Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Biblical Studies - New Testament - General

Burkett offers a fresh reading of the much-debated Synoptic Problem. He contends that each theory regarding the Synoptic Problem is contentious. Each presents a case for the mutual dependence of one source upon another--for example, Matthew and Luke depend primarily on Mark, but use each other where they report the same story not contained already in Mark. Neither Mark nor Matthew nor Luke served as the source for the other two, but all depended on a set of earlier sources now lost. The relations between the Synoptic Gospels are more complex than the simpler theories have...

Burkett offers a fresh reading of the much-debated Synoptic Problem. He contends that each theory regarding the Synoptic Problem is contentious. Each presents a case for the mutual dependence of one source upon another--for example, Matthew and Luke depend primarily on Mark, but use each other where they report the same story not contained already in Mark. Neither Mark nor Matthew nor Luke served as the source for the other two, but all depended on a set of earlier sources now lost. The relations between the Synoptic Gospels are more complex than the simpler theories have...

One of the challenges of reading 1 Corinthians these days is that its style seems foreign to us and many of its passages seem irrelevant to us today. On the other hand, many of the passages have become too familiar, overly authoritative, and too oppressively close for comfort in the lives of many Christians.

Cyss uses the insights of hermeneutics and other critical methods to offer a new reading of Paul's letter for our day. Since much of the letter discusses decisions that have been made or ought to be made by the Corinthians about people, beliefs, behaviors, and situations, Cyss...

Drawing on recent discussions of quotations in the fields of rhetorics, linguistics, and literary studies, Stanley argues that Paul's explicit appeals to Jewish Scriptures must be analyzed as rhetorical devices that seek to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a first-century audience, an approach that requires a different set of questions and methods than scholars have typically used in their studies of Paul's quotations. Key questions include why Paul quoted words of Scripture to support some of his arguments and not others; how quotations help to advance the developing...

Michael Brown's book helps to explain why Christians throughout the ages have interpreted texts differently, especially cultic texts. Beginning with an imagined Graeco-Roman auditor of the Lord's Prayer, Brown demonstrates how a Graeco-Roman's understanding of the prayer would have been different from that of a Hellenized Jew in Palestine. Brown takes the reader into discussions of early Graeco-Roman Christians regarding prayer in general and the Lord's Prayer in particular. Focusing on cultic didachai of Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian of Carthage, The Lord's Prayer through North...

From a gender perspective, Romans differs from many biblical texts. It contains few explicit mentions of gender, no household code and it has been understood as promoting universalism. This volume joins several feminist commentators in showing how crucial Romans is for understanding Paul's view of gender.

Divided into three parts: mapping traditions in Romans, challenging gendered traditions in Romans, and gender and the authority of Romans, the concluding essays ask: Does scriptural criticism really do justice to feminist concerns? Both avenues and obstacles for feminist scholars...

Temple, Exile and Identity in 1 Peter will generate a fresh and perhaps even a new understanding of the main themes of 1 Peter, which include questions of identity, suffering, hope, holiness, and judgment. Mbuvi explores the temple imagery in the epistle of 1 Peter and focuses on the use of cultic language in constituting the new identity of the Petrine community. He contends that temple imagery in 1 Peter undergirds the entire epistle.

1 Peter directly connects the community's identity with the temple by describing it in terms reminiscent of the temple structure. He calls the...

Paul's conversion and its impact on his theology has been studied extensively. Yet little has been done to relate this to Paul's attitude towards the conversion of others, or to perspectives on conversion held by converts in the churches Paul founded. Soteriology is often considered in isolation from the practical issues of how conversion was expected to take place and the nature of its expected consequences. This book addresses these issues, taking account of recent developments in conversion studies in the social sciences and other disciplines. Stephen Chester first reviews these...