Biblical Interpretation and Doctrine in Early Christianity

“These collected essays offer a refreshing alternative to scholarship whose scope is constricted by purely historical or technical concerns. . . . Even while [Brian Daley] maintains high standards for scholarly rigor, he aims always to show the enduring relevance of Christ’s question ‘Who do you say that I am?’”

Brian Dunkle

“Brian Daley, one of the finest patristic scholars of his generation, is also in the forefront of those who recovered the Scriptural inspiration of patristic thought. With great learning, and with a sharp attention to the terms they used and the arguments they pursued, he has brought to life the inner logic of the thinking of the Fathers. These brilliant studies explore the fundamental principles that lie behind his approach to patristic theology—both revolutionary and traditional.”

Andrew Louth

“Spanning several decades of careful research, this collection of influential essays has all the hallmarks of Brian Daley’s scholarship: beautifully written, deeply learned, and attuned to the enduring relevance of early Christian theology.”

Peter Martens

“Recent decades have seen a revolution in attitudes towards the ‘pre-modern’ scriptural exegesis of early Christian teachers and writers. With clarity and insight, both reflecting and contributing to this shift in perspective, Daley’s essays make a brilliant contribution to the field, while also offering reflection on its reception in twentieth century Roman Catholic theology.”

Frances M. Young

“These highly specialized essays of Brian Daley, SJ, punctuate a career pattern of unearthing the depth and breadth of patristic engagement of classical philosophical sources and, most importantly, the Bible itself as the inexhaustible font of Christian doctrine and discourse. And as several of the essays will attest, few if any scholars have taken us further along in reclaiming patristic theological interpretation for enriching contemporary hermeneutics and systematics, and for revitalizing the Church’s liturgical and spiritual life.”

Paul M. Blowers

“Bad narratives are hard to kill. Fortunately, this collection of Brian Daley’s essays with their meticulous reading of the Fathers and Christian Scripture should put to rest the simplistic narrative of von Harnack’s critique of the Catholic distortion of the gospel through its ‘Hellenization’ of Christianity or historical criticism’s dismissal of allegory. On the contrary, Daley’s essays make clear that patristic theologians’ primary text was not Plato or the Stoics, but the Christian Scriptures. And these they interpreted, as did Paul, through the lens of Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection.”

J. Warren Smith

“Brian Daley is one of the most important historians and theologians of our time. This collection bears witness to the deep delight Christians have taken throughout time in meditating on the God who reveals God’s own self in Scripture and the person of Christ. A careful scholar of early Christianity whose work enlivens the past and nourishes the present, Daley bridges the gap between their time and ours to make manifest the beauty of a life lived in the pursuit of a deeper knowledge of God in Christ. From the Psalms to Origen and the Cappadocians, from Boethius and Leontius of Byzantium to Nouvelle Théologie and the Dei Verbum, Daley’s careful and rigorous scholarship reveals why, for him, the study of Scripture and early Christianity has never been an antiquarian curiosity but rather is a form of worship. This volume and its companion focusing more specifically on Daley’s work on the Incarnation and Trinity will be cherished by scholars and students for many years to come.”

George Kalantzis

“Brian Daley brings to the Church Fathers an unmatched combination of sympathy, clarity, intellectual rigor, and contemporary relevance. These virtues shine forth on every page of this extraordinarily rich and wide-ranging collection of essays, focused on one of Daley’s most important contributions: demonstrating the deep tie between early Christian biblical interpretation and traditional Christian doctrine.”

Bruce D. Marshall