The Political Issue of the Ascension of Isaiah: A Response to Enrico Norelli
Enrico Norelli argued in 2003 that the references to martyrdom in the Ascension of Isaiah are symbolic rather than actual. This article challenges his reliance on the Mishnah in support of the assertion that Isaiah dies as a martyr in the contest between true and false prophecy in the second-century church. It argues that the progress of thought in chs. 1–5 suggests that martyrdom is more obviously an actual and recent feature of the authors’ experience than a merely symbolic entity. The martyrdom of Ignatius is further considered in this context. This result is the insistence that the Ascension of Isaiah has a strong ‘political’ dimension in both of its halves. Such evidence must be inserted into the evaluation of the emerging Christian movement, not least in its response to both Jews and the Romans as factors external to, yet bearing on, the church, at the time of writing.
Eschatology in Colossians: How Realized is It?
The majority of Pauline scholars depict the eschatological orientation of Colossians as ‘realized’. Furthermore, a number of interpreters juxtapose the eschatological ‘already’ which arguably earmarks the epistle with the eschatological ‘not yet’ which ostensibly permeates Paul. This article questions the common contention that Colossians, in contradistinction to Paul, is virtually void of futurist eschatology. It is argued herein that even though the ‘already’ may feature in the letter, the ‘not yet’ is more pervasive than is frequently supposed. Correlatively, this study suggests that there is less variance between the eschatological perspectives of Colossians and Paul than is typically recognized.
Christ an Angel? A study of early Christian docetism.
One of the most important suggestions made by Eisler in his "Ιησούς βασιλεύς" was the observation, that somehow the Testimonium Flavianum de Christo in its original form was influenced by and tilting against the early Christian Testimony Book. Eisler endorses the opinion of Dr. Rendel Harris, Burkitt and others that this collection of Old-Testament "testimonia de Christo" was the earliest Christian document. The importance of the fact that Josephus was acquainted already with the Christian Testimonies need not be emphasized. It makes the Testimony Book not only the earliest document of the Christian Church, but (as we shall see) the starting point of Christian dogma, especially of Christology. To one of the most curious expressions in the Russian form of the Testimonium Flavianum Dr. Rendel Harris has drawn our attention in an "Evergreen Essay" published under the title "Josephus and his Testimony". The Russian Josephus says: "Deshalb ist es mir nicht m glich, ihn einen Menschen %u nennen. Wiederum aber auf das allgemeine Wesen sehend, werde ich (ihn) auch nicht einen Engel nennen" . This implies, as Dr. Harris points out, that someone has been calling him an angel, and accordingly he asks: "Where shall we find or to whom shall we refer the statement that Christ was Man and Angel?" And he at once gives the answer that it is one of the standing titles of Christ in the Testimony Book; Cyprian, Justin and a number of other Fathers call Jesus an angel, the statement to which Josephus objects. But if so, this means that the identification of Christ with an angel belongs* to the earliest stratum of Christian belief. What induced the early Christians to call Jesus angel? In the Old-Testament God comes down on earth arid speaks .to man. Gradually, however, God becomes more transcendent and a certain shyness of speaking of Him in terms of human conditions increases until even the pronouncing of His name is avoided. This