The Belly-myther of Endor

by Greer, Rowan A.; Mitchell, Margaret Mary

• ISBN13: 9781589831209
• ISBN10: 1589831209
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-01
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature

Summary

The story of Saul and the woman at Endor in 1 Samuel 28 (LXX 1 Kingdoms 28) lay at the center of energetic disputes among early Christian authors about the nature and fate of the soul, the source of prophetic gifts, and biblical truth. In addition to providing the original texts and fresh translations of works by Origen, Eustathius of Antioch (not previously translated into English), and six other authors, Greer and Mitchell offer an insightful introduction to and detailed analysis of the rhetorical cast and theological stakes involved in early church debates on this notoriously difficult passage.

Author Biography

Rowan A. Greer is Professor of Anglican Studies Emeritus at Yale Divinity School. He is the author of numerous books including Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, and Selected Works (Paulist); Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and Common Life in the Early Church (Penn State); and Anglican Approaches to Scripture: From the Reformation to the Present (Crossroad). Margaret M. Mitchell is Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at the University of Chicago. She is the author of The Heavenly Trumpet: John Chrysostom and the Art of Pauline Interpretation and Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation (both from Westminster John Knox) and the co-editor of The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1: Origins to Constantine (Cambridge University Press).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Rights and Permissions	p. xxi
Abbreviations	p. xxiii
Analyses
Some Observations on the Texts Translated: Theological Perspectives	p. xxxi
Patristic Rhetoric on Allegory: Origen and Eustathius Put 1 Kingdoms 28 on Trial	p. lxxxv
Compositional Analyses
Origen, Homily 5 on 1 Kingdoms	p. cxxv
Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch, On the Belly-Myther, Against Origen	p. cxxxix
Texts and Translations
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 105	p. 2
Tertullian, On the Soul 54-58	p. 6
The Martyrdom of Pionius 12-14	p. 26
Origen, Homily 5 on 1 Kingdoms	p. 32
Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch, On the Belly-Myther, Against Origen	p. 62
Apollinaris of Laodicea, A Fragment from the Catenae	p. 158
Diodore of Tarsus, A Fragment from the Catenae	p. 160
Gregory of Nyssa, Letter to Theodosius concerning the Belly-Myther	p. 166
Bibliography	p. 179
Index of Biblical References	p. 185
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