Esoteric Hermeneutics

In chapters 21-24 Ireneaus protests against the habit of his opponents of reading references to the Aeons in the NT. He also objects to their focus on numbers, syllables and letters in the Biblical text.

Chapter 22 is the most curious in this section. Ireneaus is arguing against the claim that Jesus exerted his ministry for one year. Against what he sees as a literalistic interpretation of Isaiah 61:2 he claims:
(i) That "the prophets have very often expressed themselves in parables and allegories, and [are] not [to be understood] according to the mere sound of the words."
(ii) The year of the Lord is to be understood as the whole period of time during which men here and receive the Gospel in faith.
(iii) That Jesus celebrated the Passover on more than one occasion, according to the Gospel of John and therefore his ministry lasted more than one year.
(iv) In a more bizarre fashion that Jesus died at the age of 50. Amongst his arguments for this are:
(a) That to redeem mankind Jesus had to go through all the ages up to old age [50 in his context]. Yet by that argument Jesus would also have to be a woman to redeem women.
(b) That when his opponents complained that Jesus was not yet 50 but claimed to have seen Abraham this suggests that he was over 40, otherwise they would have said that Jesus was not yet 40. In this argument he also declares that Jesus was not "a mere phantasm, but an actual being of flesh and blood"
(c) That to be considered a Master and a Teacher Jesus could not have been 30.
(d) That there was a tradition going back to John and other apostles that Jesus was crucified at 50.

Link on Justin and OT

A more detailed look, by Brandon Watson, at how Justin uses a specific OT passage can be found here

Another good question from Trypho

In chapter 87 Trypho asks another of his good questions. Basically he wants to know how Justin can claim that Christ is pre-existent and at the same time apply Isaiah 11:1 to him, if this verse suggests that the root of Jesse has yet to receive "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety: and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill Him".

For once, Justin gives a straight (not short chs 87-89!) answer and avoids patronizing Trypho. For Justin this means not that Christ needed these gifts; but rather that they find their fulfilment in him. Rather more controversially he argues in chapter 89 that the descent of the Spirit on Christ when he was baptised was not for his sake, but for the sake of the faith of humans.

Two significant theological points to make are:

(i) Justin sees the "charismatic" spiritual gifts as still being in operation, and women being recipients of such gifts alongside men.
(ii) Justin understands both angels and humans as having free will, and that they receive blessing or punishment according to how they exercise this free will.

Justin on the Virgin Birth

Chapters 67-78 provide us with a lengthy rather tedious discussion on the virgin birth. Trypho objects to this teaching claiming
(1) There are parallels in Greek mythology.
(2) The prophecy from Isaiah refers to a young woman and was fulfilled in Hezekiah.

Justin answers (1) with his concept of demonic imitation of Christian teaching
(2) He begins with a very unconvincing claim that the Jews distorted the LXX. He has a stronger argument in affirming that it is hard to see the prophecy fully fulfilled in Hezekiah, leading him to search for a Christological referent.

Justin and Typology

In chapters 40-42 Justin engages in typological exegesis, reading the New Testament into the Old. In my "salad days when I was green in judgement" when I was more enamoured with the Historical-Critical Method I would have rubbished such an approach. However, these days I acknowledge that at least Justin makes the offering of fine flour which was offered by the lepers be of relevance to his contemporaries by linking it to the Eucharist.

Justin and Hermeneutics ctd...

In chapters 36-39 the dialogue takes an interesting turn. Justin justifies the Christian faith, especially the adoration of Jesus, by interpreting the Old Testament Christologically. Naturally, for Trypho, this is blasphemy, and he worries that Justin may, to quote the first dog to visit this blog, be "barking mad."

Hermeneutical controversies

In chapters 32-34 we see Trypho and Justin exchanging hermeneutical arguments.

Trypho quite understandably objects to Justin's use of scripture, and especially to his equating of Jesus with the Messiah when from the Jewish perspective Jesus was a failure.

Justin responds by interpreting Isaiah 53 christologically, and reiterating two comings of Christ, one in humility, another in glory. He also argues at length why Old Testament Psalms [which he believes were dictated to David by the Holy Spirit] should be interpreted christologically.

A good question

In chapters 26-29 Justin has to face a good question from Trypho concerning his rather selective use of the Old Testament. Trypho is particularly annoyed at the way in which Justin seems to overlook those passages which do not support Justin's perspective.

Justin's reply is to repeat his argument that the law was given due to the hardness of the heart of the Jews. His hermeneutics can be summarized in the following quote:

"They are contained in your scriptures, or rather not yours, but ours. For we believe them but you... do not catch the spirit that is in them."

Law and Hard Hearts

In chapters 14-25 Justin continues with his barrage on law-keeping. His main arguments are:

(1) The Jews err by not realising the spiritual meaning that the law pointed to.
(2) Prior to Moses there was no law, nonetheless there were still many considered righteous before God.
(3) Justin also explores considerably the concept of the law being given due to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews. Hence, the law is not presented as being essential to God's will, but more of an emergency measure to avoid more sinning and idolatry. To back up his argument Justin makes use of the OT prophetic rhetoric against Israel. However, the tone takes an unfortunate direction when it moves from being a Jewish critique of fellow countrymen, to being appropriated by an "outsider", a Christian.
(4) A more bizarre argument is developed concerning circumcision, which for Justin was established by God to set the Jews aside as the ones who crucified Jesus (therefore, Justin has to ignore the role played by the "uncircumcised" Romans, an unfortunately too common move in Christian theology).

Jesus the New Law

Briefly:
Chapters 10-13 introduce the division between Trypho and Justin. For Trypho, Christians are in error for not keeping the law. For Justin, Jews are in error for not recognising the new law, the new covenant, Jesus and seeks to quote the OT to prove his point.

The logic of prophecy

In chapter 51-52 Justin argues that because prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ proved to be true, we can trust in prophecies concerning the second coming. His vision of hell is grim, not only do the condemned suffer eternal punishment, they also receive eternal sensibility.

Prophecy also provides a rational grounding for the Christian faith, Justin argues in chapter 53. The fulfilment of prophecy is what allows one to overcome the scandal of the claims made about the person of Jesus.

Prophecy ctd...

Chapters 46-50 continue Justin's theme of Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled in Christ. Of particular significance is the claim that the Word was in the world before the birth of Jesus so that every race in the world can be seen as partakers of the Word. Another enigmatic claim, as regards Justin's christology, is his reference to an "ineffable origin" of Christ.

Prophecy continued

In chapters 40-42 Justin continues the same theme, indicating how David prophesised concerning Jesus. He also seeks to retort to a possible objection, that David spoke about many things as if they had already happened. For Justin, this is due to the prophetic certainty that these things would take place.

The prophesised Christ

Justin continues his apology in chapters 30-35 by quoting Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ. On the whole he covers the same ground that the NT covers, whilst providing 1-2 examples of his own.

Still much to unpack regarding Justin's Christology. Jesus is described as being the "first power" after God the Father and whilst taking human flesh the blood was not of human seed but of divine power. In narrating the virgin birth Justin takes great care to point out there is no link with pagan myths of intercourse between gods and humans, although his statement that the Spirit and the power of God in the OT are the Word, the first-born of God made me raise my eyebrows.

Epistle of Barnabas

Next in my reading of ancient sources is the Epistle of Barnabas.

One of the striking features of this epistle is the way that it uses the Old Testament to try and deconstruct the claims of Judaism. THus, the OT rather than a source of Judaism, is seen to confront it. This can be seen in the way the author of EB deals with the OT themes of Law/covenant; land, Sabbath and temple.

Law/ Covenant

In a very debatable manner, the author claims that because Moses destroyed the tablets of the law in the episode of the golden calf, the covenant was never really established with the Israelites, hence the true covenant is that which was established in Christ. No explanation is offered for the fact that the OT narrates a subsequent re-giving of the law.

Land

The land flowing in milk and honey is not the land of Canaan, rather it refers to Christians growing in faith ruling over the earth.

Sabbath

In what seemed a rather bizarre form of argument, the author claims that the genuine sabbath refers to the eighth day, when Jesus was raised from the dead.

Temple

The true temple is the Spiritual temple of our hearts.

Ignatius, Judaism and the Old Testament

Whilst the author of the Epistle to Diognetus was very negative about Judaism and the Old Testament, Ignatius can say some complimentary about the Old Covenant, whilst at the same time condemning those who try to teach Christians to keep the Jewish law. As EP Sanders said about Paul, for Igantius the problem with Judaism is that it was not Christianity. Jesus not only fulfills the Old Covenant, but also transcends it.

The following quote outlines Ignatius' position:

He is the door of the Father, by which enter in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the prophets, and the apostles and the church... the gospel possesses something transcendent...the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Epistle to Diognetus

My next stopping stage in browsing through ancient sources is the "Epistle to Diognetus" . Written to someone who was not a Christian it seeks to demonstrate how Christians are different from pagans and Jews. Thus, chapter 2 provides a strong statement of the futility of idols, drawing on the Old Testament tradition of satire towards their existence.

Chapters 3 and 4 provide a critique of Judaism. Sacrifices, sabbath keeping, circumcision and festivals are particularly singled out for attention. What puzzles me at the moment is that these are all outlined in the Old Testament, and yet the author seems to suggest that they are unworthy for Christian worship.

Will the next chapters provide an answer to the riddle? Or does the author have an almost marcionite approach to the OT?

Step in line!

Chapters 51-57 consist of Clement's appeal to the church for unity, and for the leaders of the sedition to step in line.

(1) The authors of sedition are urged to repent from their sin, with OT examples of the dire consequences of not repenting quoted.

(2) From Moses' example in the OT, interceding for the people when they sinned and asking to be punished for their sakes, Clement urges the leaders of the sedition that they be willing to step down and suffer loss for the sake of their community. Clement strengthens his argument by referring to heathen kings who were prepared to do the say. Significantly, (in terms of his understanding of the OT canon), Clement quotes not only Ester but also Judith as examples of women interceding for their people.

(3) The readers are urged to correct and admonish one another, and the leaders of the sedition are urged to submit to those leaders they had sort to depose.

Self-conceit and the order of the Church

In chapter 39 Clement draws heavily upon the book of Job to indicate the foolishness of all human conceit.

God is presented as having established and order for worship, both concerning when, by who, and where offerings were to be presented. There is an enigmatic reference to offerings in the Jerusalem temple, which must every now and then allow a maverick scholar to suggest an earlier date for the epistle, but which more significantly raises the question of what Clement thought about the sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple.

Based on this, Chapter 42 presents Clement's understanding of the order of the Church. First are the apostles, commissioned by Christ, witnesses of the resurrection and empowered by the Holy Spirit. They then appointed and entrusted bishops and deacons from those who first converted. There is a curious hermeneutical use of the Old Testament in the way that Clement adapts Isaiah 60:17 "I will give thy rulers in peace, and thy overseers in righteousness.” (LXX) to say "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith.”

Chapters 43 and 44 develop this further. What the apostles have done is analogous to what Moses did in the OT when he set up the priesthood. The problem in Corinth is that this order has been broken, those whom the apostles [or other eminent men] have appointed have been displaced without reason and the church is rebuked for having " removed some men of excellent behaviour from the ministry, which they fulfilled blamelessly and with honour."

Clement of Rome: First Epistle to the Corinthians

In the first three chapters of the epistle, the author, actually anonymous, condemns the sedition present in the church, which he attributes to a few selfish men. This criticism is strengthened as the author remembers how in the past his readers had been a model of Christian faith, their fall being attributed to pride.

Already in the first three chapters the writer's mastery of the Old Testament stands out, especially in the way that the OT flows into his natural style. Included is also a reference to the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon [which would have been part of the Greek OT that he read.]