Karol Piotr Kulpa offers a coherent analysis of the reception of 2 Thess. 2:3-12 by Tyconius in his Liber Regularum and Expositio Apocalypseos. The motifs of homo peccati, mysterium facinoris, and discessio become Tyconius' »world-constructing verses« in his understanding of Scripture, and of the bipartition in the church's reality, in human nature, and in eschatological temporality.
In this volume, Karol Piotr Kulpa offers a coherent analysis of the reception of 2 Thess. 2:3-12 by Tyconius in his
Liber Regularum and his reconstructed
Expositio Apocalypseos. The author proposes and applies his own method for a reception history composed of historical, literary, and theological levels, which is constructive as well as analytical. In this way he writes a history of reception that not only finds its anchor in the past, but also builds bridges to theological questions of the present. In particular, the author identifies that motifs of
homo peccati,
mysterium facinoris, and
discessio drawn from 2 Thess. 2:3 and 2:7 become Tyconius' »world-constructing verses« in his understanding of Scripture, and of the bipartition in the church's reality, in human nature, and in eschatological temporality. As a result, he offers a refreshingly 'ecumenical' reading of Tyconius, refusing to reduce his significance to that of a 'heretical voice' but re-envisaging him as a potentially authoritative theologian and exegete.
Table of contents:
Chapter I: Reception History and the Interpretation of Tyconius' Reception
1.1 Conceptual Elements of the Reception History
1.2 Transformative and Performative Effectiveness of Reception
1.3 Productive Process of Reception
1.4 Different Modes of Biblical Reception
1.5 Historical Criticism and Reception History
1.6 Evolution and Crisis of the Historical-Critical Method
1.7 Biblical Criticism and Reception History: Compatibility or Incompatibility
1.8 Tyconius and Biblical Reception
1.9 Note on Tyconius and His Works
1.10 Hermeneutical Elements of Tyconius' Reception
1.11 Historical Level
1.12 Literary Level
1.13 Theological Level
Chapter II: The Historical Context of Tyconius' Reception of 2 Thess. 2:3-12
2.1 The Background and the Beginnings of the Donatist-Catholic Controversy
2.2 Pre-Constantinian Church
2.3 Constantinian Church
2.4 The Escalation of Violence and Persecution
2.5 Circumcellions
2.6 Macarian Persecution
2.7 The Reign of Julian
2.8 The Consolidation of the Separation Between Two Churches
2.9 Parmenian and Optatus of Milevis
2.10 The Donatist Collecta
2.11 The Notion of the South
Chapter III: Tyconius' Construction of the Literary World by Reception of 2 Thess. 2:3-12
3.1 Members of the Lord's Body
3.2 The Opposing Activities in the Lord's Body
3.3 The Separation within the Lord's Body
Chapter IV: Theological insights from Tyconius' Reception of 2 Thess. 2:3-12
4.1 Bipartition of the Church's Reality
4.2 Bipartition in the Nature of Human Being
4.3 Bipartition of the Eschatological Temporality
