Christian Literature Research Articles

The Ascetic Subculture of the Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin

Abstract In a fourth- or fifth-century narrative known as the Acts of Thomas and his Wonderworking Skin, Jesus sells the apostle Thomas as a slave to the governor of India. When the governor’s wife converts to Christianity, dumps all her earthly riches outside her front door, and turns celibate, the governor has the apostle tortured and his skin flayed off, but Thomas survives, and uses his peeled-off skin to raise the dead. This paper uses Kathryn Tanner’s concept of culture to compare the ideals advocated by this story – servitude to Christ, voluntary poverty, sexual abstinence, readiness to suffer, and zeal for evangelization – to ideals expressed in first-century Christian literature. The subculture expressed by the narrative is found to consist entirely of ideals also expressed in the New Testament, which are updated, recontextualized, and radicalized in order to reach an audience of fourth- or fifth-century Christians.

ЧУДО, МАГИЯ И РАННЕЕ ХРИСТИАНСТВО

The article describes the continuity between pagan and Christian views on miracle and magic and examines the dialogue about miracles that unfolded between them in the 2nd – 3rd centuries. The author explores such issues as the ancient Greek or Roman and Jewish traditions concerning sorcerers, the terms for describing miracle workers and sorcerers, evidence from early Christian literature of miracles in the Apostolic period and later, the role of miracles in the spreading of Christianity, and the controversy between Christians and pagans, especially Origen and Celsus, about the nature of the miracles performed by Christ and his followers. Special attention is paid to miracles in hagiographic works. They can be found in a number of texts, and their character — omens of imminent death, visions, the gift of the ability to endure torture — is “non-public”, which distinguishes them from what can be seen in the ancient writings or in apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. We believe that the appeal to miracles is more typical of texts addressed to an external pagan audience rather than to a Christian one.

Why a Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint?

Abstract Since 2010, an international team has been working on the first comprehensive lexicon dedicated to Septuagint Greek, which aims to fill an important gap in the fields of ancient philology and religious studies. The entries include all the relevant word groups used in the translation of the Hebrew Bible, Greek glosses that captured central concepts from classical Hebrew terms and sought to establish suitable expression for certain Realien. This lexicon aims to give a wide perspective on selected lemmas, taking the legacy of classical Greek literature as a starting point and subsequently analyzing the diffusion and usage of the word up through early Christian Literature. This paper will address some of the questions that are being faced by the team and will explore the innovative approach of this lexicographical project through the presentation of samples.

Use of artificial intelligence in biblical citation recommendations in the New Testament

Religion occupies a prominent place in people’s daily lives and is made explicit to the public or the faithful through preaching or exposition of their sacred texts. The Holy Bible is the religious literature of Christianity, and its text has a unique nature of interpretation and knowledge extraction, that is, through the reading done by specialists (theologians). However, an automated knowledge extraction or that involves some automatic mechanism intelligence to support the interpretation (hermeneutics) of the Biblical text is not observed in the literature. Probably this gap in the literature is caused by the complexity of the biblical textual corpus and the multiplicity of genres it has, being an interpretative challenge even for human specialists. Therefore, this article primarily seeks to build an automated way through artificial intelligence (AI) to provide contextual biblical quotations from the four gospels of the New Testament for the construction of sermons or development of homiletics, which is the art of producing religious sermons for teaching and interpretation of the Biblical message. The methodology used in this article seeks to employ artificial intelligence techniques to implement the proposed solution, that is, a hybrid recommendation system to quote texts from Biblical passages. The AI techniques involved are text mining, natural language processing and supervised learning. Secondarily, this work aims to verify whether the combination of natural language processing techniques and machine learning can provide subsidies for the recovery or extraction of knowledge from complex textual corpus analogous to the biblical corpus. The results show that the proposed hybrid recommendation system is capable of extracting semantic and contextual meaning from the Biblical text, fundamental in the construction of homiletics. The performance evaluation metrics indicate the robustness of the results and consequently validate the findings of this research. Therefore, the combination of these techniques can be extrapolated by the scientific community to aid in the interpretive recovery of complex textual corpus.

A Personal Trinity: The Christian Poetry of Andrew Young

ABSTRACT Andrew Young (1885–1971) belongs to the English tradition of the ‘parson poet’. Poetry written by serving clergy often provides both a personal perspective on Christianity, free of strict orthodoxy, and a reflection of Christianity’s place in the prevailing culture. Most of Young’s work consisted of short poems with only occasional Christian reference. Later in life he abandoned short poems and wrote two long works exploring a visionary afterlife. This paper argues that the key to these two long poems, important but neglected examples of mid-twentieth-century Christian literature, is a personal re-imagining of the Trinity.

The Biblical Metaphor of “Governing as Shepherding” and Catholic Biopolitics in Medieval Icelandic Contexts

This paper studies the Old Icelandic use of the Biblical conceptual metaphor of “governing as shepherding”, based on projecting patterns of the practices of shepherding on the notion of governing. It examines the transfer of this conceptual metaphor to Old Icelandic literature through the reception of Christian literature, the frequency and chronology of occurrences of the linguistic realizations of this conceptual metaphor in different textual genres and periods of Old Icelandic literature, and the possible lineages of texts’ transmission that might have enabled the cultural transfer of this conceptual metaphor from Latin to Old Icelandic. On the theoretical basis of Michel Foucault’s governmentality theory, the emergence of the discourse of pastoral power over human life in Old Icelandic literature is correlated with the development of specific biopolitical practices of governance regarding the protection of human life applied by the Catholic Church in medieval Iceland.

Lecture as an adventure

Philologist Olga Alieva studied the formation and development of the protreptic and parenese genres in ancient Greek and early Christian literature within her PhD thesis. Later, she taught ancient languages at the Yuriy Shichalin's Museum Graeco-Latinum Classical School, and since 2013 she has been working at the HSE School of Philosophy. The book under the headline “Philosophical text in antiquity” is a continuation of the research that took place from 2014 to 2017, revised for publication in this form in 2022. The book is composed of seven lectures covering the form and content of the ancient philosophical text, the dichotomy of written and oral word in ancient Greek culture, the relationship between ancient science and philosophy, poetry and prose, myth and logos, the features of the rhetorical situation and the object of the text, its purpose, the status of the author and the publisher. Of course, a much longer list of problems is addressed, but let's not forget that the main content of the work, without the preface, the appendix, which is also very interesting in itself, a nominal index and list of references, occupies only one hundred and thirty-three pages. And here the question arises: how suitable is the lecture genre for disclosing such extensive material in a very limited framework? The solution is the lecture genre itself, which always assumes that what the author is going to tell will be too voluminous and one will have to deal with the management of available facts, evidence and data. This review shows that Olga Aliyeva's style of data composition is a worthy example of such work, which turns a lecture into an adventure.

Books known only by title

This special issue of the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha aims to introduce the concept of “books known only by title” as a fruitful new focus of research in the larger field of first-millennium Jewish and Christian literatures. Books known only by title are named literary objects known only through the medium of other writings, surviving neither as extant documents nor as excerpts or quotations of any substantial length. Still, these books are far more than “lost,” “false,” or “forged”: they were vital components of the first millennium literary imagination. This introductory essay provides a conceptual and methodological framework for the study of this hitherto unexplored phenomenon and offers an initial overview of key functions of books known only by title in book lists and literary texts.

Allegory and Ambiguity in Late Antique Canon Lists

AbstractIn the mid-sixth century, Cassiodorus wrote hisInstitutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarumto instruct the monks at Vivarium in their scribal work of collecting, codifying, and copying the Christian Scriptures, along with a vast array of Latin Christian literature. His text remained an essential handbook for monks and nuns working as scribes for centuries. Within it, he includes three authoritative canon lists which he takes from Jerome, Augustine, and the Septuagint. To modern scholars these lists often read as nonsense: he seems entirely ambivalent towards which books are “in” or “out” of the canon, he appears unfaithful to his source material, and none of these lists reflects his own system for listing or grouping the Scriptures. What then is the point of them? The answer lies in the importance that Cassiodorus, and other late antique authors, place on numbers as sources of allegorical interpretation in the search for higher meaning. Through a process of “holy arithmetic”, Cassiodorus presents what he claims is an inner logic of these authoritative canon lists, bringing to light three different hermeneutical lenses for understanding what the Scriptures are. As allegories, those lenses can coexist in a complementary fashion, aiding Cassiodorus in his larger mission to codify a Latin Christian tradition. Examining Cassiodorus’s approach to listing the canon and comparing it to modern scholarship on the subject bring into focus some of the key ways in which our own assumptions and methods differ from those of our late antique sources. It also opens up new possibilities for interrogating these sources.

Pedagogical reflections on New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, volume 2

In this review article, the author makes the case for Tony Burke’s recent second volume of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2020) as a publication that can help historians and scholars of religion navigate the convoluted warrens of ancient Christian literature. Adopting a pedagogical lens, the author argues that this volume goes deeper than standard tomes like Marvin Meyer’s Nag Hammadi Scriptures (HarperOne, 2007), offering its audience a more rigorously up-to-date picture of the state of Apocrypha research. The level of rigour and detail on display here might also make the volume more suitable for graduate or upper-level undergraduate courses. In order to support his presentation of the pedagogical value of Burke’s work, the author draws on specific examples rooted in several primary sources contained therein, from the Old Uyghur Adoration of the Magi to the Byzantine Life of Mary Magdalene.

Documentary context for dating and interpreting Christian literary and semi-literary papyri: some notes

The article collects some notes on dating and interpreting Christian literary and semi-literary papyri from Byzantine and early Arab Egypt.

Addiction, Waste(d) Labor, and the Debate of the Carpenter's Tools

Addiction, Waste(d) Labor, and the <i>Debate of the Carpenter's Tools</i>

THE RECEPTION OF EXODUS MOTIFS IN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE: “LET MY PEOPLE GO!”. Edited by BeateKowalski and Susan E.Docherty. Themes in Biblical Narrative 30. Leiden: Brill, 2022. . Pp. x + 360. Hardcover, $179.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 49, Issue 1 p. 75-75 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: History of Christianity (Early) THE RECEPTION OF EXODUS MOTIFS IN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE: “LET MY PEOPLE GO!”. Edited by Beate Kowalski and Susan E. Docherty. Themes in Biblical Narrative 30. Leiden: Brill, 2022. . Pp. x + 360. Hardcover, $179. First published: 24 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.16322Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume49, Issue1Special Issue: Unique Approaches to Christianity in Africa and BeyondMarch 2023Pages 75-75 RelatedInformation

«В соответствии с образом Божьим…» или «В качестве образа Божьего…»? (Быт 1:26-27)

The concept of human being as the image of God forms the basis of anthropology of all religions that belong to the tradition of the Bible. The key place for this concept is Gen 1:26. The detailed analysis of this verse must take into account both the history of “crystallization” of the concept in the development of the religion of the Ancient Israel, and the later exegesis. The article classifies interpretations of the meaning and function of the expression “the image of God” in the context of the Creation narrative. The difference between these interpretations may be clarified by an analogy with a coin having a king’s image. What exactly is meant by “king’s image”? The coin itself? The features of the king’s face represented on the coin? The stamp which impressed the king’s image upon it? Following this analogy we identify three models of understanding the wording of Gen 1:26 and trace their place in the history of interpretation of the verse. The first part of the article is devoted to linguistic aspects of interpretation of the Hebrew text with a special emphasis on the semantic of the Hebrew prepositions. The second part looks at the place of the concept of Man as God’s image in the development of the religion of the Ancient Israel. The third part analyses the treatment of this concept in the Greek translations. Of special interest for us are the texts of the Judeo-Hellenistic (Wisdom of Solomon) and early Christian (Paul’s letters) literature that reflect the interpretation of the Biblical text different from the LXX. The fourth part is devoted to the Platonizing interpretation of the LXX translation, represented, first of all, by Philo. The final part of the article summarizes the individual conclusions of specialists in the Hebrew Bible, LXX, Judeo-Hellenistic and early Christian literature and relates them to the three models of understanding the wording of Gen 1:26.

Sabbath and Sunday: The meaning of the day of rest in the ancient church – A hope for the future?

The Sabbath is part of Jewish tradition. In Christianity it has taken on a new meaning. Both faiths saw it as a gift from God, a tool to affirm one’s spiritual creed and identity, and a way to maintain a distinct faith identity. The secularism of contemporary society has resulted in a misinterpretation of the purpose of Sunday rest and a disregard for the spiritual aspects that the Sunday celebration involves. A false perception of Sunday rest has emerged in modern times: It is not perceived as a divine gift that enables a spiritual ministry, which leads to resistance and opposition to the restless anxiety of the consumerist world and serves as an alternative to advertising’s demanding presence in this world. This rest, as a gift from God, has been one of the most fundamental defining features of man’s connection with God throughout history. Since Christian antiquity, there has been substantial debate over how to observe this tremendous gift of rest. Rest was valued as a gift in the Jewish culture in a specific way that included defining the identity of the chosen people. Later, in the Christian tradition, it was connected to the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection and the spiritual healing He provided to the world. There has been much debate on the continuity and discontinuity between the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, as well as on how the transition from the Sabbath to the Sunday celebration came about. The two qualities of the Jewish Sabbath – a day of rest and a day of religious celebration – have been transferred to the Christian Sunday but in a radically different context.Contribution: By analysing early Christian literature, this study aims to investigate how the concept of Sabbath rest was taken up and reconstructed in Christianity in the celebration of Sunday, and how spiritual work was a constant in the life of Christian communities up until the 4th century, when Sunday rest was established by law. Contrary to Rordorf’s opinions, this article aims to show that Christians, despite being physically obligated to work on Sundays, tacitly observed this day as a day of resurrection, emphasising the spiritual work of the virtues as their vehicle towards their entrance into the rest in God, even before Sunday became socially established as a day of rest (Heb 4:1–11). This study intends to show that this unique vision of the Sunday rest of the early church can be an element of resistance and an alternative to the demanding stress and restless anxiety of modern society.

The Secretary: Enslaved Workers, Stenography, and the Production of Early Christian Literature

Abstract This article examines the evidence for the role of enslaved and formerly enslaved secretaries in the production of the New Testament. While secretaries have formed part of the conversation around the authorship of the Pauline epistles, secretaries and ancient literary culture have not featured in conversations about the composition of early Christian literature in general. Drawing upon recent scholarship in Classics (Reay, Blake, Howley, Johnson, and Geue), this paper traces the reasons why secretaries have been marginalized in ancient and modern conversations about authorship. It further suggests that, rather than unwittingly rehearsing ancient slaveholder discourses that seek to erase enslaved contributions, we should take seriously the ways in which a broader range of actors was involved in the production of ancient literature. Using the technologies of shorthand and theological abbreviations as examples, it tentatively suggests that enslaved workers contributed to the formation of early Christian texts and theology far beyond the mistakes that are sometimes attributed to them. The reasons for entertaining these possibilities, it argues, are both historical and ethical: the distribution of agency across a wider range of characters invites us to reflect upon the ethics of reading and the communities with whom we read.

The Second Peter

Abstract In early Christian literary production, Peter emerges as an early apostolic figure of prominence ripe for a prolific textual afterlife, lending his name to a wide range of literature. These works include 2 Peter, which is widely recognized as a pseudepigraphal writing. Here, the author argues that pseudepigraphy is a form of exemplarity—the constructive and strategic usage of a figure from the past as a model for the present and future. Within this model, 2 Peter is read as a pseudepigraphon styled and traditioned as a second, testamentary epistle of Peter, the leader of the apostles. Second Peter’s authoritative status is doubted in the early stages of the canonical process. But the ongoing transmission of the reputation of Peter, attested for example by the manuscript tradition, aids this work’s establishment as a Petrine text.

Creating a “New World” in Tranquebar (Missionaries and “Malabarians”)

Since the beginning of the 18th century, Danish Royal Mission has been working on the Coromandel coast of Hindustan in the city of Tranquebar (Dansborg fortress in 250 km from Madras). This mission, created on the initiative of King Frederick IV (1699–1730), consisted mainly of Germans, graduates of the University of the Saxon city of Halle. The first head of the mission (in 1706–1719) was Bartolomäus Ziegenbalg (1682–1706). All the work was carried out under his leadership: Several schools were opened, Christian literature was translated into Portuguese and Tamil, a church was built, sermons were read, residents were baptized. Many materials survived from those years: Correspondence of those missionaries with their relatives, friends and colleagues, numerous reports, and diaries. These sources allow us not only to present the life and work of Lutheran priests in Southern India in detail, but also to understand the peculiarities of their worldview. Most of the missionaries who worked in Tranquebar, like their mentors at the University of Halle, were adherents of the teachings of pietism. The founder and main ideologist of this doctrine was Philip Jacob Spener (1635–1705). His main work “Pia desideria” (1675) put forward the idea of the need for a general renewal of the Church and personal piety. Spener’s doctrine became the ideological basis of all the work of Ziegenbalg and his colleagues in the Indian South. Their critical attitude towards European Christians determined the main goals of working with pagans. It was in the pagans that they saw the so-called “new Christians”, destined to form the «renewed Christian world».

ПОХОРОНЫ АВЕЛЯ: АПОКРИФИЧЕСКИЙ МОТИВ В РУССКОЙ ИКОНОПИСИ

The author focuses on the visualization of the apocryphal legend of Abel’s funeral. The legend is based on a mythological motif about a bird that taught people to bury the dead in the ground. It is known in Jewish and Muslim literature in different versions and is widespread in the Near East, Asia, the Caucasus; its variations were also recorded in the Arctic. The story of a bird who buried another bird and taught Adam and Eve what to do with the dead, passed into Christian literature from the Jewish sources and appeared in various texts. It was included in the popular in Russia “Tolkovaya Paleya”, which said that the body of Abel remained incorruptible for 30 years, until two turtledoves sent by God flew to Adam and Eve – one died, and the second dug a hole and buried her. The whole story – the murder of Abel, the two birds and the funeral – was sometimes depicted in the iconography of the 17th century, also on the deacon doors of Russian iconostases. The author consideres the doors to the altar of the second half of the 17th century from the collection of the Pereslavl-Zalessky museum, where birds are not depicted, but the story is represented by three separate scenes.

Travel and the Making of a Pseudepigraphical Hero in Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Literature

Travel and the Making of a Pseudepigraphical Hero in Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Literature