Maryann Madhavathu presents essential elements of how liturgy structures time – that is, daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms – with special attention to the meaning of Sunday and the important cycles of the liturgical year in different liturgical families. It is no surprise that Easter is of the utmost importance to all of them.

The theology of Leviticus is also deeply concerned with holiness in time and setting a liturgical rhythm for the people of Israel. The focus on cultic calendars and seasonal festivals is important in understanding how Leviticus views holiness. The rhythms of the people are directed by God’s creation in Genesis and his salvific works in Exodus. These are tied into seasonal harvest and celebrations for the flourishing of God’s people.

This chapter examines Augustine’s sermons given on the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost. The homilies given on the Ascension highlight Augustine’s Christology, particularly the Ascension as disclosing Christ’s presence and the totus Christus. Augustine’s sermons on Pentecost and its vigil emphasize the unity of the church, imaged in the speaking of tongues in Acts 2, through the giving of the Holy Spirit. The sermons on Pentecost also unpack, through the image of the new wine and drunkenness in Acts 2, the newness and continuity of Pentecost as the fulfillment of the law in the Spirit’s gift of charity.

The chapter focuses on the early Christian interpretations of “speaking in tongues” (glōssais lalein), the most spectacular linguistic phenomenon attested in the New Testament. The description of the Pentecostal events (Acts 2) and Paul’s exhortations (1 Cor. 12–14) became an important point of reference in Christian discussions about languages and religious identity. The second- and third-century authors either presented the phenomenon as ecstatic speaking with an uncertain degree of intelligibility or simply quoted biblical passages without any explanation. Explicit statements that the gift of tongues was a miraculous ability to talk in foreign languages that enabled apostles to preach abroad (xenolalia) are dated to the fourth century and attested in Greek, Syriac, and Latin texts. Simultaneously, in the fourth century, the alternative idea that “speaking in tongues” refers to angelic languages decreased in popularity. As time passed, different Christian traditions and authors developed their own peculiarities in interpreting “speaking in tongues.” The chapter demonstrates various ways in which otherness of tongues may have been understood; and that xenolalia is not so much a default interpretation, but a way to channel the growing concerns about foreign languages and their speakers – a way that became especially needed in fourth-century Christianity.

In contrast to ‘ministry gospels’, with their focus on events leading up to Jesus’ passion and resurrection, the Epistula Apostolorum is primarily concerned with the disciples’ preparation for their future worldwide mission following Jesus’ departure. That preparation takes the form of detailed instruction from the risen Jesus about the content of their teaching; there is here no expectation of a sudden dramatic transformation of the disciples along the lines of Luke’s Pentecost narrative. Like GMary and the Longer Ending of GMark, the Epistula draws its version of the call to preach to all nations from the Matthean ‘Great Commission’ (GMt 28.19–20), but in both cases the later texts assert their independence in relation to GMatthew. They also present the disciples as apprehensive about the task of mission, and introduce the figure of a helper: Mary (i.e. Mary Magdalene) in the case of GMary, Paul in the case of EpAp. Here the emphasis on Paul's Jewishness is striking and may be compared with related passages in Acts, Galatians, and Philippians. Equally striking is the account of his conversion, in which (in sharp contrast to Galatians 1), the other apostles play a major role.