This collection of articles by distinguished scholars and experts in their particular fields of research is introduced by a chapter dealing with general matters of the current hermeneutics of magic: what is the nature of magic and what is the understanding of magic in the Western world-view and what - for instance - in the African world? Centered around studies on Jesus and magic the second part contains studies on the use of the term "magic" in the New Testament and especially in Acts. The third section broadens the understanding of magic through selected case studies in different approaches...
This collection of articles by distinguished scholars and experts in their particular fields of research is introduced by a chapter dealing with gener...
Nature plays an important and often neglected role in Jewish apocalypses. Most Second Temple Jewish apocalypses (ca. 200 BC - AD 100) do not oppose the material world, but view nature as damaged by human and angelic sin. Rather than expecting God to destroy the world, many look forward to God's dramatic eschatological deliverance of nature from corruption. Although Romans 8:19-22 was not written in the genre of an apocalypse, it shares the basic apocalyptic world view. The Apostle Paul follows that stream of apocalyptic thought that looks forward to the transformation of creation by an...
Nature plays an important and often neglected role in Jewish apocalypses. Most Second Temple Jewish apocalypses (ca. 200 BC - AD 100) do not oppose th...
The book of Hebrews has often been the Cinderella of the New Testament, overlooked and marginalized; and yet it is one of the most interesting and theologically significant books in the New Testament. A Cloud of Witness examines the theology of the book in the light of its ancient historical context. There are chapters devoted to the structure of Hebrews, the person of Jesus Christ, Hebrews within the context of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman empire and the role of Hebrews in early Christian thought.
The book of Hebrews has often been the Cinderella of the New Testament, overlooked and marginalized; and yet it is one of the most interesting and the...
Scholarly interest in intertextuality remains as keen as ever. Armed with new questions, interpreters seek to understand better the function of older scripture in later scripture. The essays assembled in the present collection address these questions. These essays treat pre-Christian texts, as well as Christian texts, that make use of older sacred tradition. They analyze the respective uses of scripture in diverse Jewish and Christian traditions. Some of these studies are concerned with discreet bodies of writings, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, while others are concerned with versions of...
Scholarly interest in intertextuality remains as keen as ever. Armed with new questions, interpreters seek to understand better the function of old...
Mark's Gospel has been seen as history, or as literature. The tensions between these two approaches point to what neither approach can articulate: the rich and ambiguous connections and disjuncture's between human experience itself and human retelling, remembering, and reliving of that experience. This energetic pulling and resistance between our ordered categories and the chaos of existence fuels Mark's gospel and arguably Christianity itself.
With the aid of ritual theory this book seeks to explore that energy in Mark's passion narrative. In particular, Duran uses...
Mark's Gospel has been seen as history, or as literature. The tensions between these two approaches point to what neither approach can articulate: ...
This work examines the effect of the use of scripture on the interpretation of the Markan passion narrative, Mark 14:1-15:47.
In the methodically focused section which begins the work, Kelli O'Brien first defines the term allusion and the criteria by which allusions are established and then. She then tests the allusions suggested by previous scholars. For the trial and crucifixion scenes, only eleven references have sufficient verbal and other correspondence to be considered probable or certain allusions, out of the roughly 150 references suggested. The numbers for allusions in Mark...
This work examines the effect of the use of scripture on the interpretation of the Markan passion narrative, Mark 14:1-15:47.
Scholarship on the uses of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts has tended to focus upon the role played by the Old Testament in the development of the author's Christology. James Meek, however, draws out the theme of the Gentile mission in Acts as it relates to the Old Testament, and gives particular attention to four texts:13:47 (Isa 49:6); 15:16-18 (Amos 9:11-12); 2:17-21 (Joel 3:1-5 MT); 3:25 (Gen 22:18). The quotations in Acts 13 and 15 receive greater attention because they explicitly address the issue of the Gentile mission (the two earlier texts anticipate it) and because of particular...
Scholarship on the uses of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts has tended to focus upon the role played by the Old Testament in the development of the auth...
This book examines the Lukan themes of unity and disunity against ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish social and political discourses on concord and discord to better understand the context in which Luke highlights the themes of unity and disunity. The themes of unity and disunity are particularly prominent in ancient discussions of the reigns of rulers, evaluations of laws/constitutions/forms of government, and descriptions of the contrasting effects of unity and disunity in the destruction and preservation of peoples and cities. These themes are grouped under the broad categories...
This book examines the Lukan themes of unity and disunity against ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish social and political discourses on concord and dis...
This work explores Paul's conception of maturity, paying special attention to the maturation process and the role of the local church in facilitating this process. Although central to Paul's theology, maturity is often overlooked in Pauline studies. An exegetical-theological study of the seven generally accepted epistles, this work makes heuristic use of three studies for the purpose of illuminating Paul's thoughts regarding maturity: a survey of modern psychology, and analyses of the communities of Qumran and of the Therapeutae.
Samra argues that Paul...
This work explores Paul's conception of maturity, paying special attention to the maturation process and the role of the local church...
"The second title in a proposed five-volume work; volume two, following on from the volume on Mark's Gospel, concentrates on Matthew's Gospel. Contributors consider the function of embedded scripture texts in the context of the Gospels written and read/heard in their early Christian settings. The project is wide ranging, with essays on the function of scripture in the compositional history of the gospels and the collection is broad in scope as a result of current interest in the integration of methods (especially historical and narrative ones). Advancements over the last 20 years in the study...
"The second title in a proposed five-volume work; volume two, following on from the volume on Mark's Gospel, concentrates on Matthew's Gospel. Contrib...
