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The Apologists and Paul

In Bloomsbury, Jonathon Lookadoo, Patristic exegesis, Patristics, Paul on January 14, 2025 at 2:48 pm

2025.01.03 | Todd D. Still and David E. Wilhite. The Apologists and Paul. Pauline and Patristic Scholars in Debate. London: T&T Clark, 2024. Pp. xiv + 346. ISBN: 9780567715456.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Many thanks to T&T Clark for providing a review copy.

The Apologists and Paul provides a wide-ranging analysis of how Paul’s letters were employed by that loosely defined group of early Christian writers known as the apologists. This volume is the fourth in the series, Pauline and Patristic Scholars in Debate, all of which have been co-edited by Todd Still and David Wilhite. Earlier compilations took up the use of Paul by Tertullian (2013), the Apostolic Fathers (2017), and Irenaeus (2020). While the volumes have not appeared in the same chronological order as the early Christian authors and texts that they study, the respective contributions to the series are characterized by far-reaching coverage of the respective figures in the titles (the Apostolic Fathers, Irenaeus, and Tertullian) as well as depth in the probative explorations of how Paul was utilized by his later interpreters. The most recent book is no exception. Although the composition of some essays was delayed due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting collection is marked by breadth in its discussion of the apologists as well as depth in its attention to the details of how Paul was employed. Along the way, several essays shed light on many pre-requisites that must be understood to appreciate each respective apologist.

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The Memory of Ignatius of Antioch

In Frazer MacDiarmid, Ignatius, Jonathon Lookadoo, Memory, Mohr Siebeck, Patristics on January 18, 2024 at 11:44 am

2024.01.01 | Frazer MacDiarmid. The Memory of Ignatius of Antioch: The Martyr as a Locus of Christian Identity, Remembering and Remembered. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.581. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022. Pp. xii + 269. ISBN: 9783161614996.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Frazer MacDiarmid employs memory as a hermeneutical lens through which to view Ignatius’s letters from three angles: how Ignatius remembers others, how Ignatius makes provisions for his immediate memory, and how Ignatius was remembered by readers in late antiquity. The monograph began life as an Oxford D.Phil. thesis that was completed in 2021 under the supervision of Mark Edwards. The Memory of Ignatius of Antioch is carefully argued and maintains a consistent focus without getting distracted by the many possible topics on which it could have engaged. Most substantively, MacDiarmid unlocks fresh perspectives on old or overlooked issues in the letters by employing memory as a key to the Ignatian corpus.

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Deciphering the Worlds of Hebrews

In Gabriella GELARDINI, Hebrews, Jewish Backgrounds, Jewish liturgy, Jonathon Lookadoo on December 29, 2021 at 3:49 pm
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2021.12.19 | Gabriella Gelardini. Deciphering the Worlds of Hebrews: Collected Essays. Supplements to Novum Testamentum 184. Leiden: Brill, 2021. pp. xii + 375. ISBN: 9789004460164.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The volume under review gathers fifteen essays from Gabriella Gelardini that were published from 2005–2019. Gelardini is Professor of Christianity, Religion, Worldview, and Ethics at Nord University and has previously published both a monograph and two edited volumes on Hebrews. The book is divided into three parts with each part comprised of five chapters. Fourteen of the essays in this volume were published previously, but many of them were published in disparate edited volumes. Twelve chapters are written in English, while three of the essays appear in German. The collection of these papers in one volume is thus warmly to be welcomed both for the ease with which the essays can now be read and for the way in which Gelardini’s research on Hebrews over a fifteen-year period can be explored.

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Die Briefe des Ignatios von Antiochia

In Apostolic Fathers, De Gruyter, Ignatius, Jonathon Lookadoo, Patristics, Peter von MOLLENDORFF, Thomas Johann BAUER on October 29, 2019 at 11:24 am

2019.10.14 | Thomas Johann Bauer and Peter von Möllendorff, eds. Die Briefe des Ignatios von Antiochia: Motive, Strategien, Kontexte. Millennium-Studien 72. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2018. pp. viii + 288. ISBN: 9783110604467.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

This volume edited by Bauer and von Möllendorff finds its origins in papers that were delivered to the twenty-fifth meeting of the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft “Zweites Jahrhundert” at the Benediktbeuern Abbey in September 2017. Nine essays are collected that explore Ignatius’s letters from a variety of angles while simultaneously offering a cross-section of the current multiplicity of scholarly opinions on the date, authenticity, authorship, and purpose of the letters. Read the rest of this entry »


Parabiblica Latina

In Apocrypha, Apostolic Fathers, Benjamin GLEEDE, Brill, Jonathon Lookadoo, Latin Christianity, Patristics, Translation on June 27, 2018 at 10:30 am

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2018.06.09 | Benjamin Gleede. Parabiblica Latina: Studien zu den griechisch-lateinischen Übersetzungen parabiblischer Literatur unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der apostolischen Väter. VCSup 137. Leiden: Brill, 2016. pp. viii + 392. ISBN: 9789004315945.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

As textual explorations and scholarly discussions of canonicity continue to develop in historical studies of the New Testament and early Christianity, Benjamin Gleede offers a thorough study of the Latin textual tradition of parabiblical texts. These are texts that are rarely included in canons of scripture but which seem to have held an authoritative place in at least some early Christian circles. The book is a published version of Gleede’s Habilitationsschrift, and the research was undertaken at the University of Zürich as part of the research project, Studien zur Übersetzungstechnik Rufins mit ausführlichem Glossar.

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Mystery and the Making of a Christian Historical Consciousness

In De Gruyter, Jonathon Lookadoo, Paul, Second century, T. J. LANG on January 12, 2017 at 11:37 am

2017.01.01 | T. J. Lang, Mystery and the Making of a Christian Historical Consciousness: From Paul to the Second Century. BZNW 219. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015. pp. xii +293. ISBN: 9783110442670.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, University of Otago

Early Christian conceptions of history are a complicated matter to study. Many early Christian texts highlight continuity between God’s actions in and after Jesus and the way in which God acted prior to Jesus. However, other passages suggest a break, even a rupture, which occurred after Jesus.

Mystery and the Making of a Christian Historical Consciousness steps into this complicated issue by studying the role of “mystery” (μυστήριον) in Pauline literature and tracing the usage of the concept through the second century. Read the rest of this entry »


The Pauline Effect: The Use of the Pauline Epistles by Early Christian Writers

In De Gruyter, Jennifer R. STRAWBRIDGE, Jonathon Lookadoo, NT reception history, Paul, Reception history, Uncategorized on July 11, 2016 at 10:20 pm

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2016.07.13 | Jennifer R. Strawbridge. The Pauline Effect: The Use of the Pauline Epistles by Early Christian Writers. SBR 5. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2015. pp. vii + 309. ISBN: 978-3-11-043770-6.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, University of Otago

Many thanks to Walter de Gruyter for providing a review copy.

Amid the increasing popularity of reception histories in Humanities scholarship and particularly in early Christian studies, Jennifer Strawbridge has added a unique and timely study of the way in which Paul’s letters were received in the ante-Nicene period. A two-fold emphasis frames the book, which began as an Oxford DPhil thesis supervised by Christopher Rowland and Teresa Morgan. First, the book investigates the way in which early Christian authors used Pauline letters. Second, the volume considers how the interpretation of Paul’s letters may illuminate their role in early Christian formation. Read the rest of this entry »