Scripting the Son: Scriptural Exegesis and the Making of Early Christology

In Scripting the Son, Kyle R. Hughes analyzes how dialogical texts in the Old Testament presented early Christian exegetes with riddles that were best solved through a person-centered reading strategy known as prosopological exegesis. From the method’s roots in the pages of the New Testament through its increasingly careful application in the hands of church fathers such as Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, this book traces how prosopological exegesis contributed to the development of Christology in the pre-Nicene period. By examining the origins and evolution of this approach to biblical interpretation, Hughes demonstrates how the very words of Scripture exerted a pressure for a Trinitarian understanding of God that was rooted in the Old Testament and aligned with the emerging rule of faith, exemplifying the dynamic interplay between biblical interpretation and doctrinal formulation in the early centuries of Christianity.

The Rev. Dr. Kyle R. Hughes (PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen) is a scholar-pastor-teacher specializing in the study of early Christianity and working to bring out the riches of patristic theology for the modern church and for Christian schools. He is the author of Teaching for Spiritual Formation, How the Spirit Became God, and The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit. He has also written several peer-reviewed journal articles, book reviews, and dictionary entries, and is a frequent presenter at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual and International Meetings. Kyle's primary theological interests include the development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, spiritual formation in the Anglican tradition, and Christian teaching and learning. Kyle and his wife Karisa live in Smyrna, Georgia, where he serves as History Department Chair and Faith-Learning Integration Coordinator at Whitefield Academy. He is an ordained deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church (Anglican Church in North America) and is the Director of Catechesis at Christ the King Anglican Church in Marietta, Georgia. Follow him on Twitter @KyleRHughes10.

Shawn J. Wilhite received a PhD in New Testament and a ThM in Patristics from Southern Seminary. He is Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University and PhD candidate in Patristics at Durham University. He is director and research fellow for the Center for Ancient Christian Studies.