Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture [Hardcover]

This book challenges conventional accounts of biblical interpretation in the early Church.This book challenges conventional accounts of early Christian exegesis of the bible by placing its interpretation in the context of the Graeco-Roman world. Professor Young describes how the Jewish scriptures were taken over, added to and reinterpreted as part of the process of forming the identity of the new Christian 'race' with its distinct culture. Young emphasises the importance of the way education was based on literature in the Roman Empire, and demonstrates how the methods and assumptions then taken for granted shaped Christian exegesis of scripture.This book challenges conventional accounts of early Christian exegesis of the bible by placing its interpretation in the context of the Graeco-Roman world. Professor Young describes how the Jewish scriptures were taken over, added to and reinterpreted as part of the process of forming the identity of the new Christian 'race' with its distinct culture. Young emphasises the importance of the way education was based on literature in the Roman Empire, and demonstrates how the methods and assumptions then taken for granted shaped Christian exegesis of scripture.This book challenges conventional accounts of early Christian exegesis of the Bible by placing its interpretation in the context of the Greco-Roman world. Professor Young describes how the Jewish scriptures were taken over, added to and reinterpreted as part of the process of forming the identity of the new Christian race with its distinct culture. Young emphasizes the importance of the way education was based on literature in the Roman Empire, and demonstrates how the methods and assumptions then taken for granted shaped Christian exegesis of scripture.Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Exegesis and the Unity of the Scriptures: 1. Reception and appropriation; 2. The mind of scripture; Part II. The Bible as Classic: 3. Cultures and literatures; 4. The alÃj