Jonathon Lookadoo guides readers through the early Christian apocalypse known as the Shepherd of Hermas, providing a clear overview of the numerous literary, historical, and theological insights that this text contains for those researching early Christianity. Dividing his exploration into two sections, Lookadoo first introduces the Shepherd by providing an overview of the text to those with limited familiarity, while also focusing on critical issues such as authorship, date, and the Shepherd’s complex manuscript tradition and reception history. He then moves to examine the interpretation of particular passages in detail, and by close exploration of theological and literary features he is able to contextualize the Shepherd alongside contemporary contexts. This volume covers the important thematic issues in the Shepherd, and also provides a fresh perspective that arises from a thoroughly textual focus; in so doing, Lookadoo enables readers to engage both with the Shepherd itself and the scholarship that surrounds the text.
Jonathon Lookadoo teaches at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, South Korea.
AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionPart 1—Introducing the Shepherd of HermasChapter 1: An Overview of the ShepherdChapter 2: How was the Shepherd Preserved?Chapter 3: Who Read the Shepherd?Chapter 4: Critical Questions for the Shepherd: What, to Whom, Where, When, and Who?Part 2—Studying the Shepherd of HermasChapter 5: Fasting and the Vineyard: Exegeting Similitude 5Chapter 6: The Characters in the ShepherdChapter 7: The Shepherd in its Greco-Roman and Early Jewish SettingsChapter 8: The Shepherd and Early Christian Literature in the First Two CenturiesChapter 9: God in the ShepherdChapter 10: Sin and RepentanceChapter 11: Metaphors and Imagery in the Shepherd: The Tower and the HouseChapter 12: Spirit Language in Mandates 5–11: From Ancient Philosophy to Contemporary TheologyBibliographyIndex
[Jonathon Lookadoo’s] handbook is specifically designed to help the new (or even moderately seasoned) reader of the Shepherd to come to grips with the whole of the text ... Lookadoo is to be commended for this organized look at the Shepherd of Hermas. Particularly for those unfamiliar with this writing, the section-by-section overview provided by chapter one will be useful for quickly coming to terms with the whole of the writing.
