Intro - reading the 1st to mid-2nd c. writings on Christianity
Posted: January 18th, 2019, 2:12 pm
Hello. I am in the process of reading the 1st to mid-2nd c. writings on Christianity, from the times of the apostles (eg. John) and those who knew them (eg. Polycarp). They are sometimes inspirational and can give greater insight into Christianity from that foundational period, and the reader can notice things that are often overlooked. This is especially true for the Old Testament pseudigraphia authored in that time, which may reflect a transitioning period in Christianity when it had a stronger focus on Jewish culture and community than it does today.
I collected a list of 14 writings with an Old Testament or pre-Christian theme that scholars commonly consider to have Christian interpolations, reworking, or authorship, such as 4 Esdras. They are typically in Greek and since this forum's users have a lot of experience working with early Christian Greek language texts, I would like to share questions that I came across while reading them and don't know how to answer, ranging from questions of meaning and interpretation to fun, philosophical ones. For example, in 4 Esdras 5, Ezra calls the angel Uriel "Lord", and I don't know if this implies that Uriel was god-like, or if he could just mean it in the sense of "master" or "ruler". And in another passage, Uriel says that he will answer Ezra's question if Ezra can solve a riddle, and Uriel asks if he can measure a blast of wind. So I wonder if Ezra could have solved it by using something like a wind-sock or sail. I would like to ask: Which forum section, if any, is good for these questions? I would like to put it in the Septuagint section, but the instructions say that the section is for translation, rather than for text criticism. Maybe "Cool stuff" or "Other"?
I collected a list of 14 writings with an Old Testament or pre-Christian theme that scholars commonly consider to have Christian interpolations, reworking, or authorship, such as 4 Esdras. They are typically in Greek and since this forum's users have a lot of experience working with early Christian Greek language texts, I would like to share questions that I came across while reading them and don't know how to answer, ranging from questions of meaning and interpretation to fun, philosophical ones. For example, in 4 Esdras 5, Ezra calls the angel Uriel "Lord", and I don't know if this implies that Uriel was god-like, or if he could just mean it in the sense of "master" or "ruler". And in another passage, Uriel says that he will answer Ezra's question if Ezra can solve a riddle, and Uriel asks if he can measure a blast of wind. So I wonder if Ezra could have solved it by using something like a wind-sock or sail. I would like to ask: Which forum section, if any, is good for these questions? I would like to put it in the Septuagint section, but the instructions say that the section is for translation, rather than for text criticism. Maybe "Cool stuff" or "Other"?