Divine Initiative and the Christology of the Damascus Road Encounter
Divine Initiative and the Christology of the Damascus Road Encounter

Author: Timothy W. R. Churchill

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2010-04-28

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1608993256

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The Damascus road encounter between Jesus and Paul is foundational to understanding the early development of Christology, and, indeed, Christianity, since it is the first appearance of the post-ascension Jesus contained in the earliest Christian literature. This study examines the encounter as it is described in Paul's epistles and the book of Acts. Since Paul interprets his experience within the Jewish tradition, this study begins with a survey of epiphany texts in the Old Testament and other ancient Jewish literature. This reveals two new categories for appearances of God, angels, and other heavenly beings: Divine initiative and Divine Response. This survey also finds two distinct patterns of characterization for God and other heavenly beings. These findings are then applied to Paul's accounts of his Damascus road encounter. Paul depicts the encounter as a Divine initiative epiphany. This conclusion is significant, since it argues against the current view that the encounter was a merkabah vision. Paul's Christology in the Damascus road encounter is also significant, since Jesus is characterized as divine. Such divine characterization is not typical for heavenly beings in first century CE epiphany texts. Thus, a high Pauline Christology appears to be present at a very early point. The three accounts of the Damascus road encounter in Acts also fit the pattern of Divine Initiative - not merkabah - and exhibit the high Christology of Paul's accounts. In fact, the three accounts in Acts are shown to form an intentionally increasing sequence culminating in the revelation that Paul was called to be an apostle by Jesus himself on the Damascus road. - Publisher info.

Ex Auditu - Volume 30
Ex Auditu - Volume 30

Author: Klyne Snodgrass

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2015-05-20

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1498224385

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Contents Announcement of the 2015 Symposium Abbreviations Introduction Klyne Snodgrass The Long Shadow of Augustine John E. Phelan, Jr. Response to Phelan Rebekah A. Eklund Wisdom's Response to the Divine Initiative Tremper Longman III Response to Longman James K. Bruckner Which Humans? What Response? A Reflection on Pauline Theology Beverly Roberts Gaventa Response to Gaventa Nicholas Perrin On Law and the Noachic Covenant: "Can the Judge of the Whole World Not Himself Do Justice?" (Genesis 18:25) Jodie Boyer Hatlem The Biblical Noah, Darren Aronofsky's Film Noah, and Viewer Response to Noah: The Complex Task of Responding to God's Initiative Robert K. Johnston Response to Johnston Paul Scott Wilson Corinth, Calvin, and Calcutta: Trinity, Trafficking and Transformation of Theologia Paul C. H. Lim Response to Lim Jonathan M. Wilson Here Am I: Moses and the Meaning of our Bodies Brian Bantum Transcripts of the Trinity: Reading the Bible in the Presence of God Cheryl Bridges Johns Living Water in John 4:7-30 Paul Scott Wilson Annotated Bibliography on the Human Response to the Divine Initiative Presenters and Respondents Ex Auditu - Volumes Available

How God Became Jesus
How God Became Jesus

Author: Michael F. Bird

Publisher: Zondervan Academic

Published: 2014-03-25

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0310519616

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In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at the heart of the Christian faith— that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. According to Ehrman, though, this is not what the earliest disciples believed, nor what Jesus claimed about himself. The first response book to this latest challenge to Christianity from Ehrman, How God Became Jesus features the work of five internationally recognized biblical scholars. While subjecting his claims to critical scrutiny, they offer a better, historically informed account of why the Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Namely, they contend, the exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in the earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply the invention of the church centuries later.

The Earliest Perceptions of Jesus in Context
The Earliest Perceptions of Jesus in Context

Author: Aaron White

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-02-22

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 056767178X

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This volume contributes to the study of the identity of Jesus, focusing on how he was originally perceived both by his contemporaries and in the earliest Christian writings. The essays include studies of methodology, archaeology, background, individual gospel perspectives, gospel relationships, intertextuality in the gospels, the earliest reception of the Jesus tradition in the post-Easter writings of the New Testament, and the missiological and pedagogical implications of Jesus' teaching. John Nolland is the reason for this volume, and his important writings on the gospels are its backdrop. The contributors, who include N.T. Wright, Craig Evans, Darrell Bock, Rainer Riesner and Roland Deines, pay tribute to Nolland's work and ideas, by drawing on his writings, and by exploring questions and issues close to his heart.

Suffering in Ancient Worldview
Suffering in Ancient Worldview

Author: Brian J. Tabb

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-04-20

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0567672425

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Suffering in Ancient Worldview investigates representative Christian, Roman Stoic and Jewish perspectives on the nature, problem and purpose of suffering. Tabb presents a close reading of Acts, Seneca's essays and letters and 4 Maccabees, highlighting how each author understands suffering vis-à-vis God, humanity, the world's problem and its solution, and the future. Tabb's study offers a pivotal definition for suffering in the 1st century and concludes by creatively situating these ancient authors in dialogue with each other. Tabb shows that, despite their different religious and cultural positions, these ancient authors each expect and accept suffering as a present reality that is governed by divine providence, however defined. Luke, Seneca and the author of 4 Maccabees each affirm that suffering is not humanity's fundamental problem. Rather, suffering functions as a cipher for other things to be displayed. For Seneca, suffering provides an opportunity for one to learn and show virtue. The author of 4 Maccabees presents the nation's suffering as retribution for sin, while the martyrs' virtuous suffering leads to Israel's salvation. For Luke, the Lord Jesus suffers to accomplish salvation and restoration for the world marred by sin and suffering, and the suffering of his followers is instrumental for Christian mission.

God (in) Acts
God (in) Acts

Author: Christine H. Aarflot

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-06-26

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1532693516

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The Acts of the Apostles reveals a God at work. However, what do God's actions reveal about God's character? This question drives the present study, whose ultimate goal is to discover what portrayal Acts constructs of God through God's actions. Aarflot demonstrates how Jesus's ascension and the development of the gentile mission prove key to Acts' distinctive portrayal of God. The study explores what happens to the characterization of God when Jesus's character comes to resemble God through the ascension, noting in particular the effect of ambiguous language that might refer to either God or Jesus on the portrayal of God. It also considers how Acts depicts God through actions in Israel's past in relation to the narrative present. This is done by looking at how God is characterized at decisive moments of Acts' plot. The resulting observations are ultimately synthesized in a final chapter presenting the portrayal of God in Acts. The results of the study have implications for the discussion of the impact of Christology on theology, and furthers the discussion of "God" in the New Testament by delineating a constant, yet developing image of God, and solidifies previous research's observations on the centrality of God's actions to Acts' narrative.

Reading Acts Theologically
Reading Acts Theologically

Author: Steve Walton

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-06-30

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0567702839

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Steve Walton has consistently focused his research and scholarship upon the theological perspective of Acts, while considering the book's nature and focus, its portrait of the early Christian communities and their mission in the culturally varied first-century world, and its major theological themes. Walton now collects several of his key essays into an expansive and coherent perspective, bringing together studies published over nearly two decades during his time of study and reflection in the process of writing the Word Biblical Commentary on Acts. The collection begins with an exploration of what 'reading Acts theologically' means, the divine perspective of Acts, and how Luke theologizes through narrative. Walton presents analyses covering the nature of the early Church and the main terms used by the communities; the believers' sharing of possessions; early Christian attitudes to the Jewish temple; decision-making among the earliest Christians; and the church's engagement with the Roman empire and its representatives. This volume studies theological themes in Acts such as Jesus' role as a character in the text while also located in heaven, and the cosmology and anthropology communicated by Acts, thus providing a new reflection on the early Christian understanding of God, Jesus and humanity.

The Resurrection of Jesus
The Resurrection of Jesus

Author: Dale C. Allison, Jr.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-03-11

Total Pages: 663

ISBN-13: 0567697584

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The earliest traditions around the narrative of Jesus' resurrection are considered in this landmark work by Dale C. Allison, Jr, drawing together the fruits of his decades of research into this issue at the very core of Christian identity. Allison returns to the ancient sources and earliest traditions, charting them alongside the development of faith in the resurrection in the early church and throughout Christian history. Beginning with historical-critical methodology that examines the empty tomb narratives and early confessions, Allison moves on to consider the resurrection in parallel with other traditions and stories, including Tibetan accounts of saintly figures being assumed into the light, in the chapter “Rainbow Body”. Finally, Allison considers what might be said by way of results or conclusions on the topic of resurrection, offering perspectives from both apologetic and sceptical viewpoints. In his final section of “modest results” he considers scholarly approaches to the resurrection in light of human experience, adding fresh nuance to a debate that has often been characterised in overly simplistic terms of “it happened” or “it didn't”.

Who Created Christianity?
Who Created Christianity?

Author: Craig Evans

Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 486

ISBN-13: 168307372X

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Who Created Christianity? is a collection of essays by top international Christian scholars who desire to reinforce the relationship that Paul had with Jesus and Christianity. There is a general sense today among Christians in certain circles that Paul’s teachings to the early Christian church are thought to be “rogue,” even clashing at times with Jesus’ words. Yet these essays set out to prove that the tradition that Paul passes on is one received from Jesus, not separate from it. The essays in this volume come from a diverse and international group of scholars. They offer up-to-date studies of the teachings of Paul and how the specific teachings directly relate to the earlier teachings of Jesus. This volume explores with even greater focus than ever before the tradition from which Paul emerges and the specific teachings that are part of this tradition. This collection of essays proposes a complementary work to the work of David Wenham and his thesis that Paul was indeed not the founder of Christianity or the creator of Christian dogma; instead he was a faithful disciple and a conveyer of a prior Christian tradition. Includes essays by well-known Christian scholars such as Craig Blomberg, Alister McGrath, N. T. Wright, Michael Bird, Greg Beale, and more:Paul and Jesus: Issues of Continuity and Discontinuity in Their Discussion by Stanley E. PorterHow and Why Paul Invented “Christian Theology” by N. T. WrightThe Origins of Paul’s Gospel by Graham H. TwelftreeWhen Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Continues to Be Lost in History Past and Present by Stanley E. PorterPaul and the Jesus Tradition: An Old Question and Some New Answers by Rainer RiesnerContinuity and Development in the Ministries of Jesus and of Paul by Christoph W. StenschkePaul’s Significant Other in the “We-Passages” by Joan E. TaylorWhose Gospel Is It Anyway? The Glory of Christ in the Prophetic Ministry of Paul according to His “My Gospel” and “Our Gospel” by Aaron W. WhiteDavid Wenham, “The Little Apocalypse,” Paul—and Silas by Bruce ChiltonThe Parallels between 1 and 2 Thessalonians against the Background of Ancient Parallel Letters and Speeches by Armin D. BaumMetanoia: Jesus, Paul, and the Transformation of the Believing Mind by Alister McGrathYou Would Not Believe If You Were Told: Eschatological Unbelief in Early Christian Apologetics by Peter TurnillPaul on Food and Jesus on What Really Defiles: Is There a Connection? by Craig A. EvansGospel Women Remembered by Sarah HarrisWomen in the Pauline Epistles: Lessons from the Jesus Tradition by Erin HeimTwelve Theses on Matthew and Paul: The Jewish Gospel and the Apostle to the Gentiles by Michael F. BirdPaul and the Paternoster: Some Mainly Matthew Observations about a Pauline Prayer by Nathan RidlehooverThe Rediscovery of David Wenham’s Rediscovery: Reflections on a Pre-Markan Eschatological Discourse Thirty-Six Years on by Craig BlombergPortraits of Jesus and Paul through the Lukan Lens by Steve Walton“Every Sin That a Person Commits Is Outside the Body” (1 Corinthians 6:18b): Paul’s Likely Dependence on the Jesus Tradition by John NollandJesus Is Lord: The Rhetorical Appropriation of the Teaching of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 5 by Peter DavidsThe Temple and Anti-Temple at Colossae by Greg BealeFilling up What Is Lacking in Christ’s Afflictions: Isaiah’s Servant and Servants in Second Temple Judaism and Colossians 1:24 by Holly Beers