Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Biblical Studies - New Testament - Jesus, the Gospels & Acts

According to renowned biblical scholar Rudolf Schnackenburg, a truly historical portrait of Jesus is unattainable because the primary sources written about Jesus were not historical records as such. What is attainable, however, is a faith interpretation of Jesus' life and works, gleaned from the writings of those closest to the life of Christ: the four Gospels. Thus, Schnackenburg provides a full faith interpretation of Jesus as each Gospel community portrayed him. A surprising number of commonalities about Jesus are revealed, and a fully recognizable portrait of Jesus emerges.

Acclaimed New Testament scholar Francois Bovon engagingly and concisely explores the last days of Jesus. Detailing the similarities and differences in the passion narratives of the four canonical Gospels and the Gospel of Peter, he shows that these stories were not composed by objective witnesses but are reflections of the perspectives of those who wrote them. This lucid, highly readable, yet critical appraisal of Jesus' final days is a masterful example of the discipline of biblical studies.

A clear and thorough introduction to the best known of Jesus' teachings, this much-needed text examines what parables are, why Jesus taught in parables, and the purpose and place of parables in the Gospel narratives. Invaluable for the beginning seminary or college students and for church study groups, this enlightening work reveals the meaning of the parables when they were first given, their meaning for the Gospel writers, and their meaning for us today.

An acknowledged New Testament authority, James D. G. Dunn here makes an important contribution to contemporary thought. He looks at the origins of Christianity in the light of modern scholarship, demonstrating why Christians should "welcome the critically inquiring and investigative skills of scholars."

Building on recent developments in biblical studies, David Rensberger explores new avenues of interpretation of the Fourth Gospel made possible by the rediscovery of its social and historical settings. He looks to the first generation of readers and considers the range of meanings the Gospel might have held for them. He sees that behind the "spiritual" there is the possibility of social and even political interpretations. He discusses the relation of John's Gospel to liberation theology and to contemporary questions on the role of the church in the world.

Drawing upon ten years of research experience, the master scholar James D. G. Dunn presents a book on a major issue in the study of Christian origins: what were the attitudes toward Jewish law within earliest Christianity? This volume not only gathers the author's significant contributions to date but also includes new material. Divided into nine parts, it is set in the wider context of a living dialogue and debate. The introduction maps out Dunn's extensive work in Pauline and Markan studies. The final chapter, "The Theology of Galatians," serves as a summary of Dunn's current position on...

This comprehensive consideration of Luke-Acts offers lucid introductions to a wide variety of exegetical methods. Emphasizing the use of literary criticism, and relating the methods of Roland Barthes's five literary voices, the author analyzes point of view, levels of reliability, and strategies for reformulating reader response, narrative structure, characterization, textual gaps, the cultural repertoire, and redundant antitheses. This book advocates synthesis as the ultimate aim of reading and interpreting and opens new avenues for understanding this important unit of New Testament...

Liberator, ancestor, cosmic Christ, and Black Messiah: these are just some of the ways that Jesus is viewed in the world. This rare book provides a global tour of the Christologies emerging in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and those of North American feminist and African American theologies.

Here, M. Eugene Boring traces the role that early Christian prophets played in the transmission of sayings of Jesus and in the way these sayings were taken up into the canonical Gospels. He also examines Jesus' sayings to uncover the imprint that any might bear of having been handed on by early Christian prophets. Convincingly, he shows that early Christian prophets re-presented authentic sayings of Jesus, or modified Jesus' sayings, or even uttered new sayings in the name of the exalted Jesus. Clearly written and closely reasoned, this book sheds light on a much neglected area of Gospel...

Jesus was more than just a supernatural figure, says William Phipps. He had much in common with teachers and shared many of the interests of rabbis, ethicists, philosophers, and satirists. Phipps provides evidence of this in his thought-provoking book and then gives a boarder perspective of Jesus, showing that he differed from the traditional ancient wisdom with his rejection of the ideas of female inferiority, nationalistic prejudices, and intolerance of the unlearned. Readers are presented with a view of Rabbi Jesus as the consummate master teacher with a keen sense of humor, whose...

In this book, Paul Walaskay discusses Luke's description of the early church, its leadership, and its struggles as a people of God amid competing religious claims. He helps the reader understand Luke and his contemporaries and examines the first-century church's situation in light of today's issues.

Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for...

This excellent book shows how literary criticism illuminates the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, reclaiming them as biblical narrative. William Kurz explores literary aspects such as implied authors or readers, plot, and assumed information, or gaps. He then highlights the role of the narrator, who is the primary key to the focus and perspective of the narrative. Kurz also discovers an implicit commentary in Luke--Acts. Finally, he traces the implications of reading Luke--Acts as canonical Scripture and the merits of literary methods.

R. David Kaylor believes that Jesus' vision of a just society and his prophetic engagement with social, political, and economic conditions led to his execution by the Romans. Here, he presents Jesus' message of a just society based on Israel's covenant tradition. He shows the prophetic background and social content of Jesus' ethical teaching and demonstrates that the parables (especially those with economic and agricultural associations) critiqued the social conditions and called for a restructuring of community life. He provides evidence that Jesus' vision remains, offering criticism of...

Jesus as depicted in the Fourth Gospel is remarkably dissimilar to the Jesus found in the Synoptic Gospels. In this book, Ben Witherington III places the Gospel of John within its proper literary, historical, social, and theological contexts, especially those dealing with the wisdom traditions of Hellenistic Judaism. What emerges is a compelling argument that the Gospel of John has an agenda for mission in addition to concerns for discipleship and community life.

By building on his view of Jesus first developed in Parables as Subversive Speech, William Herzog II argues that Jesus is intensely interested in the social, political, and economic well-being of humanity. He examines the conflict stories, exorcisms/healings, and the passion narrative to develop his thesis and, in the final chapter, he interprets the resurrection in light of this viewpoint.

Mitzi Minor offers a reading of the Second Gospel that emphasizes the book's instruction for a life of faith. Mark, according to Minor, provides extensive guidance to Christians on how to live authentically--even radically--in Christ. Its messages of profound faith and boundless love are timeless. This book is of immense value to those preaching and teaching the Gospel of Mark, as well as to all who seek to expand their life in faith.

Sharon Ringe sheds new light on a heretofore neglected aspect of the Fourth Gospel--friendship--and through it links the concepts of community and Wisdom Christology. This connection between Johannine ecclesiology and Christology, she writes, is critical to an in depth understanding the Fourth Gospel.

This stunningly fresh and original volume explores the person and work of Jesus as seen through the eyes of a wide variety of people who encountered him face-to-face during his lifetime. Reflecting on thirty Gospel stories, Virginia Owens suggests how certain characters--such as Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, and Nicodemus--dealt with Jesus. With her retelling of each scenario we see Jesus' character take shape as the biblical personalities come to life. Indeed, Owens finds that how Jesus acts, particularly in relation to other people, reveals as much about him as his...

This book provides a learning-by-doing approach to the study of the Gospels. It allows students to uncover literary patterns, theological issues, and interpretive problems through close readings of primary sources. Questions are asked along the way that help readers understand the shape of the narrative, and the themes important to each Gospel writer.

This fascinating book makes the results of a lifetime of scholarship readily available to nonspecialists who want to meet the historical Jesus. Eminent biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan collaborates with pastor Richard G. Watts to rediscover the life, the work, and the message of the Man from Galilee.