This study seeks to base Paul's language of sin in the socio-cultural context of his original letters. T.L. Carter draws on the work of social anthropologist Mary Douglas to conduct a cross-cultural a
Originally published by Cambridge University Press in the Monograph Series of the Society for New Testament Studies, Dr. Hoehner's work has been widely acclaimed for its scholarly reconstruction of He
By re-examining the quotation of psalms in Paul, this book offers a fresh interpretation of the New Testament's reception of the Old Testament. Richard Hays's influential Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul astutely identified the rhetorical device of metalepsis, or echo, as central to the study of Pauline hermeneutics. Hays's Paul was in sympathetic dialogue with the voice of Scripture, but Matthew Scott now challenges this assumption with close readings of echoed psalms voiced by David and Christ. Paul's use of metalepsis in Romans and 2 Corinthians reveals him to be a provocative, even polemical, reader who appropriates the words of David for a Christological purpose. Scott also illustrates how Christ succeeds David as the premier psalmist in Paul and considers whether, in doing so, Christ acts as inheritor or iconoclast.
The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture explores the relationship between the writing of Revelation and its early audience, especially its interaction with Jewish Scripture. It touches on several areas of scholarly inquiry in biblical studies, including modes of literary production, the use of allusions, practices of exegesis, and early engagements with the Book of Revelation. Garrick Allen brings the Book of Revelation into the broader context of early Jewish literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and other important works. Arguing that the author of the New Testament Apocalypse was a 'scribal expert, someone who was well-versed in the content of Jewish Scripture and its interpretation', he demonstrates that John was not only a seer and prophet, but also an erudite reader of scripture.
By re-examining the quotation of psalms in Paul, this book offers a fresh interpretation of the New Testament's reception of the Old Testament. Richard Hays's influential Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul astutely identified the rhetorical device of metalepsis, or echo, as central to the study of Pauline hermeneutics. Hays's Paul was in sympathetic dialogue with the voice of Scripture, but Matthew Scott now challenges this assumption with close readings of echoed psalms voiced by David and Christ. Paul's use of metalepsis in Romans and 2 Corinthians reveals him to be a provocative, even polemical, reader who appropriates the words of David for a Christological purpose. Scott also illustrates how Christ succeeds David as the premier psalmist in Paul and considers whether, in doing so, Christ acts as inheritor or iconoclast.
Most Jesus specialists agree that the Temple incident led directly to Jesus' arrest, but the precise relationship between Jesus and the Temple's administration remains unclear. Jesus and the Temple examines this relationship, exploring the reinterpretation of Torah observance and traditional Temple practices that are widely considered central components of the early Jesus movement. Challenging a growing tendency in contemporary scholarship to assume that the earliest Christians had an almost uniformly positive view of the Temple's sacrificial system, Simon J. Joseph addresses the ambiguous, inconsistent, and contradictory views on sacrifice and the Temple in the New Testament. This volume fills a significant gap in the literature on sacrifice in Jewish Christianity. It introduces a new hypothesis positing Jesus' enactment of a program of radically nonviolent eschatological restoration, an orientation that produced Jesus' conflicts with his contemporaries and inspired the first attribut
In recent years, there has been considerable debate concerning the origin of divine Christology. Nevertheless, the proposed theories are beset with problems, such as failing to address the evidence of widespread agreement among the earliest Christians concerning divine Christology, and the issues related to whether Jesus' intention was falsified. This book offers a new contribution by addressing these issues using transdisciplinary tools. It proposes that the earliest Christians regarded Jesus as divine because a sizeable group of them perceived that Jesus claimed and showed himself to be divine, and thought that God vindicated this claim by raising Jesus from the dead. It also provides a comprehensive critique of alternative proposals, and synthesizes their strengths. It defends the appropriateness and merits of utilizing philosophical distinctions (e.g. between ontology and function) and Trinitarian concepts for explaining early Christology, and incorporates comparative religion by e
This volume is the first to investigate manifestations of faith in the Book of Hebrews across four dimensions: ethical, eschatological, Christological, and ecclesiological. Matthew C. Easter illustrates that two contrasting narrative identities emerge in Hebrews: the author of the epistle proclaims that 'we are not of timidity unto destruction, but of faith unto the preservation of the soul' (Hebrews 10:39). Easter classifies the former as the default human story, which lacks faith and results inevitably in death. The latter represents the story of faith, in which one endures suffering to the point of death and thereby achieves eschatological life. The epitome of faithfulness, Jesus confirms the truth of this conclusion and perfects faith through his resurrection. Humans participate in the story of faith by enduring suffering with the traveling people of God and, in doing so, look forward to being raised with Jesus.
This work re-examines the divisive wisdom that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians. Challenging the recent consensus that the Corinthians' wisdom was rooted primarily in the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition, Timothy A. Brookins offers a revisionary thesis centered on discourse similarities between the perspective of the Corinthian 'wise' and the Stoic system of thought. Brookins argues that several members of the church, after hearing Paul's initial gospel message, construed that message in terms of Stoic philosophy and began promoting a kind of 'Stoic-Christian' perspective that helped to precipitate divisions in the church. Being apprised of their views, Paul then exploited the 'Stoic' discourse of his opponents in order to sustain common discursive ground. In addition to providing a fresh synthesis of the data in 1 Corinthians, Brookins brings in cutting-edge research on the ancient economy as he explores questions related to philosophical education and social status within the church c
In this book, Catherine Sider Hamilton introduces a new lens through which to view the death of Jesus in Matthew. Using the concept of 'innocent blood', she situates the death of Jesus within a paradigm of purity and pollution, one that was central in the Hebrew Scriptures and early Judaism from the Second Temple to the rabbis. Hamilton traces the theme of innocent blood in Matthew's narrative in relation to two Jewish traditions of interpretation, one (in Second Temple literature) reflecting on the story of Cain and Abel; the other (chiefly in rabbinic literature) on the blood of Zechariah. 'Innocent blood' yields a vision that resists the dichotomies (intra muros vs extra muros, rejection vs redemption) that have characterized the debate, a vision in which both judgment and redemption - an end of exile - may be true. 'Innocent blood' offers a new approach not only to the meaning of Jesus' death in Matthew but also to the vexed question of the Gospel's attitude toward contemporary Jud
In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes the community in Rome as 'holy ones'. This study considers Paul's language in relation to the Old Testament, particularly accounts of the events at Mount Sinai that established the nation of Israel and consecrated its people as God's holy people. Sarah Whittle illustrates how Paul reworks citations from Deuteronomy, Hosea, and Isaiah to incorporate the Gentiles into Israel's covenant-renewal texts. Analysing key passages, she further ties the covenant-making narrative to themes of sacrificed bodies and moral transformation, fulfilment of the Torah, the promises of the fathers, and Paul's priestly ministry. This volume argues that the latter has a climactic function in Paul's letter, overseeing the offering of the Gentiles, who are 'made holy by the holy spirit'. This study will be of interest to scholars of New Testament studies, Pauline theology, and early Christianity.
The author of 1 Peter regards Christian suffering as a necessary feature of faithful allegiance to Jesus, which precedes the full restoration and vindication of God's people. Much previous research has explored only the cause and nature of suffering; Kelly D. Liebengood now addresses the need for an explanation for the source that has generated this particular understanding. If Jesus truly is God's redemptive agent, come to restore His people, how can Christian suffering be a necessary part of discipleship after his coming, death and resurrection, and what led the author of 1 Peter to such a startling conclusion? Liebengood analyzes the appropriation of shepherds, exodus, and fiery trials imagery and argues that the author of 1 Peter is dependent upon the eschatological programme of Zechariah 9-14 for his theology of Christian suffering. This book will interest those studying the New Testament, Petrine theology and early Christianity.
This volume is the first to investigate manifestations of faith in the Book of Hebrews across four dimensions: ethical, eschatological, Christological, and ecclesiological. Matthew C. Easter illustrates that two contrasting narrative identities emerge in Hebrews: the author of the epistle proclaims that 'we are not of timidity unto destruction, but of faith unto the preservation of the soul' (Hebrews 10:39). Easter classifies the former as the default human story, which lacks faith and results inevitably in death. The latter represents the story of faith, in which one endures suffering to the point of death and thereby achieves eschatological life. The epitome of faithfulness, Jesus confirms the truth of this conclusion and perfects faith through his resurrection. Humans participate in the story of faith by enduring suffering with the traveling people of God and, in doing so, look forward to being raised with Jesus.
The so-called Epistula Apostolorum is an early gospel-like text in which the eleven apostles recount a question-and-answer session with the risen Jesus on Easter morning, intended to equip them for the worldwide mission to which they are now called. The Epistula draws selectively from the Gospels of John and Matthew, while disagreeing with its sources at a number of points and claiming definitive status for its own rendering of the apostolic gospel. This book is based on a new translation of this important but neglected text, drawing on the Coptic, Ethiopic, and Latin manuscript evidence and with variants noted in an English-language critical apparatus. Extensive additional notes are provided to clarify issues of text, translation, and exegesis. The central chapters explore major theological themes such as incarnation, resurrection, and eschatology in the light of related texts within and beyond the New Testament.
