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Brian Beck has had a long and distinguished career in Methodist studies, having additionally served as President of the UK Methodist Conference and helped lead the international Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies. This book is the first time that Beck’s seminal work on Methodism has been gathered together. It includes eighteen essays from the last twenty-five years, covering many different aspects of Methodist thought and practice. This collection is divided into two main sections. Part I covers Methodism’s heritage and its implications, while Part II discusses wider issues of Methodism’s identity. The chapters themselves examine the work of key figures, such as John Wesley and J. E. Rattenbury, as well as past and present forms of Methodist thought and practice. As such, this book is important reading for any scholar of Methodism as well as students and academics of religious studies and theology more generally.
Why do we have to study the New Testament? Is it not simply enough to read it? Beginning with a reading of the Lord's Prayer, Brian Beck sets out to show how even the most familiar passages may benefit from more detailed study. He writes simply and directly about the problems which arise from translation, not only for the student but for every Christian who cares enough about the New Testament to want to understand it better. He then goes on to show the way in which the different books came to be writtenand how they were brought together. Though he is ready to criticise a number of scholars when he thinks they are mistaken, he nevertheless yields to nobody in his high regard for many of the fruits of contemporary New Testament scholarship.
How did the author of the Gospel of Luke intend it to be read? In The Spiral Gospel, Rob James shows that the assumptions many modern readers bring to the text – that it claims to be historically factual, or merely regurgitates existing stories – are not those of antiquity. Building on the central insight that it was written for a community who would have used it as their pre-eminent text, James argues convincingly for a continuous, cyclical reading of Luke’s narrative. The evidence for this view, and also its consequences, can be seen in the gospel’s intratextuality. Context is given at the end of the gospel that informs the beginning, and there are countless other intratextual elements throughout the text that are most readily noticeable on a second or subsequent reading. This deliberate, creative interweaving on the author’s part opens up new levels of appreciation and faith for those who read in the way Luke’s first audience received his work.
Who were the scribes that copied early Christian literature during the second and third centuries? What roles did they play in the reproduction and dissemination of these writings? To answer these questions, this study utilizes evidence from early Christian literature and the earliest Christian papyri--including their form, physical features, and textual characteristics.
We would like to recommend this book to all who are concerned about the Porvoo fellowship as well as those who are commited to visible unity -K G Hammar and David Hope Apostolicity and Unity explores the purpose and potential of the Porvoo Common Statement (PCS), a major ecumenical agreement between the Anglican churches in Great Britain and Ireland and the Lutheran churches in the Nordic and Baltic nations. First presented in 1992 and now affirmed by ten signatory churches, the PCS provides the basis for church fellowship for approximately fifty percent of the so-called Protestant Christians in Europe. Porvoo is the European parallel to the 'Called to Common Mission' statement arising out o...
The Bible is literature as well as a sacred text. For this reason, the application of contemporary methods of literary criticism to the study of Scripture can yield rich benefits. Robert Karris' examination of Luke's Passion account exemplifies this approach. Karris argues that Luke reveals his theology through his artistry, particularly in the themes he chooses to develop and the means by which he does so. These themes provide Karris with an important insight into two questions: Why, in Luke's understanding, was Jesus crucified, and what was the significance of that death? Faithfulness is one more important theme Karris discovers in Luke's Gospel. Luke's Jesus portrays God as endlessly fait...
Because of Luke's unique literary achievement in the Gospel of Luke and Acts, these two works raise a variety of interesting and important issues for the exegete. In this important collection of essays, Tannehill demonstrates why he is has been in the forefront of Luke-Acts research for more than three decades. His nuanced approach to the intersection of literary, theological, and social features in the texts marks these as required reading for any interpreter of the gospels. Contents Part I: Theology, Poetry, Rhetoric 1 The Mission of Jesus according to Luke 4:16-30 2 The Magnificat as Poem 3 What Kind of King? What Kind of Kingdom? 4 The Lukan Discourse on Invitations 5 The Story of Zaccha...
As a religious and social phenomenon Methodism engages with a number of disciplines including history, sociology, gender studies and theology. Methodist energy and vitality have intrigued, and continue to fascinate scholars. This Companion brings together a team of respected international scholars writing on key themes in World Methodism to produce an authoritative and state-of-the-art review of current scholarship, mapping the territory for future research. Leading scholars examine a range of themes including: the origins and genesis of Methodism; the role and significance of John Wesley; Methodism’s emergence within the international and transatlantic evangelical revival of the Eighteent...
What makes Methodist worship "Methodist" or "Wesleyan?" How do Methodists evaluate emerging forms of worship in light of their own liturgical heritage? This book considers these questions by bringing to light the work and significance of three Methodist liturgists who have until now received precious little scholarly focus: Thomas O. Summers (1812-1882), Nolan B. Harmon (1892-1993), and James F. White (1932-2004). Exploring each one’s contribution to the Methodist movement, it evaluates their continuing legacies as scholars and practitioners of Methodist worship. Importantly, the work of all these men occurred during times of cultural change, which gave rise to new ways of worship within t...
This book is the first comprehensive study of the systematic, doctrinal, and constructive theology produced within the major Nonconformist traditions during the twentieth century. By the end of the nineteenth century, modern biblical critical methods were fairly widely adopted, evolutionary thought was in the air, and doctrinal modifications, especially concerning the fatherhood of God, were underway. Sell charts the influence on Nonconformist thinking in the twentieth century of the New Theology associated with R. J. Campbell, the First World War, the reception of Karl Barth, the theological excitement of the 1960s, and growing religious pluralism. The second lecture concerns the major Chri...