koinonia

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Nero being crowned by Agrippina.
Part 1:
Hebrews: The Book of Better Things
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his Circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a charioteer, or mounted
on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt which had earned the most
exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity, due to the
impression that they [the Chris tians] were being sacrificed not
for the welfare of the state but to the ferocity of a single man [i.e.,
Nero]. (Tacitus, Ann. 15.54)
Left: Interior of Colosseum Right: The Colosseum of Rome, built in 75-80 CE under the Flavian Emperors Vespasian and Titus.
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Left: Clement of Alexandria (ca. AD 150 – 222). Right: Augustine, a Latin father of the early
church lived in North Africa in the late 4th to early 5th centuries.
ejn wÇ/ kai© toiÇß ejn fulakh©/ pneuvmasin poreuqei©ß ejkhvruxen (1 Peter 3:19)
1. Christ Preaches through Noah
In his spiritual realm of existence, Christ went and preached through Noah to
those who are now spirits in the prison of hell. He did this preaching through
Noah’s mouth when they formerly disobeyed, when the patience of God was
waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
2. Christ Proclaims Victory by His Resurrection and Ascension
In [this realm of the Spirit], Christ ascended [“went”] and, in so doing, proclaimed
final defeat to the spirits in prison who were the fallen angels and
who in times past disobeyed when the patience of God waited in the days of
Noah while the ark was being built.
3. Christ Descends into Hell (Apostles’ Creed)
Christ’s spirit descended [into hell] on Easter Saturday and preached grace to
[and released] the imprisoned souls who in times past disobeyed when the
patience of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Chapter 10:
“Christ Has Left You an Example”
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Rome
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Athens
Troas
Ephesus
Black Sea
The letter of 1 Peter, and probably also 2 Peter, was written to Chris tians living in the five Roman provinces in Asia Minor: Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
Mt. Ararat
the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married
any of them they chose. ...
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — Ancient coins recovered from Asia Minor
when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by attest to the popularity of Noah
them. . . .
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
(Gen. 6:2, 4 – 5)
Chapter 10:
“Christ Has Left You an Example”
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6/14/11 8:32 AM
158
Left: A vineyard near the tell, or mound, of Lachish. Right: A watchtower in the hills of Samaria.
Part 1:
The Gospel of John
The Roman Empire.
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Philippi
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ACHAIA
Corinth
Athens Ephesus
Lystra
Antioch
CRETE
CYPRUS
Cyrene
Alexandria
Jerusalem
CYRENE Memphis
EGYPT
There are also those who heard from him [Polycarp] that John, the disciple of the Lord,
going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house
without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus,
the enemy of the truth, is within” (Against Heresies 3.3.4).
18. See Burge’s documentation in Letters of John, 21 – 22.
19. The following primary texts are collected by Kruse, The Letters of John, 20 – 26. I follow his translations.
Chapter 25:
Introduction to the Epistles of John
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Vistula R.
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394
Part 3:
Revelation
A model of a papyrus document sealed with four bulae (clay seals).
v. 8: “Holy, holy, holy” (see Isa. 6:3) vv. 1 – 6: alone worthy — (implied) holy
v. 8: “was, and is, and is to come” = eternal v. 13: “for ever and ever” = eternal
v. 9: “glory, honor and thanks” v. 12: “power and wealth and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and praise”
v. 11: “glory and honor and power” v. 13: “honor and glory and power”
v. 11: worthy vv. 9, 12: “worthy”
v. 11: Creator vv. 9 – 10: Redeemer
vv. 2 – 3: sits on the throne
v. 13: sits on the throne
11. The Spirit is not left out of this picture of worship; the reference in Revelation 5:6 – 7 to “seven horns and
seven eyes” seems to allude to the third member of the Trinity.
12. There are some sixteen heavenly hymns to God and Christ in Revelation; see Aune’s analysis, Revelation
1 – 5, 314 – 17.
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In light of this persecution, the book of Hebrews was
addressed to Chris tians who “have not yet resisted to the point
of shedding your blood” (12:4, emphasis added). If addressed to
Chris tians living in Rome, this statement would sit best before
Nero began to kill Chris tians. With the storm clouds of Nero’s
hostility to Chris tians on the horizon, some may have attempted
to escape persecution by withdrawing from their Chris tian
commitment. Such a scenario would motivate the warnings in
Hebrews against apostasy (6:4 – 8; 10:26 – 39) and the exhortations
to continue meeting together despite the risk (10:19 – 25).
A further consideration in regard to the date Hebrews was
written is the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70. The
author of Hebrews speaks of the sacrificial rituals in the present
tense, and some infer that the temple must have been in operation at that time. Certainly
the author’s argument that Jesus is the unique and final sacrifice after which no further
sacrifices are necessary would have been strongly supported by pointing out the fact that
the Jerusalem temple had been destroyed, were that the case. However, the grammatical
present tense itself is not sufficient grounds for arguing a date of writing, for the present
tense in Greek has other relationships to time.
To complicate matters, the author of Hebrews does not actually refer to the “temple”
at all. Whenever the author refers to the sacred place where sacrifice was made under the
old covenant, he uses the word tabernacle, a portable tent used for worship by ancient Israel
(8:2, 5; 9:1, 2, 8, 11, 21; 13:10). In fact, the Greek words for “temple” (hieron and naos) don’t
occur at all in Hebrews. This point has been used to argue that Hebrews was written after the
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could gain salvation. Origen and Cyril of
Alexandria followed Clement, and this
interpretation continued to enjoy popularity
in the Eastern church. Even some today
who argue a postmortem opportunity for
conversion interpret 1 Peter 3:18 – 22 as
suggesting that possibility, often reading
1 Peter 4:6 in the same light.
Augustine, a Latin church father living
at the turn of the fourth to fifth century
in North Africa, was troubled by the idea
of postmortem conversion, for Scripture
clearly seems to teach that one’s eternal
destiny is determined in this life. He most
likely was not aware of 1 Enoch, which had
disappeared from popular circulation by
that time. Augustine, who could not read Greek very well and was more concerned with
theological interpretation than with the syntax of the text, offered the alternate interpretation
that the preincarnate Christ “went” to Noah’s generation and preached repentance
through Noah to those about to perish in the great flood, but who were dead at the time
Peter wrote and so were “spirits in prison.” This view would take its cue from Peter’s statement
in 1:10 – 12, that it was the Spirit of Christ who revealed to the Old Testament prophets
the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.
Nine Greek Words at the Heart of the Exegetical Debate
Andre Thevet
St. Augustine, Francesca, Piero della/National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon,
Portugal/The Bridgeman Art Library
I TA LY
Adriatic Sea
M e d i
Aegean Sea
t e r
r a n
of the one told in Genesis. When Jewish colonists came to Asia Minor during the Seleucid
period, they noticed the name of a town that had the Greek word for “ark” in it (Apameia
Kibotos, modern Dinar) and assumed it to be the place where Noah’s ark came to rest. At
some point, Noah’s name became identified with the great but anonymous Apamean
flood hero, and consequently Noah became a part of the indigenous
culture of Asia Minor. His fame in that region is attested by coins minted
during the Roman period showing him and his wife in an ark.
Noah’s fame in Asia Minor allowed Peter to allude to the tradition
preserved in 1 Enoch. Noah’s story in the Bible follows after the disappearance
of Enoch, who “walked faithfully with God; then he was no
more, because God took him away” (Gen. 5:24). Noah’s story begins with
Genesis 6 and the mysterious statement that
Although nothing further is said in Scripture about Enoch or the Nephilim, a large
corpus of tradition developed within Judaism about them. The book of 1 Enoch was a very
popular version of Jewish tradition that brought Enoch and the Nephilim together. In
A S I A
B I T H Y N I A
e a n
P O N T U S
G A L AT I A
S e a
S Y R I A
C A P PA D O C I A
© 2011 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
INTRODUCTION
John 15:1 – 16:4a seems to form a self-contained unit, focusing on two main themes: the
vine and the branches (15:1 – 17), and the hatred of the world for Jesus and his disciples
(5:18 – 16:4a).
I. THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES (15:1 – 17)
John 15:1 – 17 contains the majestic description of Jesus as the vine and his followers as the
branches. The commentators agree that John 15:1 – 17 divides into two parts: the allegory
of the vine and the branches (vv. 1 – 6), and the explanation of that allegory (vv. 7 – 17).
John 15:1 – 16:4a seems to form a A. The Allegory of the Vine and the Branches (vv. 1 – 6)
John 15:1 – 6 is an allegory, an extended metaphor. Unlike parables,
which tend to make one basic point, an allegory makes
self-contained unit, focusing on
several points. Here in verses 1 – 6 Jesus’ horticultural allegory
emphasizes three symbols: the vine, the gardener, and the
two main themes: the vine and
the branches (15:1 – 17), and the branches.
hatred of the world for Jesus and 1. The Vine (v. 1a)
“I am the true vine” is the last of the seven “I am” sayings
his disciples (5:18 – 16:4a). in John. The background of Jesus’ usage of the vine imagery
is Old Testament Israel, which is called the vineyard of God
in several famous passages: Psalm 80:8 – 18; Isaiah 5:1 – 7; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:1 – 5;
17:1 – 2; 19:10 – 14; Hosea 10:1 – 2; cf. Leviticus Rabbah 36 (133a); Matthew 20:1 – 16; Mark
12:1 – 12; Luke 13:6 – 9.
The striking characteristic of the above Old Testament and New Testament passages
is that Israel as the vineyard of God was placed under divine judgment due to its spiritual
fruitlessness. This is no doubt the key to understanding Jesus’ self-reference “I am the true
vine.” Jesus represents true Israel precisely because he is the obedient vineyard of God and
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M A U R E T A N I A
Rhone R.
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BITHYNIA &
John was buried in Ephesus. 18 In addition to dealing with Jewish opponents outside of the
Johannine churches, John now, in the epistles, had to handle an in-house struggle, one that
resulted in the dissenters exiting the Johannine community.
Can we put a name on these dissenters? Three second-century heretics have often been
associated with the opponents of John as culled from his epistles: Cerinthus, the Docetists,
and the Gnostics. We now provide portraits of each of these heresies based on the writings
of those church fathers who opposed them, comparing them with 1, 2, and 3 John.
Aegean Sea
n e a n S e a
PHRYGIA
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NABATEA
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and curses (especially chaps. 28 – 30), later became known as the “Book of the Covenant”
(Sir. 24:3).
All of this is to say that the handing over and the opening of the scroll by Christ expresses
John’s view that Jesus is God.
3. The Doxologies
The heavenly hymns sung to God and Christ in Revelation 4 and 5, respectively, serve
two functions. First, they equate Jesus with God. Second, they set God and Christ in opposition
to Caesar. Both of these aspects exalt the risen Jesus and God. 11
1. The hymns to Jesus in Revelation 5 essentially match the hymns to God in Revelation
4, as the following chart highlights: 12
God (Revelation 4) Christ (Revelation 5)
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A. Cerinthus
Irenaeus (AD 120 – 202), bishop of Lyons, in his magnum opus Against Heresies, provides
firsthand information concerning the heretic Cerinthus. Irenaeus records Polycarp’s famous
story about John the disciple of the Lord meeting Cerinthus in the bath house in
Ephesus, and provides a description of Cerinthus’s teaching. 19 The upshot of this quote is
to claim that Cerinthus denied the real humanity of Jesus Christ.
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