Eve Was Named an Apostle
Nuptiality and Mariological Development in John and Hippolytus
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2023
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Publisher's Description
This book investigates the movement of the Eve parallelism along the chain of tradition, focusing primarily upon the female characters of the Gospel of John. The principal aim is to explore their interrelationship with the mother of Jesus who, in the developed ecclesial tradition, is eventually given the title New Eve. Accordingly, this work examines the motif of woman in the Fourth Gospel by probing the use of the nuptial metaphor where female narrative characters are presented both as idealized disciples and fictive brides of the divine Bridegroom. By means of a common narrative-critical approach, this book then engages the thought of Hippolytus of Rome as found in his Commentary on the Song of Songs. Specifically, it explores how his focus upon the myrrophores is an expansion of the Johannine tradition, and one in which the nuptial metaphor takes on an ecclesial significance. By presenting the primordial garden in a narrative climax whereby a symbolic recapitulation occurs in the resurrection garden, Hippolytus shifts the Eve parallelism from the mother of Jesus to the Magdalene. This, in turn, is early evidence of a confluence of understanding, whereby she is not only disciple, but also both Eve and apostola apostolorum.
Endorsements (3)
“This book makes a valuable contribution to examination of the chain of tradition between canonical and postapostolic witnesses to biblical interpretation. At the same time, it illuminates the flexibility of interpretation at the time of Hippolytus with regard to the concept of a new Eve and the roles of women as tradents of Christian witness.”
“Combining intertextuality, narratology, and attention to early reception, Daniel Schneider offers an absorbing account of Johannine women characters, both named and unnamed, and how the Johannine narrative fares in the hands of one particular Johannine tradent, Hippolytus. Schneider’s is a richly layered book, amply demonstrating the potential of close textual reading and of pursuing a particular thread along the line of early tradition.”
“A valuable link between Scripture and patristics. Original and creative, giving a well-written, professional, and fair exegesis of a work by Hippolytus which uses gender symbols from John’s Gospel in an early stage in the process by which Mary becomes the New Eve, and which also depicts repentant antitypes of Eve as the equal helpmate and spouse who becomes an apostle. Very relevant today as the Catholic Church considers the role of women.”
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