From Jesus to His First Followers examines to what extent early Christian groups were in continuity or discontinuity with respect to Jesus. Adriana Destro and Mauro Pesce concentrate on the transformation of religious practices. Their anthropological-historical analysis focuses on the relations between discipleship and households, on the models of contact with the supernatural world, and on cohabitation among distinct religious groups. The book highlights how Matthew uses non-Jewish instruments of legitimation, John reformulates religious experiences through symbolized domestic slavery, Paul adopts a religious practice diffused in Roman-Hellenistic environments. The book reconstructs the map of early Christian groups in the Land of Israel and explains their divergences on the basis of an original theory of the local origin of Gospels’ information.
Students often find introductions to systematic theology too daunting or boring to wade through. Here author and teacher Bradley Hanson offers an attractive, accessible alternative for undergraduates. Hanson draws on 16 years of successful teaching to create exciting and pertinent presentations of major topics, illuminate options on key issues, and nudge students to formulate a personal stance.
What would the church look like if Christians saw their lives as constituted by the Spirit's presence to live as Jesus lived? In a time when being "led by the Spirit" is defined more by achieving the "American Dream" than by Jesus's life, answering this question rightly seems all the more critical for the church to survive in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity. Building upon the work of post-Constantinians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas and upon the Trinitarian Spirit-Christology of Leopoldo Sanchez, this account of the Christian life provides a framework for seeing one's Christian life as one transformed by the Spirit to live in the resurrection reality of Jesus's sonship with the Father in the Spirit. In the process, one will discover that, for Jesus, being led by the Spirit meant trusting his Father to the point of death on a cross, trusting God to resurrect him even if he did not save him. Should it mean the same for Christians today? If so, this would require the church to reimagine its ministries for the Spirit to work repentance and faith rather than simple agreement. For Christians living in the Spirit, their lives might look very different.
Exploring the major themes and issues of the Pentateuch, this encyclopedic work offers authoritative overviews, detailed examinations and new insights from the world of the ancient Near East. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker.
From 1962 to 1965, in perhaps the most important religious event of the twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council met to plot a course for the future of the Roman Catholic Church. After thousands of speeches, resolutions, and votes, the Council issued sixteen official documents on topics ranging from divine revelation to relations with non-Christians. In many ways, though, the real challenges began after the council was over and Catholics began to argue over the interpretation of the documents. Many analysts perceived the Council's far-reaching changes as breaks with Church tradition, and soon this became the dominant bias in the American and other media, which lacked the theological background to approach the documents on their own terms. In Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition, an international team of theologians offers a different reading of the documents from Vatican II. The Council was indeed putting forth a vision for the future of the Church, but that vision was grounded in two millennia of tradition. Taken together, these essays demonstrate that Vatican II's documents are a development from an established antecedent in the Roman Catholic Church. Each chapter contextualizes Vatican II teachings within that rich tradition. The resulting book is an indispensable and accessible companion to the Council's developments, one that focuses on theology and transcends the mass-media storyline of "liberal" versus "conservative."
"I am in fundamental agreement with Bibliowicz's thesis (that the anti-Jewish polemic in the New Testament reflects debates between Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus - not a polemic between Christians and Jews), and with the implications which he has drawn for Christian theology... May this book find a wide readership among people devoted to the cause of the healing of memories between Jews and Christians." —Peter C. Phan, Professor. Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University; President of the Catholic Theological Society of America ‘Standing on a brilliant and insightful reconstruction of Paul, and on a quite shocking (but perhaps compelling) reading of Mark—the author offers a number of original and, in some cases, quite compelling theoretical reconstructions of the context and purposes of early Christian texts... a work of sublime moral passion.’ —David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director, Center for Theology and Public Life, Mercer University. President-elect American Academy of Religion. Author of Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context ‘An intrepid excursion into the Christian discourse... The quest of an intellectual, a humanist... Interesting and, in fact overwhelming... A timely and honest engagement of the Christian texts, authors, and scholars by a Jewish intellectual.’ —Burton L. Mack, – Professor of Early Christianity, Claremont School of Theology, California; author of A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins “There is great merit to Bibliowicz's approach... I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Jewish-Christian dialogue.... Scholars may disagree with a number of Bibliowicz' conclusions, as I do with his interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. But even in disagreeing, scholars in the field of Jewish-Christian studies, will learn new ways of challenging and thinking about old presumptions." —Eugene J. Fisher, Distinguished Professor of Theology, Saint Leo University. Former staff person for Catholic-Jewish relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Consultor to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, member of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee representing the Holy See. ‘An important work... Sensitive and deeply researched... In the deepest sense, a profound theological work.’ —Clark M. Williamson, Professor. Christian Theological Seminary, Indiana; author of Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology ‘I very much appreciated the depth and scope of the scholarship, accompanied by the kind and humble spirit of the author…it may also prove to be one of the formidable and formative scholarly contributions of the decade for both biblical and historical scholars. ‘ —Michael Thompson, Professor. Religious Studies – Oklahoma State University ‘In methodical and precise fashion Bibliowicz takes the reader through the relevant ancient Christian texts bearing on the question at hand. In so doing, he proposes an intriguing, compelling thesis. The book should prove to be a major voice in the ongoing debate.’ —Brooks Schramm, Professor of Biblical Studies, Lutheran Theological Seminary ‘Impressive work... With this impassioned study available to us, it will no longer be possible for us to ignore the unintended ways the unthinkable came to be and still say ‘we did not know.’’ —Didier Pollefeyt, Professor. Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium; coauthor of Anti-Judaism and the Fourth Gospel and Paul and Judaism ‘An original and plausible claim that goes beyond most of modern scholarship... a solid contribution to the study of anti-Judaism in early Christianity.’ —Joseph B. Tyson, Professor. Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University; author of Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle ‘Well-researched and thorough. Intelligent and thoughtful... accessible, the argumentation compelling.’ —Michele Murray, Professor. Bishop’s University, Canada; author of Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries C.E. ‘A detailed and insightful exploration of the writings of the early Jesus movement... argues convincingly that the origins of Christian anti-Judaism are to be found among early non-Jewish followers of Jesus who were in conflict with Jesus’s disciples and first followers... a must read.’ —Tim Hegedus, Professor of New Testament, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada ‘Bibliowicz uses solid scholarship to engage large and difficult topics while managing to be balanced and clear... invites Christians to walk a deep journey toward truth... and suggests a compelling nuance that the conflicts in the early texts were between Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus, not between Jews and Christians.’ —David L. Coppola, Executive Director, Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding, Sacred Heart University ‘A meticulous study... a mammoth endeavor... goes beyond others in his interpretation of the evidence, tracing and documenting distinctions and tensions in the early Jesus movement.’ —N. A. Beck, Professor of Theology and Classical Languages, Texas Lutheran University; author of Mature Christianity in the 21st Century: The Recognition and Repudiation of the Anti-Jewish Polemic of the New Testament ‘The topics Bibliowicz engages are complex. Although some of his interpretations are controversial... Gentile Christians should set aside apologetical agendas and honestly ponder the challenges put forward by the author.’ —Dale C. Allison, Jr. Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary; author of Constructing Jesus: History, Memory, and Imagination
The historicity of Jesus is now widely accepted and hardly questioned by most scholars. But this assumption disarms biblical texts of much of their power by privileging an historical interpretation which effectively sweeps aside much theological speculation and allusion. Furthermore, the assumption of historicity gathers further assumptions to it, shaping the interpretation of texts, both denying and adding subtext. Scholars are now faced with an endless array of works on the historical Jesus and few question what has been lost through this wide-spread assumption of historicity. Is This Not the Carpenter? presents a very valuable corrective: a literary rereading of the New Testament.
In the view of many contemporary scholars, both Jesus and Judaism have been misrepresented by the church for the past two thousand years. Their main point is that Judaism was not a superficial, rigid, and outdated religion, and Jesus did not reject it. In fact, along with his disciples, he remained a Law-abiding Jew his entire life. However, as Christianity developed from a Jewish sect in the first century AD to the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, the church was transformed, Jesus was redefined, and both Jews and their religion were repudiated and marginalized. In short, both Christians and Jews were deeply affected by what many scholars now call the de-Judaization of Jesus. This book is an attempt to correct the traditional theological and scholarly misinterpretations of Jesus and Judaism that emerged over the first four centuries of the life of the church.
Luke’s remarkable work has moved beyond its original audience. Over time it has become a means of nourishing countless individuals on their spiritual and religious journeys. Luke’s gospel is valuable not only in its religious context, for it offers a captivating window into the intricacies of the first century world, its history, literature, its sacred as well as its secular beliefs. This book will be useful not only for those with a religious worldview but for undergraduate students as well as the general reader. Luke to Theo considers many thought-provoking questions. Who is this enigmatic figure we call Luke? What does he have to say about Jesus? What role does Theo play in this narrative? And just how does the author manage to engage diverse audiences from the first century right up to the present day? For both believer and sceptic alike, this book provides a framework to understand the nuances of many a biblical text. Drawing upon the latest scholarly research, the author enables readers to embark on a thought-provoking journey as literary forms and historical context enrich Luke’s remarkable work.
This work is a commentary on the passages in the Gospel of Luke in which women figure as characters and in the sayings of Jesus. These include the women of vision and spirit in the Infancy Narratives, the Galilean women who encounter Jesus, and the women empowered to serve. The method makes use of historical-critical, narrative, and feminist-liberationist approaches. This commentary is intended as a resource for students of the New Testament, pastors, seminarians, preachers, retreat directors, and Bible study groups.
