Allegory, mimesis and the text: theological moulding of Lukan parables in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis

Dela Cruz, Roli Garcia (2005). Allegory, mimesis and the text: theological moulding of Lukan parables in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The approach of this thesis is a departure from the traditional philological examination of understanding the variant readings in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis. The parables of Jesus in Luke are the object of investigation. The witness of the Church Fathers in the form of their allegorical exegesis of the text of the New Testament is employed to explain variant readings of the Bezan text. The notion that the harmonising tendency in the accounts of the Gospels is simply due to embarrassment is challenged. The alternative theory argued here is that the harmonisation, particularly of Luke to Matthew, of the text of the Gospels is interpretative in nature. The ancient practice of mimetic cross-referencing or intertextuality has been utilised in the Bezan text of Luke. The practice of mimetic harmonisation as applied in classical literature is the context assumed in this study. Additionally, the representative mimetic view of the way in which the written text interacts with the reality of life is also considered in the light of a harmonistic approach to the interpretation of the Lukan text and the allegorical interpretation of the parables of Jesus. It is argued that allegorising variants and mimetic readings have moulded the Bezan text of Luke. An anti-Judaic tendency and a faith-seeking theological mimetic representation are embedded in the Bezan text. They become recognisable when evaluated in the light of the patristic exegesis of the Lukan parables in Codex Bezae. Thus, the understanding of the variant readings of the Lukan parables in Bezae should be studied in the light of ancient literary criticism and the early history of Christian exegesis of the Gospel parables.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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