Heaven on Earth?

This collection assembles essays by eleven leading Catholic and evangelical theologians in an ecumenical discussion of the benefits – and potential drawbacks – of today’s burgeoning corpus of theological interpretation. The authors explore the critical relationship between the earthly world and its heavenly counterpart. Ground-breaking volume of ecumenical debate featuring Catholic and evangelical theologians Explores the core theological issue of how the material and spiritual worlds interrelate Features a diversity of analytical approaches Addresses an urgent need to distinguish the positive and problematic aspects of today’s rapidly growing corpus of theological interpretation

Introduction: Spiritual Interpretation and Realigned Temporality 1 HANS BOERSMA and MATTHEW LEVERING Part I—Reading the Fathers 11 1 “In Many and Various Ways”: Towards A Theology of Theological Exegesis 13 BRIAN E. DALEY, SJ 2 “There’s Fire in That Rain”: On Reading the Letter and Reading Allegorically 33 LEWIS AYRES 3 Origen against History? Reconsidering the Critique of Allegory 53 PETER W. MARTENS 4 “This Is the Day Which the Lord Has Made”: Scripture, Manumission, and the Heavenly Future in Saint Gregory of Nyssa 75 HANS BOERSMA Part II—Reading Scripture 91 5 Imperial Lover: The Unveiling of Jesus Christ in Revelation 93 PETER J. LEITHART 6 Translation and Transcendence: The Fragile Future of Spiritual Interpretation 109 DAVID LYLE JEFFREY 7 Readings on the Rock: Typological Exegesis in Contemporary Scholarship 129 MATTHEW LEVERING Part III—Reading in Contemporary Context 155 8 The Self-Critique of the Historical-Critical Method: Cardinal Ratzinger’s Erasmus Lecture 157 MICHAEL MARIA WALDSTEIN 9 Profi ling Christ: The Psalms of Abandonment 173 FRANCESCA A. MURPHY 10 Reading the Book of the Church: Bonhoeffer’s Christological Hermeneutics 189 JENS ZIMMERMANN 11 “Ascending the Mountain, Singing the Rock: Biblical Interpretation Earthed, Typed, and Transfigured” 207 KEVIN J. VANHOOZER Index 231