Christologische Schriftargumentation Und Bildersprache

This volume examines the early Church's methods of theological argumentation concerning the metaphorical texts of the Bible. Ps 45 presents some of the oldest biblical evidence for the divinity of Christ and was often cited in christological and trinitarian controversies. In the 4th century the conflict between the traditional interpretation of the Church and linguistic methods erupted. In the course of the debate with Arian exegesis the significance of metaphor and the possibility of speaking of God were conceived anew. This study is based on dogmatic, exegetical and spiritual texts ranging from Justin to Cyril of Alexandria and Theodoret of Cyrus. It shows how the various forms of argumentation interact: how scholarly theology was mediated through preaching, and pastoral and catechetical interests affected christological reflection.

Examining the usage of the term ἐνυπόστατος both in the trinitarian debates before Chalcedon and especially the Christological ones afterwards, this study illustrates the gradual, yet profound change in its meaning initiated by Leontius of Byzantium: In distinguishing between the hypostasis and the ἐνυπόστατον Leontius initiates a crucial shift in that an ἐνυπόστατον is no longer straightforwardly considered as a proper, independent hypostasis of its own, but as something realized in a hypostasis which is by no means necessarily endowed with a hypostasis of its own. This technical discussion of the term is accompanied by an attempt at classifying the entirety of the different usages it keeps on displaying despite its Christian theological origin and its outstanding importance during the post-chalcedonian Christological debates.

How was the scriptural imagery used in the Song of Songs to speak of the Bridegroom and the Bride? Mark W. Elliott presents a range of interpretations paying attention to the context of the commentators in the Early Church.

A gospel harmony composed c. 172 C.E., the Diatessaron is one of the earliest witnesses to the gospels. Regarded as the first version of the gospels in Latin, Syriac, and Armenian, the Diatessaron was used by Encratites, Judaic-Christians, and “Great Church” Christians alike. This study is the first comprehensive treatment of the Diatessaron in more than a century. After sketching the second-century setting and Tatian's biography, it describes virtually every Diatessaronic witness and provides a scholar-by-scholar summary of research from 546 to the present. Criteria for reconstructing Diatessaronic readings are developed, and numerous examples offer the reader first-hand experience with the witnesses. It contains the first Bibliography of research on the Diatessaron (600+ titles) and the first “Catalogue of Manuscripts of Diatessaronic Witnesses and Related Works” ever published.

The second of a three-volume commentary on the book of Psalms in the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms series.

The Bible was the lifeblood of virtually every aspect of the life of the early churches. This Handbook explores a wide array of themes related to the reception, canonization, interpretation, uses, and legacies of the Bible in early Christianity.

A cursory glance at Hebrews' critique of Israel's fear at Sinai in Heb 12:18-29 suggests that the author has misunderstood or manipulated his sources. In the Pentateuch, the appointment of Moses as Israel's mediator receives explicit approval (Exod 19:9; Deut 5:28), while Heb 12:25 labels their request for mediation a "refusal" to heed the word of God.This bookargues that Hebrews' use of the Sinai narratives resides on a complex trajectory established by four points: the Sinai covenant according to Exodus, the reenactment of that covenant according to Deuteronomy, the call for a NEW covenant according to Jeremiah, and the present reality of that covenant established by God and mediated by Jesus Christ. The basis for Hebrews' critique arises from its insight that while Israel's request established covenant-from-a-distance, Jesus demonstrates that true covenant mediation brings two parties into a single space. The purpose for Hebrews critique lies in its summons to Zion, the mountain on which Jesus sits at the right hand of God as the high priestly mediator of the new covenant.

This reading of the Confessions focuses on its aim to convert its readers (it displays some characteristics of the protreptic genre) and on a specific segment of its potential audience, Augustine's erstwhile co-religionists, the Manichaeans.