Eugen Pentiuc published a very good Oxford Handbook of The Bible in Orthodox Christianity
Eugen J. Pentiuc, Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Boston, has published a new book, The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2022).
The Oxford Handbook, edited by Bishop Pentiuc and prefaced by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, offers authoritative studies on a variety of topics. Each specially commissioned essay from leading figures in the field provides a critical review of the evolution and direction of the debates, as well as a basis for future research.
The book examines the various ways in which Orthodox Christian communities, including Eastern (Byzantine) and Eastern (Syriac, Ethiopian, Coptic, and Armenian), have received, shaped, and interpreted the Christian Bible.
Father Pentiuc’s opening article, “Balancing Tradition with Modernity”, sets the tone and scope of the volume, and is followed by five parts.
Part I, “Text”, shows that the textual fluidity and pluriformity characteristic of Orthodoxy is demonstrated by the various ancient and modern translations of the Bible, such as Old Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, etc.
Part II, “Canon”, emphasizes the “open” character of the Orthodox canon of the Old Testament, which includes thirty-nine canonical books and ten or more “readable” anaginoskomena.
Part III, “Scripture within Tradition”, emphasises the Orthodox view of the centrality of Scripture within Tradition.
Part IV, “Towards an Orthodox Hermeneutic,”
and Part V, “Looking to the Future,” examine “traditional” Orthodox hermeneutics (patristic commentaries and liturgical productions) in “conversation” with historical-critical approaches to the Bible.
Among the 41 contributors to this ecumenical and international Oxford textbook are Sebastian Brock, R. W. L. Moberly, Theodore Stylianopoulos, Mary Farag, John Behr, Christopher Seitz, Stefanos Alexopoulos, Edith Murphy, Daniel Assefa, George Kiraz, John Fotopoulos, Vahan Hovhanessian, Olivier-Thomas Venard and Bruce Beck.
According to Father Pentiuc, this volume would not have been completed without the grace of God, a sabbatical offered by Holy Cross, and the financial support of the Jaharis Family Foundation, the generous donor of Father Pentiuc’s pulpit. As a sign of gratitude for this support, Father Pentiuc chose an illumination from the Byzantine Lectionary Jaharis (Constantinople, ca. 1100) for the book’s cover.
Jean-Marie Auwers on the Song of Songs
Our collaborator for the Song has recently published Patristic Readings of the Song of Songs in the “Bibliothèque Migne”,
A promising foretaste of the volume to be published in our éditions Peeters. .
