Divine Instruction in Early Christianity
by Stephen E. Witmer
Stephen E. Witmer investigates one aspect of early Christian self-understanding: the conviction of some early followers of Jesus that they had been, and were being, taught by God, in fulfillment of OT prophetic promises (especially Isa 54:13 and Jer 31:33-34). In this study, he contextualizes the Christian understanding of divine instruction through analysis of divine instruction in the Old Testament and early Jewish literature. Of particular interest is the development of the idea of an eschatological teaching of God in some prophetic literature and early Jewish literature. With this context in place, the author focuses on the idea of divine instruction in the Johannine corpus. He argues that the Fourth Gospel re-interprets the prophetic promise of divine instruction in light of the teaching of Jesus and the Spirit, and that the concept functions in the Fourth Gospel polemically and as a means of self-legitimation. The consequences for human teaching are addressed through an examination of the Johannine letters, focusing particularly on 1 John 2.20, 27. The final chapters then extend the study beyond the Johannine corpus by investigating the key Pauline references to divine instruction and by providing a close reading of Matt 23.8-10.
- By (author) Stephen E Witmer
Other Titles in this Series
Educating Early Christians through the Rhetoric of Hell
'Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth' as Paideia in Matthew and the Early Church
Volume 382
Moral Language in the New Testament
The Interrelatedness of Language and Ethics in Early Christian Writings. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics. Volume II
Volume 296
The Death of the Soul in Romans 7
Sin, Death, and the Law in Light of Hellenistic Moral Psychology
Volume 256
Wie Geschichten Geschichte schreiben
Fruhchristliche Literatur zwischen Faktualitat und Fiktionalitat
Volume 395
Fellowship and Food in the Kingdom
Eschatological Meals and Scenes of Utopian Abundance in the New Testament
Volume 234
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School
Colossians and Ephesians in the Context of Graeco-Roman Cosmology, with a New Synopsis of the Greek Texts
Volume 171
The Birth and Death of the PreMarkan Passion Narrative
A History of Form Criticism's Most Assured Result
Volume 608
The Antichrist Tradition in Antiquity
Antimessianism in Second Temple and Early Christian Literature
Volume 532
Der Richter und seine Anklager
Eine narratologische Untersuchung der Rechtsstreit- und Prozessmotivik im Johannesevangelium
Volume 501
Sinners and Sinfulness in Luke
A Study of Direct and Indirect References in the Initial Episodes of Jesus' Activity
Volume 434
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