Wilderness: Essays in Honour of Frances Young

This celebratory volume in honour of Frances Young draws on and develops the multifarious hermeneutical interests evident in the body of her work. Its overall thematic motif, to highlight concerns which impacted on her work, is the symbolic use of 'wilderness.' This multi-disciplinary volume begins with an in-depth analysis of her work by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The first part of the volume has biblical and early Christian literature as the focus, and deals with, among other topics, Jesus' encounter with people of impairment, biblical figures such as Miriam, gospel portrayals of mountains, experience of wilderness in the lives of Maori and Jewish people, the temptation of Jesus as interpreted at different times, and the redefinition of asceticism in Syrian Christianity. The second part of the volume addresses theological concerns, with essays which advocate wisdom as a potential mode for doing theology, engage with the radical Christian writings of 17th and 18th centuries, revisit the problem of sin, highlight the latent Christological motifs in the novels of Tolkien, and draw attention to the significance of the Quranic Jesus.

• Table of contents
• Preface
• List of Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Profile: Frances Young - Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Part I: Hermeneutical Connections
  • 'These Then Let Us Emulate' The Early Church Illuminate Two Gospel Impairment Encounters - Simon Horne
  • Wilderness woman: the taming of Miriam - Christine Trevett
  • Women in the Wilderness - Rereading Revelation 12 - Diane Treacy-Cole
  • The Mountain and the Desert David Parker; Finding Identity in the Wilderness - Lynne Wall
  • The Wilderness Quotation in Mark 1:2-3 - Steve Moyise
  • Reading Jesus in the Wilderness - Judith Lieu
  • The Poor Wise Man and the Cacophony of Voices - Paul M. Joyce
  • Mimesis, typology and the institution narrative: some observations on Traditio Apostolica 4 and its afterlife - Alistair Stewart-Sykes
  • 'Incense in Our Land': Julian Saba and Early Syrian Christianity - Susan Ashbrook Harvey
• Part II: Theological Explorations
  • Wilderness, Revelation and the New Jerusalem in Radical Christian Writings - Christopher Rowland
  • From Evil Thoughts to Deadly Sins: Evagrius of Pontus's Psychology of Sin - Angela Tilby
  • Wilderness Wisdom for the Twenty-first Century: Arthur, L'Arche and the Culmination of Christian History - David F. Ford
  • From wilderness towards home - Jean Vanier
  • Wilderness Wanderers and Their Theological Significance in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Emily Hunt
  • Jesus in the Qur'an, The Historical Jesus and The Myth of God Incarnate - Neal Robinson
• List of Publications
• List of References
• List of Authors