The Great Controversy
The Individual’s Struggle Between Good and Evil in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and in their Jewish and Christian Contexts
By (author) Tom de Bruin
Hardback (Published)
(December 2014)
ISBN: 9783525540350
6.34 x 9.33 inches
Price: $150.00
In stock
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P), one of the longest texts of the so-called “Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,” presents the fictitious farewell speeches that the twelve sons of Jacob held on their respective deathbeds. Tom de Bruin examines these twelve monologues as literary products in order to understand the function of the text for the setting in which it was composed. He approaches T12P from three directions: an analysis of the paraenetic parts, a discussion of the anthropology, and a comparative examination of other contemporaneous works documenting a world-view similar to T12P. These three approaches merge into a detailed discussion about the reasoning behind the admonition in T12P, and identifies the fundamental message of the text, namely that each person stands between the forces of good and evil and that this person is called to constantly decide which way to follow. Though T12P is still familiar with the apocalyptic origin and plays with the cosmological implications of this ‘great controversy’, the text clearly puts the emphasis on the battle inside each individual. It is thereby an important witness for reinterpreting and reapplying apocalyptic traditions through ethicizing them and focusing on the individual. Such an individualistic application of the ‘great controversy’ theme can be found in a number of other (mostly Christian) works, revealing a similar understanding of mankind’s existence and development as in T12P. The analysis of the ethical reappropriation of apocalyptic traditions in T12P provides important insights into the foundations of early Christian ethics, ancient anthropology, and the Jewish and Christian understanding of the struggle between good and evil.
Dr. Tom de Bruin is an independent researcher at the Leiden Institute for Religious Studies, Leiden University.
- By (author) Tom de Bruin
Other Titles in this Series
Asceticism and Exegesis in Early Christianity
The Reception of New Testament Texts in Ancient Ascetic Discourses
Paulus als Briefroman erzählt
Studien zum antiken Briefroman und seiner christlichen Rezeption in den Pastoralbriefen
Zwischen Synoptikern und Gnosis – ein viertes Evangelium
Studien zum Johannesevangelium und zur Gnosis
Charakterisierung im Dialog
Maria Magdalena, Petrus, Thomas und die Mutter Jesu im Johannesevangelium im Kontext anderer frühchristlicher Darstellungen
Der “König” und sein “Volk”
Das Inter-Agieren des johanneischen Jesus vor dem Hintergrund hellenistisch-römischer Herrschermotivik
Kaiserkult in Kleinasien
Die Entwicklung der kultisch-religiösen Kaiserverehrung in der römischen Provinz Asia von Augustus bis Antoninus Pius
Eros und Bekehrung
Anthropologische und religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zu »Joseph und Aseneth«
Von Paulus zur Apokalypse – und weiter
Exegetische und rezeptionsgeschichtliche Studien zum Neuen Testament; (samt englischsprachigen summaries)
Talking God in Society
Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Festschrift for Peter Lampe. Vol. 1: Theories and Applications
Men and Women in the Household of God
A Contextual Approach to Roles and Ministries in the Pastoral Epistles
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