Andrew Perry | Durham University (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrew Perry

This paper is a short (6000 words) introduction to the main lines of argument in my much longer b... more This paper is a short (6000 words) introduction to the main lines of argument in my much longer book treatment of the prologue of John. A Socinian-Reacovian treatment is the main alternative to Logos and Wisdom readings of the prologue

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation, 2024

This EJournal paper is an investigation of the various 'coming' texts in GJohn but principally Jo... more This EJournal paper is an investigation of the various 'coming' texts in GJohn but principally John 3:13's 'ascending/descending' couplet saying. It argues for, variously, a mystical/visionary and/or typological interpretation of the texts in keeping with one strand in NT scholarship and consistent with a 1c Second-Temple approach rather than the 2c 'logos' pre-existence interpretation.

EJournal, 2023

This paper analyses the issues surrounding the punctuation of John 1:3b-4a, text-critical, gramma... more This paper analyses the issues surrounding the punctuation of John 1:3b-4a, text-critical, grammatical, stylistic as well as matters of sense. This has been an issue since the early Church Fathers. The paper defends the Ante-Nicene punctuation and a New Creation reading of John 1:3-4.

This is a lecture given to a church in the UK in English but translated into Farsi so that a Fars... more This is a lecture given to a church in the UK in English but translated into Farsi so that a Farsi speaker could simultaneously read the lecture to a Farsi speaking audience in an adjoining room.

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation, 2009

Arguments favouring an eighth century date for Obadiah.

The Testimony, 2011

A popular piece published in 2011 in a church magazine, 'The Testimony'.

This paper considers whether, beginning with the RSV in 1952, most modern translations are right ... more This paper considers whether, beginning with the RSV in 1952, most modern translations are right to think ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝΗΣ has no begettal overtone. Citing lexicons that still list the meaning of 'only-begotten', we look at the texts usually cited to establish the semantic domain of the word. We highlight some mistakes in the scholarly analysis of the word. We conclude that a number of the lexical texts plausibly mean to say 'only-begotten' and that this is also the meaning for the Johannine writings.

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation

This is an introductory Apologetics paper.

The central text for the incarnation is John 1:14 and it has been since the origins of this doctr... more The central text for the incarnation is John 1:14 and it has been since the origins of this doctrine. On first sight, this is odd because the verb gi, nomai is a verb of change/transformation rather than a verb of incarnation. A natural reading of the verse would be to say that the Word was transformed into flesh from whatever the Word was previously. J D G Dunn locates the significant development in Christian thinking about an incarnation in John's prologue and avers, "as the first century of the Christian era drew to a close we find a concept of Christ's real pre-existence beginning to emerge, but only with the Fourth Gospel can we speak of a full blown conception of Christ's personal pre-existence and a clear doctrine of incarnation". 1 Perhaps it is time to re-visit Dunn's view and consider whether a more plausible location for the idea of an incarnation lies in Paul, in such texts as Rom 8:3; Gal 4:4; Phil 2:5-11 and others. In this essay we examine the central verse of the prologue.We make two proposals: that the statement uses analepsis and that it is a narrative-biographical statement about Jesus coming in the flesh, using a title 'the Word'.

This paper presents the raw data for an assessment of the view that the dominant conception of th... more This paper presents the raw data for an assessment of the view that the dominant conception of the Spirit in first century Judaism was that the Spirit was the Spirit of prophecy. Instead, we show that this is a misleading generalisation more dependent on choices in historical analysis than the data itself. We counter argue that there was no dominant conception and that we need to recognise the variegated nature of the data.

This paper examines the current consensus that the background to the prologue of John is Jewish W... more This paper examines the current consensus that the background to the prologue of John is Jewish Wisdom speculation. Analysing the usual texts, it argues that the parallels are weak and that the prologue presents Jesus directly as 'the Word'.

Most scholars today would date the composition of the book of Job to some point between the seven... more Most scholars today would date the composition of the book of Job to some point between the seventh and the second centuries BCE, with the probability that a prose folktale of a pious sufferer existed long before the largely poetic book itself was written.1 Such a consensus about the date does not rule much out, but a later date allows the author of Job to have used more of the Jewish traditions; an earlier date requires us to suppose that later Jewish writings use Job. We will assume a late post-exilic date.

This is an essay that calls for a re-examination of the 'Wisdom' parallels that are adduced for t... more This is an essay that calls for a re-examination of the 'Wisdom' parallels that are adduced for the prologue of John.

This research was prepared in 2004 as part of doctoral work on Lukan Pneumatology

This paper argues for a sola scriptura hermeneutic in the exegesis of Paul because that is his me... more This paper argues for a sola scriptura hermeneutic in the exegesis of Paul because that is his method for approaching the Jewish Scriptures. The paper then argues that such a hermeneutic does not lead to Christological Monotheism but rather to Christological Cosmology.

This paper (revision 1, March 2023) reviews the arguments for and against the two most common com... more This paper (revision 1, March 2023) reviews the arguments for and against the two most common competing variants for the text of John 1:18 as presented in recent papers. It argues that the external evidence on both sides is in a position of stalemate. It argues that the internal evidence favours one of the two variants and offers new internal considerations to that end. It is the sister paper to my paper on monogenes.

Horizons in Biblical Theology, 2017

Richard Bauckham and N. T. Wright have proposed that in 1 Corinthians 8:6 Paul consciously expand... more Richard Bauckham and N. T. Wright have proposed that in 1 Corinthians 8:6 Paul consciously expands upon the Shema, and would be understood to be doing so by his intended readers, and thus Paul includes Jesus within the unique divine identity. In this paper we question this proposal on several grounds. We argue that it is unlikely that 1 Corinthians 8:6 would be read as an expansion of the Shema. We demonstrate that κύριος in this context is unlikely to stand for Yhwh. We also raise doubts over the concept of “inclusion” within the divine identity. We conclude that 1 Corinthians 8:6 is better understood as an expression of monotheism simpliciter.

In 2018, I came across a copy of R. P. Martin’s Carmen Christi (1967 edition) in a second-hand bo... more In 2018, I came across a copy of R. P. Martin’s Carmen Christi (1967 edition) in a second-hand bookshop that had been in C. F. D. Moule’s personal library, a gift to him from the author; it had his extensive marginal comments in pencil throughout, which was the main reason for making the purchase. This led me to revisit my 2016 paper on Phil 2:5-11 (published in the EJournal) and enlarge it with extra remarks here and there as well as make a clearer distinction between typological and literal intertextual usage of the Jewish Scriptures. No changes have been made to the exegesis or the philology; rather, the paper has just been expanded making it a more complete exegesis and a fuller engagement with scholarship on more points of dispute. It has gained about 6000 words in the process. So, this paper now supersedes the 2016 paper.

The majority opinion today on Rom 1:3-4 is that it incorporates a pre-Pauline confession. It says... more The majority opinion today on Rom 1:3-4 is that it incorporates a pre-Pauline confession. It says that Jesus was ‘appointed’ the Son of God. To avoid the adoptionist implication that Jesus became the Son of God at or after his resurrection, the majority view reads the appointment of the Son of God to be an appointment to an enhanced sonship with a powerful status. As regards pre-existence and incarnation, this is not regarded as a particular feature of the text, although it is taken to be a presupposition implied by the syntax of the confession.

Our contrary view is that the confession is wholly Pauline and that it says God’s son was ‘made’ of the seed of David but was determined or marked out by Scripture to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. To put the point the other way round, Jesus’ sonship was not shown by his resurrection from the dead, it was determined by Scripture saying that God would not leave his Holy One to suffer corruption, or that he would beget his Son and set him upon the throne of David (and we might add in other types of the resurrection). When this happened, as it had, Jesus was proven to be the Son of God.

The current consensus in the New Testament academy is that Paul presented Christ in terms derived... more The current consensus in the New Testament academy is that Paul presented Christ in terms derived from Jewish Wisdom traditions, in which it is said there is a strong aspect of pre-existence. This paper looks at the texts and the Jewish background and questions and challenges this reading of Paul. Our thesis is that Paul thinks of Christ as the wisdom of God but not in terms of the personified Wisdom of God from Jewish writings. Thus, there is here no basis in Paul for a doctrine of Christ’s pre-existence. In this paper we oppose the consensus of Christological Monotheism and its adoption of ‘Wisdom Christology’ and ally ourselves with a minority of dissenting scholars. There is an appendix to the main paper on the texts of Col 1:15-20 and 1 Cor 8:6. It offers supplementary remarks on how these texts are read as ‘Wisdom Christology’. Again, we challenge the common reading using an intertextual method of interpretation and some minority voices in the world of scholarship.

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation, 2024

EJournal, 2023

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation, 2009

Arguments favouring an eighth century date for Obadiah.

The Testimony, 2011

A popular piece published in 2011 in a church magazine, 'The Testimony'.

EJournal of Biblical Interpretation

This is an introductory Apologetics paper.

This research was prepared in 2004 as part of doctoral work on Lukan Pneumatology

Horizons in Biblical Theology, 2017

Willow, 2013

This book (first published in 2013 with subsequent editions until 2018) is a philosophical examin... more This book (first published in 2013 with subsequent editions until 2018) is a philosophical examination of theistic evolution, evolutionary creationism and special creation. Its argument is that the philosophical case against theistic evolution and evolutionary creationism is decisive and that the idea of special creation cannot be dismissed, for example, in such forms as intelligent design.

Head-Coverings and Creation, 1997

This is a 1997 book published by Willow publications on the topic of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 which ... more This is a 1997 book published by Willow publications on the topic of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 which is Paul's famous and difficult text about male and female head-coverings. It offers a thorough-going typological exegesis of the text in contrast to both egalitarian and complementarian readings. As such it is more in keeping with Jewish patriarchal sensibilities and apostolic patterns of exegesis elsewhere in the New Testament.

Demons, Magic and Medicine, 1999

This is a semi-popular study first published in 1999 examining how first century beliefs about de... more This is a semi-popular study first published in 1999 examining how first century beliefs about demons are reflected in the NT writings. Its principal contribution to scholarship is to lay out the narrative symbology of the demon miracles and thereby show that apostolic teaching about demons was opposed to such beliefs. Its later sister-book, Demons and Politics, uses some of the material in this book, applying it in a socio-political critical context.

Joel, 2009

This full-length commentary presents a reading of Joel based in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah a... more This full-length commentary presents a reading of Joel based in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah and is part of an approach that redraws a number of prophets in the late eighth and early seventh centuries including, notably, Isaiah 40-66.

Job, 2019

This is a full length thematic commentary on Job putting forward a parabolic reading developing a... more This is a full length thematic commentary on Job putting forward a parabolic reading developing and correcting the published approach of David Wolfers' 1994 Eerdmans commentary. It reads Job as a script for a play debating and discussing the problem of the suffering of Hezekiah and the nation during the Assyrian crisis of 701. The contribution of the commentary is that it gives an exegesis of all the book in this light and from a conservative standpoint. Wolfers' commentary gave a critical exegesis of the material that was more amenable to a parabolic reading leaving the more difficult stuff to one side. We address this deficiency. The intertextual connections with Isaiah and the Hezekiah psalms make up our argument. Job has been traditionally read on the surface in the genre of Wisdom literature but it is in fact prophetic commentary on what was recent Israelite history

John 1:1-18, 2023

This book (Second Edition, Revision 5, Oct 2023, 252pp) develops a Socinian 'new creation' readin... more This book (Second Edition, Revision 5, Oct 2023, 252pp) develops a Socinian 'new creation' reading of John 1:1-18 and engages scholarship.