Bible
The Open Sanctuary Access to God and the Heavenly Temple in the New Testament Nicholas J. Moore
How can impure, earthbound humans gain access to God, who is holy and in heaven? In ancient Israel and much of the ancient world, the answer was obvious: by means of a temple. The temple gives access to God because it images the cosmos. The Open Sanctuary explores how the concept of a heavenly temple emerged as an important theological concept for early Christians. They developed their understanding of Christ and his work in part through their understanding of heaven as temple. Nicholas Moore examines the heavenly temple concept in the New Testament within its Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts, demonstrating that the ministry of Jesus gives believers access to the dwelling place of God himself. Moore explores conceptions of the heavenly temple in the ancient world, Second Temple Judaism, the book of Revelation, Hebrews, the Gospels, Acts, and other early Christian literature. One important contribution of the book is to provide a correc- tive to the way many people understand the Jerusalem temple in early Christian thought. It is the first comprehensive study of the heavenly temple in the New Testament. Professors, students, and scholars of the New Testament will benefit from this work.
SEPTEMBER 2024 • 256 pp. • cloth • $37.99 • 9781540965493
CONTENTS
Introduction
Nicholas J. Moore (DPhil, University of Oxford) is warden and lecturer in New Testament at Cranmer Hall, St. John’s College, at Durham University. He previously served in ministry in Buckinghamshire and Hartlepool in the United Kingdom and in Paris, France. He is the au- thor of Repetition in Hebrews and has edited and translated several volumes of French scholarship.
1. Antiquity: The Cosmic Center 2. Second Temple Literature: Blueprints and Buildings 3. Revelation: Judgment and Salvation 4. Hebrews: Atonement and Access 5. Mark and Matthew: Heavens and Mountains 6. Luke and Acts: Ascension and Mission 7. John: Emanation and Dwelling 8. Other Early Christian Texts: Altars and Ascents Conclusion: Cosmos, Cultus, and Christ Indexes
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