This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Draper, J. A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Barnabas and the Riddle of the Didache Revisited

School of Theology, University of Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa

Most scholars in recent years have concentrated on identifying the sources of the Epistle of Barnabas, minimizing the creativity of its author and denying that it has a recognizable context. This article focuses on the use of the Two Ways material in Barnabas and its redaction to argue that there is a clear polemical thrust against Jewish Christianity. The author utilizes the classical rhetorical strategy of irony to subvert the original setting of the Two Ways material in catechesis for Gentile converts. Instead the material is recast as advanced gnosis for the elite. It is in this capacity that the Two Ways survives in the West. This purpose and strategy pervades the whole document.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?