You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This paradigm-shifting study is the first book-length investigation into the compositional dates of the New Testament to be published in over forty years. It argues that, with the notable exception of the undisputed Pauline Epistles, most New Testament texts were composed twenty to thirty years earlier than is typically supposed by contemporary biblical scholars. What emerges is a revised view of how quickly early Christians produced what became the seminal texts for their new movement.
In this book Rowlands interrogates the theological and philosophical foundations of the 'Quest' for the historical Jesus, from Reimarus to the present day, culminating in a call for greater metaphysical transparency and diversity in the discipline. This multidisciplinary approach to historical Jesus research, drawing on historiography, sociology, philosophy, and theology, makes a significant and original contribution to the field. Part I outlines the implicit role of metaphysical presuppositions in historical methodology by examining the concept of an historiographical worldview. Part II provides an overview of the 'Quest' for the historical Jesus, demonstrating that the disparate historiographical worldviews operative in the 'Quest' evidence a particular shared characteristic, in that they might accurately be described as ‘secular.’ Rowlands’ study concludes with a call for a greater plurality and openness regarding the philosophical and theological presuppositions at work in historical Jesus research. The Metaphysics of Historical Jesus Research is of interest to students and scholars working on New Testament studies and historical Jesus research.
The Gospel of John is a book that tantalizes and disturbs in equal measure. Its sublime imagery makes spirits soar. Its positive portrayal of women such as the Samaritan woman, the Bethany sisters, and Mary Magdalene, tickle the imagination when it comes to the roles of women in the early church. Its disparagement of the Jews, however, reverberates through the long history of anti-Judaism and antisemitism to this very day. Adele Reinhartz has been one of the foremost interpreters of the Gospel of John for the past thirty years and more. This volume contains a selection of her essays on the Fourth Gospel, originally published from 1991 to 2020. The collection focuses on four major themes. Ess...
This study argues that the Gospel of John's anti-Judaism can be well understood from the perspective of trends apparent within the context of broader Greco-Roman culture. It uses the paradigm of collective memory and aspects of social identity theory and self-categorization theory to explore the theological and narrative functions of the Johannine Jews. Relying upon a diverse range of historical testimony drawn from Greco-Roman literature, inscriptions, and papyri, this work attempts to understand the social identities and social locations of Diaspora Jews as a first step in reading John's Gospel in the context of the political and social instability of the first century CE. It then attempts to understand John's theology, its portrayal of Jewish social identity, and the narrative and theological functions of "the Jews" as a group character in light of this historical context. This work attempts to demonstrate that while John's treatment of Jews and Judaism is multivalent at both social and theological levels, it is primarily focused upon strengthening a Christologically centered Christian identity while attempting to mitigate the attractiveness of Judaism as a religious competitor.
How do we know the New Testament is reliable? In this clear introduction, Dr. Ben Shaw systematically surveys key scholarly topics related to the New Testament's historical credibility. Concise chapters provide guidance for exploring a wide variety of evidence including archaeology, authorship, text criticism, and non-Christian sources.
Reconsidering Johannine Christianity presents a full-scale application of social identity approach to the Johannine writings. This book reconsiders a widely held scholarly assumption that the writings commonly taken to represent Johannine Christianity – the Gospel of John and the First, Second and Third Epistles of John – reflect the situation of an introverted early Christian group. It claims that dualistic polarities appearing in these texts should be taken as attempts to construct a secure social identity, not as evidence of social isolation. While some scholars (most notably, Richard Bauckham) have argued that the New Testament gospels were not addressed to specific early Christian communities but to all Christians, this book proposes that we should take different branches of early Christianity, not as localized and closed groups, but as imagined communities that envision distinct early Christian identities. It also reassesses the scholarly consensus according to which the Johannine Epistles presuppose and build upon the finished version of the Fourth Gospel and argues that the Johannine tradition, already in its initial stages, was diverse.
John, Jesus, and History, Volume 4: Jesus Remembered in the Johannine Situation addresses the narrative development of the Johannine corpus over as many as seven decades. Contributors connect how Jesus is presented in the Fourth Gospel to how the memory of his ministry is developed in Palestine during the earliest period (30–70 CE), in Asia Minor in the later first century (70–100 CE), and in the main and alternative streams of post-Johannine early Christianity (100 CE and later). Contributors include Paul N. Anderson, Harold W. Attridge, Giovanni Bazzana, Jonathan Bernier, Sherri Brown, Rex D. Butler, Andrew J. Byers, Stephen C. Carlson, Warren Carter, Amber M. Dillon, Jonathan A. Draper, Musa W. Dube, Charles E. Hill, Karen L. King, Peter T. Lanfer, Kasper Bro Larsen, Ian N. Mills, Alicia D. Myers, Reinhard Pummer, Tuomas Rasimus, David Rensberger, Clare K. Rothschild, Geoffrey Smith, Travis D. Trost, Meredith J. C. Warren, Kenneth L. Waters Sr., and Lorne R. Zelyck. The collection pushes Johannine, Jesus, and early Christian history studies in new directions, raising possibilities for future research.
From the NHL’s most unexpected All-Star MVP comes a sports memoir unlike any other. Hilarious, candid, and reflective, A Guy Like Me recounts the heartwarming story of John Scott: an average joe who became a sports icon overnight. Known as a willing-and-able fighter and bruiser in the league, John Scott was a surprising and tongue-and-cheek nominee for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. He’d been in the league for over eight NHL seasons, playing for teams such as the Wild, Blackhawks, Rangers, Sabres, and the Sharks. Scott’s best attribute as an NHL player was dropping his gloves—never the best player, he did become the most feared fighter in the NHL, racking up extensive penalty minutes. I...
There has been a varied range of studies on Jesus. Though now it seems there is a pause and perhaps opening to new orientation, with the aim not simply to cover old ground or repeat past mistakes. This is a study of Jesus and Christian origins with a primary focus on the Gospels. There have been comprehensive and important contributions, like N. T. Wright’s The New Testament and the People of God. At the same time, more defined studies have appeared. The purpose here is not to develop particular New Testament themes as such. Rather, in this volume the writers take up Gospel related topics in the context of the early church in order to illuminate specific baselines for New Testament interpr...
In this comprehensive, sociorhetorical interpretation of Colossians, Roy R. Jeal explores the letter’s portrayal of the grand vision that extends from the realm of God before the creation of the cosmos to the new reality and new culture of the life of fullness in Christ. The commentary analyzes the pictures the text evokes in the human visual imagination, identifies the persuasive modes of discourse in the letter, and evaluates the range of textures that interweave to produce the dynamic rhetorical argument of Colossians. Demands to conform to “empty deceitful philosophy, human tradition, and the elements of the world” rather than to Christ are irrelevant for believers who have been transferred from darkness to the light of the Son of God’s kingdom. The rhetoric of the letter moves believers to ideologies of living in the body of Christ where orderly behavior guided by love contrasts with the chaotic, self-indulgent, divisive uncertainties of Mediterranean existence.