EARLY CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES: PRECURSOR TO MODERN HISTORICAL CRITICISM?
EARLY CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES: PRECURSOR TO MODERN HISTORICAL CRITICISM?
Author(s): Carl R. HolladaySubject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Universitatea Babes-Bolyai - Centrul de Studii Biblice
Keywords: C. F. D. Moule; promise-fulfillment; typology; Philo of Alexandria; Ptolemy; Epistle to Flora; Scripture interpretation; dimensionality in Scripture; “flat;” “round” views of Scripture;
Summary/Abstract: This essay explores C. F. D. Moule’s intriguing suggestion that early Christian interpretation of Scripture, especially the use of promise-fulfillment and typology as hermeneutical approaches, anticipated some aspects of the modern historical-critical method. Included is a discussion of the metaphorical use of “flat” (two-dimensional) and “round” (three-dimensional) to characterize ways of reading Scripture. Attention is given to two ancient authors—Philo of Alexandria and Ptolemy’s Epistle to Flora—both of whom exemplify three-dimensional approaches to Scripture interpretation, although in different ways.
Journal: Sacra Scripta
- Issue Year: XIX/2021
- Issue No: 1-2
- Page Range: 58-77
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF