Die Gottesvorstellung im Markusevangelium wird unter Verwendung diachroner und synchroner Methoden untersucht. Sie wird im Hinblick auf das Verhaltnis Gottes zum Christus, zur Geschichte und zur Tora erarbeitet und mit Hilfe der Fragen nach der Gute Gottes und seiner Verantwortung fur das Ubel sowie nach dem Umgang mit dem Ersten Gebot profiliert. Die Arbeit versteht sich als Gesamtdeutung des Markusevangeliums und leistet einen Beitrag fur seine religionsgeschichtliche und theologische Einordnung.

This monograph explores the theology of the Acts of the Apostles while taking seriously the status of the writing as ancient historiography: What does it mean to speak of theology in a historiographical work? How can this theology be apprehended? What does this theology have to do with the overall character of the writing and with how the writing functioned for its original audience? Acts 19 is both, case study and source to generate the answers.

Der Apostel Paulus hat mit seinen Briefen nicht nur Theologie vermittelt, sondern auch personliche Beziehungen zu den angeschriebenen Gemeinden gepflegt. Die Studie untersucht, wie die Briefe die bleibende Bedeutung des Paulus, so sie nicht bereits mit dem Apostolat gegeben war, fur die Gemeinden entwerfen und sichern. Dies geschieht vor allem durch Metaphern. Im Mittelpunkt der Studie stehen Eltern-Kind-Metaphern (1 Thess 2; 1 Kor 4; Gal 4), mit denen Paulus seine "Kinder" in besonderer Weise an sich binden will.

Many interpreters read John 6 as a contrast between Jesus and Judaism: Jesus repudiates Moses and manna and offers himself as an alternative. In contrast, this monograph argues that John 6 places elements of the Exodus story in a positive and constructive relationship to Jesus. This reading leads to an understanding of John as an interpreter of Exodus who, like other contemporary Jewish interpreters, sees current experiences in light of the Exodus story. This approach to John offers new possibilities for assessing the gospel's relationship to Jewish scripture, its dualism, and its...

The book deals with the relation between identity, ethics, and ethos in the New Testament. The focus falls on the way in which the commandments or guidelines presented in the New Testament writings inform the behaviour of the intended recipients. The habitual behaviour (ethos) of the different Christian communities in the New Testament are plotted and linked to their identity. Apart from analytical categories like ethos, ethics, and identity that are clearly defined in the book, efforts are also made to broaden the specific analytical categories related to ethical material. The way in...

The Greek term parakletos ("paraclete") appears four times in the Gospel of John (Jn 14, 16.26; 15, 26; 16, 7) and once in the First Epistle (1 Jn 2, 1). In the Gospel, its meaning is enigmatic. After a status quaestionis, a detailed analysis of parakletos in ancient literature reveals two different degrees of lexicalization: a) an embryonic stage conveying the idea of movement associated with a mandate, to be found in the Gospel (common usage in the Greek language); b) the meaning of "intercesseur," associated with a stereotyped triangular semantic structure, to...

In the early 1970's, due to serious epistemological flaws, the demise of traditional New Testament research paradigms became imminent. A new generation of scholars started the search for a fresh approach, based on scientifically sound principles. Working within the stimulating atmosphere of the New Testament Society of South Africa, the author was one of the pioneers in developing a new, multi-dimensional research approach for New Testament studies. The articles in the present volume, written over a period of 25 years, reflect part of this journey, as viewed from a Pauline perspective....

In the last several decades, scholars largely agree that the NT term "mysterion" is a terminus technicus, originating from Daniel. "Mystery" constitutes a revelation of God's hidden eschatological wisdom. This project traces the word in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other sectors of Judaism. Like Daniel, the term consistently retains eschatological connotations. The monograph then examines how mystery functions within 1 Corinthians and seeks to explain why the term is often employed. Throughout the letter, Paul alludes to Daniel, especially in conjunction with the notion of mystery. Of...

In the New Testament polemics plays an important role, both as objective dispute and as literary strategy. To reconstruct the character of Jesus it is necessary to thematically deal with polemics in oral and written form. The same applies to Paul, who was a great polemicist. This book aims to analyze the literary and objective forms of New Testament polemics, also in the writings of the second and third generation of Early Christianity, and to integrate them into the theoretical and historical contexts of literature in Antiquity and of the church writers.

This monograph provides a fresh perspective on judgment according to works by challenging both the majority scholarly view and the new perspective advocated by E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn and N. T. Wright. Employing intertextuality and early Jewish mediation of scripture, this study examines the idea of judgment according to works with reference to Psalm 62:13 in early Jewish literature and the New Testament. The originality of this study is to highlight the significance of Psalm 62:13 in the context of judgment according to works and to argue that the texts dealing with judgment...