The role of the star in Ephesians 18-20: Ignatius of Antioch, polymorphic Christology, and Second Temple stars
This article considers the function of the star in chapter 19 of Ignatius’s To the Ephesians and proposes that, although the star is often understood as a sign of Jesus’s incarnation, Ignatius identifies Jesus as the star by employing polymorphic Christology to depict Jesus as both a human and a sta...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
[2017]
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian history
Year: 2017, Volume: 7, Issue: 1, Pages: 62-88 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HD Early Judaism KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity NBF Christology |
| Further subjects: | B
To the Ephesians (Ignatius)
B Christology B Star B Ignatius of Antioch B Numbers 24 B Polymorphism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article considers the function of the star in chapter 19 of Ignatius’s To the Ephesians and proposes that, although the star is often understood as a sign of Jesus’s incarnation, Ignatius identifies Jesus as the star by employing polymorphic Christology to depict Jesus as both a human and a star in Ign. Eph. 18-20. After outlining the extent to which the star is interpreted as a sign of the incarnation and illustrating the use of polymorphic Christology in second-century texts, I offer a reading of Ign. Eph. 18-20 in which Ignatius portrays Jesus as a man and a star whose appearance freshly initiates the implementation of God’s economy. His polymorphic presentation of Jesus enables him to demonstrate Jesus’s significance in the economy from different perspectives. Further, the study suggests that Ignatius’s imagery is comparable to the use of the star as a messianic symbol in certain Second Temple Jewish texts. This reading has the benefit of integrating with Ignatius’s other statements in the letter and it raises further questions related to the study of polymorphic Christology. |
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| ISSN: | 2471-4054 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2017.1313529 |