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In this challenging and engaging discussion, F. Gerald Downing
draws on evidence from Ancient Jewish and New Testament scriptures
to analyse the changing history of the concept of 'revelation'
within Christianity. Through the discussion of central concepts in
the philosophy of language, such as reference and identity, Downing
provides a comprehensive analysis of our notion of the concept of
knowledge through revelation and self-revelation. Formation for
Knowing God contains an overview of the history of the debate
regarding the methods and extent of God's revelation, specifically
his self-revelation. Downing argues that the conviction that God is
selfrevealed stems from eighteenth-century Enlightenment debates,
and has no roots in the early Christian tradition, from which we
learn that God is incomprehensible. Downing rejects the view that
it was the primary purpose of Christ's death to show God's love,
claiming that this is unsupported by the scriptural evidence. The
positive thesis argued by Downing is that what has been revealed to
us is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of faith. Downing's
Formation for Knowing God will challenge the assumptions of its
readers, providing an alternative and thought provoking approach to
the nature of knowledge and certainty within Christianity.
F. Gerald Downing explores the teachings of Paul, arguing that the development of Paul's preaching and of the Pauline Church owed a great deal to the views of the vagabond Cynic philosophers, critics of the gods and of the ethos of civic society. F. Gerald Downing examines the New Testament writings of Paul, explaining how he would have been seen, heard, perceived and understood by his culturally and ethnically diverse converts and disciples. He engages in a lucid Pauline commentary and offers some startling and ground-breaking views of Paul and his Word. Cynics, Paul and the Pauline Churches is a unique and controversial book, particularly in its endorsement of the simple and ascetic life proffered in Paul's teachings in comparison with the greedy, consumerist and self-promoting nature of today's society. eBook available with sample pages: 020320347X
F. Gerald Downing explores the teachings of Paul, arguing that the
development of Paul's preaching and of the Pauline Church owed a
great deal to the views of the vagabond Cynic philosophers, critics
of the gods and of the ethos of civic society. F. Gerald Downing
examines the New Testament writings of Paul, explaining how he
would have been seen, heard, perceived and understood by his
culturally and ethnically diverse converts and disciples. He
engages in a lucid Pauline commentary and offers some startling and
ground-breaking views of Paul and his Word. Cynics, Paul and the
Pauline Churches is a unique and controversial book, particularly
in its endorsement of the simple and ascetic life proffered in
Paul's teachings in comparison with the greedy, consumerist and
self-promoting nature of today's society.
In the Graeco-Roman world, as in our own, people spoke of the
divine, of 'religion', 'cult', 'piety' and 'superstition'. But they
did not share our sense of a disjunction between 'the religious'
and 'the secular', or between theology and other fields of
discourse. In these fascinating excursions through the world of
early Christian and contemporary non-Christian authors, Downing
shows how reflective talk about the divine could readily flow into
talk about any and every area of current human concern. This was so
in an eclectic Stoic such as Dio Chrysostom, but also in a
Platonist such as Plutarch. It was true too of the Jewish-Christian
Paul, most richly in Romans. And it characterizes Christian
theological reflection in the early Fathers. Such
philosophical-theological reflections were expected to have 'cash
value' and be enacted in real life. So, for example, Downing
compares the life-styles set forward by Jesus and Paul and other
early Christians with those urged by other writers in their world.
He shows how Paul's discussions of divine Torah echo critical
Graeco-Roman debates over law and tradition and how early Christian
talk about exorcism resonates with suggestions from Dio. Among the
other themes treated here are the 'nature' of women and their part
in public discourse; the logic of ancient and modern
historiography; aesthetics in the biblical tradition; and the quest
for the historical Galilee of Jesus' day. Five of the thirteen
chapters in this volume are published here for the first time.
Studies in Biblical Theology Series 2 10
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