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Nikolakopoulos Konstantinos, Hermeneutic Studies from a Rhetorical and Hymnological Point of View, Pournaras Press, Thessalonica, 2005, pages 259.        Konstantinos Nikolakopoulos’ book contains eight independent studies at the main body of his work and one study at the appendix. Six from these studies, as the writer mentions in his prologue, have been published before in scientific journals, proceedings of conventions and honorary volumes.

            The first study is titled: “Biblical hermeneutics of East and West. Approaches and deviations”. The writer refers to the role of the New Testament in the East and West. Next, he analyzes the orthodox hermeneutic principles. He presents the historical-critical method of interpretation and then he gives some examples of extreme consequences of the western hermeneutics by Drewemann and Ludemann. In his conclusions, the writer stresses that the salvific events, such as the one of the Resurrection, it is not possible to be put under the sober judgment of contemporary ad postum scientific experiments and research. “Orthodoxy as a total of convictions of faith and chief way of life has no need for scientific-like analyses and deep psychological examinations”.

            The second study is titled: “The hymnological sections of Matthew’s Gospel. Notional extensions on the basis of their rhetorical structure”. The aim of the study is to present the hymnological parts of Matthew’s Gospel. Then, the subject of the rhetoric of prose is referred to in general, for instance, in the New Testament, and, finally, there is a notional process of the aforementioned hymnological parts. From the analysis it has emerged that the central axis of all the texts is primarily a clear Christology, which, by all means, defines and signifies sotiriology.

             The third study deals with the “co-psalmody of the faithful, according to the testimonies of Apostle Paul”. The study seeks and analyzes those passages from the Epistles of Ap. Paul, which declare the union of hearts and unanimity of the first Christians in the worship, such as Col. 3, 16 and Eph. 5, 19. The writer concludes that these passages are undoubted testimonies of the active participation of the faithful in the devotional life of the first communities and not the passive one, to which the body of believers has come down today.

             In the fourth study, the writer refers to rhetoric irony as a means of expression in the Epistle to the Galatians. After the introduction and his analysis of what the figure of irony means, he analyzes the ironic references of the Epistle, that is, Gal. 1, 6/2, 6/4, 18/5, 12/5, 15 and 6, 7. According to the author, Paul directs his irony to three categories of people: the troublemakers, the Judean Christians (Gal. 1, 6. 5, 12), the formal apostles (2, 6) and, finally, the wandering Christians of Galatia (4, 18, 5, 15. 6, 6).  The writer concludes that irony, the way it is used and appears in the texts, is one of the most appropriate tools of language.  

              The fifth study presents the aspects of the “Pauline” rhetoric in the two Epistles to Timothy. The writer begins with an introduction about the rhetoric of the New Testament and the Pastoral Epistles. He analyzes the rhetorical aspects of the two Epistles to Timothy, stressing that the effective fighting of different, dangerous for the “healthy teaching” (A’ Tim. 1, 10. B’ Tim. 4, 3) first Christian heresies is the main dialectic axis of both Epistles to Timothy.

             The sixth study bears the title: “The notional function of basic rhetorical figures in the text of John’s Revelation”. After the introduction to rhetoric and its relation to the New Testament texts, the writer attempts a linguistic evaluation of the Apocalypse and discovers the remarkable rhetoric figures of hyperbole (1, 16. 5, 13, 9, 16 etc), oxymoron (1, 18. 2, 9. 10, 9), paradox (2, 8-9. 7, 14. 13, 9), question (5, 2. 10, 7. 15, 4. 18, 18), irony (22, 11. 16, 6), “paranomasia” (11, 18. 14, 2. 22, 18-19). All the above figures prove the great linguistic value of the Apocalypse text.

              The seventh study refers to the testimonies of the New Testament about woman’s position in the Apostolic Church. The writer briefly analyzes the reports of the Gospels, the Acts and ap. Paul’s Epistles, concluding that, according to the testimony of the New Testament texts, women’s presence was intense both in the years of Jesus Christ earthly presence and in the next apostolic generations, contributing, thus, significantly to the spreading of the Gospel.  

               The eighth study, titled: “Psalm-Hymn-Ode”, investigates the hermeneutic contribution of Gregory of Nyssa to the biblical hymnological terminology. After a short introduction, which deals with the clarification of the terms psalm-hymn-ode by contemporary interpreters, he moves on to the testimony of Gregory of Nyssa and his hermeneutic work “In the inscriptions of the Psalms” (ΕιςταςεπιγραφάςτωνΨαλμών). In the author’s opinion, the third chapter of the second book of this work, which systematically deals with hymnological terms, found in the inscriptions of the Psalms, is of special interest.

                At the appendix of the book, the writer deals with humour as a pedagogical medium in the Three Hierarchs. After a short introduction, the author analyzes the rhetoric of the Three Hierarchs and then refers to some selected examples of pedagogical humour. The rhetorical dimension of pedagogical humour, at least as it appears in the texts of the Three Hierarchs, shows a self-evident pastoral functionalism.  The book closes with an index of biblical passages.  

Mourtzios Chr. Ioannis, The Tradition for David in the Old Testament, Pourna­ras Press: Thessaloniki 2006, pages 265.

In his study Ioannis Mourtzios deals with one of the most important personalities of the pre-Christian history, King David. The book consists of an introduction and three chapters.

           As the author mentions in his introduction, the tradition for king David is part of the so-called “traditions of election”, which are divided in the ancient ones, referring to the election of the Patriarchs, the exodus from Egypt and the stay of the people on Sinai and the more recent ones, which are closely connected to Jerusalem and Scion. A basic element of the Davidic tradition is the view that every king is a descendant of King David and has his seat in Jerusalem.

            In the first chapter, the author examines the tradition for David in the Deuteronomistic historiography and the work of the chronicler. According to the author, the Deuteronomist does not fail to present David’s faults in contrast to the Chronicler who wants to present David as a model for all kings. The chronicler is interested not only in the narration of past events, but also in redefining them, based on the needs of his contemporary community after their state of captivity.

            In the second chapter, Ioannis Mourtzios analyzes the tradition for David in the prophets of the Old Testament and especially Hosea (ch. 3), Amos (ch. 9), Micah (ch. 5), Proto-Isaiah (ch. 9.11.16), Jeremiah (ch. 17.23. (MT). 37), Second-Isaiah (ch. 55), Ezekiel (ch. 34.37) and Third-Zachariah (ch. 12).

            In the third chapter, the writer deals with the tradition for David in Psalms (17, 77, 88, 131. Psalms of Solomon, 17, 4. 21.), the Sophiologic Literature (Sofia Seirah 47, 2-11) and the biblical Jewish historiography ( A’ Maccabees 2, 57. 4, 30).

            In his conclusions, Ioannis Mourtzios makes a synoptic presentation of what he has thoroughly analyzed in the above chapters and comes to the conclusion that the tradition for David, with the Davidic Testament as its central element, has been widely used in the whole of the O. T.. David is, according to the biblical text, the person chosen by God and heir to the divine promises given to the forefathers of Israel and fulfilled in the person of Christ. Thus, David has a prominent position in God’s plan of salvation.

           The book closes with an index of names and topics, an index of biblical passages, sources-bibliography and a summary in English.

Mourtzios Chr. Ioannis, TheTradition of Exodus according to the Prophets of the Old Testament. Historical-Theological Study, Thessaloniki: Pournaras Press, 2002, pages 290.

The tradition of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt is one of the most important parts of the biblical history and theology and runs through almost the whole of the O. T.. Exodus is a landmark in Israel’s life with a liberating and soteriological dimension since it helped and contributed to the creation of the national and religious identity of the people of Israel. Ioannis Mourtzios examines in his study the tradition of Exodus in the prophetic literature of the O. T..

            After the introduction, the writer divides his material in two chapters. In the first, he analyzes and presents the tradition of Exodus, the way it is delivered to us in the homonym book of the O. T.. The tradition of Exodus, through the miraculous events (burning bush, “plagues” of the Pharaoh, crossing of the Red Sea, “signs” in the desert), God’s constant intervention, the epiphanies, the revelation of God’s name, the law-giving, the Sinai Testament, is the basis for understanding the fundamental parameters of the whole of the O. T. theology.

              In the second chapter of the book, the writer studies the tradition of Exodus in the prophets. The events of Exodus, with their highly theological content, passed in the thought of the prophets and constituted the basis for their preaching on sin and the religious comparativism of the Israelites. The chapter is divided in two parts. In the first part, the tradition of Exodus is examined in the pre-captivity prophecy, that is, Amos, Hosea, Micah, First-Isaiah, Jeremiah. In the conclusions of the first part, the writer underlines that Hosea’s numerous reports to the early history of Israel, as compared to the other prophets, Amos, Micah, First-Isaiah and Jeremiah, show how painful the conditions were in the North and how much greater importance the historical traditions had in northern Israel than in the southern. In the second part, Io. Mourtzios examines the tradition of Exodus in the under captivity and post-captivity prophecy, that is, Ezekiel, Second-Isaiah, Third-Isaiah, Baruch.

              In his general conclusions, the writer stresses that the tradition of Exodus has an intense theological character, which has influenced in many ways all the texts of the O. T. and especially the prophetic ones, going through the occult ones, at the same time, as it is also stated in the appendix of the book, where the writer presents the effect of the tradition of Exodus on Jubilees, the Ethiopian Enoch, the Assumption of Moses and the Syrian Revelation of Baruch. According to the writer, the Church is, by its nature, a society of exodus. The nature of the Church, with its life, teaching and faith in the resurrection, seems to be in a constant exodus throughout history.

              The book closes with an index of names and topics, an index of biblical passages, an extensive bibliography on the issue, a summary in English and an appendix.

Fr. John Meyendorff, The Orthodox Marriage, Athens: Akritas Publications, 2004, pages 255.

            Father John Meyendorff’s book is an antidote to the secular ethos that characterizes the service of marriage nowadays and concerns even the preparation, taking permission from the ecclesiastical authorities, celebration and post marital life. Father Meyendorff re-connects theologically the sacrament of marriage with Divine Eucharist and underlines that: “this is the true seal” of its validity and differentiates it from any other that takes place in the frame of western Christianity,

            After a short introduction, where the author justifies the imposed necessity, especially in the frame of the ecumenical dialogue, of an assessment and deposition of the positions of Orthodox theology, he moves on to the analysis of the Old and New Testament views on marriage. He concludes that Christ calls the Christian to taste -already from this world- the experience of the ‘new’ life and become a citizen of heaven. And this he can achieve by means of the marital co-existence. In the new reality in Christ, marriage becomes “a unique union of two entities, two personalities, who love each other and for this reason are able to transcend their nature and in this way unite with each other and with Christ” (p. 36).

            Next, Fr. Meyendorff examines marriage during the first Christian centuries and the Roman Law. In the first centuries of the life of Christianity-during its persecution, but also during its cooperation with the Roman state - the Church accepted the Roman Law, which regulated issues about the legitimacy of marriage. In the third unit, the author examines marriage as a sacrament, commenting, in reality, on Eph. 5, 32  “here lies a great mystery, which, I assure you, refers to the relationship of Christ with the Church”. In the next unit, the author tries to make a historical and theological connection of marriage with the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist. Since Tertyllianus, in the second century, we have a testimony, which states that every couple of Christians who wished to get married, went through all the typical procedures of declaring their marriage to the registry office and then by their common participation in the Divine Eucharist, before the gathering of the community, they received the blessing of the Bishop.

            In the fifth unit, Fr. Meyendorff examines marriage as an independent ritual. Until the ninth century, the Church neither knows nor uses a separate service for marriage, which cannot be conceived as separate from the Eucharistic Liturgy. Of course, since the 4^th century there are reports that state the existence of a formal service of the sacrament, a ritual of coronation, but not independent from the Divine Eucharist. The final detachment from the latter is realized by the state authority in the beginning of the tenth century.

         Next, the writer refers to the contemporary service of the engagement and the service of marriage. He analyzes his own liturgical proposition, which concerns the question of how much the original connection between Eucharist and marriage could be restored in the modern practice of the Church. In the next units, the writer presents problems and phenomena connected to marriage, such as successive weddings, the presuppositions for marriage, mixed weddings, divorce, family and family planning, abortion, married priests and, finally, marriage, abstinence and monastic life. The book ends with conclusions and a very important index of hagiographic, patristic, canonical and liturgical references in connection to the sacrament of marriage.