This volume is based on a symposium held at the School of Mission and Theology in Stavanger, Norway, in 1998 on 'The Mission of the Early Church to Jews and Gentiles'. Four authors discuss the question of the mission to the Jewish people with particular regard to the gospel of Matthew and the Great Commission. Further papers address different phases and aspects of early mission. Finally the volume contains four essays relating to the Acts of the Apostles and to the Pauline letters.

John Lierman investigates the ways in which the New Testament writings, read within the context of ancient Judaism, envisage the relationship of Moses to Israel and to the Jewish people. His study shows how New Testament material can illuminate aspects of ancient Judaism and at the same time throws fresh light on the importance of the figure of Moses for NT religion and theology, especially Christology.The book contributes to the study of Judaism by broadening the understanding of ancient Jewish conceptions of Moses. It also illuminates points of contact between the New Testament books and...

The Epistle of Barnabas, an anonymous Christian writing of the late first or early second century C.E., makes a provocative claim: because of its worship of the golden-calf, Israel lost its covenant status forever at Sinai. As a result of this bold assertion, many recent scholars have concluded that Barnabas disinherits the Jews at Sinai and has no notion of salvation history.In this work James N. Rhodes reassesses the theology of the Epistle of Barnabas, seeking to reopen the question of the author's view of Israel. He claims that recent scholarship has focused too narrowly on Barnabas's...

Willis Salier investigates the use of the term semeia and the narratives this term refers to in the rhetorical strategy of John's Gospel. The three poles of author, text and reader are considered. The study is more literary and socio-historical in flavour and bypasses previous discussions regarding sources, which have tended to dominate research on the semeia in the Fourth Gospel.First, he investigates the resonances that the term might have with an audience in the late first century. This part of the investigation concludes that the term helps to build a bridge between the conceptual...

The Actus Vercellenses, a Latin text preserved in only one manuscript copy, is published widely in translation under the title Acts of Peter . The Acts of Peter is thought to be the title of an ancient work, originally in Greek, which is usually said to have been composed in the second-century in Asia Minor. Accordingly, the Vercelli Acts are often treated simply as evidence for second-century Christian discourse. However, many issues relating to the study of the Actus Vercellenses qua Acts of Peter have hitherto been inadequately established, especially: the character, extent, and original...

This book is a literary-historical enquiry into the relationship between John and Mark, with special emphasis on the feeding saga in each. Because of the differences between these key canonised texts the question of how their differences are to be understood is important in regard to our understanding of Biblical authority and interpretation, and in particular of the meaning and importance of the Eucharist.The research finds that the writers of John's Gospel knew Mark and that John shows a certain degree of influence from it, both positive and negative.Ian D. Mackay surveys the debate to...

After surveying diverse scholarly approaches to Paul's eschatology in Galatians, Yon-Gyong Kwon concludes that a satisfactorily coherent reading of Paul's argument has not been established yet. Focusing on Paul's own statements about the Galatian crisis, the author also demonstrates that the letter is Paul's pastoral engagement with the backsliding Galatians rather than his theological altercation with his opponents.Paul perceives this crisis in a conspicuously future-oriented perspective. Accordingly, Paul's theological argument reveals the same, futuristic perspective. The main focus of...

In this volume Arie Zwiep examines the character and purpose of the Judas-Matthias pericope in Acts 1:15-26 in the wider context of Jewish, Graeco-Roman and early Christian traditions on the death of the wicked in terms of divine retribution. Through a comprehensive analysis of form and function of the pericope in its historical and literary context, this study seeks to discern the distinctly Lukan perspective in the light of first-century reflection on the figure of Judas Iscariot, the role of the Twelve in the earliest Christian communities, and current eschatological expectations that have...

The normal approach to the rhetorical analysis of the Letter to the Galatians is to choose a specific rhetorical model (usually an ancient one) whereby the letter is then analysed. D. Francois Tolmie's study represents an alternative in that the author does not choose a particular rhetorical model to apply to the text. Instead, he follows a text-centred approach in that Paul's rhetorical strategy is carefully reconstructed from the letter itself. The letter is divided into 18 rhetorical phases; the dominant rhetorical strategy in each phase is then identified and described, in conjunction...