Michał Wojciechowski

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn · Department of Biblical Theology

The two Books of Maccabees contain important and actual moral teachings. They propose suggestive moral examples to follow: pious soldier, priest, martyr, who serve God in their proper way. Faced with the dilemma, how to react to persecution and violence, they choose armed resistance or martyrdom, because the faithfulness to God is more important th...

summary: Judaism has never recognized Tobit as a canonical book, perhaps because of its roots in the northern Israel. Its reflections in the New Testament are scarce. Ancient Christian witnesses are usually favorable to the canonicity of the book of Tobit. It is present in many ancient biblical manuscripts (a, B, A, more then 30 minuscules). It was...

A very rich material concerning the Hellenistic background of the Gospels has already been collected. However, standard works present most often parallels taken from either Hellenistic Jewish texts or sources later then the Gospels. Studying the remaining texts we find that many parallels happen to be purely verbal, to concern general banal truths,...

Pneuma in Greek and ruah in Hebrew should be understood impersonally as " wind, invisible power ". Daimonia are indefinite half-divine powers, occasionally personified (Jas 2.19). These " evil powers " are never equated with Satan, and only some enemies of Jesus made them satanic agents. " Unclean " means " unholy, belonging to the profane, earthly...

The Book of Judith is relatively often discussed nowadays, mainly because of its interest for feminist studies. However, the subject of its ethical attitudes in this book is rarely mentioned, although this book raises important moral questions, even if indirectly. They concern the problem what is good or evil in war and public life. The moral teach...

The instances where daughters are mentioned in the Greek books of the Old Testament are not numerous. They are interesting, however, and deserving of exegesis and interpretation. In Tobit and Ben Sira their relationship to fathers are stressed and this aspect is of importance, whether those relationships are good or strained. If the texts are compa...

At the beginning, Israelites expected much from the newly installed royal power and tried to justify it theologically by a royal messianic ideology. However, the behaviour of monarchs led to disappointment and criticism. Living under the reign of their own rulers biblical authors formulated principles of good government and occasionally criticized...

"Jesus and others. John the Baptist, disciples, enemies." Gospel texts with comments and conclusions.

The Revelation of John implies and proclaims moral judgments, which is frequently overlooked. This subject has been studied recently, but we do not possess satisfying synthesis. In the Revelation we can find some metaethical assumptions. e Revelation presents good and evil in a dualistic way, which implies the necessity of choice and of an adequate...

"Two texts of the Acts of the Apostles. Standard Text and Western Text". Polish parallel translation of two different texts of Acts with introduction and comments. The Western Text (D) is explained mainly as a result of changes made by Luke on his private copy, after the publication of the earlier, standard text.

"Holy Week of Jesus". Last days of Jesus: Gospel texts and commentary.

Ecumenius (Oikoumenios), who wrote a commentary on the Revelation of John, was perhaps a lay Greek scholar from the sixth century A.D., known from Severus' letters (and may be governor of Aphrodisia?). It is the oldest preserved Greek commentary on the Revelation, even if based on earlier traditions. Methods of Ecumenius, in spite of his mistakes,...

Greek Prayers from the Hellenistic Period This book contains a collection of Hellenistic prayer texts in Polish translation, with introduction, notes, comments and bibliography. Some later texts are included if they represent similar attitudes (Mesomedes) or quote earlier traditions (e.g. Plutarch, Pausanias). Judaism, Christianity, imperial cult,...

"Aphorisms of Jesus". About 400 sayings of Jesus with exegetical commentaries.

Epidrome, a handbook of allegorical interpretation of Greek gods, is attribut-ed, probably wrongly, to Cornutus, a Roman Stoic teacher from the first century AD. In this work, the gods are interpreted mostly as natural forces, densities, notions and phe-nomena, presented in accordance with the popular Stoic physics. Cosmological texts of the New Te...

The sixth edition of “Millenium Bible”, the leading Polish Bible translation, is planned. Considering its weaknesses, it would be perhaps better to replace it with a new translation. However, some conflicts concerning the correct shape of biblical translations result from the different ideas about translating. Not every word can be satisfactorily t...

The piety of the Book of Baruch leaves virtually no place for the cultic relationship with God or cultic mediation. The religion of Baruch focuses on relation to God, revelation, moral life, community and salvation. In the New Testament we can find similar thoughts. The rabbinic tradition after the fall of the temple developed in the same direction...

Polish translation of Epidrome of Cornutus, with an introduction and commentaries.

"How to talk about faith today". A collection of essays concerning presenting Christian principles in the modern world.

Various currents of ancient Judaism could be classified according to their attitude to Hellenism in the spheres of politics, religion and culture. There were six attitudes: 1. Rejection of the Greek world on all levels (e.g. Qumran). 2. Political opposition and religious conservatism, associated with some cultural assimilation (e.g. Maccabees). 3....

In Epidaurus, the main ancient sanctuary of Asclepius, important inscriptions from the fourth century B.C. were found. Their texts were based primarily on earlier traditions on healings. They tend to exaggerate and to promote the sanctuary. Their main feature is incubation followed by vision and healing, usually in a dream. It is assumed that there...

Polish translation of the Greek inscriptions from Epidaurus concerning healings, with an introduction and commentaies. With a selection of further similar Greek inscriptions.

"A Theologian on Economy". A collection of essays on Christianity and market economy: work, business, lawful ownership, economic freedom, weaknesses of the welfare state, people in need.

A bibliographical list on the biblical Book of Baruch, about 200 entries, arranged as following: text, commentaries, general works, pericopes.

A bibliography on Epidaurus miracle inscriptions, about 200 entries.

The classical Greek drama not only penetrated human nature in deep, but also had a religious contents and context. Tragedians were to some extent theologians. Aeschylus chose mythological subjects. His logical mind pushed him to deterministic fatalism; his sense of order favored interest for stable ethical rules. Apollo and Athena are more personal...

Contrary to the popular belief, the Apocalypse of John uses understandable symbols and aims at revealing truths, not at hiding them. It offers to Christians a wide and accessible form of initiation, not limited to a narrow group. Therefore a secret language appears only sometimes in its texts. Most often it consists in cryptic references to the Rom...

Czynności symboliczne Jezusa można potraktować jako przejaw różnorodnych tradycji w postrzeganiu Jego życia. Ich badanie jest stosunkowo niezależne od uprzednich założeń, gdyż kategoria ta nie jest uwikłana w spory doktrynalne. Nie była znacząca ani dla koncepcji teologicznych autorów biblijnych, ani dla teorii hermeneutycznych autorów współczesnyc...

36 books, 126 articles (38 in English or French), more than 500 popular articles, reviews and reports.

Symbolic acts of Jesus could be seen as a neutral sample of the traditions about his life. Their study is relatively free of presuppositions, because this category has not been involved in doctrinal discussions. It was important neither for the theological concepts of the biblical authors, nor for the hermeneutical theories of modern scholars. In t...

Many biblical texts throw an indirect light on the moral principles of economy. The Bible confirms the right to land property and private ownership, forbidding theft (Exod 20.15; Deut 5.19; cf. Matt 20.15; Acts 5.4). Humans obtain material goods through their work, which seems to be the main source of goods (Prov 10.4; 2 Thess 3.10-12 etc.). The in...

Earlier books of the Old Testament do not face the problem of living under a foreign government. It surfaced after the Exile and is variously answered in later Hebrew books, in the Greek books of the Old Testament and in the New Testament. There are two main contradictory answers. One possibility is a submission; it can be expressed in avoiding pol...

Ailouroi in Baruch 6:21[22] and in Aesop (7 and 16, Perry/Hausrath) are not cats, but martens.

Part I of this book presents how the Gospels came to being. Words and deeds of Jesus had been the starting point (deeds as described by witnesses). In the period of oral transmission there were both factors favoring faithful repetitions (learning by heart; community control; importance of Jesus and his authority; early use of writing) and factors o...

The Letter of Jeremiah is probably a Greek composition written in the third century B.C. in the part of Mesopotamia influenced by the Hellenistic rule and culture. Even if its contents follows the biblical criticism against idolatry, it formulates the same ideas in a particular way. It has also absorbed some Greek criticisms against religion, known...

Earlier books of the Old Testament do not face the problem of living under a foreign government. This question surfaced since the Exile. There are two main contradictory answers. One possibility is a submission; it can mean avoiding politics (Sirach, Wisdom) or careers at a foreign court (Esther, Tobit, Daniel 1-6). The faithfulness to God remains...

"For the family. With a family against current." A collection of essays on the family: modern difficulties, divorce, negative role of the bureaucratic welfare state, school, Christianity.

Greek influences on the Revelation of John are related to the Hellenistic inspirations of the apocalypticism, which are visible in Daniel and other apocalypses. Their visionary elements and their interest in the future are closer to the Greek perception of the prophecy than to the Hebrew tradition. More detailed influenced can be found in Rev 1.4,8...

This book offers a synthesis of the research concerning the influence of Greek language, culture and thought on the biblical tradition. Part 1 presents the controversial issues related to the Greek influences in the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Genesis), stronger in the Hellenistic period (Qohelet, Daniel). Part 2 covers the hellenization of ancient Judaism,...

See in English: Moral Teaching of the Book of Judith.

Works of Dio of Prusa, called Chrystostom, offer some touching points with Christian writings. In his Olympic Oration (after 100 A.D.), Dio presented a theory on the sources of religion, based on theologia tripertita, and his own theology of the supreme god, Zeus. Zeus is seen as king, ruler, lord, what presupposes his supremacy and uniqueness, eve...

The Greek books of the Old Testament form a diversified group. However, they show the direction of doctrinal and particularly moral development of the Jewish religion in the intertestamental period. This problem was not sufficiently researched. The contents of these books offer an important supplement to the biblical tradition. Tobit contains many...

he last commandment of the Decalogue and other biblical laws and sayings presuppose that wife belongs to her husband, who is in care of his “property”. For this reason, she could not divorce, and divorcing by husbands equaled to renouncing property and was not current. In these cases ownership had a wide meaning, referring to things and persons fro...

Sharp criticisms of polytheistic idolatry, which can be found in the Bible, are read in the context of its monotheistic faith. Nevertheless these texts, if taken out of their present context and approached form-critically, seem to reflect a polemical attitude to religion in general. They are satiric and attack weak points of the religions. They can...

The Revelation presupposes the resurrection of Christ, directly referred to in Rev 1:5,18; 2:8. This Christ promised return to life to the faithful (Rev 2.7,10). Rev 20:5-6 mentions the first resurrection, which is to be understood as life and reign with Christ in heaven, promised to the martyrs and to the just. In Ap 11:11-12 two witnesses return...

This book contains an attempt to synthesize the ethical ideas of the Bible. The Christian Scripture is seen here as canon and as one ancient body of writings, which partake the same basic assumptions, in spite of a significant diversity in details. Accordingly, the book concentrates on the general features of biblical ethics. First it considers the...

Poland has a rich history of translating and commenting on the Bible (five full translations in the sixteenth century; seven in the last fifty years). During the twentieth century Polish academic life was being restored. It has promoted the theological studies as well. More than two hundred biblical scholars produce now nearly 1,000 books, articles...

This book presents a detailed overview of the biblical teaching on the state. It is presented under the following headings: I. The history of Israel before Christ (including the question of the origin of the state). II. God and kings (power of God, royal ideology and messianism, tasks of the king, principles of government). III. Criticism towards t...

Tobit reflects the situation and tradition of the Northern Israel diaspora. This book was made more Judaic later.

Introduction. The parables of Jesus are often perceived as optimistic, easy to understand or even idyllic. Nevertheless, they are surprising, difficult and even provocative, “unkempt”. Parables are defined as developed comparisons centered on one main idea and accordingly discerned from allegories. However, ancient terms in Hebrew of Greek had wide...

The issue of boasting, or praising oneself, receives a wide and specific treatment in the epistles of Paul. This issue is known to the Old Testament and ancient literature. Therefore, a good understanding and evaluation of the Pauline concept requires a comparison with its background. ...

This volume presents translation and commentary to Matthew 5-7, exploring the question, Why the Christian morality is so demanding? Christians are called to imitate God, and the high standards function as signposts showing the way to the mountain top. After an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount this book presents translations and expositions o...

This book considers the anonymous scholia to Rev, published in 1911 by Harnack as a supposed work of Origen. It contains introduction, Polish translation and notes. These scholia contain a set of quotations, mostly unidentified, stemming (with some exceptions) from works antedating 300 AD. They are the earliest known attempt of a commentary on Rev...

Fragment from Plutarch: De tribus rei publicae generibus, implying moral criteria in politics; introduction and Polish translation.

This article contains a list of biblical terms, expressions and the most popular quotations which are used in Polish. They are accompanied by their English translations. It is basically a lexicographical tool, but the material collected below can also illustrate some cultural parallels between both languages, formed in the context of Christian civi...

Plutarch On Virtue and Vice. Michał Wojciechowski’s Polish translation of Plutarch’s De virtute et vitio is published here with the translator’s introduction and notes. This fragment of young Plutarch’s rhetorical work had been probably preserved in an anthology; it reflects popular philosophy, coloured with Stoic doctrines.

In the light of my comparison, the language of the Hellenistic moral philosophy had no deeper influence on the language of the New Testament. Many key notions are simply lacking. Most further terms occur in the different meaning or only occasionally. Only a fraction of the philosophical vocabulary is used. I have considered about 200 items from Epi...

This book is a commentary to some Jewish works in Greek, which were preserved in the Greek Bible (Septuagint), but were not received into the Roman Catholic canon of the Bible. In the Protestant churches they are usually placed with other OT Apocrypha. In the Eastern Orthodox churches 3 Maccabees and 3(1) Esdras are considered canonical. From the R...

This summary presentation of the NT christology touches the following points: OT language; presenting christology through narratives and through the names of Jesus; origin of christology (a need of intellectual formulation for an intuitive faith resulting from the Resurrection experience); the development of christology (‘inverted’ order from parou...

Athanasius shows a preference for texts forming a bridge between the both Testaments. NT is represented by its main books (Gospels and Paul) quoted from its copies or from memory; favourite books of the OT are Gen 1-3, Isaiah, Psalms, Wisdom, but quotations stem most probably from three collections of testimonia (on Messiah, idolatry and creation)....

It is the first translation of Contra gentes into Polish. The introduction brings attention on the dependence of the work of former Christian apologetics, on rational justification of Christian faith and on opinions of the author on the sources of polytheism, reflecting ancient ‘science of religion’. The main topics ofContra gentes are: the origin...

Dogmatic definitions can be kerygmatic formulas, doxologies and polemics. Despite some appearances, the dogmatic definition is not a homogenous literary form; the relation between its form and contents, its “genre”, can vary quite considerably. Christian truth can be presented in many ways: it can be exalted, defended or just proclaimed in a didact...

This article contains introduction, translation of the letter into Polish and notes. The letter with fragments from the Secret Gospel of Mark stems most probably from Clement of Alexandria. These fragments imitate the style of Mark and they were added to the Gospel in early 2nd century; they borrow also from Luke. Depending heavily from many other...

The Secret Gospel of Mark from the Letter of Clement of Alexandria to Theodore, Studia Theologica Varsaviensia 37 (1999) 41-51. [in Polish] This article contains introduction, translation of the letter into Polish and notes. The letter with fragments from the Secret Gospel of Mark stems most probably from Clement of Alexandria. These fragments imit...

Main trends in understanding the literary genre of the Gospels are presented and interpreted as analytical (Formgeschichte approach) and synthetic (comparison with ancient biographies). This genre can be defined as ancient biography with a theological aim, containing minor literary forms.

7 popular translations are considered: RSV, NIV, REB, Luther 1964, EinheitsŸbersetzung, BJ, TOB. Ioudaios is rather a Judean than a Jew. In Jn 4.22; Rm 11.1-2; 3.22; 10.12; 3.1; Acts 13.46 the expressions related to the salvation of/through the Jews happen to be deformed. Criticisms against them are strengthened: 1 Thess 2.14-15; Rm 9.31; 10.21; A...

Differences between the ethical systems of the OT and the NT are often overstressed. The article explores common features shared by both OT and NT in connection with biblical anthropology, the source of ethics (God, calling to follow him), general features of ethics (its perfectionism), and particular, constant commandments. Finally it reflects on...

It is the first translation of De incarnatione Verbi into Polish. The introduction stresses its importance as a classic of ‘fundamental theology’, as this book looks for a rational justification of Christian faith; incarnation, death and resurrection of the Logos do make sense for a critical mind. De incarnatione covers 5 main topics: reasons for t...

Introduction. Most studies on NT christology overlook the idea of the holiness of Jesus or give only a passing attention to it. Some presuppositions concerning the notion of holiness should be avoided; it should not be seen nor as 'separation', through the eyes of modern philosophy of religion, neither as human moral perfection, following Christian...

Jesus was most probably born at the end of 8 b.c. or in the first half of 7 b.c. The beginning of his public ministry can be placed in the last months of a.d. 27 or at the beginning of a.d. 28. The crucifixion took place on Friday, April 7 in a.d. 30. The article collects arguments for this chronology.

The article first considers texts in Revelation that attribute features of Israel to the eschatological community called the church (Rev 7:1-8; 11:1; 12:1-17; and 21:12-21a). Then it reflects on images of the community and on the relation between Israel and the church according to Revelation. If we call the new community of Revelation the church, w...

The bulletin lists some criticisms against NA26 and Aland's Textkritik..., refers to the history of the research and next proceeds to a review of studies by Delebecque (Les deux Actes des Apôtres, 1986), Boismard-Lamouille, (Texte Occidental des Actes des Apôtres, 1984; Les actes des deux apôtres, 1990), and Strange (The Problem of the Text of Acts...

Biblical background found in the principles of scoutism in its Polish version.

The primitive text underlying Mk 1:40-45 reflects an early Palestinian tradition, perhaps from an eyewitness. In touching the leper Jesus expressed symbolically his special holiness and power. He was so close to God that his touch could cleanse even the worst impurity.

'Those ... are dead' in Matthew 2.20 refers to Herod and Antipater. Both could have been engaged in the killing of children in Bethlehem.

The seven stars held by the Son of Man in Rev 1:16, 20; 2:1; 3:1 are to be identified with the sun, the moon, and the five planets known in antiquity. This interpretation is confirmed by the number of points where the messages to the seven churches (Rev 2--3) coincide with the symbolism of the seven main celestial bodies.

A literary analysis of Jn 13:1-20 based especially on vocabulary and aimed at distinguishing tradition from redaction reveals a symmetrical primitive account with the dialogue between Peter and Jesus at its center (see vv. 6, 8, 9). The promised part with Jesus is a future salvation, given by a sacramental act of Jesus. The primitive text has been...

Genesis 3:22 (especially its targums) and Mark 11:14 state that people will no longer eat the fruit of a precious tree on account of infidelity to God. The fig-tree of Mk 11:12-14 most likely symbolizes the Law. Thus Jesus announced the end of the era in which the Law accomplished a saving action.

The targums of Gen 2:7 describe the breath of God as the source of the word; Adam is endowed with the gift of speech. Thus the gift of the Spirit received by the apostles according to Jn 20:22 would be identical with the gift of tongues at Pentecost

To understand the significance of the twelve precious stones adorning the foundations of the walls of the New Jerusalem, one must interpret the initial letters of the gems in the list with reference to christological titles: Iesous Christos Soter, Christos Basileus (kai) Telos (tapeinos), Christos Huios Anthropou.

The two sentences in Mk 4:5-6 should be divided after exaneteilen, not after ges.

Mark used hina incorrectly in Mk 4:12, because his Greek version of Isa 6:9-10 already contained subjunctive verbs.

The refusal of wine in Mark 15.23 reflects a Nazirite vow from Mark 14.25