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How would our understanding of Jesus change if we abandoned our
preconceptions and focussed on his words alone? How would this
wisdom compare with that of ancient Israel and the early
first-century church? Such questions pose serious difficulties.
Everything in the early Christian gospels is either derived from
historical memory, or is borrowed, or invented, argues Charles W.
Hedrick. Of the many sayings attributed to Christ, historians can
only agree on a few as having been spoken by him - and those few
are far from certain. In The Wisdom of Jesus, Hedrick overcomes
these challenges, presenting a picture of Jesus as expressed
through his own words. The Jesus that emerges is a lower-class man
of the first century; a complex figure who cannot be considered
religious in a traditional sense. Liberated from theological
explanation and interpretation, his discourse is revealed as
belonging to the secular world, and his concerns to be those of
common life.
Synopsis: This translation of the Gospel of Thomas represents a
departure from the usual literal English of previous publications.
It aims at providing a reader-friendly translation of the original
Coptic language in contemporary idiomatic English, while remaining
true to the complexities of the Coptic. The commentary seeks to
clarify each saying as it likely would have been understood in the
historical context of the Coptic language during the period of
Thomas's popularity in Egypt. The sayings in Thomas in this period
are no longer sayings of the Jewish man Jesus of Nazareth, but they
have become sayings of a revelation bearer, the living Jesus, who
announces a radical faith for a new age of the church. The
historical matrix that best serves to inform the text is found in a
continuation, albeit in a radical direction, of the traditional
faiths represented in the earliest Christian literature.
Endorsements: "Hedrick, himself an expert in non-canonical
("apocryphal") Gospels, has here presented for a popular audience a
free-flowing non-literal (but accurate) translation of The Gospel
of Thomas, with a commentary on each saying, followed by an
extensive glossary to explain the more technical terms . . . T]his
impressive volume initiates in a readable way the beginner into the
scholarly discussion as far as one may wish to go." --James
Robinson, Claremont Graduate University "Professor Hedrick's clear
modern-English translation and commentary will make this important
early source for the teachings of Jesus understandable to anyone
who is interested in the foundations of Christianity. His
commentaries are particularly valuable because they show the many
ways that Jesus' sayings in the Gospel of Thomas relate to Jesus'
sayings in the Bible, as well as how those sayings are similar to
other passages in ancient religious literature." --Stevan Davies,
Misericordia University "A text like the Gospel of Thomas poses
special difficulties to a translator: should its apparent obscurity
be retained or clarified? Like all best translators, Charles
Hedrick has first decided what the text means and then translates
accordingly. The result is a fresh, often bold and unexpected, and
yet always dependable translation of this important text." --Ismo
Dunderberg, University of Helsinki "Unlocking the Secrets of the
Gospel according to Thomas offers a reader-friendly introduction to
the Gospel of Thomas that is, at the same time, the product of a
career of detailed study of this early gospel. Hedrick's
introduction is both balanced and readable, his new translation of
the Coptic text is fresh and idiomatic, and his brief comments on
each saying filled with learning. This is ideal for undergraduate
teaching and for the general reader." --John S. Kloppenborg,
University of Toronto "While clarifying its numerous relations to
antique literature both within and outside the Bible, Hedrick
presents Thomas' Gospel as a collection of sayings that speak for
themselves by inviting each reader's individual response to the
transforming wisdom of Jesus as seen by its users from the second
century onwards, rather than as a mere historical artifact or aid
for determining the character of Jesus' original message." --John
Turner, University of Nebraska Author Biography: Charles W. Hedrick
is Distinguished Emeritus Professor at Missouri State University,
Springfield, Missouri. He is author of numerous books and articles
on subjects relating to New Testament studies. His most recent book
is: House of Faith or Enchanted Forest? American Popular Belief in
an Age of Reason (Cascade Books, 2009).
Description: Since the Renaissance of the 14th through 17th
centuries, and particularly since the Enlightenment of the 18th
century, the ancient creeds of faith have been under serious fire,
and the struggle has not gone well for popular religion in America.
The rapid advances made by the physical sciences in the 19th and
20th centuries and the corresponding reliance on scientific
accomplishments in American life have been matched by the growing
influence of reason in the way Americans think about religion.
Except for pockets of resistance, these developments have
negatively influenced the practical role of traditional religion in
American life. These essays-published over a twenty-year period as
newspaper editorials addressed to the general public-confront
popular beliefs and morals with the challenge of human reason. At
issue in this meeting of faith and reason is nothing less than the
nature of religion in the twenty-first century. Will faith embrace
reason to create a House where both dwell in harmony or will faith
ignore the claims of reason and continue to live in an Enchanted
Forest? Each essay, written in the practical language of the
streets, attempts to dialogue with the general reader and gently
provoke critical thinking on sensitive issues of belief.
Endorsements: ""Charles Hedrick is a scholar who has come clean.
From the ""buckle on the Bible Belt"" comes this honest,
intelligent, and creative reflection on the struggle between reason
(and/or science) and personal faith. Charlie's reminder to take our
personal absolute truths (house of faith) a little less seriously
and enjoy the diversity of thought and experience (enchanted
forest) is practical, powerful, and incredibly timely."" --Glenna
S. Jackson, Professor, Department of Religion and Philosophy at
Otterbein College. ""House of Faith or Enchanted Forest? is a
personal and lively journey along the path of faith and doubt.
Charles Hendrick poses deep questions that for centuries have
haunted philosophers, historians, and theologians alike. This book
awakens and celebrates critical thinking yet remains warmly
accessible and resolutely honest. Anyone who wishes to re-think
life's great questions in light of the changing face of
Christianity will find joy in reading this book. Here is an
excellent resource for discussion groups, book clubs, and inquiring
individuals."" --David Galston, Director of the Eternal Spring
Learning Centre, Hamilton, Ontario ""Charlie Hedrick asks a lot of
questions in this provocative collection of short essays. One
specific question that, perhaps, sums up the others, 'Can a
critical thinker also be a person of traditional religious faith?'
Spanning a wide range of topics, Hedrick offers readers challenging
questions to ponder, rather than easy answers to swallow. Yet, by
pondering such questions, careful readers will find themselves
closer to honest answers than they were before they read this
helpful book."" --J. Bradley Chance, Professor and Chair,
Department of Religion, William Jewell College About the
Contributor(s): Charles W. Hedrick is Distinguished Profesor of
Religion Emeritus at Missouri State University. He is also the
author of Parables as Poetic Fiction, When History and Faith
Collide, and Many Things in Parables.
This is the catalogue of an exhibition held at the National
Archives in Washington D.C. to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of
the beginnings of democracy in Athens, interpreted as the
implementation of Cleisthenes' governmental reforms. This
informative catalogue includes colour illustrations of the objects
displayed: sculptures, architectural models, and small objects from
Athens and from museums in America and Europe. The objects are set
in context with nine short essays.
Contending that Jesus' narrative parables are more poetic than
metaphoric, Charles Hedrick argues that parables should be
understood solely on their own terms and not on the terms of the
Gospel writers' contexts into which they have been placed or of the
agendas of the later church. Hedrick charts new territory as he
dares readers to recover the "imaginative fiction" of Jesus'
parables. Hedrick's dissatisfaction with figurative and
metaphorical approaches or approaches that argue for a particular
"meaning" or a "single interpretation" especially those attempting
to tie a parable's meaning to the "kingdom of God" diverges sharply
from the modern consensus and breaks new ground in parable studies.
"Jesus told parables. Gospel writers give them diverse readings.
Modern exegetes give them even more diverse readings. Hedrick
chronicles both diversities and then poses a new question. How
would those parables, precisely as poetic but realistic stories,
have sounded to Jesus' first hearers 'in the context of Israel's
fictions about itself'? His book emphasizes original audience
reaction, and its signal achievement is to have said something new,
interesting, and provocative in the very crowded field of parables
research."
" John Dominic Crossan, Professor of Biblical Studies, De Paul
University
"Charles Hedrick's "Parables as Poetic Fictions" places the
story character of Jesus' parables at the center of attention. His
innovative use of Aristotle's poetics pioneers the place of sound
in the structuring of the parables and provides a way of
understanding how the story is organized. This book must be on the
shelf of anyone interested in the parables."
" Bernard Brandon Scott, DarbethDistinguished Professor of New
Testament, Phillips Graduate Seminary
The essays in this volume examine the relationship between ancient
fiction in the Greco-Roman world and early Jewish and Christian
narratives. They consider how those narratives imitated or
exploited conventions of fiction to produce forms of literature
that expressed new ideas or shaped community identity within the
shifting social and political climates of their own societies.
Major authors and texts surveyed include Chariton, Shakespeare,
Homer, Vergil, Plato, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Daniel, 3 Maccabees, the
Testament of Abraham, rabbinic midrash, the Apocryphal Acts,
Ezekiel the Tragedian, and the Sophist Aelian. This diverse
collection reveals and examines prevalent issues and syntheses in
the making: the pervasive use and subversive power of imitation,
the distinction between fiction and history, and the use of history
in the expression of identity.
What difference does scholarship on the historical Jesus make for
the way we think about the meaning of Christian faith in the
twenty-first century? In "The Historical Jesus Goes To Church,
biblical scholars--Fellows of the Jesus Seminar--speak directly to
the ways in which new knowledge of the Jesus of history requires
and enables us to think differently about the significance of Jesus
and about the reliability and authority of the Bible. They also
imagine what these new understandings imply for public worship,
preaching, prayer and practice, and life in community. These
articles evoke the spirit of Paul, Christianity's first theologian,
who like us found himself standing at the intersection of two eras
and knew that he had to let go of his past if he hoped to have a
future.
Hedrick explores the tension, or collision, that occurs when one
studies the Jesus of faith with the critical eye of historical
scholarship. He outlines the nature of historical inquiry, gives a
brief history of how scholars have understood Jesus, and identifies
the essential issues confronting the reader of the New Testament
Gospel accounts of Jesus: discrepancies, contradictions, and
differences as well as strong similarities among different writers.
On March 20, 1967, the Berlin Egyptian Museum acquired a collection
of thirty-three parchment fragments written in Coptic. There they
were given the simple designation P22220 and stored unceremoniously
in paper folders. Almost thirty years later, two American scholars
working independently of each other--Charles Hedrick and Paul
Mirecki--began to study these forgotten fragments. What they found
were pieces of a previously unknown gospel, a gospel composed
perhaps in the second century and written down sometime between the
fourth and seventh centuries. This new gospel text contains sayings
of a speaker identified as "the savior" and dialogues between the
savior and "the apostles." While it shares some sayings with the
canonical gospels, there are remarkable additions: To the familiar
"You are the salt of the earth" (Matt 5:13), for example, is added
the phrase "you are the fire that illuminates the world"--a saying
unknown in the canonical gospels. In this first-ever publication of
The Gospel of the Savior, the scholars who discovered and
reconstructed it provide a translation and critical original
language text, along with illuminating introduction, commentary,
and Coptic/Greek indices. This volume also includes complete
facsimile reproductions of the fragments.
What happens to faith when the creeds and confessions can no longer
be squared with historical and empirical evidence? Most critical
scholars have wrestled with this question. Some have found ways to
reconcile their personal religious belief with the scholarship they
practice. Others have chosen to reconstruct their view of religious
meaning in light of what they have learned. But most have tended
not to share those views in a public forum. And that brings up a
second question: At what point does the discrepancy between what I
know, or think I know, and what I am willing to say publicly become
so acute that my personal integrity is at stake? Being honest about
what one thinks has always mattered in critical scholarship. In the
pages of ""When Faith Meets Reason"", thirteen scholars take up the
challenge to speak candidly about how they negotiate the
conflicting claims of faith and reason, in hopes that their
journeys will inspire others to engage in their own search for
meaning.
In this splendid introduction to the elusive rhetorical device
central to the New Testament picture of Jesus, Charles Hedrick
explores the nature of the parable and its history of use. He asks
basic questions such as, what is a parable? is Jesus really the
author of the parables? and what does a parable mean? and then
reviews a range of sources--from Aesop's fables to modern New
Testament scholarship--to answer them. He also surveys the various
ways the parables have been approached in literary criticism
throughout history, giving specific examples of each method and
delineating their strengths and weaknesses.
The ruling elite in ancient Rome sought to eradicate even the
memory of their deceased opponents through a process now known as
damnatio memoriae. These formal and traditional practices included
removing the person's name and image from public monuments and
inscriptions, making it illegal to speak of him, and forbidding
funeral observances and mourning. Paradoxically, however, while
these practices dishonored the person's memory, they did not
destroy it. Indeed, a later turn of events could restore the
offender not only to public favor but also to re-inclusion in the
public record. This book examines the process of purge and
rehabilitation of memory in the person of Virius Nicomachus
Flavianus(?-394). Charles Hedrick describes how Flavian was
condemned for participating in the rebellion against the Christian
emperor Theodosius the Great-and then restored to the public record
a generation later as members of the newly Christianized senatorial
class sought to reconcile their pagan past and Christian present.
By selectively remembering and forgetting the actions of Flavian,
Hedrick asserts, the Roman elite honored their ancestors while
participating in profound social, cultural, and religious change.
The essays in this volume examine the relationship between ancient
fiction in the Greco-Roman world and early Jewish and Christian
narratives. They consider how those narratives imitated or
exploited conventions of fiction to produce forms of literature
that expressed new ideas or shaped community identity within the
shifting social and political climates of their own societies.
Major authors and texts surveyed include Chariton, Shakespeare,
Homer, Vergil, Plato, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Daniel, 3 Maccabees, the
Testament of Abraham, rabbinic midrash, the Apocryphal Acts,
Ezekiel the Tragedian, and the Sophist Aelian. This diverse
collection reveals and examines prevalent issues and syntheses in
the making: the pervasive use and subversive power of imitation,
the distinction between fiction and history, and the use of history
in the expression of identity. The contributors are Jo-Ann A.
Brant, J. R. C. Cousland, Ruben Rene Dupertuis, Noah Hacham,
Gerhard van den Heever, Ronald F. Hock, Tawny L. Holm, Sara R.
Johnson, Jared W. Ludlow, Dennis R. MacDonald, Chaim Milikowsky,
Judith B. Perkins, Richard I. Pervo, Gareth Schmeling, and Chris
Shea. "Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical
Literature (www.sbl-site.org)"
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