Showing papers on "Exegesis published in 1982"

The Epistle of James : a commentary on the Greek text

Abstract: Peter Davids whose doctoral work was on James at Manchester under the late Prof FF Bruce has written this thorough commentary on the Greek text of the letter Davids places James in a setting of the Jewish messianists in the 50s and 60s This widely acclaimed commentary interacts freely with both the more recent and the older literature on James, German and French works At the same time, Davids own penetrating insights themselves spark fresh debate on the composition, purpose, and meaning of the text of James In an extensive introduction Davids considers questions concerning authorship, date of composition, form and structure, and the language and style of the text He also explores seven key theological themes in James: suffering/testing; eschatology; Christology; poverty piety; the relation of law, grace, and faith; wisdom; and prayer The commentary proper exhibits careful exegesis and a wealth of insight into the meaning of the text for its original audience as well as for the church today Davids is well acquainted with the relevant Hellenistic, Jewish, and early Christian literature and uses it frequently to point out parallels and to clarify the meaning of the text Davids' work also includes several helpful tables, charts, and one of the most comprehensive bibliographies on James available anywhere This commentary series is established on the presupposition that the theological character of the New Testament documents calls for exegesis that is sensitive to theological themes as well as to the details of the historical, linguistic, and textual context Such thorough exegetical work lies at the heart of these volumes, which contain detailed verse-by-verse commentary preceded by general comments on each section and subsection of the text The text on which these commentaries are based is the UBS Greek New Testament, edited by Kurt Aland and others While engaging the major questions of text and interpretation at a scholarly level, the authors keep in mind the needs of the beginning student of Greek as well as the pastor or layperson who may have studied the language at some time but does not now use it on a regular basis

The Lamentations Commentaries of Hrabanus Maurus and Paschasius Radbertus

Abstract: In the study of Carolingian Christianity, biblical commentaries are a vast and largely untapped resource. Exegesis, whether for teaching or homiletical purposes, dominated the ninth-century school tradition; in this world, nearly all theologians were primarily expositors of the Bible. It is one of the ironies of historical inquiry that the non-exegetical treatises of such figures as Hrabanus Maurus and Paschasius Radbertus have been studied to the exclusion of their biblical commentaries. Although this situation is beginning to change, much remains to be done, beginning with the crucial work on the texts. Meanwhile, in the absence of critical editions of any of the major works of the Carolingian exegetical tradition, all scholarship in the field is a mere suggestion as to what might be discovered when the primary materials have been better presented. This study is no exception. The two treatises discussed here have received practically no attention from modern historians, and are printed only in the uncritical editions of the Patrologia Latina. It is my hope that this analysis will encourage further inquiry into Carolingian exegesis by showing some ways in which two commentaries, the first in the Latin tradition on the book of Lamentations, reveal the theological and pastoral concerns, and the exegetical methods, of two generations of ninth-century monastic authors.

Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook

Abstract: Im interested to know what resources you use most or favor for exegetical work? Handbook to New Testament Exegesis by Craig Bloomberg and his assistant Jennifer It is on sale through Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook The new edition retains the features of the first edition: a minimum of technical terms, solid introductory guidelines in exegetical method, and a valuable Hayes, J H & Holladay, C R (2007) Biblical Exegesis, Third Edition: A Beginner's Handbook Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press In Kindle, Nook

Christian Antioch: A Study of Early Christian Thought in the East

Abstract: This book is a comprehensive survey of the history and, more particularly, of the thought of Antioch from the second to the eighth centuries of the Christian era. Dr Wallace-Hadrill traces the religious background of Antiochene Christianity and examines in detail aspects of its intellectual life: the exegesis of scripture, the interpretation of history, philosophy, and the doctrine of the nature of God as applied to an understanding of Christ and man's salvation. The community at Antioch stressed history and literalism, in self-conscious opposition to the tendency to allegorise that prevailed at Alexandria. While insisting on the divinity of Christ, they were equally adamant that no other doctrine should be allowed to compromise their central belief that Jesus was really human.

The Development of a Jewish Exegetical Tradition Regarding Isaiah 53

Abstract: Isa 52:13–53:12 has long served Jews and Christians as a source for the resolution of questions resulting from seemingly inexplicable human suffering and death. The fact that such suffering affected the primary links between God and humankind, the people Israel for the Jew and Jesus of Nazareth for the Christian, proved to be an especially perplexing problem that could have undermined fundamental religious beliefs. From the patristic age Isaiah 53 was interpreted so as to provide a rationale for Jesus' suffering on the cross. Medieval and modern Jewish exegetes saw in this prophecy an explanation for the tragedies which the Jews experienced in the exile. Interestingly, in adapting the so-called Suffering Servant passage for their own purposes, Jewish interpreters, of both the medieval and the modern periods, incorporated certain Christian concepts into their exegesis. This study will trace the transference of elements of a Christian exegetical tradition regarding Isaiah 53 into medieval and modern Jewish biblical interpretation.

From Bonaventure to Bellini: An Essay in Franciscan Exegesis

Abstract: The Description for this book, From Bonaventure to Bellini: An Essay in Franciscan Exegesis, will be forthcoming.

New Testament textual criticism : its significance for exegesis : essays in honour of Bruce M. Metzger

Abstract: This collection of apocryphal writings supersedes the best-selling edition by M.R. James, first published in 1924. Since then, several new works have come to light, and the textual base for some of the works previously translated by James is now more secure. This volume presents new translations of the texts into modern English, together with a short introduction and bibliography for each of them. It is designed to give readers the most important and famous non-canonical Christian writings, many of them popular legends with an enormous influence on later, particularly medieval, art and literature, as well as on later beliefs and practices of the Church.

The World Grown Old and Genesis in Middle English Historical Writings

Abstract: Modern historians of literature have approached primitivism in medieval writings through conventional topics such as the Fall, the Golden Age, and the six world ages. George Boas in 1948 demonstrated the numerous links between classical and medieval primitivisms, "soft" and "hard," and he outlined various schemes of periodization by which medieval historians framed their chronicles.' Emerson, Kaske, and others have explored a special aspect of man's early history as interpreted by medieval writers the relationship between Cain, antediluvian giants, and Beowuif's Grendel.2 Recently, Ruth Mellinkoff has investigated the several legends surrounding Cain and his mysterious mark.3 Medieval primitivism based on Genesis essentially began with Augustine's exegetical history in De civitate Dei, book 15. In this work Augustine thoroughly rehearsed the Genesis events, and he labored to explain difficult narrative claims, such as the great age of antediluvian men like Methuselah (15.1 1), or obscure passages, such as the origin of giants from the "sons of God" (15.22-23). Augustine treated these and other issues as a scholar and historian, comparing the Vulgate with the Septuagint text and seeking the best, most reasonable interpretation. At the same time, he framed his historical exegesis generally in the context of six ages in decline and of the struggle between the earthly and heavenly cities. In Augustine's writings

Who Is Sufficient for These Things

Abstract: The third chapter of 2 Corinthians has long been a center of intense controversy, not least because Paul appears here to recommend a particular hermeneutical perspective. Augustine, for example, was greatly helped by the hermeneutical methodology employed by Ambrose, a methodology which attempted to distinguish the spirit from the letter. By employing such a hermeneutic, says Augustine, Ambrose was able to "draw aside the veil of mystery and spiritually lay open things that interpreted literally seemed to teach unsound doctrine" 1). More recently, Peter RICHARDSON has stated that "the most fruitful line of enquiry for a biblical basis of hermeneutics" is the investigation of the spirit/letter contrast in the New Testament and especially 2 Cor. iii "because within this dual focus there is latent the demand for interpretation at the instigation of the Spirit" 2). Nevertheless, much of the modern study of this passage has focused upon the identification of Paul's opponents and their doctrines. Such scholarship generally supposes that Paul's point here is to prove that the New Covenant ministered by him is far superior to the Old Covenant ministered by Moses. Thus, according to D. GEORGI's hypothesis, 2 Cor. iii is Paul's revision of his opponents' exegesis of Ex. xxxiv. Against his opponents, says GEORGI, Paul wishes to emphasize the purely temporary character of the Old Covenant 3).

Paul and Rabbinic Exegesis

Abstract: For some time scholars have recognised that Paul's exegesis of Scripture was influenced by rabbinic hermeneutics. As early as 1900 H. St. John Thackeray argued that Paul utilised rabbinic methods of interpretation to confute the Jews. In a number of cases, he wrote, particularly where the original sense of Scripture is not adhered to, ‘we may undoubtedly see the influence of his rabbinic training in the use to which the Old Testament is put and the inferences drawn from it.’ In 1911 H. Lietzmann described Paul's treatment of the desert sojourn in 1 Cor. 10.1–11 as ‘the Haggadic method’, implying a comparison with rabbinic method. Following this same line of argument A. F. Pukko in 1928 asserted that Paul utilised Hillel's seven principles of rabbinic exegesis. According to Pukko, ‘As an interpreter of the Old Testament Paul is above all a child of his time. The methods of interpretation and deduction which he learned in the Rabbinical school emerge frequently in his work.’

The Exegesis of John Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospels

Abstract: crucifixion, in the believer’s case at the end of this earthly life; and the verb translated ’has been freed’ could mean ’has been justified’. The difficulty in each case is that Paul does seem to be looking back to the believer’s having died with Christ as something already accomplished (vv. 2, 4, 8); moreover, the logic of v. 6 is that the liberation from sin’s slavery is the consequence of the body-of-sin’s destruction, and ’justified from sin’ sounds even less like Paul than ’freed from sin’.

‘The Spirit of God’: The Exegesis of I Cor. 2: 10–12 by Origen and Athanasius

Abstract: Recent scholarly interest in the Fathers as exegetes of Scripture has tended to examine the reasons why a patristic author takes a particular exegetical position. Rowan Greer's fine study of the Greek patristic exegesis of Hebrews best exemplifies this current tendency. Greer refuses to judge the ‘correctness’ of the Fathers' exegesis, for they have as much right to their interpretations as sixteenth-century or modern exegetes. Rather, he attempts to see how their theological concerns determined the questions which they asked of the Scriptures. These questions, in turn, shaped the answers that were given. This dialectic does not necessarily mean that these Fathers consciously forced the Scriptures into pre-formed theological moulds. The Fathers were honest in their desire to remain faithful to the Scriptures. Nevertheless, the theological principles which they either inherited from traditional views of Scriptural texts or formed in response to what they considered heretical opinions definitely shaped the questions which they asked of the Scriptural text and consequently, the answers which they received from it. This is no less true today.

The Biblical Story of Joseph in Dostoevskii's The Brothers Karamazov

Abstract: The large role which literary allusion plays in The Brothers Karamazov has often been noted by critics. Ralph Matlaw calls the novel "one of the most 'literary' books ever written."1 Victor Terras more recently has observed that "more than any other novel of Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov is a work 'written in the margins of other books.' "2 If scholars took the time to investigate in detail every literary reference in this novel, no doubt the size of current Dostoevskii bibliographies could be doubled within the year, though without contributing substantially to our knowledge of the work.3 Why then should a lone reference to the biblical story of Joseph merit intensive consideration? The answer concerns both the context and the content of the reference, which is found in the subchapter entitled "Of the Holy Scriptures in the life of Father Zosima." The bible stories mentioned in this section might be considered as a body in order to illustrate what role the Scriptures have played in the elder's life, and what role they may play in the regeneration of all men. Within this subchapter no fewer than a dozen biblical stories and books are singled out, yet only two are discussed at any length: the Book of Job and the story of Joseph. In the latter case not only is the story paraphrased and quoted (or, better, misquoted) but it is also given a particular and untraditional interpretation by Zosirma.4 An examination of the function of the story within the structure of Zosima's narrative on Scripture reveals that it effects a transition from discussion of the Old Testament to discussion of the New Testament, from the long exegesis of the Book of Job to the episode from a saint's life which closes the subchapter. The transition is accomplished in the final line of the Joseph narrative when, according to Zosima, Jacob revealed in his testament that "from his offspring, from Judah, will come the great hope of the world, the Messiah and Savior."5