Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Texts and Abbreviations
- I THE CHURCH AND ISRAEL
- II THE CHURCH FATHERS TO A.D. 160
- III POLITICAL FACTORS IN THE SEPARATION
- IV JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES
- V PAUL
- VI POST-PAULINE DEVELOPMENTS
- VII CONCLUDING SUMMARY
- APPENDIXES
- A The ‘Apology’ of Aristides
- B Paul's use of λαός
- C The sects of Judaism and ‘ true Israel’
- INDEXES
A - The ‘Apology’ of Aristides
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Texts and Abbreviations
- I THE CHURCH AND ISRAEL
- II THE CHURCH FATHERS TO A.D. 160
- III POLITICAL FACTORS IN THE SEPARATION
- IV JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES
- V PAUL
- VI POST-PAULINE DEVELOPMENTS
- VII CONCLUDING SUMMARY
- APPENDIXES
- A The ‘Apology’ of Aristides
- B Paul's use of λαός
- C The sects of Judaism and ‘ true Israel’
- INDEXES
Summary
The Apology of Aristides raises complex critical and textual problems for which a convincing answer has not yet been found. Its importance to this study lies in its witness to the continuity and discontinuity of Judaism and Christianity, and in its assertion of a tertium genus. The following hypothesis on these matters will need to be tested by close textual work.
J. R. Harris has pointed out the many reasons (based on his examination of the Syriac version) for an early date, and then, because of the difficulties of the superscription, rejected the early date. Conversely, J. A. Robinson inclined towards the reliability of the Greek version, and yet accepted an early date. Geffcken accepts the priority of neither text and constructs an eclectic text in which the basic structure follows the Greek with large additions from the Syriac. The discovery of some Greek papyri confirms the fluidity of the textual tradition and the necessity for constructing an eclectic text such as Geffcken's, for these attest both Greek and Syriac readings, representing an intermediate point between the two but generally closer to the Syriac. It seems no longer possible to decide decisively for any existing text. These papyri are the most important materials for constructing a text, in spite of their brevity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Israel in the Apostolic Church , pp. 207 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1969