Introduction: The Old Greek, Hebrew and Other Text Witnesses in Eastern Orthodoxy / Alexandru Mihaila. Reception History: A Paradigmatic Turn in Contemporary Biblical Scholarship / Justin A. Mihoc -- Tradition: Generated by or Generating Scripture? / Silviu N. Bunta -- The Emergence of Biblical Canons in Orthodox Tradition / Lee Martin McDonald -- Past and Current Trends in New Testament Textual Criticism / Simon Crisp -- The Special Status of Anaginoskomena in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy / Ioan Chirila -- The Place of the Hebrew Old Testament Text in the Eastern Church / Miltiadis Konstantinou -- Theology, Philosophy, and Confessionalization: Eastern Orthodox Biblical Interpretation after the Fall of Constantinople up to the Late 17th Century / Athanasios Despotis -- The Bible in Orthodox Christian-Jewish Dialogue / Michael G. Azar -- Biblical Interpretation in Ethiopian Patristic Literature / Mersha Alehegne -- Biblical Exegesis in the Syriac Churches / Sebastian P. Brock -- Bible and Archeology: An Orthodox Perspective / Nicolae Roddy -- Anti-Semitic Sentiments in Liturgical and Patristic Biblical Interpretations / Bogdan G. Bucur -- The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawah?do Church (EOTC) / Daniel Assefa -- Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers / Alexis Torrance -- Reading from thee End, Looking Forward / John Behr -- Modern Orthodox Biblical Interpretation / James Buchanan Wallace -- Translation of the Bible into Armenian / Garegin Hambardzumyan -- Pastoral Use of the Bible in the Orthodox Church / Harry Pappas -- From Suspicion to Appreciation: The Change of Perception Regarding Theodotion's Version of Daniel in Patristic Literature / Daniel Olariu -- Orthodox Christianity, Patristic Exegesis, and Historical Criticism of the Bible / John Fotopoulos -- The Use of the Bible in Byzantine Liturgical Texts and Services / Stefanos Alexopoulos -- Bible, Theology, and Science: Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future / David A. Wilkinson -- How Orthodox Women Read and Teach the Bible / Ashley M. Purpura -- Scriptural Interpretation in the Late Antique Coptic Tradition / Mary K. Farag -- Syriac Versions of the Bible / George A. Kiraz -- Toward an Orthodox Hermeneutic / Theodore G. Stylianopoulos -- The Bible and the Armenian Church / Vahan Hovhanessian -- Towards an Integrative Reading of the Bible / R. W. L. Moberly -- The Modern Search for the Literal Sense: Forerunners of the Challenge at Antioch / Christopher R. Seitz -- Splendid Brilliancy: Orthodox Perspectives on Biblical Inspiration / Edith M. Humphrey -- B.E.S.T.: Bridging Synchronic and Diachronic Modes of Interpretation / Olivier-Thomas Venard -- The Coptic Bible / Hany N. Takla -- Theology-Science Dialogue: An Orthodox Perspective / Nikolaos Chatzinikolaou -- Who's Afraid of the Old Testament? Tough Texts for Rough Times / Brent A. Strawn -- Eastern Orthodox Views on Ancient Jewish Biblical Interpretations / Bruce N. Beck -- The New Testament in the Orthodox Church: Liturgical and Pedagogical Aspects / Konstantin Nikolakopoulos -- Antiochene Theoria and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture / Bradley Nassif -- Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy: A Brief Survey / Anthony G. Roeber -- Liturgical Use and Biblical Canonicity / Petros Vassiliadis -- Byzantine Lectionary Manuscripts and Their Significance for Biblical Textual Criticism / Gregory Paulson -- The Old Greek, Hebrew and Other Text Witnesses in Eastern Orthodoxy / Alexandru Mihaila.
Summary:
"The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity investigates the various ways in which Orthodox Christian, i.e., Eastern and Oriental communities have received, shaped, and interpreted the Christian Bible. The handbook is divided into five parts, including the introduction ("Balancing Tradition with Modernity") that sets the tone and scope of the volume. The first part focuses on how the Orthodox Church has never codified the Septuagint or any other textual witnesses as its authoritative text. Textual fluidity and pluriformity, a characteristic of Orthodoxy, is demonstrated by the various ancient and modern Bible translations such as, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, etc. The second part discusses how, unlike the Protestant and Roman-Catholic situations where the canon of the Bibleis "closed" and limited to 39 and 46 books, respectively, the Orthodox canon is "open-ended" consisting of 39 canonical books and 10 or more (e.g., Ethiopian canon) anaginoskomena "readable" books as additions to Septuagint. The third part show how, unlike the classical Protestant view of sola scriptura and the Roman Catholic way of placing Scripture and Tradition on par as sources or means of divine revelation, the Orthodox view accords a central role to Scripture within Tradition, with the latter conceived not as a deposit of faith but rather as the Church's life through history. The final two parts survey "traditional" Orthodox hermeneutics consisting mainly of patristic commentaries and liturgical interpretations found in hymnography and iconography, and the ways by which Orthodox biblical scholars balance these traditional hermeneutics with modern historical-critical approaches to the Bible." -- Publisher, inside front flap of dust jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.