To develop a method for identifying Paul's opponents it is first necessary to analyse procedures used by previous scholars. Too little attention has been paid in the past to issues of method, and many procedures have been used which violate the canons of historical research. In the first place, limits should be set upon the use of historical reconstructions and of external sources, and the determinative source for identifying the opponents of any letter must be that letter itself. Secondly, a satisfactory method will analyse passages within the primary text according to the nature of the...

This study is a fresh approach to Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Taking Paul's Jewish background seriously, it challenges the prevailing consensus that Paul's object in the first three chapters is to conclude that everyone is under the power of sin. Davies shows that in Paul's thinking there has always been a category of the righteous, those who live by faith and express their faith in obedience. Paul's indictment of Jews and Gentiles, therefore, is an indictment of only the wicked among Jews and Gentiles, not of the righteous.

In this book Fowl examines the role played by three poetic texts, Phil. 2.6-11, Col. 1.15-20, and 1Tim. 3.16 in the arguments of their epistles. Rather than functioning as criteria of christological orthodoxy, these poetic narrations of Christ's person and work are used by Paul to support various ethical positions. For Paul and the Christians he addresses, these stories of Christ are exemplars for the life and practice of the church.

Part I of this work determines where Paul is dependent on Jewish and Hellenistic exegesis of the Moses story where he provides a fresh interpretation. Part II brings form-critical studies of the Greek papyri to bear on the epistolary function of these verses. Part III investigates first-century homiletic patterns, exegetical techniques and material parallels in order to illuminate the sequence of Paul's thought. At issue in these verses is Paul's apostolic credibility. Paul selectively weaves together text, tradition and haggadah, using accepted methods of text interpretation and a common...

This volume collects the best articles on the Pauline writings from the first fifty issues of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of the volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Here the reader will find ground-breaking studies which introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in this particular topic of New Testament studies, and articles which engage with each other in specific debates. For students this book offers an invaluable critical introduction to Pauline studies. More advanced students and...

The overall aim of this investigation of Mark 11.12-14, 20ff. is to ascertain the attitude to the Temple taken by the author of the earliest Gospel and his community. More specifically, it is a meticulous study of the most curious of all the Synoptic miracle-stories, in which the place of the story within the Markan redaction and subsequently in the Synoptic Gospels is explored. The study also entails a detailed exploration of the story's origin, background and Sitz in Leben prior to Mark, involving thorough consideration of the Old Testament and Jewish background of its motifs.

The essays in this collection edited by Christopher M. Tuckett are taken from two conferences held at Ampleforth Abbey in 1982 and 1983. The discussion at these conferences centred on the issue of the Synoptic Problem, and special consideration was given to a critique of the 'two-document hypothesis' or the idea that the chronological ordering of Luke and Matthew after Mark enabled the two former to draw on the latter and, in addition, a document entitled 'Q'. This established idea has since been challenged, with new arguments suggesting that in fact Matthew originated first, and Mark was...

This book addresses a central issue confronting the reader of the Gospel. Professor Bauer describes the impasse that has been reached in recent investigation of the structure of Matthew and demonstrates that an appreciation of literary design can provide a way forward. After identifying rhetorical features that relate to literary structure, he devotes the major part of his book to a systematic examination of such features as they appear in the Gospel in order to gain a fresh insight into the shape of the work. This study is valuable both for its comprehensive and judicious review of the...

This book offers a fresh perspective on Paul's use of the Abraham story in Galatians by providing a thorough analysis of its epistolary and rhetorical contexts. In Part I, parallels in Galatians to rebuke-request letters in Greek papyri serve as a basis for dividing the letter into two major sections: Rebuke (1.6-4.11) and Request (3.12-6.10), the request formula in 4.12 indicating a major turning point in the letter. The Abraham argument (3.6-29) and the Hagar-Sarah allegory (4.12-31) should be viewed as Paul's biblical rebuke and biblical appeal respectively. Rhetorical analysis...

Mark 4.11-12, the 'parable theory' passage, has probably been commented upon more often than any other section of Mark's Gospel. The saying has usually been interpreted as an authentic utterance of Jesus, which was subsequently misunderstood and misinterpreted by early Christians - including the evangelist Mark. The precise meaning of the mystery logion in the ministry of Jesus is notoriously elusive, since we have no information about the context in which it was spoken, or about the audience to which it was addressed. Much more, however, can be known about the interpretative context of...