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15 - The Shepherd of Hermas as Early Christian Apocalypse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2021

By
Dan Batovici
Edited by
Michael F. Bird  and
Scott Harrower
Michael F. Bird
Affiliation:
Ridley College, Melbourne
Scott Harrower
Affiliation:
Ridley College, Melbourne
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Summary

The Shepherd of Hermas packs a striking number of conundrums, textual, compositional, theological, and reception historical. To begin with, despite the fact that there are more papyri of this book than any of the other Apostolic Fathers, as well as than most New Testament books taken separately, we still do not have the complete text in Greek. As a result, in current critical editions the last chapters are supplied from the Latin (and Ethiopic) translations. It is also the longest AF book, replete of allegorical material, occasionally inconsistent and largely repetitive, which leads modern readers every now and again to describe it as naive, dilettante, and incompetent, or plainly boring. Moreover, the manner in which the book is written in large narrative sections with seemingly poor connection from one to another has occasioned several theories of multiple authorship.

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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers , pp. 290 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Brox, Norbert. Der Hirt des Hermas. Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vätern 7. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991.Google Scholar
Bucur, Bogdan G. “Angelomorphic Pneumatology in the Shepherd of Hermas,” in Angelomorphic Pneumatology: Clement of Alexandria and Other Early Christian Witnesses. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 95. Leiden: Brill, 2009, 113–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundeken, Mark. Community Building in the Shepherd of Hermas: A Critical Study of Some Key Aspects. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 131. Leiden: Brill, 2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellholm, David. “The Shepherd of Hermas,” in The Apostolic Fathers: An Introduction, edited by Pratscher, Wilhelm. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2010, 215–42.Google Scholar
Lipsett, , B. Diane. Desiring Conversion: Hermas, Thecla, Aseneth. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Maier, Harry. “Shepherd of Hermas,” in Oxford Research Bibliographies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. www.oxfordbibliographies.comGoogle Scholar
Osiek, Carolyn. The Shepherd of Hermas: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Snyder, Graydon F. The Shepherd of Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers 6. London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1968.Google Scholar
Verheyden, Joseph. “The Shepherd of Hermas.” ExpT 117 (2006): 397–401.Google Scholar

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