Divining Gospel
eBook - ePub

Divining Gospel

Oracles of Interpretation in a Syriac Manuscript of John

  1. 241 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Divining Gospel

Oracles of Interpretation in a Syriac Manuscript of John

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Ancient manuscripts of John's Gospel containing hermeneiai have long puzzled scholars, provoking debate about their origins, purpose, and use. The fragmentary nature of the early evidence has impeded progress towards a better understanding of these specialized books.

The present study shows that these books are "Divining Gospels"—editions of John's Gospel incorporating lot divination materials for use in fortune-telling. The study centers on material presented here for the first time: the text and translation of a unique sixth-century Syriac manuscript, the earliest and most complete example of a hermeneia Gospel. An analysis of the Syriac along with evidence from Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Armenian versions show they all preserve vestiges of the same apparatus, disseminated widely at an early time throughout many different Christian communities. These books must be situated squarely within the development of divinatory practices in early and late antique Christianity. However, they represent a true hermeneutic, a method by which interpreters brought the potency of the Bible to bear on the everyday concerns of people who consulted them for help.

Furthermore, the Divining Gospel draws on the special aura that John's Gospel held in the Christian imagination, both as text and as textual object. An analysis of the interplay between the biblical text and sacred codex, the oracles, the ritual practitioner, and the client enrich our appreciation of this distinctive hermeneutic. Contextualizing these materials in popular use illuminates the fraught relationships between the ecclesial establishment, ritual experts operating on the margins of orthodox respectability, and lay clients seeking knowledge and help.

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Yes, you can access Divining Gospel by Jeff W. Childers in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Biblical Criticism & Interpretation. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
De Gruyter
Year
2020
ISBN
9783110643558

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. Preface and Acknowledgements
  5. 1 Opening the Gospel
  6. 2 Divination in Late Antique Christian Practice
  7. 3 Divining Gospels: A Suppressed and Neglected Genre
  8. 4 “Fearsome and Terrible Word of God:” A Closer Look at the Form and History of The Syriac Codex
  9. 5 “You Will Find What You Seek:” The Divinatory Material of the Syriac Codex
  10. 6 Interpreting Hermeneia: The Use and Function of the Divining Gospel
  11. 7 Oracles of Biblical Interpretation: Examining the Relationship between Divination, John’s Gospel, and the User
  12. 8 The Demise of the Divining Gospel
  13. Index of Manuscripts
  14. Index of Biblical Citations
  15. Index of Ancient Authors
  16. Index of General Subjects and Selected Modern Authors