REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC INTERVIEWED IN JERUSALEM BY TRINITAS TV

Rev. Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc, Archbishop Demetrios Chair of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins and Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Holy Cross, was interviewed recently by Trinitas TV in Jerusalem, where he was a scholar-in-residence at Ecole Biblique. The program was titled “Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc: A Life Dedicated to the Study of Holy Scriptures.” Watch the program (subtitled in English) here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kDgKPnRdc8&t=1312s&ab_channel=TRINITASTV

Trinitas TV, a ministry of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate, is the only 24/7 Orthodox television channel in the world. The producer and interviewer was Mara Ionescu, who spoke with Fr. Pentiuc in the courtyard of Ecole Biblique, one of the most famous biblical schools in the world, which has great significance for Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In 439 AD, the basilica built by the Holy Empress Eudokia was consecrated by St. Cyril of Alexandria. The Byzantine basilica, sheltering the remains of Holy Archdeacon Stephen, was built on the traditional place of his martyrdom. 

Fr. Pentiuc’s interview covered a wide array of topics, including biographical (his journey from Romania to New England), comparative Semitics research (reconstruction of the Emarite dialect of the Akkadian language), biblical theology (focusing on theology of the book of the prophet Hosea), Orthodox spirituality (the concept of happiness according to Ps 1, the Pseudo Dionysius, and modern sculptor Brancusi)–all of these in an intriguing pastoral application of Bible and theology in our modern world.

Dr. James C. Skedros, Interim Dean of Holy Cross, commented, “I love the way Fr. Eugen explained in this interview the unique destiny of humanity created by God in his image as unity in diversity. As he put it, ‘When God zooms in, he sees Mara, Eugen. etc. When the Creator zooms out, he sees our humanity as an indestructible unity’—a quite powerful way to distill a high piece of biblical theology into common parlance!”