
Threads and Images
The Use of Scripture in Apophthegmata Patrum
Per Ronnegard(Author)
Eisenbrauns (Publisher)
Published on 30. June 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-1-57506-808-4 (ISBN)
Description
Whenever religious texts are read as holy Scripture, an individual or an interpretive community appropriates the text by assuming that the text has relevance "today"-that is, there is a reference to the present in the text. By pointing out such a referent, the texts are contextualized. This study analyses this process as it is expressed in Apophthegmata Patrum (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers).
The prominent historian Peter Brown has called the collection "the last and one of the greatest products of the Wisdom Literature of the ancient Near East." It has had a tremendous influence on Christian monasticism in the East as well as the West, and the different collections are widely read today. This publication is the first major text-centered study of the use of Scripture in Apophthegmata Patrum. Thirty-two sayings are analyzed in detail. The analyses, together with examples taken from the whole range of sayings of the Greek systematic collection of Apophthegmata Patrum, form the basis of systematization. One set of categories is developed in terms of how the threads of biblical material are woven into the new text of Apophthegmata Patrum to bear on questions relevant to its first readers. Another set of categories is developed in terms of the role biblical texts have in individual sayings, and it becomes evident to what extent the Bible functions pedagogically as a source of images to illustrate the teachings of the Fathers and Mothers of the desert.
The prominent historian Peter Brown has called the collection "the last and one of the greatest products of the Wisdom Literature of the ancient Near East." It has had a tremendous influence on Christian monasticism in the East as well as the West, and the different collections are widely read today. This publication is the first major text-centered study of the use of Scripture in Apophthegmata Patrum. Thirty-two sayings are analyzed in detail. The analyses, together with examples taken from the whole range of sayings of the Greek systematic collection of Apophthegmata Patrum, form the basis of systematization. One set of categories is developed in terms of how the threads of biblical material are woven into the new text of Apophthegmata Patrum to bear on questions relevant to its first readers. Another set of categories is developed in terms of the role biblical texts have in individual sayings, and it becomes evident to what extent the Bible functions pedagogically as a source of images to illustrate the teachings of the Fathers and Mothers of the desert.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Pennsylvania State University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
345 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-57506-808-4 (9781575068084)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER TWO: TEXT AND METHOD
1. The Text
1.1 Collections and Versions
1.2 Genre
1.3 Historicity
1.4 The Bible used in AP
2. Method
2.1 Previous Research
2.2 Purpose and Procedure of the Present Study
3. Summary of Selection and Mode of Procedure
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSES OF SAYINGS
Introduction
1. Some Simple Uses Of Scripture
2. Analyses of More Complex Uses of Scripture
CHAPTER FOUR: DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING SCRIPTURE IN APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM
Introduction
1. Ways of Pointing Out the Referent of a Bible Text
1.1 Connecting the biblical text to an external referent
1.2 Adaptations and focalizations of the Bible text itself
1.3 Connecting Biblical Texts to Each Other
1.4 Summary
2. The Different Roles of the Bible Text in Individual Sayings
2.1 The Bible as something to be explained/ "Exegesis"
2.2 The Bible as support for ethical or other teaching/"Proof texts"
2.3 The Bible as a source of images/ "Illustrative use"
2.4 The Bible as Classic to be imitated/ "Mimetic use"
2.5 Other Roles of the Bible
2.6 Summary
3. The Use of Scripture in AP in Light of the Ergasia Pattern
3.1 The paraphrase or chreia proper (..e.a)
3.2 Authority of the elders (...s..)
3.3 Example (pa..de..?a)
3.4 Comparison (pa.ass...)
3.5 Summary
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX: List of Quotations, Paraphrases and Allusions in AP
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEXES
PLATE
SUMMARY IN SWEDISH
CHAPTER TWO: TEXT AND METHOD
1. The Text
1.1 Collections and Versions
1.2 Genre
1.3 Historicity
1.4 The Bible used in AP
2. Method
2.1 Previous Research
2.2 Purpose and Procedure of the Present Study
3. Summary of Selection and Mode of Procedure
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSES OF SAYINGS
Introduction
1. Some Simple Uses Of Scripture
2. Analyses of More Complex Uses of Scripture
CHAPTER FOUR: DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING SCRIPTURE IN APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM
Introduction
1. Ways of Pointing Out the Referent of a Bible Text
1.1 Connecting the biblical text to an external referent
1.2 Adaptations and focalizations of the Bible text itself
1.3 Connecting Biblical Texts to Each Other
1.4 Summary
2. The Different Roles of the Bible Text in Individual Sayings
2.1 The Bible as something to be explained/ "Exegesis"
2.2 The Bible as support for ethical or other teaching/"Proof texts"
2.3 The Bible as a source of images/ "Illustrative use"
2.4 The Bible as Classic to be imitated/ "Mimetic use"
2.5 Other Roles of the Bible
2.6 Summary
3. The Use of Scripture in AP in Light of the Ergasia Pattern
3.1 The paraphrase or chreia proper (..e.a)
3.2 Authority of the elders (...s..)
3.3 Example (pa..de..?a)
3.4 Comparison (pa.ass...)
3.5 Summary
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX: List of Quotations, Paraphrases and Allusions in AP
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEXES
PLATE
SUMMARY IN SWEDISH