Transfiguration

by Dorothy Lee

Overview

Dorothy Lee argues passionately for restoring the study of The Transfiguration to the centre of the theological stage, and she succeeds triumphantly. Whereas a theology of transfiguration has long been an essential part of the Eastern theologoical tradition, it has often seemed strange to our Western rational minds. The book argues that the transfiguration functions as an epiphany revealing Jesus' true identity and also an apocalyptic vision, depicting God's transforming future. A chapter is devoted to each of the four New Testament narratives of the transfiguration, setting the story within the wider literary and theological framework of the text. Traces of the transfiguration are examined in other parts of the New Testament, particularly in The Gospel of John, where the symbolism is close to that of the transfiguration. Finally, the author draws out the symbolism and theological implications of the transfiguration for an understanding of Christ, God's radical future and the transformation of all creation, drawing on the icons of Eastern Christianity and Western theologies of beauty. This book is a small masterpiece and a model of clarity and lucid exposition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826475954
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/18/2005
Series:	New Century Theology
Pages:	170
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Dorothy Lee is Professor of New Testament in the United Faculty of Theology, Melbourne, Australia. She has published widely in the area of New Testament theology, including gender studies and spirituality.

Editorial Reviews

''Dorothy Lee's short book is a sane, scholarly, but accessible discussion, which makes it clear how important the transfiguration was to the New Testament writers, and which goes a long way towards showing how and why it may be important for Christians today....The strength of her book lies...in the well-informed, insightful exegesis of the different accounts within the narrative context of each Gospel and book...admirably concise. I hope it will be read, and that it will help restore the transfiguration to its rightful place at the heart of Christian theology.' David Wenham, Theology, Jan/Feb 2006--Sanford Lakoff "Theology "

'[A] profound biblical meditation by an insightful scholar...Lee's book presents an impressive array of relevant implications of the broad theme of transfiguration in the New Testament.' John Paul Heil, Interpretation, July 2006--Sanford Lakoff "Interpretation "

'Lee should be credited for brining the transfiguration theme back into theological focus in a context that has often treated it as strange, foreign or insignificant...this reader found the chapter actually focusing on theology in its own right, how it has explored or neglected the theme of transfiguration, the most refreshing, original and 'new'.' Jorunn Okland, Vol 28.5, 2006--Sanford Lakoff "Journal for the Study of the New Testament "

'the book is timely and important...every word of which needs to be mediated on and studied. [Lee] makes a convincing case for seeing the Transfiguration as an integrating image for the whole of theology...In an age where theology has become fragmented, largely thanks for the need for ever hreater specialisation, this is a message that we all need to hear.' Alexander Lucie-Smith, Tangaza College, Kenya, Heythrop Journal

From the Publisher