Peng outlines a plausible structure for Romans 12.1-15.13. After a brief survey of scholars' opinions about the structure of this passage, three methodologies (structural exegesis, discourse analysis, and rhetorical criticism) are analysed. Having acknowledged that each of these methodologies has its own limitations, an eclectic approach, which is analogous with 'putting together a jigsaw puzzle without the final picture', is suggested.
According to this 'jigsaw puzzle' analogy, the first portion of the 'puzzle' to be put together is Romans 12.9-21, followed by an analysis of chapter...
Peng outlines a plausible structure for Romans 12.1-15.13. After a brief survey of scholars' opinions about the structure of this passage, three metho...
This study not only carefully investigates the Jewish tradition of water and Spirit as the normative background of John 4, but also develops temple Christology by connecting these distinct traditions of water and the Spirit as eschatological life for John's use of Spirit as the source of new creational life.The aim of this thesis is to answer the following three crucial questions in order to sustain the development of the temple Christological theme in John 4: 1) What does the image of water represent?; 2) What does it mean to worship in Spirit and truth?, and 3) How do the disparate...
This study not only carefully investigates the Jewish tradition of water and Spirit as the normative background of John 4, but also develops temple...
Slater presents a study of the three major christological images of Revelation and their meanings for the original audience. Employing both historical criticism and elements of sociology of knowledge, Christ and Community explores the social functions of 'one like a son of man', the Lamb, and the Divine Warrior, identifying both similarities and dissimilarities. The study argues, on the one hand, that the religious laxity found in Revelation 2-3 reflects attempts by some Christians to accommodate to provincial social pressures, while, on the other hand, Revelation 4-19 reflect the low...
Slater presents a study of the three major christological images of Revelation and their meanings for the original audience. Employing both histori...
Holmes examines four exegetical devices employed by all sides in the debate on 1 Tim. 2.9-15, proposing that together they create a 'whirlwind' effect which obscures the text's meaning. She concludes that (1) the immediate context is general, not ecclesial; (2) background often reconstructed from passages elsewhere in the Pastorals is misleading; (3) comparison with 1 Cor. 14.34-35 can similarly mislead; and (4) the conjunction gar ('for') has been allowed unduly to dominate interpretation. The writer of the letter, it is argued, has been misunderstood since very early in the Christian...
Holmes examines four exegetical devices employed by all sides in the debate on 1 Tim. 2.9-15, proposing that together they create a 'whirlwind' eff...
In no other New Testament writing does the interest in the cult and its practice figure more prominently than in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Whereas scholarly research has preoccupied itself with the high priesthood of Christ, comparatively little consideration has previously been given to the implied priesthood of the readers. Scholer begins with an examination of the role and function of the priesthood found in the Old Testament, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran, rabbinic, Philo and mystery traditions. His second goal is to discover why the readers of Hebrews may be described as priests, and how...
In no other New Testament writing does the interest in the cult and its practice figure more prominently than in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Wherea...
Using both ancient and modern rhetoric, linguistics, and argumentation theory, this study offers a fresh approach to 1 Peter and New Testament ethics. It is often claimed that the growing interest in paraenesis, or ethical teaching, among early Christians indicates how Jesus' revolutionary teaching and the Pauline notion of justification by faith were gradually replaced by an emphasis on good works and ethics borrowed from the surrounding Hellenistic and Jewish culture. The Motivation of the Paraenesis challenges this traditional view of ethics in early Christianity, arguing that...
Using both ancient and modern rhetoric, linguistics, and argumentation theory, this study offers a fresh approach to 1 Peter and New Testament ethi...
Bird argues that Jesus was attempting to achieve and enact the restoration of Israel, and in continuity with other strands of Jewish belief, Jesus conceived of the restoration of Israel as resulting in the salvation of the gentiles. Jesus' mission was Israel-centric, but he espoused a view of restoration that was indebted to certain strands of Israel's sacred traditions where the gentiles are implicit beneficiaries of Israel's salvation. Since this restoration was already being partially realized in Jesus' ministry, it was becoming possible for gentiles to begin sharing in Israel's salvation...
Bird argues that Jesus was attempting to achieve and enact the restoration of Israel, and in continuity with other strands of Jewish belief, Jesus con...
Miracle-workers and magicians are diffcult characters for contemporary readers of Greco-Roman narratives to comprehend and to distinguish. Hindered both by our modern definitions of "miracle" and "magic," we need to focus our attention on those ancient texts that deal with such characters and their differentiation. Two such texts, the Acts of the Apostles and Philostratus' Life of Apollonius, come from quite different religious backgrounds, but demonstrate remarkably similar subtle cultural scripts at play. A detailed investigation of the social interactions in these two narrative worlds...
Miracle-workers and magicians are diffcult characters for contemporary readers of Greco-Roman narratives to comprehend and to distinguish. Hindered...
Janette H. Ok argues that 1 Peter characterizes Christian identity as an ethnic identity, as it holds the potential to engender a powerful sense of solidarity for readers who are experiencing social alienation as a result of their conversion. The epistle describes and delineates a communal identity based on Jewish traditions, and in response to the hostility its largely Gentile Anatolian addressees are experiencing as religious minorities in the Roman empire. In order to help construct a collective understanding of what it means to be a Christian in contrast to non-Christians, Ok argues that...
Janette H. Ok argues that 1 Peter characterizes Christian identity as an ethnic identity, as it holds the potential to engender a powerful sense of so...
