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Fr. Skiadaresis John, Liturgical Scenes and Hymns in the Revelation of John, P. Pourna­­ras Press, Thessaloniki, 1999, pages 445.

            Fr. Skiadaresis’ project is an attempt to present the hymns of John’s Revelation and the problems connected to them and has come about from the author’s general interest in the hymns of the New Testament, which are unknown and remain unexploited by our Church.

            After the prologue and the introduction, where the writer refers to the hymns of Re­velation, the history of the research and the criteria for the definition of this material, the study is divided in five chapters.

            The first chapter deals with the setting and the ways in which the hymns of John’s Revela­tion were rendered. According to the author, the Apocalypse functioned as a bridge for the transfer of forms of expression from the outer-Christian to the Chri­stia­n and, moreover, the devotional area.

            The second chapter investigates the new ode of the 4 animals and the 24 elders (Rev. 5, 9b.10). The new ode, sung by the four animals and the twenty-four elders in the 5^th  chapter of the Revelation is the first hymn offered to the lamb-Christ after the on his behalf taking of the seven-sealed book from the hands of the one sitting “on the throne”. The ode, placed in the closed unity of the hymns of ch. 4 and 5, is the chief Christological centre of the Apocalypse.

            The third chapter refers to the ode of Moses and the Lamb (Rev. 15,3b.4). Ch. 15 is the apex of the Revelation. In it, the linear display of inflictions and cata­strophes that occur on earth is again interrupted and images of Heaven are provided. The ode constitutes a top ingredient of the basic for the understanding of ch. 15, but also of the Apocalypse in general, broader typology and thematic of Exodus.

            The fourth chapter studies the hymn of the angel of waters (Rev. 16,5b.6). The hymn is offered by the responsible for the waters angel, immediately after their turning into blood. According to the author, the basic function of the hymn is connected with one of the main thematic axis of the Revelation, the martyrological one.  

            In the fifth chapter of the study, the writer examines the function of hymns in the Reve­lation as well as their contribution to its liturgical dimension.

            The book has an appendix, where the author makes a general reference to hymns, as elements of the early Christian worship and analyses the problem of the survi­val of the New Testament hymns.

            The project closes with general conclusions, abbreviations and an extensive bibliography.

Fr. Skiadaresis John, Paulian Studies A’, Pournaras Publications: Thessaloniki 2005, pages 221.

            The book is a collection of six articles, which refer to theological issues of the Acts and the Epistles of ap. Paul.

            The first study examines the presence of references to ap. Paul in the Church Hymnology. The study is divided in two parts, after the introduction to the topic. In the first part, the personality, life and work of Paul are examined, the way these are delivered in the hymnography. The second part, based on the above, concerns the presence of complimentary remarks on Paul, as well as the attitude that the Church  and the faithful ought to have towards these reports.

            The second study is a hermeneutic comment on Gauls 1,8.9, where, according to the author, the anathema of Paul is connected to and expresses the demand of the writers for their texts to be considered solid and inviolable for the reason that they expressed the reality of the New Testament. On the other hand, the response on behalf of the communities to this demand (John 21,24) can be appreciated as the first stage of the process of  the incorporation of these texts in the Canon.

            The third study is a hermeneutic remark on Acts 20, 7-12, one of the direct references to the celebration of the Eucharist, in the frame of which the resurrection of young Eutuchus takes place. After the introduction and the text, the author examines the scripted tradition, the context, the other problems of the passage, such as the time, place and setting of the synaxis. Next, he analyzes the episode with Eutuchus and  its relation to the Eucharistic synaxis and, finally, the passage with regard to the death of members of the first Church.

            The fourth study deals with the speech of ap. Paul to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20, 17-38). After the introductory comments, the author presents the structure, thematology and correlation of the speech with the literary genre of the Testaments, next, he refers to the fatherhood of the speech and its most important points and concludes that the speech has special significance for the Church because it is the last expression of anxiety regarding the course of the Church at the basic turn of its history, that is the transition from the apostolic to the post-apostolic reality.

            The next unit of the book analyzes the theme of vision and hearing in ap, Paul’s anthropology. After the introduction, where ap. Paul’s views on the body and its function, as well as the views of philosophers and writers of the antiquity on the two senses are presented, the testimonies of the apostle on vision and hearing in the frame of human relationships, in the relationship of man and creation and, finally, in the relationship of man and God are examined.

            The last unit refers to the B’ Epistle to Timothy. The writer poses the question if this is about the swan-song and the Testament of ap. Paul, a question he tries to answer through the analysis of the other reports of the text.

Fr. Skiadaresis John, The Sinless and the Adulteress (John 7,53-8,11), Pournaras Press: Thessaloniki, 2001, pages 320.

            The study has as its topic the narration of the Adulteress in John’s Gospel (7,53-8,11) and the problems, of authenticity and hermeneutic ones, which are connected to the passage.

           After the introduction, where the diagram, the problematic and the aim of the paper are presented, the study is divided in two parts. The first part examines the narration of the adulteress in the scripted tradition of the New Testament and in texts of ancient and younger writers. The second part deals with the hermeneutic approach of the passage.

            In the first chapter of the first part, the form, in which the passage is saved in the scripted tradition of the New Testament and in the translations, is examined. The manuscripts, in which the passage does not appear, the manuscripts that save the passage and the different positions of the passage in the gospels are presented.

            In the second chapter, the traces and possible testimonies of the passage in texts of the first centuries, such as the first gospel of Jacob, texts by Origenis, Eusevios of Caesaria, Papias and the  Gospel according to the Jews are examined.

            In the third chapter, the clear testimonies of the episode of the adulteress in texts of ancient and younger writers, such as the testimony in the Commands of the Apostles, in Athanasios the Great, the Twin Blind, Holy Crysostomos, the Byzantine texts are presented and analyzed. In the third unit of the chapter, there is an attempt for a comparative consideration of the testimonies to the evangelic narration and to each other.

            In the fourth chapter, the passage is examined in the liturgical act and sacramental life of the Church, that is to the memories of saints and the sacrament of penitence.

            In the second chapter, there is an analysis of the hollow problematic points of the passage, as well as the setting and the atmosphere of the episode.

           In the third chapter, finally, there is reference to the most important variations of the text and the annotation of the passage.  

            The study closes with conclusions, a summary in English, an appendix of passages of the Old and New Testament, a board of abbreviations and an extensive bibliography on the subject.