, written when he was 37. It carries all the excitement of his fresh encounter with Orthodoxy and the Fathers of the Christian Church. He draws on his deep study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Indian myths to differentiate the understanding of time and eternity in archaic religions, in Hinduism and in Buddhism, from the Christian and specifically Orthodox understanding of time and eternity. This new translation – the first one in English - wants to bring Clément's early work to a new generation of readers.

Winner of the Snowbound Chapbook Award: "A seamless merging of meaning and music..." -- John Yau "I am stunned, delighted, and moved by the seamless merging of meaning and music that unfolds throughout THE FUTURE PERFECT: A FUGUE. Whether made up of one sentence or a dozen, each section of this long, single work stands on its own, as self-sufficient as a painting in a museum, while contributing to the whole masterful gathering... Such sure-footed writing is astonishing. It would be an understatement to point out that the reader rarely encounters such piercing visionary states, with the author highly alert to sound and syllable, while focused on meaning. Throughout, the author probes our capacity for perception: what do we see (the present), remember (the past), and imagine (the future)? And how do we understand them? What elevates the writing even more is the unmistakable passion and urgency pulsing throughout each of the poem's sections, the deliberate and inspired choice of every word."--from the Judge's Citation by John Yau "IN THE FUTURE PERFECT: A FUGUE, Eric Pankey tells us 'what matters is the miscellany,' our 'unkempt days loosely stitched to the next....' Still, he'll confess, 'one could lose sleep making sense of the grab bag of all the this and the that.' How can we not 'project into the future,' not 'see the past as portent?' he writes. 'How does one avoid thinking about the void?' One disquieting question follows upon another in this chapbook's single polyphonic poem. In lieu of answers, Pankey offers us the pleasure of his ever-gorgeous music. From such a virtuoso, 'these notes, these intervals' are all we could ask for."--Allison Funk "Comprehensive in reach and interwoven in structure, Eric Pankey's THE FUTURE PERFECT: A FUGUE is an exploration of time and memory so attentive that time itself seems to be held in suspension as we read. From a slug on a stalk to the most subtle spiritual concerns, Pankey takes on the details of experience and the sweep of abstraction with equal grace. His meditations evoke, list, describe, investigate, sing, and more in a tour-de-force of all that prose poetry can do." --Don Bogen "The scope of the collection is epic--dance is created, the Minotaur faces the maze, stone tools disappear, Thomas the Doubter touches the wound; and ultimately the future seems one of vanishing, both for the earth and for the individual: 'the murmur of ink drying.' Everything is transitory; yet we watch the narrator visualize the here and now in bushes swamped in purple blossoms, a house on fire, an opaque sky, moons, pulses of rain, light in its many forms. Images appear and disappear, repeat and interweave as in a musical fugue, the impersonal voice questioning the simultaneity of what is happening, the unkempt past, memory itself. What is most moving for me is watching what the narrator calls the apparition of a body practicing presence. It is that hesitancy, that acknowledged effort--these poems."--Martha Ronk Poetry.

Jesus metamorphosed. Celebrities from the past. Petrified disciples. Luminous cloud. An event as important as Christmas or Easter! Are you a preacher wondering what you can possibly say new and interesting on Transfiguration this year—to say nothing of all the Transfigurations that lie ahead of you? Are you an everyday believer curious to learn more about this holiday celebrated ievery year, yet somehow overlooked and ignored? Are you hooked on weird theological terms, intrigued by the fact that “transfiguration” is Latin for the Greek “metamorphosis” (as in butterflies and Kafka), and love to explore every wild and woolly corner of the Bible? Are you tired of Peter always getting bashed for his offer to build booths? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration needs to be at the top of your reading list! The seven ways: 1. Metamorphosis : Jesus 2. Eschaton : Elijah 3. Exodus : Moses 4. Tabernacles : Israel 5. Eyewitnesses : Peter, James, and John 6. Cloud : God the Father 7. Parousia : My Son, My Beloved Questions about the Transfiguration answered in the book: + What can it possibly mean for the eternal Lord to be transfigured, metamorphosed—changed? + Why does Luke delete the word “transfigured” from his version of the, um, well, Transfiguration? + Why does only Jesus’ clothing change in Mark’s Gospel, but his face, too, in Matthew and Luke? + Why was it Moses and Elijah, out of all possible Old Testament figures, who met with Jesus on the mountaintop? (Not because they represent “the law and the prophets”!) + Which mountain was it, anyway? + Why were Peter, James, and John the only disciples invited to see the Transfiguration? + Why was it so offensive for Peter to offer to build three booths for the three famous men? (Not because he was a babbling idiot!) + Why does God speak to Jesus at his Baptism and his Transfiguration, but not at his Resurrection? + Why doesn’t the Gospel of John have a Transfiguration story? (Or does it?) + Why doesn’t St. Paul talk about the Transfiguration? (Or does he?) + Why does Second Peter, of all oddball little epistles, talk about the Transfiguration? + Will we be transfigured someday, too? + What essential thing does the Transfiguration tell us about Jesus that his Resurrection does not?

This study is based on a rigorous theological analysis of primary sources and aims to present the significance of the event of the Lord's Transfiguration on Mount Tabor by means of a diachronic investigation of some of the greatest masters of the spiritual life. Based on the three Synoptic Gospel narratives, it examines the Taborian theophany from the early Apocryphal Writings of the New Testament to the time of the Hesychast Controversy of the fourteenth century, and looks at this great revelation in writers who have been influential in our appreciation of the subject, taking each of them in turn analytically and within the context of their own theology and period, and focusing on important points of similarity and contrast in the themes they develop. In so doing, the investigation touches on many fundamental questions pertaining to the inner life of the Christian, including such themes as the divine status of Jesus Christ, the Trinitarian character of revelation, the role of the Holy Spirit, the importance of the ecclesial context, the vision of God, the transformation of the human person known as “theosis”, the non-dialectical character of our encounter with God, and our capacity to share in His life. Transfiguration of Christ in the Spiritual Homilies of Macarius of Egypt, is published as an addendum to The Transfiguration in Greek Patristic Literature: From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas. Dr. Christopher Veniamin is a spiritual child of St. Sophrony the Athonite (1896-1993), a graduate of the Universities of Thessalonica and Oxford, has served as Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon’s Seminary (1994-2023), and as Dean and COO of The Antiochian House of Studies (2015-2020). He is also the author of The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation: "Theosis" in Scripture and Tradition; and The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature: From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas With Addendum The Transfiguration of Christ in the "Spiritual Homilies" of Macarius the Egyptian. His translation, Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, for which he wrote a prodigious number of scholia, is arguably the greates single-volume commentary on the Bible in Patristic literature.