Books by "Matthew J. Goff"
3 books found
Pneuma and Realized Eschatology in the Book of Wisdom
by Matthew Edwards
2012 · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
The Book of Wisdom's understanding of Israel's history, of contemporary politics and of the immortal fate of the persecuted sage can be understood to be part of one theological system. This system integrates texts and concepts from Jewish Wisdom, the biblical narratives of the patriarchs from Adam to Moses, eschatological hope and apocalyptic language, an understanding of the spirit of God in the enabling of prophets and leaders and, most distinctively, the Stoic concept of pneuma. This last concept unites the biblical resources and allows Wisdom, using eschatological language, to speak of the ordering of the cosmos for the judgement for the wicked and the exaltation of God's people in the present age.Matthew Edwards addresses first the question of the literary unity of Wisdom. This is followed by an examination of the differing uses of the term pneuma within Wisdom, that is as divine agent of salvation, the means of the ordering the cosmos and the substance from which souls are composed. The nature of personal salvation within Wisdom is also considered and shown to be an integral part of the understanding of the cosmos, ordered for judgement and exaltation. Finally, this notion of the ordering of the comos and history for God's people is discussed with its consequences for Jewish life under contemporary Hellenistic and Roman rule.
The six chapters of this book focus upon Jesus' conception and birth from a virgin, his authoritative teaching, his miracles, his cross, his resurrection, and his ascension. The purpose of the book is to articulate and defend the truth of these salvific mysteries as presented to us in Scripture. In addition to conversing extensively with historical-critical biblical scholarship, the chapters make recourse to the theological tradition from the church fathers onward, with Thomas Aquinas as a touchstone. Levering seeks to make a case for believing in Jesus. At the same time, he shows how each of these mysteries is intimately linked with a truth about Mary the Mother of Jesus, thus arguing for the integral relationship of Christology and Mariology. Mary enacts the reception of the Lord by God's faithful people: the New Adam never chooses to be without the New Eve in God's new covenant family. The Christology offered in this book is therefore both attuned to historical studies of Jesus and Second Temple Judaism and, at the same time, deeply traditional in a contemporary Catholic and ecumenical way.
A well-known characteristic of the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls are their assertions that membership in the Qumran movement included present and eschatological fellowship with the angels, but scholars disagree as to the precise meaning of these claims. To gain a better understanding of angelic fellowship at Qumran, Matthew L. Walsh utilizes the early Jewish concept that certain angels were closely associated with Israel. Moreover, these angels, which included guardians and priests, were envisioned within apocalyptic worldviews that assumed that realities on earth corresponded to those of the heavenly realm. A comparison of non-sectarian texts with sectarian compositions reveals that the Qumran movement's lofty assertions of communion with the guardians and priests of heavenly Israel would have made a significant contribution to their identity as the true Israel.