This book presents a selection of adapted papers originally read at the 7th Nordic New Testament conference in Stavanger in 2003. The 14 essays expose different aspects of the conference theme the formation of the early church. To these belong considerations about how the primitive church developed and defined its own identity over against (other) Jews, both historically and with regard to how recent research has treated this theme methodologically. Further, early developments within and between different church communities and congregations are discussed as well as aspects of authority and...

Erkki Koskenniemi analyzes the most important early Jewish texts, which attribute miracles to people mentioned in the Old Testament. He investigates the miracles of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, but also, for example, the extra-biblical deeds of men like Abraham, David and Solomon. The author looks at the development of the traditional elements of the miracle stories and the theological intentions of every writer who deals with these stories. The Jewish tradition of miracle-workers is rich and multifaceted. There was no rule that the biblical stories should be retold as they were written....

Brian Gregg's study establishes the authenticity of ten of the twelve finaljudgment sayings in Q, thereby demonstrating that the final judgment was an important component of the message of the historical Jesus. He proceeds to identify the characteristics of the final judgment as propounded by thehistorical Jesus, comparing them to the characteristics of the final judgmenttexts of the late Second Temple period. The study not only contributes to ourunderstanding of the historical Jesus, but it also demands that the potentialhistoricity of all of Q's source material be taken seriously, including...

Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann identifies an angelomorphic portrait of Christ in certain passages of Revelation and provides possible reasons for the inclusion of an angelomorphic Christology: Angelomorphic Christology is not regarded as an isolated christological concept. In turn, the author compares angelomorphic Christology with the prominent Lamb Christology of Revelation. A comparison of these concepts reveals that both Lamb and angelomorphic Christology serve the purpose of contrasting different functions of Christ. The functions correspond with the implied perception of Christ by his...

David M. Allen examines the way in which Deuteronomy operates within the paraenetic sections of Hebrews, both at a micro-level (in terms of citation or allusion to the prior text) and at a macro-level (how broad Deuteronomic themes are treated within the discourse). There is extensive treatment of Deuteronomic quotations and echoes, particularly from the Song of Moses (Deut 32), as well as analysis of Hebrews' borrowing of Deuteronomy's covenantal blessing/cursing imagery. The author discusses the way in which Hebrews shares Deuteronomy's sermonic tone and paraenetic urgency, and how both...

Markus McDowell examines how the literature of the Second Temple period portrays women at prayer through an examination of the literary context and character of those prayers. The goal of this work is a greater understanding of how women were portrayed in literary sources and an offering of some fresh insights for the study of women's religious and social roles in the ancient world. The texts are analyzed and categorized within five areas: social location, content, form, occasion, and gender perspective. The prayers are also compared and contrasted with men's prayers in the same sources. The...

Todd Wilson examines the rationale for Paul's four references to the Law in 5:13-6.10 in light of a fresh appraisal of the Galatian crisis. He contributes to the continuing debate over the relevance of this section of the letter for the rest of Galatians and for the situation in Galatia. In addition, his study offers a refined understanding of how Galatians functioned in its original setting: he argues that with the letter Paul confronts his apostatising converts with the stark choice between blessing and curse. The author's thesis is that Paul intended his four references to the Law in...

The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long been a controversial issue in New Testament scholarship. As a way of advancing this facet of New Testament research, Matthew E. Gordley examines the Colossian hymn (Col 1:15-20) in light of its cultural and epistolary contexts. As a result of a broad comparative analysis, he claims that Col 1:15-20 is a citation of a prose-hymn which represents a fusion of Jewish and Greco-Roman conventions for praising an exalted figure. A review of hymns in the literature of Second Temple Judaism demonstrates...