Shepherd of Hermas: A Commentary

Description

Extremely popular in its time, The Shepherd of Hermas is a second-century work often used for instruction of catechumens, and in fact, is widely regarded as scripture. In it Hermas, a rich freed slave whose wealth was not always lawfully obtained, undergoes and relates several visions (including one from an angel disguised as a shepherd), repents, and offers advice on Christian teaching and behavior. Comprehensive and careful, Carolyn Osiek's is the only full-length commentary on "The Shepherd" in English. Hermas's revelations afford us glimpses of religious imagination, social world, and moral ideals among early second-century Roman Christians. Foreword to Hermeneia Reference Codes 1. Sources and General Abbreviations 2. Short Titles of Frequently Cited Literature Editor's Note 1. Literary Character 1.1 History of the Text 1.1.1 Manuscript History 1.1.2 Integrity of the Text 1.1.3 Reception and Canonicity 1.1.4 Representation in Early Christian Art 1.2 Literary Unity 1.2.1 Theories of Multiple Authorship 1.2.2 Return to Single Authorship 1.3 Genre and Structure 1.3.1 Is Hermas an Apocalypse? 3.9 [17] A Wisdom Paraenesis 80 3.10-13 [18-21] Transformation of the Woman Church 83 4.1-3 [22-24) Vision of the Beast 89 Excursus: The "Great Tribulation to Come" 94 5 [25] Introduction to the Shepherd, the Mandates, and the Similitudes 98 • Mandates 1 [26) Faith in God 103 2 [27] Simplicity 105 3 [28] Truth 107 4.1 [29] Chastity and Adultery 109 4.2-3 [30-31) Reminder about Conversion 113 4.4 [32] Widowhood and Remarriage 116 5.1-2 [33-34] Two Ways of Being 117 6.1-2 [35-36] Discernment of Spirits 122 7 [37] Fear of the Lord 126 8 [38] Restraint 128 9 [39] Doublemindedness 131 10.1-3 [40-42) Sadne s 135 11 [43) Discernment of Prophecy 139 12.1-2 [44-45] Discernment of Desires 148 12.3-6 [46-49) Concluding Instructions on the Commandments 150 • Similitudes 1 [50] A Tale of Two Cities 157 2 [51] Elm and Vine 161 3 [52] Winter Trees 165 4 [53] Summer Trees 166 5.1 [54) True Fasting 168 5.2 [55] Parable of the Son, Slave, and Vineyard 170 5.3 [56] More on True Fasting 173 5.4-6 [57-59] Explanations of the Parable 175 5.7 (60) Purity of the Flesh 182 6.1-5 [61-65] Shepherds of Luxury and Punishment 184 7 [66] Necessity of Penance for True Conversion 191 8.1-11 [67-77] Cosmic Willow Tree 194 9.1 [78] The Twelve Mountains of Arcadia 211 9.2-9 [79-86) The Tower Revisited 215 9.10-11 [87-88] Hermas and the Young Women 226 9.12-16 (89-93) Explanation of the Tower and Young Women 230 9.17-29 [94-106] Explanation of the Twelve Mountains 239 9.30-31 [107-108) Explanation of the Stones from the Plain 253 9.32-33 (1 09-11 0] Final Exhortations 256 10.1-4 [111-114) Conclusion 25 1.3.2 Structure 1.4 The Characters 1.4.1 The Woman Church 1.4.2 The Shepherd 1.4.3 Other Characters 2. Historical Character 2.1 Place and Date 2.2 Social Context and Biographical Information 2.3 Historical Reliability 2.4 Sources and Influences 3. Theological Character 3.1 Metanoia 3.2 Dipsychia 3.3 Pneumatology/ Angelology and the Two Ways 3.4 Christology 3.5 Ecclesiology 4. Conclusion 1.1 [1) Vision of Rhoda 1.2 [2] First Vision of the Woman Church 1.3-4 [3-4] Family Problems and a Message of Judgment and Consolation 2.1 2.2-3 2.4 3.1-2 3.3-7 3.8 [5] Second Vision of the Woman Church; The Message Delivered in Writing [6-7] The Written Message Understood [8] Identity of the Woman Church Revealed [9-12) Building of the Tower [11-15] Explanation of the Tower Excursus: The Explanation of the Stones in Vision 3 [16] The Seven Women Who Support the Tower Bibliography 1. Critical Editions, Commentaries, and Translations 265 2. Select Monographs and Articles 265 Indices 1. Passages 269 2. Names 287 ix