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A key emphasis of Brevard Childss distinguished career has been to show not only that the canon of Scripture comprises both Old and New Testaments but also that the concept of canon includes the way the Christian church continues to wrestle in every age with the meaning of its sacred texts. In this new volume Childs uses the book of Isaiah as a case study of the churchs endeavor throughout history to understand its Scriptures. In each chapter Childs focuses on a different Christian age, using the work of key figures to illustrate the churchs changing views of Isaiah. After looking at the Septuagint translation, Childs examines commentaries and tractates from the patristic, Reformation, and modern periods. His review shows that despite an enormous diversity in time, culture, nationality, and audience, these works nevertheless display a family resemblance in their theological understandings of this central Old Testament text. Childs also reveals how the church struggled to adapt to changing social and historical conditions, often by correcting or refining traditional methodologies, while at the same time maintaining a theological stance measured by faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In an important final chapter Childs draws out some implications of his work for modern debates over the role of Scripture in the life of the church. Of great value to scholars, ministers, and students, this book will also draw general readers into the exciting theological debate currently raging in the Christian church about the faithful interpretation of Scripture.
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T H E S T R U G G L E TO U N D E R S T A N D I S A I A H AS C H R I S T I A N SCRIPTURE The Struggle to Understand Isaiah as Christian Scripture Brevard S. Childs WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K. © 2004 Wm. Β. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K. Printed in the United States of America 08 07 06 05 04 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Childs, Brevard S. The struggle to understand Isaiah as Christian scripture / Brevard S. Childs, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8028-2761-6 (alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T. Isaiah - Criticism, interpretation, etc. - History I. Title. BS1515.52.C48 2004 224'.106'09 — dc22 2004047242 www.eerdman s .com This volume is dedicated to Ann, my wife of fifty years and closest friend, who alone understands the full extent of the physical struggle involved in writing this book Contents Preface ix 1. The Early Reception of the Hebrew Bible: The Septuagint and the New Testament 1 2. Justin Martyr 32 3. Irenaeus 45 4. Clement of Alexandria 56 5. Origen 62 6. Eusebius of Caesarea 75 7. Jerome 90 8. John Chrysostom 104 9. Cyril of Alexandria 110 10. Theodoret of Cyrus 130 11. Thomas Aquinas 148 12. Nicholas of Lyra 167 13. Martin Luther 181 14. John Calvin 207 15. Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Interpreters 230 16. The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 265 17. Postmodern Interpretation 291 18. Hermeneutical Implications 299 Index of Authors 325 Index of Subjects 331 Preface Several factors have been at work in the shaping of this book. First, I have recently finished