Did Jewish throne mysticism, the so-called 'merkabah mysticism', influence the emergence and formation of the earliest exaltation Christology? The author presents resurrection Christology as a part of Jewish Christian merkabah tradition. Christ's exaltation was described as a heavenly journey that culminated in his enthronement on the divine throne of glory. Christian writers did exploit the symbolic world, the images and metaphors of Second Temple Judaism. The exaltation discourse that they present, however, is completely new. A simple typological explanation is unable to explain the nature of early Christology. Christ was not depicted as a heavenly angelic figure or an exalted patriarch. He was described as the enthroned Son of God whose reign is eternal. By exploiting linguistic and literary methods Eskola reconstructs the narrative structure of christological statements. Several different narratives were discerned, each one of which expresses one form of a so-called Christian merkabah tradition. In the New Testament, Christ's resurrection has been interpreted in terms of exaltation discourse, cultic discourse, and judicial discourse. Each one of these produced a different narrative about the exalted Christ. Further, the new approach sheds light for instance on the idea of the so-called adoptionist Christology. There was no concept of adoption in early Jewish Christian exaltation Christology. Exalted Christ on the throne of Glory was not considered merely as a pious Jew making a heavenly journey, but as the divine Savior of the world. The intertextual transformation of Jewish concepts underlined the Lordship of Christ as a heavenly king. The confessing of Christ as Lord realized simultaneously the core of traditional Jewish devotion - faith in and faithfulness to God as a heavenly King.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Jcb Mohr (Paul Siebeck)
ISBN-13
9783161476419
eBay Product ID (ePID)
209266780
Product Key Features
Book Title
Messiah and the Throne: Jewish Merkabah Mysticism and Early Christian Exaltation Discourse
Author
Timo Eskola
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Religious History, Christianity
Publication Year
2001
Number of Pages
439 Pages
Dimensions
Volume
142
Item Weight
680g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Timo Eskola
Series Title
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament