Susan Mathew examines the structures of mutuality in Romans, to shed light on the issue of women's leadership in Pauline theology. Mathew begins by analyzing the general form of greetings in the Pauline letters, to shed light on the specific form of the greetings in Rom 16.1-16. Mathew then couples this with analysis of the leadership of women in the Greco-Roman world showing that women's leadership roles in the Pauline churches were part of this wider culture.

This provides a basis from which to show that the women named in Romans 16.1-16, display Paul's acknowledgment of some...

On the one hand, Ephesians 4.17-5.21 has been interpreted as drawing a social or ethical contrast between the addressees and the outside world, and even as encouraging or legitimating social withdrawal or separation from outsiders. On the other hand, the household code in Ephesians 5.21-6.9 has been read as encouraging integration into the wider society. These social goals seem to be at odds, but rarely is this reflected on or addressed in scholarship. Upon a close and detailed study that utilizes traditional exegetical methods, comparative analysis and social identity theory, Daniel K....

Characters in the Second Gospel are analysed and an in-depth look at different approaches currently employed by scholars working with literary and reader-oriented methods of analysis is provided. The first section consists of essays on method/theory, and the second consists of seven exegetical character studies using a literary or reader-oriented method. All contributors work from a literary, narrative-critical, reader-oriented, or related methodology.

The book summarizes the state of the discussion and examines obstacles to arriving at a comprehensive theory of character in the...

In this study Yongbom Lee re-examines the old Jesus-Paul debate with insights from current studies on intertextuality in Paul. Lee identifies Paul's typical ways of handling authoritative traditions in a number of cases providing a set of expectations as to how his use of them elsewhere might look.

Lee begins by investigating the use of the Scriptures in the Rule of the Community and the Damascus Document. He then examines five cases of Paul's use of the Scriptures and contemporary Jewish exegetical traditions and three cases of his use of the Jesus tradition. Despite the skepticism...

This book explores the Matthean Posteriority Hypothesis (MPH), a largely neglected solution to the Synoptic Problem which holds that the author of the Gospel of Luke used the Gospel of Mark as a source, and that the author of the Gospel of Matthew used both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke as sources.

MacEwen begins with a survey of the scholars who have defended various forms of the MPH. Chapter 2 discusses two key lines of evidence which support the MPH. The first line of evidence is textual - demonstrating that Matthew could have known the contents of Luke's Gospel beyond...

Mark, Manuscripts, and Monotheism is organized into three parts: Mark's Gospel, Manuscripts and Textual Criticism, and Monotheism and Early Jesus-Devotion. With contributors hailing from several different countries, and including both senior and junior scholars, this volume contains essays penned in honor of Larry W. Hurtado by engaging and focusing upon these three major emphases in his scholarship. The result is not only a fitting tribute to one of the most influential New Testament scholars of present times, but also a welcome survey of current scholarship.

Luke models his portrayal both of Jesus and his disciples in Luke-Acts after the human agent of the Isaianic New Exodus in Isaiah 40-66, the servant. In the Isaianic New Exodus the servant is integral to the restoration; the servant's mission being embodied is, to a great extent, how the New Exodus comes to fruition.

The servant connection is at times explicit, as Jesus is identified with the servant in Luke 4:18-19 (quoting Isa 61:1-2 with 58:6]); Luke 22:37 (citing Isa 53:12); and Acts 8:32-33 (Isa 53:7-8). Regarding the disciples, Isa 49:6 is quoted by Paul in Acts 13:47 in...

Justin Marc Smith argues that the gospels were intended to be addressed to a wide and varied audience. He does this by considering them to be works of ancient biography, comparative to the Greco-Roman biography. The earliest Christian interpreters of the Gospels did not understand their works to be sectarian documents. Rather, the wider context of Jesus literature in the second and third centuries points toward the broader Christian practice of writing and disseminating literary presentations of Jesus and Jesus traditions as widely as possible.

Smith addresses the difficulty in...

Revelation's Hymns examines the hymnic pericopes in Revelation in light of the cosmic conflict theme. It considers this theme as integral to the development of Revelation's plot. Recognizing that critical studies give interpretative primacy to the political realities that existed at the time of Revelation's composition, Grabiner responds to the need for an examination of the storyline from the perspective of issues that are of narrative importance.

Grabiner argues that the cosmic conflict is at the centre of the book's concerns, and attempts to determine the function of the...

This Festschrift draws on the research interests of Christopher Rowland. The collection of essays comes from former doctoral students and other friends, many of whom shed light on the angelic contribution to the thought-world of developing Christianity. The significance of the Jewish contribution to developing Christian ideology is critically assessed, including the impact of the original Jewish sources on the earliest Christian belief.

The distinguished contributors to this volume include April DeConick, Paul Foster, John Rogerson, Tobias Nicklas and Andrei Orlov.