The theme of divine speech appears at the opening of the Hebrews
(1.1-2) and recurs throughout the book, often in contexts suggesting
connections to other areas of scholarly interest (christology,
soteriology, cosmology, and the writer's understanding of the nature
of his discourse). Griffiths begins with a consideration of the genre
and structure of Hebrews (offering a new structural outline),
concluding that Hebrews constitutes the earliest extant complete
Christian sermon and consists of a series of Scriptural expositions.
Griffiths then turns to consider Hebrews' theology of divine speech
through an exegetical analysis of eight key passages (with particular
attention to the writer's use of the terms logos and rhema), and finds
that, for the writer, God's speech is the means by which the place of
divine rest is accessed, and is supremely expressed in the person of
his Son. Griffiths concludes that the writer presents his sermon as
communicating the divine word and effecting an encounter between his
hearers and the God who speaks. Analysis of the exegetical data shows
that Hebrews presents God's word, which finds full expression in the
incarnate Christ, as the central means by which salvation is made
available and the place of divine rest is accessed. The study finds
that the terms logos and rhema are used with a high degree of
consistency to signify forms of divine speech, logos usually
signifying verbal revelation (and three times specifically identifying
the author's own discourse) and rhema typically signifying non-verbal
revelation in the cosmos. The investigation leads to the ultimate
conclusion that the author believes that, through his discourse, he
himself communicates that divine word and effects an encounter between
his hearers and the God who speaks.
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An Introduction
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780567655530
Publisert
2015
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Bloomsbury UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter