The Shepherd of Hermas’ Apocalyptic Visions and Angelic Intermediaries in and in Light of Clement of Alexandria

Author(s):  
Christopher S. Atkins
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Tollinton

Author(s):  
Matthew D. C. Larsen

How did the earliest readers of the text we now call the Gospel according to Mark treat it? Chapter 5 analyzes the evidence of the earliest readers and argues that they regarded it not as a book published by an author but as unfinished notes (hypomnēmata). The Gospel according to Mark was regarded as textualized but not as a published book. The chapter looks at the preface to the Gospel according of Luke, as well as comments by Papias, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius. These writers use the Greek terms hypomnēmata or apomnēmoneumata to describe the textual tradition we now call the Gospel according to Mark. Moreover, they describe its production and textuality in terms similar to those explored in chapters 2 and 3.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Otto

As an allegorical interpreter who perceived some of the spiritual teachings embedded in the Hebrew scriptures, Philo did not match the image of the stereotypical Jew constructed by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius. Neither, however, did he fulfill their criteria to be considered a legitimate Christian. This chapter argues that Philo functions in early Christian writings as neither a Christian nor a Jew but is situated in between these two increasingly differentiated identities. Acting as a third term in the equation, Philo the “Pythagorean,” the “predecessor,” and the “Hebrew,” mediates between the categories of Christian and Jew while ensuring that the two identities remain rhetorically and conceptually distinct. An epilogue briefly traces the varying depictions of Philo in later Christian literature, including accounts of his baptism by the apostle John and his transformation into Philo Judaeus, Philo the Jew.


Author(s):  
Yii-Jan Lin

This chapter contends that the study of gender, sexuality, and the New Testament is not limited to the content of texts or their historical contexts. On the contrary, how we formulate a textual entity and how we approach that entity contribute to the dynamics that constitute identity, and are thus important to the discussion. In the case of the New Testament, Western Christianity has understood the active Word, or Logos, of God as “masculine” in its creative power. The text of the New Testament, on the other hand, requires historical and philological study, and is decidedly “feminine” in its vulnerability to disease and adulteration, especially in the field of textual criticism. Disrupting metaphors and conceptions of text and speech, masculine and feminine, can be found in ancient Judaism’s formulation of the Written and Oral Torah, as well as in Clement of Alexandria, the Odes of Solomon, and in Plato.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document