Tailoring Scripture with Citation Formulae: Clues about Early Christian Views of the Holy Books and the Holy God

About the Book

The phrases “scripture says” and “as it is written” in early Christian literature appear unremarkable, little more than throwaway lines. Tailoring Scripture with Citation Formulae: Clues about Early Christian Views of the Holy Books and the Holy God contends, however, that they provide much to remark on. Current discussions of scriptural intertextuality either neglect or instrumentalize citation formulae. Within a world of expensive books and widespread illiteracy, though, the formulae would not only have signaled the presence of an upcoming citation. At times they also situated and interpreted a quoted passage. Further, close attention to the formulae yields three interesting clues about early Christian views of the holy books and the holy God. First, the media of the formulae in the Gospels cuts precisely counter to expectations, with the pre-Synoptic tradition indicating a textual view of scripture and Matthew, an oral one. Second, the wellspring of prosopological exegesis, that is, discovering the triune God speaking in Israel’s sacred writings, is best attributed to the Epistle to the Hebrews. Third, while the undisputed Pauline letters say little about the nature of scripture, the apostle’s citation formulae in Romans and Galatians indicate that it operated as a divine hypostasis for him. This book is a comprehensive study including an analysis and catalogue of early Christian formulae.

Table of Contents:

Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I
Chapter 1: Citation Formulae and Early Christian Use of Scripture
Chapter 2: The Authors Considered and Their Audiences
Chapter 3: Detecting and Delimiting Formulae
Chapter 4: A Tour of the Formulae
Part II
Chapter 5: A Scribal Jesus and Oral Evangelists?
Chapter 6: The Triune Voice of God in Hebrews
Chapter 7: Scripture as Divine Hypostasis in Paul
Conclusion
Appendix: Citation Formulae in Early Christian Literature
Bibliography
About the Author

About the Author :
Timothy A. Gabrielson is associate professor of biblical studies and chair of the Theology & Ministry Department at Sterling College.

Review :
When New Testament writers quote the Old, our eyes are drawn naturally to the quotation. Gabrielson urges us to notice also the citation formula. It is not merely a throwaway convention. Rather, a NT writer chose if, when and how to use a formula as a tool to communicate to the hearer (reader), helping us bridge the gap between Richard Hays’ optimism and Christopher Stanley’s pessimism about how biblically literate were the original hearers. For scholars of intertextuality, Gabrielson’s study is a must read. How much difference can it make what subject and verb a New Testament writer uses when he quotes the Old Testament? Does it really matter if “it stands written in Scripture,” or “God spoke” or “the words of the prophet were fulfilled”? In a breathtaking sweep through the Gospels and Acts, Paul and Hebrews, plus key second-century Christian literature, Tim Gabrielson demonstrates the far-reaching significance of the ways in which early Jesus followers introduced their quotations of Scripture. No formula, however minor, is left unturned; the results are surprisingly useful, and even aid our understanding of the Trinity! Dr. Gabrielson has written a methodologically and historically precise book on a long-overlooked topic: the interpretive significance of citation formulas in early Christian references to Scripture. He compelling reveals that it is not merely the citations themselves, but the nuanced and variegated introductions of these citations, that hold profound importance for ancient authors. The extensive catalogue of early Christian citation formula alone makes this work one that ought to be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in early Christian literature. The phenomenon of scripture citing scripture has launched a thousand books in quest of various treasures, ranging from the textual history of cited texts and their authority to the hermeneutical lenses that rendered scripture meaningful to ancient readers. Almost unnoticed and often neglected, however, are the myriad phrases and formulae by which later authors signaled the presence of scriptural citations and encouraged particular interpretations thereof. In Tailoring Scripture with Citation Formulae, Timothy Gabrielson invites readers to let their focus linger on the introductory formulae in the first century of Christian texts, from the Apostle Paul to Justin Martyr. In so doing, Gabrielson sheds light on questions of history (e.g., how early Christians read and cited their holy books) but also on questions of theology, including how scripture came to speak the very words of God. This will be the standard discussion of citation formulae for the next century-and-a-half. Gabrielson offers a book that carefully analyzes the citation formulae within the New Testament in an engaging format. In these pages are an impressive range of statistics as well as fruitful interpretations of the data and the texts of Scripture it represents. This book is an important contribution to discussions on the ways that New Testament authors engage with Scripture and its traditions.