In Dominico Eloquio, In Lordly Eloquence: Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken (review)

For more than thirty years Robert Wilken has been steadily building an impressive and lasting contribution to the field of patristic studies. In this international community of scholars, all have in some way been touched by Wilken's work. For his contribution it is right and good that some of his students and friends should take time to honor him, as is traditional, with a collection of essays. While diversity is generally the strength of such collections, they can be a challenge to review.

Grouped around the basic theme of patristic exegesis, In Dominico Eloquio is not a book about patristic exegesis as a method. It is, rather, a collection of reflections on the Fathers and their use of the Bible in various situations and contexts. For this reason, this book will be more useful to scholars and students who are already well versed in ancient Christian reading practices. The editors have divided the twenty-two essays in the volume into two sections, which they call "exegetical themes," and "the development of patristic exegesis." These sectional divisions, however, are quite loose and do not really describe the content.

Some of the essays in the first section may more properly be described as meditations, and, although of high scholarly quality, they seem to be designed to allow patristic reading to waft over the reader to facilitate an appreciation of the depth of ancient Christian insight. Gary Anderson's essay on "The Resurrection of Adam and Eve," and Susan Harvey's "Why the Perfume Mattered: The Sinful Woman in Syriac Exegetical Tradition" are two examples of this meditative style. Anderson's essay explores in loving detail the development of the theology of the anastasis and Christ's descent into hell. Anderson explains the way that Adam's sin and Christ's victory were filtered exegetically through the focusing lens of liturgical practice. Susan Harvey meditates similarly, but no less lovingly, upon patristic interpretation of the sinful woman's perfume. This seeming trivial piece of narrative is filled with allegorical meaning that, by illuminating the mystery of the woman's repentance and conversion, illuminates all repentance and conversion.

Other essays in the first section, while less meditative, explore variously the sacrifice of Isaac in Philo, Origen, and Ambrose (John Cavadini), the patristic interpretation of Paul's name change (Michael Compton), and the patristic reading of "as yourself," which is the second part of the command to love our neighbor (Frederick Norris). Two other essays round out the first section: Charles Kannengiesser reflects upon the significance of the idea of the "senses" of Scripture in the modern context, and Robert Sider offers an interesting study of Erasmus's use of the fathers in his biblical commentary.

The second section of the book is longer but no less varied in its context. As a sampling of this diversity one might note that Brian Daley's contribution, "Training for the Good Ascent: Gregory of Nyssa's Homily on the Sixth Psalm," includes not just a study of Gregory's interpretation of this psalm but a translation of this little known text as well. Nona Verna Harrison offers a skillful exploration of the development of theological anthropology and the status of women in the early Church, all in the context of an interpretation of Genesis. Joseph Lienhard studies the enigmatic figure of Joseph, the husband of Mary, in one of Augustine's sermons. He notes that Augustine went against the grain of many contemporary interpretations of the relationship between Joseph and Mary by arguing that the couple contracted a true marriage and that Joseph could rightly be called the father of Jesus. Joseph Hallman presents what is perhaps the most theologically contemporary piece in...