Antiochene Theoria in the Writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus

567 Pages·2015·2.24 MB·English

by  Richard J. Perhai

Antiochene Theoria in the Writings

of Theodore of Mopsuestia and

Theodoret of Cyrus

Richard J. Perhai

e m e r g i n g s c h o l a r s
Additional Praise for
Antiochene Theōria in the Writings of Theodore
of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus
“This book is a masterful contribution to a neglected subject in
patristic exegesis and its relevance for contemporary theology. It
widens our comprehension of how Antiochene theōria was used by
two prominent exegetes within the School of Antioch and offers a
formidable challenge to those patristic scholars today who claim that
Antiochene exegesis was little more than a variant of Alexandrian
hermeneutics. The Antiochenes’ use of theōria reassures us of the
rightful role historical and literary criticism plays today and that this
reading of the Bible often supports a canonical, theological, and
typological interpretation of Scripture with Christ as the principle of
unity between the Testaments.”
Bradley Nassif
North Park University, Chicago
“Perhai’s Antiochene Theōria in the Writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia
and Theodoret of Cyrus fills a large gap in our understanding of
theological method in the early church that has been too little
studied. With acute balance, Perhai’s work helps the reader to avoid
overstatements about the literalism of Antioch over against the
allegoryofAlexandria.Mostimportantly,theworkattemptstoshow
a likeness between the theōria of Antioch and the modern movement
of theological interpretation of Scripture (TIS). Even for those who
do not normally embrace TIS in its strongest forms, the historical
analogy is abundantly useful for scholarly analysis of theological
method.”
Mike Stallard
Baptist Bible Seminary
“Richard J. Perhai has produced a volume that has been desperately
needed in the important exegetical and theological discussions that
are currently raging in the academy and church. This discussion is
more than a historical analysis, for it is centered on the method of
theōria, which when properly understood and defined, places this
method of interpretation right in the heart of the discussion of the
New Testament use of the Old Testament and the debate over
whether interpreters should use the grammatical-historical method
exclusively in its search for meaning or defer more to an allegorical-
spiritual rendering of Scripture if they wish to see more intimately
the contemporary spiritual meaning of a biblical text for the believer
today. His research involves a wide spectrum of scholars, many of
whom are ordinarily left out of these important discussions and not
given a space at the academic table. Nevertheless, here is a book that
will be discussed for a number of years to come, for its appearance is
longoverdue.Iheartilyrecommendthistexttoeveryseriousstudent
oftheScriptures,butespeciallytomycolleagueswhoteachandwrite
in the area of hermeneutics and to pastors who must grapple with
asking how relevant this text is to mortals such as ourselves in our
current world and our search for reality.”
Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Antiochene Theōria in the Writings of
Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of
Cyrus

Antiochene Theōria in
the Writings of
Theodore of Mopsuestia
and Theodoret of Cyrus
Richard J. Perhai
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
ANTIOCHENETHEŌRIAIN THE WRITINGS OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA
AND THEODORET OF CYRUS
Copyright © 2015 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in
critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without
prior written permission from the publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/
copyrights/ or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN
55440.
Cover design: Alisha Lofgren
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Print ISBN: 978-1-4514-8800-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4514-9432-7
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
This book was produced using PressBooks.com, and PDF rendering was done by
PrinceXML.
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xiii
1. Introduction: Why Study 1
AntiocheneTheōria?
2. Theōriain Theodore’s and Theodoret’s 33
Commentaries
3. Research on Antiochene Theōriasince 1991 113
4. Issues and Insights Surrounding Antiochene 205
Theōria
5. Theōriaand Theological Interpretation of 331
Scripture
6. Conclusion: Relevance for Modern Theological 409
Exegesis
Bibliography 459
Index of Names and Subjects 513
Index of Scripture References 541

Acknowledgements
My interest for this dissertation really started when I was invited
to teach a course on Hermeneutics to freshman students at Kiev
Theological Seminary in 2003. The Academic Dean, Todd Marshall,
offeredmehisthoughtsonthetopicwithapaperontheredemptive-
historical approach to interpretation. It essentially promoted biblical
theology as the bridge from interpretation to sound application of
the text. As I taught hermeneutics over the last nine years, first with
bachelor’s students and then with master’s students in the Talbot
School of Theology-Kyiv Extension, my desire to provide clearer
roadsignsandguiderailsacrosstheinterpretation-applicationbridge
grew. The importance of using this bridge for the development of
soundtheologybecamecleartome—especiallynecessaryintheSlavic
context, where seventy years of Soviet erosion of freedoms left the
evangelical church all but bereft of its own theological moorings.
Many have helped me to achieve this milestone, and I would like
to acknowledge some of them. I am grateful for acceptance into the
doctoral program at Baptist Bible Seminary and the development of
the program by Drs. Mike Stallard and Ken Gardoski, among others.
Without an accredited, nonresidential program I could not have
pursueddoctoralwork,asamissionary/professor.Iamgratefultomy
external reader, Dr. Mark Saucy, who was my colleague in my early
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