This study investigates why Paul makes the theme of suffering so central to his argument in 2 Corinthians. It is pursued through an exegetical analysis of passages where Paul's suffering is described, namely 1:3-11; 2:14-116; 4:7-12; 6:1-10 and 11:23-12:10.
By employing a narrative approach, this study argues that Paul's apostolic suffering is grounded in the story of Jesus. There are several implications arising from this approach. First, Paul understands his suffering as necessary and integral to his apostolic mission. Second, Paul claims that his suffering has positive...
This study investigates why Paul makes the theme of suffering so central to his argument in 2 Corinthians. It is pursued through an exegetical analysi...
The discussion initiated by The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, edited by Richard Bauckham, has had a profound effect on gospel study and has been probed and debated at major conferences, as well as at an international conference on the Gospel of John (2002). Almost every commentary or major monograph on the gospels has had to deal with its thesis. In light of this ongoing debate stretching nearly a decade, it seems that a further volume is sorely needed. Even more, there is now a pressing need for further definition and clarification of the concepts and ideas...
The discussion initiated by The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, edited by Richard Bauckham, has had a profound effect on ...
Dodson reads the dreams in the Gospel of Matthew (1:18b-25; 2:12, 13-15, 19-21, 22; 27:19) as the authorial audience. This approach requires an understanding of the social and literary character of dreams in the Greco-Roman world. Dodson describes the social function of dreams, noting that dreams constituted one form of divination in the ancient world, and looks at the theories and classification of dreams that developed in the ancient world. He then moves on to demonstrate the literary dimensions of dreams in Greco-Roman literature. This exploration of the literary...
Dodson reads the dreams in the Gospel of Matthew (1:18b-25; 2:12, 13-15, 19-21, 22; 27:19) as the authorial audience. This approach requires an und...
In this illuminating study Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul's use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as called to proclaim the Gospel among the gentiles. Ehrensperger examines the broad range of perspectives on how this use of power should be evaluated. These range from the traditional interpretation of unquestioned, taken for granted for a church leader, to a feminist interpretation. She examines whether or not Paul's use of power presents an open or hidden re-inscription of hierarchical structures in what was previously a discipleship of equals....
In this illuminating study Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul's use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as c...
Sechrest describes Pauline Christianity as a nascent ancient racial group, drawing on a Jewish understanding of race in Second Temple Judaism.
With analysis of nearly five thousand Jewish and non-Jewish passages about identity from around the turn of the era, the models presented describe ancient Greek and Jewish ethnic and racial identity. Further, these models become resources for examining the racial character of Paul's self-identity and the continuities and discontinuities between the three races in his social world: Jews, Gentiles, and Christians.
Using historical and...
Sechrest describes Pauline Christianity as a nascent ancient racial group, drawing on a Jewish understanding of race in Second Temple Judaism.
Minna Shkul examines how Ephesians engages in social entrepreneurship - the deliberate shaping of emerging Christian Identity through provision of ideological and social paradigms for the fledgling Christian community. Shkul uses social entrepreneurship as an umbrella for a variety of social processes reflected in the text. This eclectic theoretical framework and deutero-Pauline reading position has two key aims. The first is to offer a theoretically informed social-scientific reading which demonstrates the extensive socio-ideological shaping within the text, and displays the writer's...
Minna Shkul examines how Ephesians engages in social entrepreneurship - the deliberate shaping of emerging Christian Identity through provision of ide...
Paul's Critique of Theocracy offers an interpretation of select texts in Corinthians and Galatians concerned with the establishment of legitimate authority in the Christian community. Odell-Scott argues that for Paul, no one may boast that they are selected by God, and no one has the authority to rule as God's representative.
Paul also criticizes those who exhibit a superior "sacredness" over other community members. Contrary to most scholarly views, Odell-Scott argues that Paul is not taking sides in a debate about the proper authority structure. Rather, he criticizes any notion of...
Paul's Critique of Theocracy offers an interpretation of select texts in Corinthians and Galatians concerned with the establishment of legitimate a...
Hansen argues against prevalent views that the unity formula employed in Gal 3.28, 1 Cor 12.13 and Col 3.11 reflects either a Hellenistic anthropology of ideal androgyny or a modern liberal conception of social equality.
Rather, Hansen contends, attention to function and context demonstrates each epistle's vision of social unity. Insights from ethnic theory elucidate how epistles characterize this unity in terms of a new social identity, and the practices warranted by that identity. Furthermore, Hansen claims that because identity construction is continual, dynamic and...
Hansen argues against prevalent views that the unity formula employed in Gal 3.28, 1 Cor 12.13 and Col 3.11 reflects either a Hellenistic anthropology...
This is the final volume in the justifiably lauded four-volume commentary on the Book of Acts, presenting a fresh look at the text of Codex Bezae and comparing its message with that of the more familiar Alexandrian text - of which the Codex Vaticanus is taken as a representative.
Where Codex Bezae is lacunary (after 22.29), other manuscripts that often support Bezan readings elsewhere are employed. Although based on the Greek text, the commentary aims to be accessible to those who are not familiar with Greek. It is intended to publish the entire Greek text of Codex Bezae following...
This is the final volume in the justifiably lauded four-volume commentary on the Book of Acts, presenting a fresh look at the text of Codex Bezae a...
Torah in the New Testament is a collection of papers delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. This also involved contributions from the Universities of Sheffield, Geneva and the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The purpose of the seminar was to offer some significant studies on the general topic of the Torah in the New Testament with particular reference to methodological issues, to the Jesus traditions in the Gospels, and to Paul and the Law.
Two previous collections of papers from these scholarly co-operations have been published in the Library of New...
Torah in the New Testament is a collection of papers delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. This also involved contributions fr...