Acknowledgements
This work constitutes a slightly revised version of my doctoral dissertation written at Radboud University Nijmegen under the direction of Professor Jan van der Watt. I extend my most sincere gratitude to “Prof. Jan,” whose academic erudition skillfully guided this project from conception to completion and whose personal concern for me and my family never ceased to be an encouragement. I am also grateful to my co-supervisor, Dr. Chris de Wet, who was most thorough and helpful in challenging and refining my work at every step of the process. I would also like to thank Dr. Matthew Bates and Dr. Stephen Presley for introducing me to the study of prosopological exegesis, as well as the members of my manuscript committee, Dr. Daniela Müller, Dr. Alan Culpepper, and Dr. Hennie Stander. Very special thanks are due to Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, who has been a longtime academic mentor and whose encouragement and guidance has shaped so much of my academic journey so far.
I must also express gratitude to those friends, family, colleagues, and students who have helped in various ways to get this project across the finish line: R.J. Barthelmes, Jessica Bonnem, Jack Charles, Maggie Heiskell, Jeff Horner, Alex Hughes, Bryan Klein, Christian Knox, David McBride, David McCune, Patrick Spellissy, Caleb Ward, and Nicole Ward. Special credit is due to my colleague Trevor Moore and my longtime friend Greg Barnhill, who both went above and beyond in their contributions to commenting on and editing this manuscript. I would be beyond remiss if I did not also thank my parents, Bob and Stephanie Hughes, and my mother-in-law, Joanne Ward, for all that they have done, financially and otherwise, to help me along this journey. At an institutional level, Whitefield Academy has been generous in its support of my efforts at completing this book, with thanks due especially to Kevin Bracher and Nathan Stevens for affirming my calling to pursue scholarship while working to further Christ-centered secondary education. For their efforts in helping produce the best possible manuscript, I must also extend my gratitude to the team at Brill and to the anonymous reviewers who provided helpful comments concerning various aspects of this project.
Most of all, I would like to thank my wife Karisa. As her name suggests, she is indeed the living embodiment of grace in my life. Her unfailing support of me through all the ups and downs of this process has been without question the most important factor in bringing me to the conclusion of this journey. Karisa, on account of the many sacrifices you have made on my behalf and because of the love that you continue to pour out on me each and every day, I dedicate this book to you and to our beautiful children, Aliya and Asher. Truly God has blessed me as rich beyond measure.
Some of the seeds for what would become chapters 1 and 3 of this book were initially published as “The Spirit Speaks: Pneumatological Innovation in the Scriptural Exegesis of Justin and Tertullian,” VC 69 (2015): 463–483. Some material from chapter 3 has appeared previously in press as “The Spirit and the Scriptures: Revisiting Cyprian’s Use of Prosopological Exegesis,” JECH 8 (2018),
Kyle Hughes
Atlanta, Georgia
Epiphanytide 2018