Transfiguration (New Century Theology Series)

Publisher Description

This book is a theological study of the transfiguration story in the New Testament. The thesis is that the transfiguration functions as an epiphany (in the biblical sense), revealing Jesus' true identity, and also an apocalyptic vision, depicting God's transforming future. The book devotes a chapter to each of the four narratives of the transfiguration (in the first three Gospels and 2 Peter), setting the story without the wider literary and theological framework of the text. In addition, traces of the transfiguration story are explored elsewhere in the New Testament, particularly the Gospel of John, where the symbolism is close to that of the transfiguration. Finally, the book draws out the symbolism and theological implications of the transfiguration for an understanding of Christ, God's radical future and the transformation of all creation, drawing on the icons of Eastern Christianity, and Western theologies of beauty.