All the essays in the collection focus on ethos and rhetoric. Biblical criticism as traditionally carried out seeks rigorous scrutiny of texts and backgrounds but fails to reflect upon the sociopolitical frameworks, cultural-religious implications, and symbolic universes of biblical texts and their interpretations. These essays argue that biblical critics need a more profound sense of critical rhetoric and ethic of inquiry to bring about a change in the ethos and ethics of biblical studies. Topics range from "the ethical appeal of the Chronicler" and "gendering moral discourse in Paul" to the...

In the latest volume in the Emory Studies in Early Christianity series, the contributors seek a better understanding of how various biblical authors present their arguments, support their claims, and attempt to persuade their readers. A century ago the rhetorical analysis of texts focused on the study of rhetorical figures in texts (elocutio). In the mid-twentieth century, scholars such as James Muilenburg, Hans Dieter Betz, and Wilhelm Wuellner introduced biblical scholars to the illustrious tradition of rhetorical study. These scholars tended to focus on the arrangement of the texts...

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...

Description: ""We offer this collection as a token of our affection and admiration of our friend and colleague James Weldon Thompson. . . . His studies of the letter to the Hebrews and of Paul in their intellectual contexts (especially Middle Platonism) have contributed significantly to the ongoing quest for placing the New Testament in its socio-intellectual setting. Although his publications in this area date back more than thirty years, his best work is occurring now, and we may anticipate path-breaking contributions ahead. His more recent work on preaching and pastoral care in Paul both...

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....

Composed in 1809 in order to organize and direct a loosely assembled network of Scots-Irish Presbyterians on the Western Pennsylvania frontier, the Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington never quite achieved the immediate objectives that compelled its composition. Yet the document's lofty vision of a unified Christian Church, restored to the peace and purity that the New Testament had preached and promised, has for generations fueled the imagination and fired the commitment of millions of Christians worldwide--with, often, quite contradictory results. Emerging from...

Synopsis: Thomas H. Olbricht grew up in Churches of Christ, has taught in several of their universities, and has given religious lectures on six continents and in most states in the United States. He has met most leaders in Churches of Christ globally. He has been active in several religious and rhetoric societies and has worked with leaders in all these organizations to bring about changes over the past sixty years. C. Clifton Black and Duane F. Watson wrote about Olbricht, "Tom Olbricht possesses a memory of elephantine proportions. Not only does he have at his fingertips the names and...