As a teacher, I am regularly asked about Bible passages and the theology they convey. Sometimes the questions are straightforward; other times, not so much. Some time back, for example, as I was innocently trying to lead our community group through Romans 8:18-30, I was asked how to interpret verses 29-30 in light of thatContinue reading “How to Approach Difficult Bible Passages”
Tag Archives: Canon
Spectrums of Scripture: Bibliography
This post is the final in our series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. Primary Sources Athanasius of Alexandria. Letter to Marcellinus. Edited and translated by Robert C. Gregg. The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus. Classics of Western Spirituality.Continue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Bibliography”
Spectrums of Scripture: Graphing Addenda
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. Graphing Addenda Color: Text (i.e., blue for 1 Clement, red for Ignatius, green for Hermas) Size: Length (i.e., bigger the dot/sphere, the longer the passage) Brightness/Translucence: Clarity (i.e.,Continue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Graphing Addenda”
Spectrums of Scripture: Conclusions
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. This series has sought to begin developing a common methodological language for discussing ancient textual borrowing. Building from blocks of common concerns within the subfields of the studyContinue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Conclusions”
Spectrums of Scripture: Stream of Thought
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. The third level of authoritative correspondence includes “stream of thought” and “somewhere” references. These citations cast their source texts as implicitly authoritative: not so important that they bearContinue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Stream of Thought”
Spectrums of Scripture: Formal Authority and Name Dropping
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. What then are the various forms of authoritative correspondence? On one end of the authoritative spectrum are formal quotations, commentaries, and translations. Formal quotations denote the highest levelContinue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Formal Authority and Name Dropping”
Spectrums of Scripture: Authoritative Correspondence
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. The authoritative correspondence spectrum constitutes the third and final method of tracking how texts were received by other ancient texts. This spectrum ranges from obviously high attributions ofContinue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Authoritative Correspondence”
Spectrums of Scripture: Thematic Echoes
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. The most amorphous and difficult to trace form of thematic correspondence is the thematic echo, where certain words or short phrases used in one text appear in another.[1]Continue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Thematic Echoes”
Spectrums of Scripture: Typology
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. Typology involves an ancient author’s building upon a specific concept, idea, or symbol found in another text.[1] This is among the most common thematic correspondences, where a writerContinue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Typology”
Spectrums of Scripture: Rewriting
This post is part of an ongoing series formulating a methodology for tracking and understanding the variety of ways in which early Christians received and utilized Scripture. Brugge’s final category—rewriting—is far and away the most discussed method of thematic explication, in no small part due to Geza Vermes’s creation of the category of “Rewritten Bible”Continue reading “Spectrums of Scripture: Rewriting”