This volume contains 28 essays in honor of Abraham J. Malherbe, whose work has been especially influential in exploring modes of cultural interaction between early Jews and Christians and their Graeco-Roman neighbours. Following an introductory essay on the problems inherent to such comparative studies in the history of New Testament scholarship, the essays are grouped into five topic areas: Graphos - semantics and writing, Ethos - ethics and moral characterization, Logos - rhetoric and literary expression, Ethnos - self-definition and acculturation, and Nomos - law and normative values. Some...

In 1927 C.A.A. Scott, while commenting on the apostle Paul's Christology, remarked that the "history of the word Glory in the Bible has yet to be written." By using methodology developed in semantics, semiotics, and, more generally, literary theory, Newman examines the origin and rhetoric of Paul's Glory-Christology.
The investigation involves three distinct tasks: (1) to plot the tradition-history of Glory which formed part of Paul's linguistic world, (2) to examine Paul's letter, in light of the reconstructed tradition-history of Glory, in order to discern the rationale of Paul's...

This book deals with two aspects pertaining to the understanding of John. On the one hand it examines the style of the Gospel and on the other hand it introduces, for the first time in the study of the Fourth Gospel, a comprehensive speech act reading of a Johannine discourse.
In the first chapter different approaches to Johannine style are identified, and the deficiencies current in perceptions regarding style are indicated. The second chapter deals with theoretical observations regarding the nature of style in terms of modern stylistics. It is suggested that a possible paradigm for a...

This study demonstrates that Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:5 - 4:5 is led by the rhetorical situation to emphasize God's final judgment as the affirmation of the individual Christian's work. Paul is not simply opposing his future eschatology to a Corinthian "realized" eschatology. Rather, he is teaching the Corinthians to adapt their inherited belief in a corporate judgment to new concerns within the community. The exegetical study is set in the context of past scholarship on the questions of Paul's eschatology, his beliefs concerning judgment, and the role of eschatology in 1 Corinthians. Chapters...

This study offers a fresh analysis of the place which "justification by faith" held in Paul's life and thought. In distinction from past attempts to define "justification" in relation to a logical "center," the investigation proceeds by assessing the relationship between this theme and two significant points in Paul's career: his conversion and his letter to Rome. The first chapter surveys a number of interpreters of Paul from William Wrede through E.P. Sanders. In an attempt to overcome the deficiencies of earlier proposals, the work then explores the soteriology of two early Jewish writings...

Der vorliegende Band fat Aufsatze des Bochumer Neutestamentlers zusammen, die sich mit Jesus, seiner Botschaft und seinem Weg, aber auch mit der in der Uberlieferung der Evangelien sich ausdruckenden Christologie befassen. Eine erste Gruppe von Beitragen behandelt die Gottesverkundigung Jesu und das auf ihn zuruckgehende "Gebet des Herrn." Es folgen Abhandlungen uber Jesu Ruf in die "Nachfolge" und seine ethischen Weisungen (Liebesgebot, Verbot der Ehescheidung). Die Leidengeschichte Jesu ist Gegenstand weiterer Untersuchungen. Dabei steht sowohl die historische Ruckfrage als auch die...

The Gospel Behind the Gospels portrays all the major areas of current discussion and debate regarding the early source of Jesus' sayings known as Q. Sixteen gospel scholars have advanced the debate about this source's nature, history and significance. Contributors discuss Q's existence, its relationship to Mark's gospel and to the Gospel of Thomas, its genre, its redactional history with special reference to the Son of Man and to wisdom and prophetic traditions, its social history with respect to family structures and the Cynics, a feminist analysis of Q, its significance for the...

One of the focal issues surrounding contemporary studies of Hebrews concerns the book's elusive structure. This volume presents an examination of previous proposals and a fresh attempt at unlocking Hebrews' organizational principles.
The first part of the volume critically assesses past efforts at outlining Hebrews. Following a history of investigation, the various approaches to the structure of Hebrews are categorized and evaluated for both strengths and weaknesses. Methodologies considered include thematic analysis, literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, and linguistic analysis. Part...

By placing Jesus and his movement first within Judaism and then with Hellenistic society at large, the author shows Jesus did "not" intend to refer to himself when he spoke of his 'blood' and his 'body'. He meant only to insist that his meals were a better sacrifice than what was offered in the Temple. Later traditions made Jesus himself into the sacrifice.