Philip Church | Laidlaw College (original) (raw)
At Laidlaw College I taught NT Greek,Biblical Hebrew, Pentateuch, Eighth Century Prophets, John, Hebrews.
I am now a Senior Research Fellow and travel to the majority world from time to time to teach there
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Papers by Philip Church
Creation and Hope: Reflections on Ecological Anticipation and Action from Aotearoa New Zealand, edited by Andrew Shepherd and Nicola Hoggard Creegan, 123-37. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2018., 2018
The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion t... more The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion that he has a negative bias against the creation. One text where scholars have detected this bias is Hebrews 1:10-12, quoting Psalm 102:25-27, seemingly to predict the dissolution of the cosmos. The text is part of a Psalm that predicts the restoration of Zion and the gathering of the nations there to worship, and expresses the confidence that the descendants of the servants of Yahweh will live securely in Yahweh's presence. This makes it unlikely that verses 25-26 predict the dissolution of the cosmos, and exegesis of the verses in question indicates not dissolution, but renewal after the destruction resulting from the exile. Attention to the context of the quotation in Hebrews indicates that dissolution there is also unlikely. The text supports the claim that the exalted Son upholds all things (Heb. 1:3) and sits alongside a discussion of the dominion of humanity over the world to come (2:5-9). A more remote co-text refers to the gathering of the nations to Zion (12:22-24), itself a further echo of the Psalm. The Psalm quotation functions to predict not the dissolution, but the renewal of the decaying cosmos.
Several Second Temple texts make no explicit mention of the temple, but it cannot be assumed that... more Several Second Temple texts make no explicit mention of the temple, but it cannot be assumed that this silence indicates a lack of interest. While the Apocalypse of Weeks reveres Solomon's temple and describes it in ways that indicate that it anticipates the eschatological temple, the Second Temple is ignored, implying a strong polemic against it. Hebrews makes no explicit mention of the Second Temple, but several texts reflect a critique of temple, priesthood, and sacrificial system. Hebrews claims that the temple and its associated rituals were a symbolic foreshadowing of the eschatological dwelling of God with his people in the last days, now come with the exaltation of Christ. Since the reality has now come, the readers can no longer be occupied with the symbols.
Book Reviews by Philip Church
![Research paper thumbnail of 2014 Herbert W. Bateman, Charts on the Book of Hebrews, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2014).](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/34655983/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of 2014 Christopher A. Richardson, Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith: Jesus' Faith as the Climax of Israel's History in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2014)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/50449238/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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prepositions and theology in the greek new testament: an essential reference resource for exegesis.
![Research paper thumbnail of 2012 John Paul Heil, Hebrews: Chiastic Structures and Audience Response. Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2010. Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2012).](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35475163/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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Creation and Hope: Reflections on Ecological Anticipation and Action from Aotearoa New Zealand, edited by Andrew Shepherd and Nicola Hoggard Creegan, 123-37. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2018., 2018
The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion t... more The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion that he has a negative bias against the creation. One text where scholars have detected this bias is Hebrews 1:10-12, quoting Psalm 102:25-27, seemingly to predict the dissolution of the cosmos. The text is part of a Psalm that predicts the restoration of Zion and the gathering of the nations there to worship, and expresses the confidence that the descendants of the servants of Yahweh will live securely in Yahweh's presence. This makes it unlikely that verses 25-26 predict the dissolution of the cosmos, and exegesis of the verses in question indicates not dissolution, but renewal after the destruction resulting from the exile. Attention to the context of the quotation in Hebrews indicates that dissolution there is also unlikely. The text supports the claim that the exalted Son upholds all things (Heb. 1:3) and sits alongside a discussion of the dominion of humanity over the world to come (2:5-9). A more remote co-text refers to the gathering of the nations to Zion (12:22-24), itself a further echo of the Psalm. The Psalm quotation functions to predict not the dissolution, but the renewal of the decaying cosmos.
Several Second Temple texts make no explicit mention of the temple, but it cannot be assumed that... more Several Second Temple texts make no explicit mention of the temple, but it cannot be assumed that this silence indicates a lack of interest. While the Apocalypse of Weeks reveres Solomon's temple and describes it in ways that indicate that it anticipates the eschatological temple, the Second Temple is ignored, implying a strong polemic against it. Hebrews makes no explicit mention of the Second Temple, but several texts reflect a critique of temple, priesthood, and sacrificial system. Hebrews claims that the temple and its associated rituals were a symbolic foreshadowing of the eschatological dwelling of God with his people in the last days, now come with the exaltation of Christ. Since the reality has now come, the readers can no longer be occupied with the symbols.
prepositions and theology in the greek new testament: an essential reference resource for exegesis.