The Song of Songs: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators (Church's Bible)

The Song of Songs traditionally attributed to Solomon is a collection of lyrics that celebrate in earthly terms the love of a bridegroom and a bride. Throughout the course of early Christian history the Song of Songs was widely read as an allegory of the love of Christ both for the church and for its individual members. In reading the Song this way Christians were following in the steps of Jewish exegetes who saw the Song as celebrating the love of God for Israel.. In The Song of Songs the inaugural volume of The Churchs Bible Richard A. Norris Jr. uses commentaries and sermons from the churchs first millennium to illustrate the original Christian understanding of Solomons beautiful poem. In recent times the Song of Songs has been more a focus of literary than of religious interest but Norriss work shows that for early Christians this text was counted with the Psalms and the Gospels among those Scriptures that touched most deeply on the believers relation to God.. All in all Norriss Song of Songs is a masterful work that aptly acquaints contemporary readers with the churchs traditional way of discerning in this text a guide to the character of Christian belief and life. This volume -- and the entire Churchs Bible series -- will be welcomed by preachers teachers students and general readers alike.