Transfiguration

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.

Dorothy Lee is Professor of New Testament in the United Faculty of Theology, Melbourne, Australia. She has published widely in the area of New Testament theology, including gender studies and spirituality.

'the book is timely and important...every word of which needs to be mediated on and studied. [Lee] makes a convincing case for seeing the Transfiguration as an integrating image for the whole of theology...In an age where theology has become fragmented, largely thanks for the need for ever hreater specialisation, this is a message that we all need to hear.' Alexander Lucie-Smith, Tangaza College, Kenya, Heythrop Journal '[A] profound biblical meditation by an insightful scholar...Lee's book presents an impressive array of relevant implications of the broad theme of transfiguration in the New Testament.' John Paul Heil, Interpretation, July 2006 -- John Paul Heil * Interpretation * 'Lee should be credited for brining the transfiguration theme back into theological focus in a context that has often treated it as strange, foreign or insignificant...this reader found the chapter actually focusing on theology in its own right, how it has explored or neglected the theme of transfiguration, the most refreshing, original and 'new'.' ~ Jorunn Okland, Vol 28.5, 2006 -- Jorunn Okland * Journal for the Study of the New Testament * ''Dorothy Lee's short book is a sane, scholarly, but accessible discussion, which makes it clear how important the transfiguration was to the New Testament writers, and which goes a long way towards showing how and why it may be important for Christians today....The strength of her book lies...in the well-informed, insightful exegesis of the different accounts within the narrative context of each Gospel and book...admirably concise. I hope it will be read, and that it will help restore the transfiguration to its rightful place at the heart of Christian theology.' David Wenham, Theology, Jan/Feb 2006 -- David Wenham * Theology *