Jesus' Transfiguration and the Believers' Transformation: A Study of the Transfiguration and Its Development in Early Christian Writings

In my dissertation, I examine Jesus' Transfiguration story found in the narrative account of Mark, tracing the development of its multiple readings through the first two centuries of the Christian era. I pay special attention to texts where Peter is described as being the main witness to the event - Synoptic Gospels, 2 Peter, Apocalypse of Peter, and Acts of Peter. I also analyze 2 Corinthians 3, where Paul explains the transformation of the believers. In comparing Paul's account with that of Mark, I show that there are some common patterns or ideas behind their accounts and that both inherited certain views from early Christian traditions. In this dissertation, I contribute to the study of early Christianity by (1) helping bridge the gap between New Testament study and apocryphal study, (2) explaining how various Christian readers understood the Transfiguration story in ways that were particular to their own historical contexts, (3) fleshing out common ideas or patterns of thought as well as differences in various interpretations of the Transfiguration, and (4) locating the Transfiguration in the general phenomenon of metamorphosis with epiphany.