Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series

The history of the entry into the Promised Land followed by the period of the Judges and early monarchy may not appear to readers today as a source for expounding the Christian faith. But the church fathers readily found parallels, or types, in the narrative that illumined the New Testament. An obvious link was the similarity in name between Joshua, Moses' successor, and Jesus—indeed, in Greek the names are identical. Thus Joshua was consistently interpreted as a type of Christ. So too was Samuel. David was recognized as an ancestor of Jesus, and parallels between their two lives were readily explored. And Ruth, in ready fashion, was seen as a type of the church. Among the most important sources for commentary on these books are the homilies of Origen, most of which are known to us through the Latin translations of Rufinus and Jerome. Only two running commentaries exist—one from Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the famous Cappadocian theologians, the other from Bede the Venerable. Another key source for the selections found here derives from question-and-answer format, such as Questions on the Heptateuch from Augustine, Questions on the Octateuch from Theodoret of Cyr, and Thirty Questions on 1 Samuel from Bede. The remainder of materials come from a wide variety of occasional and doctrinal writings, which make mention of these biblical texts to support their arguments. Readers will find a rich treasure trove of ancient wisdom, some of which appear here for the first time in English translation, speaking with eloquence and powerful spiritual insight to the church today.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, prophesied for four decades under the last five kings of Judah—from 627 to 587 B.C. His mission: a call to repentance. Among the apostolic fathers, Jeremiah was rarely cited, but several later authors give prominent attention to him, including Origen, Theodoret of Cyr, and Jerome, who wrote individual commentaries on Jeremiah, and Cyril of Alexandria and Ephrem the Syrian, who compiled catenae. Justin and Irenaeus made use of Jeremiah to define Christians over against Jews. Athanasius made use of him in trinitarian debates. Cyril of Jerusalem, Irenaeus, Basil the Great, and Clement of Alexandria all drew on Jeremiah for ethical exhortation. Lamentations, as might be expected, quickly became associated with losses and death, notably in Gregory of Nyssa's Funeral Oration on Meletius. By extension the fathers saw Lamentations as a description of the challenges that face Christians in a fallen world. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find some ancient authors translated into English here for the first time. Throughout they will gain insight and encouragement in the life of faith as seen through ancient pastoral eyes.

No book of the Old Testament is more frequently quoted in the New than Isaiah, and no portion of Isaiah is more frequently quoted in the New than the typologically fertile soil of Isaiah 40–66. Still, as interpreted by the fathers, Isaiah presents a message that is far more soteriological than christological, leading readers to a deeper understanding of God's judgment and salvation. Isaiah 40–66 provides us with the closest thing the Old Testament has to offer regarding a systematic theology. The excerpts included in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume offer us a rich array of differing styles, principles, and theological emphases, from Theodoret of Cyr to Eusebius and Procopius, to Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome and Augustine. Readers will be enriched by the wide-ranging selections, some of which are translated here into English for the first time.

The Psalms have long served a vital role in the individual and corporate lives of Christians, expressing the full range of human emotions, including some that we are ashamed to admit. The Psalms reverberate with joy, groan in pain, whimper with sadness, grumble in disappointment, and rage with anger. The church fathers employed the Psalms widely. In liturgy they used them both as hymns and as Scripture readings. Within them they found pointers to Jesus both as Son of God and as Messiah. They also employed the Psalms widely as support for other New Testament teachings, as counsel on morals, and as forms for prayer. Especially noteworthy was their use of Psalms in the great doctrinal controversies. The Psalms were used to oppose subordinationism, modalism, Arianism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, and Monophysitism, among others. More than fifty church fathers are cited in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume from Ambrose to Zephyrinus. From the British Isles, Gaul, and the Iberian Peninsula, we find Hilary of Poitiers, Prudentius, John Cassian, Valerian of Cimiez, Salvian the Presbyter, Caesarius of Arles, Martin of Bruga, Braulio of Saragossa, and Bede. From Rome and Italy, we find Clement, Justin Martyr, Callistus, Hippolytus, Novatian, Rufinus, Maximus of Turin, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, Cassiodorus, and Gregory the Great. Carthage and North Africa are represented by Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, and Fulgentius. Fathers from Alexandria and Egypt include Clement, Origen, Dionysius, Pachomius, Athanasius, Cyril, and Poemen. Constantinople and Asia Minor supply the Great Cappadocians—Basil the Great and the two Gregorys, from Nazianzus and Nyssa—plus Evagrius of Pontus and Nicetas of Remesiana. From Antioch and Syria we find Ephrem, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyr, Philoxenus of Mabbug, Sahdona, and John of Damascus. Finally, Jerusalem, Palestine and Mesopotamia are represented by Eusebius of Caesarea, Aphrahat, Cyril, Jacob of Sarug, Jerome, and Isaac of Nineveh. Readers of these selections, some of which appear here for the first time in English, will glean from a rich treasury of deep devotion and profound theological reflection.

The church fathers, as they did in earlier books dealing with Israel's history from the time of Joshua to the united monarchy, found ample material for typological and moral interpretation in 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It will be immediately clear to readers of this volume that they gave much more attention to 1-2 Kings than to others; whether this was due to a certain repetitiveness in the story line or other reasons is unclear. But the narratives of wise King Solomon, the construction of the temple, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and the fates of various faithful and unfaithful kings and other powerful people were well suited to their purposes. Among Greek commentators in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Methodius, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyr, Procopius of Gaza and John the Monk. Among Latin commentators are Tertullian, Cyprian, Novatian, Lactantius, Ambrose, Jerome, Prudentius, Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, John Cassian, Peter Chrysologus, Maximus of Turin, Salvian the Presbyter, Fulgentius of Ruspe, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great, Bede and Rabanus Maurus. Syriac commentators include Aphrahat, Ephrem, Sahdona, Isaac of Nineveh and Isho'dad of Merv. Together they set before readers a table of delights and theological insights, some of which are here available to English readers for the first time.

Among the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon were all thought by the early church fathers to have derived from the hand of Solomon. To their minds the finest wisdom about the deeper issues of life prior to the time of God's taking human form in Jesus Christ was to be found in these books. As in all the Old Testament, they were quick to find types and intimations of Christ and his church that would make the ancient Word relevant to the Christians of their day. Of extant commentaries on Ecclesiastes none are so profound as the eight homilies of Gregory of Nyssa, even though they cover only the first three chapters of the book. Joining Gregory among those most frequently excerpted in this volume are Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Origen, John Cassian, John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Bede the Venerable, and Jerome. Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and Cyril of Jerusalem lead a cast of other less frequently cited fathers, and then there remains a large cast of supporting players, some of whose work is translated here into English for the first time. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume offers a rich trove of wisdom on Wisdom for the enrichment of the church today.

The books of Ezekiel and Daniel are rich in imagery that is taken up afresh in the New Testament. Echoes of Ezekiel—with its words of doom and hope, vision of a new temple, and scroll-eating prophet—are especially apparent in the book of Revelation. Daniel is most notable in supplying terminology and imagery for Jesus of Nazareth's favored self-description as "Son of man," a phrase also found in Ezekiel. The four beasts of Daniel find their counterparts in the lion, ox, man, and eagle of Ezekiel and Revelation. It is no wonder these books, despite the difficulties in interpreting them, took hold on the imagination of the early church. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, over forty church fathers are cited in the commentary on Ezekiel, some of whom are here translated into English for the first time, but pride of place goes to four significant extant works: the homilies of Origen and Gregory the Great, and the commentaries of Jerome and Theodoret of Cyr, thus bridging East and West, North and South. A similar array of fathers are found within the commentary on Daniel. Extensive comments derive from the works of Theodoret of Cyr, Hippolytus, Jerome, and Isho'dad of Merv, providing a wealth of insight.

The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Such honest, forthright wrestling with the problem of evil and the silence of God has intrigued a wide gamut of readers both religious and nonreligious. Surprisingly, the earliest church fathers showed little interest in the book of Job. Not until Origen in the early third century is there much evidence of any systematic treatment of the book, and most of Origen's treatment is known to us only from the catenae. More intense interest came at the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth. The excerpts in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume focus on systematic treatment. Among Greek texts are those from Origen, Didymus the Blind, Julian the Arian, John Chrysostom, Hesychius of Jerusalem, and Olympiodorus. Among Latin sources we find Julian of Eclanum, Philip the Priest, and Gregory the Great. Among Syriac sources we find Ephrem the Syrian and Isho'dad of Merv, some of whose work is made available here for the first time in English. In store for readers of this volume is a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church with fresh relevance for today.

From its inception the church has always had a Bible—the Jewish Scriptures. But Christians have not read these Scriptures in the same way the Jews did. They have read them in the light of what God did in Jesus the Christ. Thus the Jewish Scriptures became for Christian readers the Old Testament. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume on Exodus through Deuteronomy bears ample witness to this new way of reading these ancient texts. Among the earliest interpreters whose works remain extant is Origen, who virtually single-handedly assured the Old Testament a permanent place within the Christian church through his extensive commentary and reflection. His twenty-seventh homily on Numbers is particularly noteworthy for his interpretation of the forty-two stopping places in the desert wanderings as the forty-two stages of growth in the spiritual life. Among Greek-speaking interpreters, this current volume draws widely on John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyr, and John of Damascus. Among Latin-speaking interpreters, quotations from Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Paterius, Caesarius of Arles, Cassiodorus, and Isidore are found in abundance. Ephrem and Aphrahat are represented among Syriac speakers. Numerous other interpreters are present from each grouping. Varied in texture and nuance, the interpretations included in this volume display a treasure house of ancient wisdom, some appearing here in English translation for the first time, speaking with eloquence and intellectual acumen to the church today.

The Psalms have long served a vital role in the individual and corporate lives of Christians, expressing the full range of human emotions, including some that we are ashamed to admit. The Psalms reverberate with joy, groan in pain, whimper with sadness, grumble in disappointment, and rage with anger. The church fathers employed the Psalms widely. In liturgy they used them both as hymns and as Scripture readings. Within them they found pointers to Jesus both as Son of God and as Messiah. They also employed the Psalms widely as support for other New Testament teachings, as counsel on morals, and as forms for prayer. But the church fathers found more than pastoral insight in the Psalms. They found apologetic and doctrinal insight as well, as is attested by the more than sixty-five authors and more than 160 works excerpted in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume. Especially noteworthy among the Greek-speaking authors cited are Hippolytus, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Didymus the Blind, Evagrius of Pontus, Diodore of Tarsus, John Chrysostom, Asterius the Homilist, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyr, Cyril of Alexandria, and Hesychius of Jerusalem. Among noteworthy Latin authors we find Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan, Jerome, Augustine, Arnobius the Younger, and Cassiodorus. Readers of these selections, some of which appear here for the first time in English, will glean from a rich treasury of deep devotion and profound theological reflection.

Christianity Today Book of the Year St. Paul's Letter to the Romans has long been considered the theological high-water mark of the New Testament. It was no less regarded by the ancient church, and patristic interpreters have left us an abundance of valuable comment on Romans. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Romans collects the best and most representative of patristic commentary and homily on Romans, and it brings to the public some valuable material that has hitherto been unavailable in English translation. Outstanding among these commentators is "Ambrosiaster," the name given to the unknown Latin commentator of the late fourth century, whose enduring worth is evident to all who read him. And the extensive commentary by Origen, largely inaccessible to modern readers, is frequently and extensively presented here in English for the first time. These commentators are joined by great figures such as John Chrysostom of Constantinople, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Augustine of Hippo, Theodoret of Cyrus, and several lesser commentators such as Diodore of Tarsus and Didymus the Blind of Alexandria. This commentary on Romans (now in its second edition) provides a rare opportunity to encounter the familiar Pauline exposition of the righteousness of God as it echoes in the great Christian minds and communities of the early church.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." For the early church fathers the prophecy of Isaiah was not a compendium of Jewish history or theology but an announcement of the coming Messiah fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. As such, the prophet's words were a rich source of theological reflection concerning their Lord and a vital aid in their defense against the objections of the Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah. The interpretation of Jesus' ministry in light of Isaiah's prophecy was not a theological innovation on their part but rather a following of the path blazed by the New Testament writers and Jesus himself. Among passage-by-passage commentaries cited here are those by Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome, Cyril of Alexandria, and Theodoret of Cyr, as well as one attributed to Basil of Caesarea. John Chrysostom preached a series of homilies on Isaiah of which most of those extant concern the first eight chapters, though Chrysostom frequently cites Isaiah in numerous homilies on other books. Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, and Bede the Venerable frequently cite passages from Isaiah 1–39, as did many other fathers in defending the Christian faith from Jewish critics. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find materials ranging from East to West and from the first through the eighth centuries, some appearing here in English translation for the first time. Within this treasure house are riches to illumine the mind and fire the heart.

In Paul's letters to the Corinthian church, the pastoral issues of a first-century Christian community stand out in bold relief. And as the apostle responds to these challenges, the fathers lean over his shoulder, marveling and commenting on his pastoral wisdom. Best known among these patristic commentators is Chrysostom, whose seventy-seven homilies on the two Corinthian epistles are a treasury of exposition and application. The fragmentary works of Didymus the Blind and Severian of Gabala give us samples of Greek exegesis from the Alexandrian and Antiochene schools. The partial work of Theodore of Mopsuestia was long valued in the church, and the comments of Theodoret of Cyr are notable for their sensitivity to the intertextuality of Scripture. Then there are Origen and Pelagius, whose notable errors need not obscure their brilliant insights into Scripture. But pride of place in this volume goes to the unknown fourth-century commentator now dubbed Ambrosiaster. His excellent commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians was previously unavailable in English translation. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume opens a whole new way of reading these New Testament texts. The pastoral and theological interpretation of the fathers offers spiritual and intellectual sustenance to those who would read Paul again with open minds and hearts.

The Acts of the Apostles—or more in keeping with the author's intent, the Acts of the Ascended Lord—is part two of Luke's story of "all that Jesus began to do and teach." In it he recounts the expansion of the church as its witness spread from Jerusalem to all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. While at least forty early church authors commented on Acts, the works of only three survive in their entirety—John Chrysostom's Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, Bede the Venerable's Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles and a long Latin epic poem by Arator. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, substantial selections from the first two of these appear with occasional excerpts from Arator alongside many excerpts from the fragments preserved in J. A. Cramer's Catena in Acta SS. Apostolorum. Among the latter we find selections from Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Ephrem the Syrian, Didymus the Blind, Athanasius, Jerome, John Cassian, Augustine, Ambrose, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Theodoret of Cyr, Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Cyril of Alexandria, Cassiodorus, and Hilary of Poitiers, some of which are here translated into English for the first time. As readers, we find these early authors transmit life to us because their faith brought them into living and experiential contact with the realities spoken of in the sacred text.

The Gospel of Matthew stands out as a favorite biblical text among patristic commentators. The patristic commentary tradition on Matthew begins with Origen's pioneering twenty-five-volume commentary on the First Gospel in the mid-third century. In the Latin-speaking West, where commentaries did not appear until about a century later, the first commentary on Matthew was written by Hilary of Poitiers in the mid-fourth century. From that point, the First Gospel became one of the texts most frequently commented on in patristic exegesis. Outstanding examples are Jerome's four-volume commentary and the valuable but anonymous and incomplete Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum. Then there are the Greek catena fragments derived from commentaries by Theodore of Heraclea, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria. The ancient homilies also provide ample comment, including John Chrysostom's ninety homilies and Chromatius of Aquileia's fifty-nine homilies on the Gospel of Matthew. In addition, there are various Sunday and feast-day homilies from towering figures such as Augustine and Gregory the Great, as well as other fathers. This rich abundance of patristic comment, much of it presented here in English translation for the first time by editor Manlio Simonetti, provides a bountiful and varied feast of ancient interpretation of the First Gospel.

The Gospel of Matthew stands out as a favorite biblical text among patristic commentators. The patristic commentary tradition on Matthew begins with Origen's pioneering twenty-five-volume commentary on the First Gospel in the mid-third century. In the Latin-speaking West, where commentaries did not appear until about a century later, the first commentary on Matthew was written by Hilary of Poitiers in the mid-fourth century. From that point the First Gospel became one of the texts most frequently commented on in patristic exegesis. Outstanding examples are Jerome's four-volume commentary and the valuable but anonymous and incomplete Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum. Then there are the Greek catena fragments derived from commentaries by Theodore of Heraclea, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria. The ancient homilies also provide ample comment, including John Chrysostom's ninety homilies and Chromatius of Aquileia's fifty-nine homilies on the Gospel of Matthew. In addition, there are various Sunday and feast-day homilies from towering figures such as Augustine and Gregory the Great, as well as other fathers. This rich abundance of patristic comment, much of it presented here in English translation for the first time by editor Manlio Simonetti, provides a bountiful and varied feast of ancient interpretation of the First Gospel.

Distinctive in form, content, and style, the epistle to the Hebrews offers a profound high Christology and makes an awe-inspiring contribution to our understanding of Jesus as our High Priest. The earliest extant commentary on the letter comes to us in thirty-four homilies from John Chrysostom. These homilies serve to anchor the excerpts chosen by the editors of this volume because of their unique place in the history of interpretation. In addition to being the first comprehensive commentary on the letter, they deeply influenced subsequent interpretation in both the East and the West, and their rhetorical eloquence has long been acknowledged. As in other Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volumes, the excerpts chosen range widely over geography and time, from Justin Martyr and Clement of Rome in the late first and early second century to Bede the Venerable, Isaac of Nineveh, Photius, and John of Damascus in the eighth and ninth centuries. The Alexandrian tradition is well represented in Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, Didymus, and Cyril of Alexandria, while the Antiochene tradition is represented in Ephrem the Syrian, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Severian of Gabala, and Theodoret of Cyr. Italy and North Africa in the West are represented by Ambrose, Cassiodorus, and Augustine, while Constantinople, Asia Minor and Jerusalem in the East are represented by the Great Cappadocians—Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa—Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Jerome. This volume offers a rich treasure of ancient wisdom from Hebrews for the enrichment of the church today.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner The early church valued the Gospel of Mark for its preservation of the apostolic voice and gospel narrative of Peter. Yet the early church fathers very rarely produced sustained commentary on Mark. This brisk-paced and robust little Gospel, so much enjoyed by modern readers, was overshadowed in the minds of the fathers by the magisterial Gospels of Matthew and John. But now with the assistance of computer searches, an abundance of comment has been discovered to be embedded and interleaved amidst the textual archives of patristic homilies, apologies, letters, commentaries, theological treatises and hymnic verses. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark, the insights of Augustine of Hippo and Clement of Alexandria, Ephrem the Syrian and Cyril of Jerusalem join in a polyphony of interpretive voices of the Eastern and Western church from the second century to the seventh. St. Mark's Gospel displays the evocative power of its story, parables and passion as it ignites a brilliant exhibit of theological insight and pastoral wisdom. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark (now in its second edition) opens up a long-forgotten passage through the arid and precipitous slopes of post-Enlightenment critical interpretation and bears us along to a fertile valley basking in the sunshine of theological and spiritual interpretation. In these pages we enter the interpretive world that long nurtured the great premodern pastors, theologians and saints of the church.

"And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [the risen Jesus] interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Lk 24:27). The church fathers mined the Old Testament throughout for prophetic utterances regarding the Messiah, but few books yielded as much messianic ore as the Twelve Prophets, sometimes known as the Minor Prophets because of the relative brevity of their writings. Encouraged by the example of the New Testament writers, the church fathers found numerous parallels between the Gospels and the prophetic books. Among the events foretold, they found not only the flight into Egypt after the nativity, the passion, and resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, but also Judas's act of betrayal, the earthquake at Jesus' death and the rending of the temple veil. Detail upon detail brimmed with significance for Christian doctrine, including baptism and the Eucharist as well as the relation between the covenants. In this rich and vital resource you will find excerpts, some translated here into English for the first time, from more than thirty church fathers, ranging in time from Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus (late first and early second centuries) to Gregory the Great, Braulio of Saragossa, and Bede the Venerable (late sixth to early eighth centuries). Geographically the sources range from the great Cappadocians—Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa—John Chrysostom, Ephrem the Syrian, and Hippolytus in the East, to Ambrose, Augustine, Cyprian, and Tertullian in the West, and Origen, Cyril, and Pachomius in Egypt. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume is a treasure trove out of which Christians may bring riches both old and new in their understanding of these ancient texts.

The Gospel of John was beloved by the early church, much as it is today, for its spiritual insight and clear declaration of Jesus' divinity. Clement of Alexandria indeed declared it the "spiritual Gospel." Early disputers with heretics such as Cerinthus and the Ebionites drew upon the Gospel of John to refute their heretical notions and uphold the full deity of Christ. This Gospel more than any other was central to the trinitarian and christological debates of the fourth and fifth centuries. At the same time, the Gospel of John was also thought to be the most chronological, and even to this day is the source of our sense of Jesus' having a three-year ministry. And John Chrysostom's Homilies on John,, perhaps more than any other commentary, emphasizes Christ's humanity and condescension toward the human race. In addition to the serial homilies of John Chrysostom, readers of this volume of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) will find selections from those of Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine. These commentaries are supplemented with homiletic material from Gregory the Great, Peter Chrysologus, Caesarius, Amphilochius, Basil the Great and Basil of Seleucia among others. Liturgical selections derive from Ephraim the Syrian, Ambrose and Romanos the Melodist, which are further supplemented with doctrinal material from Athanasius, the Cappodocians, Hilary and Ambrose. This rich tradition, some of which is here translated for the first time, offers a vast treasure out of which today's scribes trained for the kingdom may bring forth that which is new and what is old. Edited by Joel C. Elowsky.

The Gospel of John was beloved by the early church, much as it is today, for its spiritual insight and clear declaration of Jesus' divinity. Clement of Alexandria indeed declared it the "spiritual Gospel." Early disputers with heretics such as Cerinthus and the Ebionites drew upon the Gospel of John to refute their heretical notions and uphold the full deity of Christ, and this Gospel more than any other was central to the trinitarian and christological debates of the fourth and fifth centuries. At the same time, the Gospel of John was also thought to be the most chronological, and even to this day is the source of our sense of Jesus' having a three-year ministry. And John Chrysostom's Homilies on John, perhaps more than any other commentary, emphasize Christ's humanity and condescension toward the human race. In addition to the serial homilies of John Chrysostom, readers of this volume will find selections from those of Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine. These commentaries are supplemented with homiletic material from Gregory the Great, Peter Chrysologus, Caesarius, Amphilochius, Basil the Great and Basil of Seleucia among others. Liturgical selections derive from Ephrem the Syrian, Ambrose and Romanos the Melodist, which are further supplemented with doctrinal material from Athanasius, the Cappodocians, Hilary and Ambrose. This rich tradition, some of which is here translated for the first time, offers a vast treasure out of which today's scribes trained for the kingdom may bring forth that which is new and what is old.

Christianity Today Book of the Year For the early church fathers, certain passages in the shorter letters of St. Paul proved particularly important in doctrinal disputes and practical church matters. Pivotal in controversies with the Arians and the Gnostics, the most commented-on christological text in these letters was Colossians 1:15-20, where Jesus is declared "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." The fathers found ample support scattered throughout the Pastorals for the divinity of the Son and the Spirit and for the full union of humanity and divinity in the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). These commentators also looked to the Pastorals for important teaching on ethics and church life. Chief among the Eastern commentators and widely excerpted throughout this volume is John Chrysostom, praised for his pastoral insight. Other Greek commentators cited include Theodoret of Cyr, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Severian of Gabala, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. Western commentators include Augustine, Ambrosiaster, Pelagius, Jerome, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Novatian, Cyprian of Carthage, Hilary of Poitiers, and Ambrose. Of particular interest for their ascetical and devotional insight are works from Syrian and Egyptian churches, including Aphrahat, Ephrem the Syrian, Isaac of Nineveh, and Philoxenus of Mabbug. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume opens up a treasure house of ancient wisdom that allows these faithful witnesses, some appearing here in English translation for the first time, to speak with eloquence and intellectual acumen to the church today.

For the church fathers the Gospels did not serve as resources for individual analysis and academic study. They were read and heard and interpreted within the worshiping community. They served as sources for pastoral counsel and admonition for those who were committed to the Way. Although Matthew and John were generally the preferred Gospels, Luke, because of his particular interests and unique contributions, took pride of place during the Christmas season as well as during Easter and other major feasts. During the early patristic period, the tradition of continuous reading (lectio continua) through the Gospels developed, such that over a course of time a complete Gospel was read in sections, and sermons were preached on the readings either at weekly or midweek worship and Communion liturgies or during morning and evening prayer services. Among such sermons that have survived, this commentary includes selections from Origen and Cyril of Alexandria. Aside from sermons, we find that the fathers addressed exegetical issues in theological treatises, pastoral letters and catechetical lectures. Among these, as in other ACCS volumes, readers will find materials ranging from East to West and from the first to the eighth centuries. Among well-known fathers cited are Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, the Cappadocians, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus and Bede the Venerable. Among lesser-known fathers are John Cassian, Philoxenus of Mabbug and Theophylact. This volume, edited by Arthur A. Just, opens up a treasure house of ancient wisdom that allows these faithful witnesses, some appearing here in English translation for the first time, to speak with eloquence and intellectual acumen to the church today.

Christianity Today Award of Merit winner Because the Catholic Epistles focus on orthodox faith and morals, the Fathers drew on them as a means of defense against the rising challenge of heretics. Many of the Fathers saw in these letters anticipatory attacks on Marcion and strong defenses against the Arians. They did so quite naturally because in their view truth was eternal and deviations from it had existed from the beginning. Above all, the Fathers found in the Catholic Epistles a manual for spiritual warfare, counsel for the faithful in the cosmic struggle between good and evil. In them was sound instruction in the ways of self-sacrifice, generosity, and humility, through which the cosmic forces could be defeated. Allusions to these letters go back as far as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, but the first commentary derives from Clement of Alexandria. Didymus the Blind was the next significant Greek-speaking commentator, though his commentary is fully extant only in Latin translation. Many of the comments from the early centuries have been passed on to us through Latin catenae, or chain commentaries, in which a later commentator collected comments from a variety of sources and chained them together in a fashion much like that of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture in English. Among Latin commentators on these letters, pride of place must be given to Bede the Venerable. This volume opens up a treasure house of ancient wisdom that allows these faithful witnesses, some appearing here in English translation for the first time, to speak with eloquence and intellectual acumen to the church today.

Paul's letters to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians have struck an indelible impression on Christian tradition and piety. The doctrines of Christ, of salvation, and of the church all owe their profiles to these letters. And for patristic interpreters, who read Scripture as a single book and were charged with an insatiable curiosity regarding the mysteries of the Godhead, these letters offered profound visions seldom captured by modern eyes. Trinitarian truth was patterned in the apostle's praise of God who is "over all, through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:6). Without a doubt the greatest text in this collection of letters is the "Christ hymn" of Philippians 2:6-11. This commentary offers an unparalleled close-up view of the fathers weighing the words and phrases of this panoramic charting of the Savior's journey from preexistence, to incarnation, to crucifixion, and triumphant exaltation as universal Lord. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume opens a treasury of resources for biblical study today. The expository voices of Jerome, Origen, Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Theodoret, Marius Victorinus, and Theodore of Mopsuestia speak again with eloquence and intellectual acumen, some in English translation for the first time.

The Revelation to John—with its vivid images and portraits of conflict leading up to the formation of a new heaven and a new earth—was widely read, even as it was variously interpreted in the early church. Approaches to its interpretation ranged from the millenarian approach of Victorinus of Petovium to the more symbolic interpretation of Tyconius, who read Revelation in the sense of the universal and unitary time of the church. Tyconius's Book of Rules, deeply admired by Augustine, strongly influenced not only ongoing interpretation of Revelation but the whole of medieval exegesis. From early on the book of Revelation was more widely accepted in the West than in the East. Indeed the earliest extant commentaries on Revelation in Greek date from Oecumenius's commentary in the sixth century, which was soon accompanied by that of Andrew of Caesarea. Earlier Eastern fathers did, however, make reference to Revelation in noncommentary works. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume draws heavily on the Greek commentaries from Oecumenius and Andrew of Caesarea to represent Eastern interpretation, while focusing on six other commentaries as primary witnesses to Western interpretation—those of Victorinus of Petovium, Tyconius, Primasius, Caesarius of Arles, Apringius of Beja, and Bede the Venerable. Every effort has been made to give adequate context so that the creative use of Scripture, the theological interest, and the pastoral intent can be discerned by readers today. Amid this treasure trove of early interpretation readers will find much that appears in English translation for the first time.