Stressing the historical and theological significance of pivotal figures and movements, William Baird guides the reader through intriguing developments and critical interpretation of the New Testament from its beginnings in Deism through the watershed of the Tubingen school. Familiar figures appear in a new light, and important, previously forgotten stages of the journey emerge. Baird gives attention to the biographical and cultural setting of persons and approaches, affording both beginning student and seasoned scholar an authoritative account that is useful for orientation as well as research.
Few documents in world history can match the inspirational impact of the New Testament. For all its variety - gospels, letters and visions - this firstcentury collection of texts keeps always at its centre the enigmatic figure of Joshua/Jesus: the Jewish prophet who gathered a group around him, proclaimed the imminent end of the world, but was made captive by the authorities of Rome only to suffer a shameful criminal's death on a cross. When his followers (including former persecutor Saul/Paul) became convinced that Jesus had defeated extinction, and had risen again to fresh life, the movement crossed over from Palestine to ignite the entire Greco-Roman Mediterranean world. The author shows how the writings of this vibrant new faith came into being from oral transmission and then became the pillar of a great world religion. He explores their many varied usages in music, liturgy, art, language and literature. In discussing its textual origins, as well as its later reception, Moxnes shows above all how the New Testament has been employed both as a tool for liberation and as a means of power and control.
A comprehensive, two-volume reassessment of the quests for the historical Jesus that details their origins and underlying presuppositions as well as their ongoing influence on today's biblical and theological scholarship. Jesus' life and teaching is important to every question we ask about what we believe and why we believe it. And yet there has never been common agreement about his identity, intentions, or teachings—even among first-century historians and scholars. Throughout history, different religious and philosophical traditions have attempted to claim Jesus and paint him in the cultural narratives of their heritage, creating a labyrinth of conflicting ideas. From the evolution of orthodoxy and quests before Albert Schweitzer's famous "Old Quest," to today's ongoing questions about criteria, methods, and sources, A History of the Quests for the Historical Jesus not only chronicles the developments but lays the groundwork for the way forward. The late Colin Brown brings his scholarly prowess in both theology and biblical studies to bear on the subject, assessing not only the historical and exegetical nuts and bolts of the debate about Jesus of Nazareth but also its philosophical, sociological, and theological underpinnings. Instead of seeking a bedrock of "facts," Brown stresses the role of hermeneutics in formulating questions and seeking answers. Colin Brown was almost finished with the manuscript at the time of his passing in 2019. Brought to its final form by Craig A. Evans, this book promises to become the definitive history and assessment of the quests for the historical Jesus. Volume One covers the period from the beginnings of Christianity to the end of World War II. Volume Two (sold separately) covers the period from the post-War era through contemporary debates.
Respected New Testament scholar Darrell L. Bock provides a substantive yet highly accessible commentary on Acts in this latest addition to the acclaimed BECNT series. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Bock leads readers through all aspects of the book of Acts--sociological, historical, and theological. His work blends academic depth with readability, making it a useful tool for students, teachers, scholars, and pastors alike. A user-friendly design with shaded text and translations of the Greek text make this commentary engaging and easy to use. The result is a guide that clearly and meaningfully brings this important New Testament book to life for contemporary readers.
This compilation of reader response to Jonathan Edwards, spanning 276 years, includes a reprint of two earlier works ? Jonathan Edwards: A Reference Guide (1981) and Jonathan Edwards: An Annotated Bibliography (1994) ? and the publication of a third, a gathering of commentary from 1994 to 2005. Nearly 140 essays have been added to the first and second works, while the last new gathering ? which includes a celebration of the tercentenary of Edwards??'s birth ? adds another 700 to the whole. The text preserves the pattern of arranging items alphabetically within a given year and of recording cross-references. Essays in a collection are annotated serially rather than alphabetically. Each of the three sections is self-contained with an introduction and annotated bibliography of its own. Adding to the immense value of this work to Edwards scholars are the chronology of Edwards??'s works, listed by date and by short and long title, which precedes the entire work, and the three comprehensive indexes ? of authors and titles, of subjects, and additions to the previous volumes.
This volume gathers the perspectives of teachers in higher education from all over the world on the topic of New Testament scholarship. The goal is to understand and describe the contexts and conditions under which New Testament research is carried out throughout the world. This endeavor should serve as a catalyst for new initiatives and the development of questions that determine the future directions of New Testament scholarship. At the same time, it is intended to raise awareness of the global dimensions of New Testament scholarship, especially in relation to its impact on socio-political debates. The occasion for these reflections are not least the present questions that have been posed with the corona pandemic and have received a focus on the "system relevance" of churches, which is openly questioned by the media. The church and theology must face this challenge. Towards that end, it is important to gather impulses and suggestions for the discipline from a variety of contexts in which different dimensions of context-related New Testament research come to the fore.
Most New Testament (NT) introductions, because of page limitations and other reasons, tend to minimize their treatment of the last nine books of the Christian Bible (from Hebrews to Revelation). The focus in these introductions is often on the four Gospels and the Letters of Paul. As important as these books are, one should not neglect, with only a brief survey, the treatment of Hebrews, the General Letters, and the book of Revelation. The title given later to the collection--Catholic Epistles or General Letters--is a reminder of its general appeal to the whole church, despite its slow "canonical" recognition and authorship issues. Nevertheless, these writings from Hebrews to Revelation continue to capture our attention and ignite our imagination. My purpose for this book is to supplement my NT introduction and others like it with a focus on specific questions about each book from Hebrews to Revelation: -When and why was each book written? -By whom and to whom was each book written? -What are some special features of each book? -How soon (or late) was each book included in the NT collection? Answers to many of these questions are tentative. The "assured results of scholarship" are in continual need of reevaluation. Since the 1980s a host of diverse studies have emerged, and I have endeavored to include them when they are relevant to the discussion.
This book gives attention to the language and style of the letter of James, with a hypothesis about its rhetorical purpose in mind. It focuses on what we can learn about the author of James, by reading the text in light of a guiding research question: How does the author establish and assert authority? The letter builds literary authority for a number of purposes, one of which is to address socioeconomic disparity, a major concern for the author. The author of James presents a speech-in-character in the shape of a letter to establish his ethos (Ch. 2), employing vocabulary and style to signal his education implicitly (Ch. 3 & 4) and includes himself in the categories of sage, teacher and exegete explicitly (Ch. 5). From this standpoint, the author can address the rich as equals, rebuke them and admonish both rich and poor to receive God's wisdom (Ch. 6). The comparison with ancient literary criticism shows that the categories at play are the same. The insight that language and ethos are inseparable categories in antiquity provides us with renewed ways to interpret the literary production of early Christianity. Both James and 'the Classicists' present a competing epic in the context of the early imperium, the former with an Israelite piety that is superior to contemporary economic and moral categories and the latter with the supremacy of Greek culture as a foundation for Rome. The letter of James emerges as a document that builds educational ethos as a balance against the rich and powerful, a strategy that calls for a revision of both its rhetoric and socio-economic situation.
Scott Brazil examines the frequent practice of applying Old Testament YHWH-texts to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. He argues that this YHWH-text phenomenon evidences a high Christology in the primitive church that traces back to Jesus himself. He thus finds in this Synoptic practice a stinging contradiction against the modern critical theory that a high Christology took many decades to develop in the early church and exists only in John among the canonical Gospels. Brazil surveys the Synoptic Gospels in canonical order, exegeting dozens of passages in which OT texts originally referring to YHWH are either clearly or most probably applied to Jesus. He observes the frequency, diversity, and ubiquity of the practice, as well as its wide range of OT source material and its parallel to the NT practice of applying OT messianic texts to Jesus. And from the data he offers several ramifications, including the early deliberate employment of YHWH-texts to Jesus, the likelihood that Jesus is the source of the practice, the high Christology of the Synoptics, and the redemptive-historical metanarrative that Jesus is the divine interpreter and central figure of the Jewish Scriptures. Ultimately, Brazil argues that understanding the prolific application of OT YHWH-texts to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels cannot be neglected without truncating genuine NT Christology.
James Barr published significant work on a wide variety of topics within Old Testament studies and beyond. This volume provides an assessment of Barr’s contribution to biblical studies sixty years after publication of his memorable The Semantics of Biblical Language.
