Taught By God: Making Sense of the Difficult Sayings of Jesus

by Daniel Fanous

Overview

Taught by God grapples with the difficult sayings of Christ. The author uses all the resources of the patristic tradition and modern biblical scholarship to put these sayings in a clearer light. If we are able to delve into the deeper meaning of these hard sayings, then we will truly be taught by God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881416633
Publisher:	SPCK Publishing
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Daniel Fanous is dean and lecturer in Theology & Biblical Studies at St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of The Person of the Christ and A Silent Patriarch (SVS Press).

Table of Contents

Taught by God: An Introduction 1

1. The Galilean Context of the Sayings 7
The World of Jesus
1 The Righteousness of the Kingdom 11

2.'Whoever divorces his wife' 13
History of Marriage & Divorce • Jesus & Divorce •
The Original Androgynous Man • Divorce & the Church
3. Jesus & the Law: 'It was said of old' 27
The Sabbath Laws • The Food Laws • The Purity
Laws • Let the Dead Bury their Dead...
4. Jesus & the Law: 'But I say to you' 49
The Sermon on the Mount • You have heard...
But I say to you... • The Two Tables of the Law
5. The Temple: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice' 61
The Action in the Temple • Symbol of Destruction •
The New Temple

2 The People of the Kingdom 75

6. The Unforgivable Sin: 'Blasphemy against the Spirit' 77
A First Century View of Exorcism •
The Beelzebub Controversy • The Unforgivable Sin
7. 'Throw not the children's bread to the dogs' 93
The Border Between Tyre and Galilee • The Children and the Little Dogs • The Table of the Master
8. 'I was not sent except to the House of Israel' 105
Gentiles In Early Judaic Thought • Jesus & the
Gentiles: For or Against? • The Messianic Banquet as Key
9. 'I did not come to bring peace but a sword' 117
A Man's Household is his Enemy • The Two Swords Saying •
The Sword that Divides to Unite

3 The Mystery of the Kingdom 131

10. 'Say nothing to anyone' 133
Silence in Exorcism • Silence in Healing • Silencing of the Disciples • The Hidden & Suffering Son of Man
11.'The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence' 147
Confused Thoughts on an Enigmatic Saying •
First Possibility: The Suffering Kingdom •
Second Possibility: The Violence of Repentance
12. Present or Future: 'Thy Kingdom come' 163
The Nature of the Kingdom •
The Future: The Kingdom Is Coming
13. Present or Future: 'The Kingdom of God has come' 173
The Present: The Kingdom Has Come •
A Logical Contradiction

4 The Master of the Kingdom 185

14. 'Son of God': Human or Divine 187
The 'Son of God' Title Before Jesus • Jesus and God:
Son of the Father • Jesus and God: God from God
15. 'My Father is greater than I' 205
Rejoice for the Father is Greater? • The Idea of Agency •
The Economy of the Incarnation • Like Father Like Son
16. 'My God, why have You forsaken Me' 219
The Context of the Saying • The Elijah Problem •
A Theology of Abandonment

Abbreviations 236
Bibliography 237

Editorial Reviews

"Taught by God is well researched and speaks clearly and informatively to many of the most difficult aspects of the biblical witness ... students, clergy and lay people could all greatly benefit from a close reading of the book's arguments and the evidence provided to support them. Daniel Fanous draws a great many good and plausible conclusions regarding difficult passages, and has provided a highly useful tool for people who read Scripture in depth and find themselves troubled or perplexed by these passages."
--Very Rev. John Breck
Professor of Biblical Interpretation & Bioethics,
St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, France.

"Fascinating and informative ... This book illuminates the background of Jesus' controversies with the Jewish religious leaders and makes Jesus' difficult sayings come alive for the modern reader. The author has done his homework and provides exciting insights into Jesus' ministry."
--Very Rev. Dr. Theodore Stylianopoulos
Professor of Orthodox Theology & New Testament,
Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology, USA.

"It is heartening to see the treasures of Orthodoxy come together with modern biblical scholarship.... The encounter is fascinating and, for both Church and academy, full of promise."
--Dale C. Allison, Jr.
Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity,
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, USA

From the Publisher