Mystery and the Making of a Christian Historical Consciousness: From Paul to the Second Century

Description

In general, theological terms this study examines the interplay of early Christian understandings of history, revelation, and identity. The book explores this interaction through detailed analysis of appeals to "mystery" in the Pauline letter collection and then the discourse of previously hidden but newly revealed mysteries in various second-century thinkers. T.J. Lang argues that the historical coordination of the concealed/revealed binary ("the mystery previously hidden but presently revealed") enabled these early Christian authors to ground Christian claims - particularly key ecclesial, hermeneutical, and christological claims - in Israel's history and in the eternal design of God while at the same time accounting for their revelatory newness. This particular Christian conception of time gives birth to a new and totalizing historical consciousness, and one that has significant implications for the construction of Christian identity, particularly vis-à-vis Judaism. Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Μυστήριον in the Undisputed Pauline Letters 3. Μυστήριον and the Deuteropauline Mystery Schema of Revelation. Part 1: Ephesians and Colossians 4. Μυστήριον and the Deuteropauline Mystery Schema of Revelation. Part 2: The Pastoral Epistles and the Romans 16:25–27 Doxology 5. Mystery and History in the Letters of Ignatius and the Epistle to Diognetus 6. Mystery, Scriptural Meaning, and the “Grace to Understand” in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho 7. Mystery, Scriptural Meaning, and Ritual Performance in Melito’s Peri Pascha 8. Mystery, Scriptural Meaning, and the Unity of God in Tertullian and his Against Marcion Conclusion Bibliography Index of names Index of Ancient Sources