TA 4/2008 (113. vuosikerta)

The Gospel of Peter: Translation of the Akhmîm Fragment and Commentary — The Akhmîm fragment, found in Egypt in the late 19th century, contains a portion of the passion of Jesus from the Gospel of Peter. The text demonstrates that the writer of the Gospel, which was branded heretical, drew on all the canonical Gospels. However, this Pseudo-Peter was extremely cavalier in interpreting his sources, adding miraculous and strongly anti-Jewish features in particular.

The History of Israel in the Praise of the Ancestors in the Wisdom of Ben Sira (Sir. 44–49) — Ben Sira, a Jewish sage who lived in the Hellenistic period, was the first known author to combine wisdom teachings and the history of his own people. He was not a historian in modern sense, but highly selective in his use of sources. Retelling the past served theological purposes. The ”Praise of the Ancestors” is the most extensive textual unit in the Wisdom of Ben Sira. In this survey of history, Ben Sira focuses on Israel’s great men (no women are mentioned by name). In particular, Ben Sira emphasizes the concept of covenant, prophetic succession and the duties of the priests. It is also noteworthy that Ben Sira’s attitude towards foreign nations is not exclusively negative. Rather, it seems that Ben Sira even mitigates the biblical stories by leaving aside some cruel details related to foreigners. Perhaps Ben Sira’s reluctance to accept national particularism was one reason why he omitted Ezra from his ”Praise of the Ancestors”.

One Chapel – Three Spaces: An Integrated Role-Playing Perspective on Interpretation and Creation of Meaning in a Modern Chapel — The article is based on field observations and interviews with volunteer workers at a chapel located in a shopping centre. It particularly highlights the individual dimension in interpretations of this modern, urban church space. One common and meaningful theme in the creation of meaning analysed in the study is that of borders and alterity, relative to which the individuals’ externalizations of inner generalized object relations are actualized. This aspect in the interpretation means that the chapel appears as different spaces for different individuals, out of which certain principal categories can be identified: the chapel as the centre of a community, the chapel as a heart in the world, and the chapel as a separate room in complete contrast to the outside world. In summary, we may note that the chapel is a symbolic space which enables a ritualized role model of an existential nature: the creation of meaning involves experience along with the realization and processing of a subjective map of existence.