Description
Eusebius the Evangelist analyzes Eusebius of Caesarea's fourth-century reconfiguration of the Gospels as a window into broader questions of technology and textuality in the ancient Mediterranean. The four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) share language, narratives, and ideas, yet they also differ in structure and detail. The sophisticated system through which Eusebius organized this intricate web of textual relationships is known as the Eusebian apparatus. Eusebius' editorial intervention-involving tables, sectioning, and tables of contents-participates in a broader late ancient transformation in reading and knowledge. To illuminate Eusebius' innovative use of textual technologies, the study juxtaposes diverse ancient disciplines-including chronography, astronomy, geography, medicine, philosophy, and textual criticism-with a wide range of early Christian sources, attending to neglected evidence from material texts and technical literature. These varied phenomena reveal how Eusebius' fourfold Gospel worked in the hands of readers. Eusebius' creative juxtapositions of Gospel material had an enduring impact on Gospel reading. Not only did Eusebius continue earlier trajectories of Gospel writing, but his apparatus continued to generate new possibilities in the hands of readers. For more than a millennium, in over a dozen languages and in thousands of manuscripts, Eusebius' invention transformed readers' encounters with Gospel text on the page. By employing emerging textual technologies, Eusebius created new possibilities of reading, thereby rewriting the fourfold Gospel in a significant and durable way.
About the Author
Jeremiah Coogan is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.
Reviews
Eusebius of Caesarea is best known for his history of the early church, but this thought-provoking and original book reveals his surprising influence on Christian reading practices-in late antiquity and beyond. Coogan's considerable research will be a boon to historians and literary scholars alike. * Ellen Muehlberger, University of Michigan *
In this remarkable study, Coogan directs a powerful combination of theoretical tools at Eusebius' Gospel apparatus, revealing how it rereads and, importantly, rewrites the canonical Gospels. As important as the specific reading of Eusebius is, Coogan's insights into the power of paratext will be valuable for scholars across languages, genres, and time periods. * Andrew M. Riggsby, University of Texas at Austin *
This is a brilliant addition to the blossoming scholarship on Eusebius, the Canon Tables, and to the Reading and Writing Cultures in Antiquity that would be of interest to Classicists and early Christianity scholars alike. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
The monograph is an excellent in-depth study of the reading innovations effectuated by Eusebius' Canons. This is a brilliant addition to the blossoming scholarship on Eusebius, the Canon Tables, and to the Reading and Writing Cultures in Antiquity that would be of interest to Classicists and early Christianity scholars alike. * Anna Lefteratou, University of Cambridge, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
Coogan is absolutely right that most studies of the Gospels do not understand or are ignorant of the potential value of Eusbeius's innovative technologies for Gospel reading. While the canons/tables are in the preface to the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, I confess that their usage and significance has remained opaque and largely unexplained to me. Coogan's excellently argued and clearly written study can go a long way toward remedying my (and others, should they share them) deficiencies in this area. * Joshua W. Jipp, Bulletin for Biblical Research *
This book and its outstanding bibliography prepare the way for those willing to take up the task. * Sr. Maria Theotokos Adams, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *
This deeply researched study of the Eusebian canons is an outstanding contribution to the contemporary turn to the material and technological dimensions of Gospel manuscript tradition and the corresponding reading practices. * Studies in Religion *
A valuable resource for the scholar desiring to study the significance of the literary technology standing at the head of their critical Greek NT, and the book is generative for readers desiring to watch the chimeric line between the composition and reception of sacred text. * Religious Studies Review *
This deeply researched study of the Eusebian canons is an outstanding contribution to the contemporary turn to the material and technological dimensions of Gospel manuscript tradition and the corresponding reading practices. * Studies in Religion *
Awards
Winner of Winner, Alexander-Boehlig-Preis Winner, 2022 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise.
Book Information
ISBN 9780197580042
Author Jeremiah Coogan
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 164mm * 237mm * 21mm
About the Author
Jeremiah Coogan is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.
Reviews
Eusebius of Caesarea is best known for his history of the early church, but this thought-provoking and original book reveals his surprising influence on Christian reading practices-in late antiquity and beyond. Coogan's considerable research will be a boon to historians and literary scholars alike. * Ellen Muehlberger, University of Michigan *
In this remarkable study, Coogan directs a powerful combination of theoretical tools at Eusebius' Gospel apparatus, revealing how it rereads and, importantly, rewrites the canonical Gospels. As important as the specific reading of Eusebius is, Coogan's insights into the power of paratext will be valuable for scholars across languages, genres, and time periods. * Andrew M. Riggsby, University of Texas at Austin *
This is a brilliant addition to the blossoming scholarship on Eusebius, the Canon Tables, and to the Reading and Writing Cultures in Antiquity that would be of interest to Classicists and early Christianity scholars alike. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
The monograph is an excellent in-depth study of the reading innovations effectuated by Eusebius' Canons. This is a brilliant addition to the blossoming scholarship on Eusebius, the Canon Tables, and to the Reading and Writing Cultures in Antiquity that would be of interest to Classicists and early Christianity scholars alike. * Anna Lefteratou, University of Cambridge, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
Coogan is absolutely right that most studies of the Gospels do not understand or are ignorant of the potential value of Eusbeius's innovative technologies for Gospel reading. While the canons/tables are in the preface to the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, I confess that their usage and significance has remained opaque and largely unexplained to me. Coogan's excellently argued and clearly written study can go a long way toward remedying my (and others, should they share them) deficiencies in this area. * Joshua W. Jipp, Bulletin for Biblical Research *
This book and its outstanding bibliography prepare the way for those willing to take up the task. * Sr. Maria Theotokos Adams, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *
This deeply researched study of the Eusebian canons is an outstanding contribution to the contemporary turn to the material and technological dimensions of Gospel manuscript tradition and the corresponding reading practices. * Studies in Religion *
A valuable resource for the scholar desiring to study the significance of the literary technology standing at the head of their critical Greek NT, and the book is generative for readers desiring to watch the chimeric line between the composition and reception of sacred text. * Religious Studies Review *
This deeply researched study of the Eusebian canons is an outstanding contribution to the contemporary turn to the material and technological dimensions of Gospel manuscript tradition and the corresponding reading practices. * Studies in Religion *
Awards
Winner of Winner, Alexander-Boehlig-Preis Winner, 2022 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise.
Book Information
ISBN 9780197580042
Author Jeremiah Coogan
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 164mm * 237mm * 21mm
