Hesitating over Hebrews: the reception of the Epistle to the Hebrews as a case study in problematizing the concept of canon

Athanasius of Alexandria’s list of canonical scriptures has often been taken as a natural terminus in the long, inevitable process that led to the development of a fixed “New Testament.” Recently, however, a number of scholars have challenged this point of view, arguing instead that citations, canon lists, and manuscript copies must each be placed within their own distinctive social and historical contexts before any judgment about the relationship of a given passage or book to the shifting category “sacred writing” can be made. When this careful attention to social context is applied to the use and reproduction of the work known as the Epistle to the Hebrews, a complex story of the book’s reception emerges. The Epistle to the Hebrews was written about, quoted, and reproduced to a variety of ends throughout the early Christian period. As I show, its reception was influenced not by canonical concerns per se, but instead by the utility of its theological arguments, its shifting relationship to the Pauline corpus, the history of its translation into Latin, and, to a lesser extent, its appearance in lists of sacred scripture produced by fourth- and fifth-century theologians. By placing ancient discussions of Hebrews’ status within bibliographic methodologies, assessing citation patterns in light of broader compositional and citational practices, and situating Christian manuscript evidence within the editorial customs of the time, I argue that the “canonicity” of Hebrews was never seriously questioned. Instead, historical accident, late antique book cultures, changing attitudes toward the function of apostolic authorship, and the varying transmission of scriptures in Greek and Latin conspired to produce a complex textual and material record. As the reception of even this one book shows, the transmission of early Christian writings rarely conformed to the supposedly rational decisions of church leaders about the inclusion or exclusion of certain works

The Gospel on the Margins: The Ideological Function of the Patristic Tradition on the Evangelist Mark

In spite of the virtually unanimous patristic opinion that the evangelist Mark was the interpreter of Peter, one of the most prestigious apostolic founding figures in Christian memory, the Gospel of Mark was mostly neglected in the patristic period. Not only is the text of Mark the least well represented of the canonical Gospels in terms of the number of patristic citations, commentaries and manuscripts, the explicit comments about the evangelist Mark reveal some ambivalence about its literary or theological value. In my survey of the reception of Mark from Papias of Hierapolis until Clement of Alexandria, I will argue that the reason why the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace the Gospel of Mark was that they perceived the text to be amenable to the Christological beliefs and social praxis of rival Christian factions. The patristic tradition about Mark may have little historical basis, but it had an important ideological function in appropriating the text in the name of an apostolic authority from the margins or periphery

The Community That Raymond Brown Left Behind: Reflections on the Johannine Dialectical Situation

Among the paradigm-making contributions in Johannine studies over the last half century, one of the most significant is the sketching of “the community of the Beloved Disciple” by Raymond E. Brown (Brown 1979). Extending beyond Johannine studies, Brown’s work on the history of early Christianity and “the churches the apostles left behind” (Brown 1984) is also among the most practical and interesting of his 47 books.1 Here, Brown’s analyses of the unity and diversity of early Christians’ approaches to leadership and community organization2 have extensive implications, not only to historical and sociological understandings of the first-century Christian movement, but also for approaches to Christian leadership in later generations.3 In reviewing the impact of the Johannine community that Raymond Brown left behind, this paper will assess the perdurance (to use one of his terms) of Brown’s overall theory, suggesting also new constructs worthy of consideration by biblical interpreters into the twenty-first century. These issues are especially important in service to interpreting the Johannine writings meaningfully—especially the Epistles

Paul\u27s Activity After His First Roman Imprisonment

The object of this brief paper is to take again these known facts from Scripture and form what we think is the most reasonable picture of the final days of the great apostle. The greater part of our material is found in the Pastoral Epistles. For this reason we will begin this paper with an examination of the Pauline authorship and genuineness of these Epistles; for if this genuineness shou1d not be accepted, the latter days of Paul would always remain a total mystery

Echoes of Daniel in 1 and 2 Thessalonians

Over the last few decades there has been a growing interest regarding the use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament. One of the most frequently referenced books in the New Testament is the book of Daniel. However, the significance of Daniel as an influential source for the New Testament writers in general, and the apostle Paul in particular, has yet to be fully explored. Recognising this, the aims of the present study were to: 1) offer a methodological approach for identifying if and where Paul alludes to or echoes Daniel in 1 and 2 Thessalonians; 2) examine the effect these references have in their new context; and 3) explore how they inform us about Paul’s understanding of Daniel. vi Six potential references to Daniel were evaluated: four in 1 Thessalonians and two in 2 Thessalonians. Three of these were classified as probable (Dan 12:2 in 1 Thess 4:13-15; 5:10; Dan 7:13 in 1 Thess 4:17; Dan 11:31, 36 in 2 Thess 2:3-4) and three were classified as possible (Dan 8:23 in 1 Thess 2:16; Dan 2:21 in 1 Thess 5:1; Dan 7:9-10, 27 in 2 Thess 1:5-10). An examination of each of these references led us to conclude that: first, similarities with sayings of Jesus indicate that Paul had most likely re-read Daniel through the lens of the gospel tradition; second, Paul was not drawing on themes and passages that were disconnected from each other, but were part of the same apocalyptic narrative that had proved a source of comfort to many generations of believers in the midst of persecution; and third, as part of that, he understood himself and the believers to be living within that narrative, as indicated by his interpretation of the enemy of God’s people in Daniel 11:40-45 as still being future

Identity and Congruence: The Ethics of Integrity in the Johannine Epistles (Chapter in Biblical Ethics and Application)

If the Johannine eagle soared above the earth, it did so with talons bared for the fight; and the last writings that were left show the eaglets tearing at each other for the possession of the nest. There are moments of tranquil contemplation and inspiring penetration in the Johannine writings, but they also reflect a deep involvement in Christian history. Like Jesus, the word transmitted to the Johannine community lived in the flesh

A Reconciliation of Pauline Complementarian Theology and Egalitarian Narratives in the New Testament

The debate about women having authority over men or serving in leadership roles within the church is a controversial topic that has existed for some time. There are different interpretations of the complementarian and egalitarian debate surrounding specific areas in scripture. The Bible is a source of wisdom and truth that is used to direct the lives of Christians and the church. However, both sides point to the same text as the justification for their beliefs. The complementarian and egalitarian debate is far-reaching, but I plan to look at one subject within the larger debate. The scope of my thesis will be to examine the Pauline complementarian literature considering the various narratives of women within the New Testament. The scope of my research will not be exhaustive but will use select examples from New Testament narratives to compare against the Pauline literature which excludes women from many activities. There is an apparent disconnect between some of Paul’s commands and the actions of women in the New Testament, so my focus will be on how to reconcile these and examine them in a systematic posture. There is a historical trend for a complementarian interpretation of Pauline literature, but with modern research tools, historical exploration, and critical frameworks, there is much to be added concerning this portion of the debate. The goal of the thesis is to reconcile narratives of female leadership within the New Testament compared to the limitations placed on women within Pauline literature. The Bible is thousands of years old and to properly honor the text, readers need to be educated in the cultural and historical nuances of the time of authorship. Without the proper context, readers are going into scripture blind and can make poor interpretations of the text. The main hermetical tool for this thesis will be to focus on a systematic and historical reading of the literature. This is not a new way of reading scripture, but it is imperative to the identification of female leadership and how it correlates to the Pauline literature present in the New Testament. I address this as a problem that will be analyzed within my thesis because it is the driving factor of my position. I am examining the impact of narratives within the whole of the New Testament and placing them side-by-side with Pauline literature. Throughout my research, I have seen complementarians focus solely on the passages within Pauline literature to support their claim. I have also seen egalitarians solely use narratives to support their claim. Therefore, I am trying to reconcile the two through this thesis which requires a historical and systematic approach to reading these areas of scripture. Overall, the problem I am tackling is as follows. There is a disparity between the writings of Paul and the narratives of the New Testament concerning the role of women within the church which require a historical and systematic study to reconcile their apparent differences and provide a unified message of female leadership within New Testament texts

Theological struggle for the meaning of 'woman' in the early Christian communities

Feminist historical readings of New Testament texts often overlook the importance of theology in their assessments of early Christian women. This is because theologies make 'truth claims' and feminists prefer to view the restrictions placed on women as the result of socio-cultural factors. However, it is the argument of this dissertation that the early Christian communities were involved in a multi-faceted struggle for the meaning of 'woman' and that this issue was debated theologically in many locations. Rather than avoid questions of theology, it is important for feminist readers to engage in the theological struggle, a struggle that can be viewed as having a loosely defined continuity with the struggle for female identity within the feminist movement itself. Three case studies are presented and in each case it can be shown that female identity was indeed debated on theological grounds in the early church. In the communities behind 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy it is clear that theological discussions were taking place over the issue of the place and role of women in the church/es. In the church at Corinth, debates arose over the meaning of gender in relation to the theological issues of wisdom, Christ's death and return, the presence of angels during worship, the meaning of baptism and the interpretation of Genesis 1.27. It will be shown that the author of 1 Timothy likely had a specific community or communities in mind when writing. By analysing the rhetoric of this text, it becomes clear that theological discussions over the meaning of 'woman' took place amongst the readers over the interpretation of Genesis 1-3 and the relationship between childbearing and salvation. In the fifth chapter of Ephesians we find an interesting passage that shows the reader just how entwined theologies of community and gender relations were becoming in the early church. We can conclude that the theological questions behind the debates about female identity were quite different in different locations. It is important to be aware that the New Testament contains evidence of a struggle that offers a paradigm for debates among feminist Christians today