Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity is designed to demonstrate how Orthodox Christian, namely, Eastern (Greek, Slavic, Romanian, Antiochene) and Oriental (Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian) communities have received, shaped, and interpreted the Christian Bible. The basic hallmark of Orthodox Christianity, a unique mix of strictness (tradition) and flexibility (innovation, modernity), is detectable at the level of text, canon, Scripture-Tradition relationship, and mostly in the area of biblical hermeneutics.

List of contents

• Foreword


• Elpidophoros, Archbishop of America


• Acknowledgments


• List of Contributors


• Introduction: The Bible in Orthodox Christianity: Balancing Tradition with Modernity


• Eugen J. Pentiuc


• Part I: Text


• 1. The Place of the Hebrew Old Testament Text in the Eastern Church


• Miltiadis Konstantinou


• 2. The Old Greek, Hebrew and Other Text Witnesses in Eastern Orthodoxy


• Alexandru Mihaila


• 3. From Suspicion to Appreciation: The Change of Perception Regarding Theodotion's Version of Daniel in Patristic Literature


• Daniel Olariu


• 4. Syriac Versions of the Bible


• George A. Kiraz


• 5. The Coptic Bible


• Hany N. Takla


• 6. Translation of the Bible into Armenian


• Garegin Hambardzumyan


• 7. Byzantine Lectionary Manuscripts and Their Significance for Biblical Textual Criticism


• Gregory Paulson


• 8. Past and Current Trends in New Testament Textual Criticism and their Significance for Orthodox Biblical Scholarship


• Simon Crisp


• Part II: Canon


• 9. The Emergence of Biblical Canon in Orthodox Christianity


• Lee Martin McDonald


• 10. Biblical Inspiration: A Critical-Historical Survey


• Edith M. Humphrey


• 11. The Special Status of Anaginoskomena in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy


• Ioan Chirila


• 12. Liturgical Use and Biblical Canonicity


• Petros Vassiliadis


• 13. The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church (EOTC)


• Daniel Assefa


• Part III: Scripture within Tradition


• 14. Tradition: Generated by or Generating Scripture?


• Silviu N. Bunta


• 15. The Use of the Bible in Byzantine Liturgical Texts and Services


• Stefanos Alexopoulos


• 16. Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers


• Alexis Torrance


• 17. Theology, Philosophy, and Confessionalization: Eastern Orthodox Biblical Interpretation after the Fall of Constantinople up to the Late 17th Century


• Athanasios Despotis


• 18. The New Testament in the Orthodox Church: Liturgical and Pedagogical Aspects


• Konstantin Nikolakopoulos


• Part IV: Toward an Orthodox Hermeneutics


• 19. Toward an Orthodox Hermeneutic


• Theodore G. Stylianopoulos


• 20. Orthodox Christianity, Patristic Exegesis, and Historical Criticism of the Bible


• John Fotopoulos


• 21. The Modern Search for the Literal Sense: Forerunners of the Challenge at Antioch


• Christopher R. Seitz


• 22. Antiochene Theoria and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture


• Bradley Nassif


• 23. Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy: A Brief Survey


• Anthony G. Roeber


• 24. Biblical Exegesis in the Syriac Churches


• Sebastian P. Brock


• 25. Biblical Interpretation in Ethiopian Patristic Literature


• Mersha Alehegne


• 26. The Bible and the Armenian Church


• Vahan Hovhanessian


• 27. Scriptural Interpretation in the Late Antique Coptic Tradition


• Mary K. Farag


• 28. Pastoral Use of the Bible in the Orthodox Church


• Harry Pappas


• 29. Eastern Orthodox Views on Ancient Jewish Biblical Interpretation


• Bruce N. Beck


• 30. Anti-Jewish Sentiments in Liturgical and Patristic Biblical Interpretations


• Bogdan G. Bucur


• 31. Bible and Archeology: An Orthodox Perspective


• Nicolae Roddy


• Part V: Looking to the Future


• 32. Reading from thee End, Looking Forward


• John Behr


• 33. Who's Afraid of the Old Testament? Tough Texts for Rough Times


• Brent A. Strawn


• 34. The Bible in Orthodox Christian-Jewish Dialogue


• Michael G. Azar


• 35. Bible, Theology and Science: Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future


• David Wilkinson


• 36. Theology-Science Dialogue: An Orthodox Perspective


• Nikolaos Chatzinikolaou


• 37. How Orthodox Women Read and Teach the Bible


• Ashley M. Purpura


• 38. B.E.S.T.: Bridging Synchronic and Diachronic Modes of Interpretation Olivier-Thomas Venard


• 39. The Reception History: A Paradigmatic Turn in Contemporary Biblical Scholarship


• Justin A. Mihoc


• 40. Modern Orthodox Biblical Interpretation


• James Buchanan Wallace


• 41. Towards an Integrative Reading of the Bible


• R. W. L. (Walter) Moberly

About the author

Eugen J. Pentiuc is Archbishop Demetrios Chair of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins and Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA, current adjunct Scripture Professor at St. Joseph's Catholic Seminary in Yonkers, NY, adjunct Old Testament Professor at Saint Athanasius and Saint Cyril Coptic Orthodox Theological School (ACTS) in Anaheim, CA. He is the author, among other works, of The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition (OUP, 2014) and Hearing the Scriptures: Liturgical Exegesis of the Old Testament in Byzantine Orthodox Hymnography (OUP, 2021).

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: Text, Canon, Scripture within Tradition, Toward an Orthodox Hermeneutics, and Looking to the Future.

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 into Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian among other languages. The second part discusses how, unlike in the Protestant and Roman-Catholic faiths where the canon of the Bible is "closed" and limited to 39 and 46 books, respectively, the Orthodox canon is "open-ended," consisting of 39 canonical books and 10 or more anaginoskomena or "readable" books as additions to Septuagint. The third part shows 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.

Additional text

The volume strikes an admirable balance between the rigor of specialized studies and the accessibility of a general introduction.

Product details

• Authors: Eugen J. (Archbishop Demetrios Professor Pentiuc
• Assisted by: Eugen J. Pentiuc (Editor), Eugen J. (Archbishop Demetrios Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins and Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages Pentiuc (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2022
• EAN: 9780190948658
• ISBN: 978-0-19-094865-8
• No. of pages: 704
• Series: Oxford Handbooks Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Christianity; RELIGION / Christianity / General, RELIGION / Christianity / Orthodox, Christianity, Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts, Biblical Studies & Exegesis, Old Testaments, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Orthodox & Oriental Churches