Paul's letter to the Romans is an example of Jewish correspondence, addressing believers in Jesus who are steeped in Jewish ways--whether of Jewish or gentile origin. Arguing against those who think Paul was an apostate from Judaism, Nanos maintains Paul's continuity with his Jewish heritage.

Employing both traditional historical-critical methods and social-scientific criticism, Nanos explores the issues of purity; insiders/outsiders; the character of "the gospel"; the relationship between groups of Christ-followers in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Galatia; and evil-eye accusations.

Sets of seven. 666. The Whore of Babylon and the Seven-headed Beast. How would first-century readers have heard these things? One can get at an answer by asking, How does the Book of Revelation compare with contemporaneous Jewish apocalypses? God's Timetable unlocks the hitherto unseen Jewish background to the Apocalypse based on the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost, the Harvest Feast. The meaning of Revelation suddenly becomes clearer. Stramara situates the Book of Revelation in its original context as a prophetic work regarding the end of the world, the final harvest, and Jesus as the...

In these chapters, a group of renowned international scholars seek to describe Paul and his work from "within Judaism," rather than on the assumption, still current after thirty years of the "New Perspective," that in practice Paul left behind aspects of Jewish living after his discovery of Jesus as Christ (Messiah). After an introduction that surveys recent study of Paul and highlights the centrality of questions about Paul's Judaism, chapters explore the implications of reading Paul's instructions as aimed at Christ-following non-Jews, teaching them how to live in ways consistent with...