You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
An investigation into the motives behind writing the canonical versions of Luke and Acts Building on recent scholarship that argues for a second-century date for the book of Acts, Marcion and Luke-Acts explores the probable context for the authorship not only of Acts but also of the canonical Gospel of Luke. Noted New Testament scholar Joseph B. Tyson proposes that both Acts and the final version of the Gospel of Luke were published at the time when Marcion of Pontus was beginning to proclaim his version of the Christian gospel, in the years 120-125 c.e. He suggests that although the author was subject to various influences, a prominent motivation was the need to provide the church with writ...
Previous scholarship that has examined Paul’s letters in light of Greco-Roman rhetoric has focused predominantly on their argumentative strategies (inventio) and overall arrangement (dispositio). In this book Brookins turns attention to the heretofore underexplored area of style (elocutio). With complete coverage of ten of the thirteen letters in the Pauline corpus, the book evaluates these letters according to the standards of the major stylistic virtues taught in rhetorical theory: correctness, clarity, and ornament. Treating ornament most extensively, the book includes a full inventory of tropes, figures of speech, and figures of thought contained in these letters. This work results in a synopsis of stylistic tendencies that not only illustrates differences in letter type within the Pauline corpus but also enables a fresh means of comparing style in the disputed and undisputed letters. This analysis also furnishes new evidence for consideration in the debate about the extent of Paul’s rhetorical education. Finally, it helps illuminate the process of exegesis and thus the meaning of the text itself.
We know that the earliest Christians sang hymns. But are some of these early Christian hymns preserved for us in the New Testament? Matthew Gordley takes a new look at didactic hymns in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world of the early church, considering how they might function in the New Testament and what they could tell us about early Christian worship.
Solving the mystery of Satan's messenger Paul's enigmatic "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians has baffled interpreters for centuries. Many offer suggestions as to the identity of Satan's messenger; others despair that the puzzle is unsolvable. In Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: New Clues for an Old Problem, Kenneth Berding reopens the case. He follows a trail of clues that includes ancient beliefs about curses, details from Paul's letters, Jesus's own suffering, and the testimony of the earliest Christian interpreters. Berding offers twenty criteria—some familiar, others neglected—that any proposal must explain. While the usual suspects fall short, Berding suggests a new solution—one that satisfies all the evidence and gives us a fuller view of Paul. Far from an abstract puzzle, Paul's own suffering is relevant to Christians today. Paul's Thorn in the Flesh is an accessible study that casts new light on Pauline studies, first--century background, and theological and pastoral concerns.
A major scholarly collaboration exploring vivid visual rhetoric in the New Testament From Jesus’s miraculous walk on water to the graphic horrors of hell, New Testament authors make vivid and unforgettable images appear before their audience’s eyes. In the past decade, scholarship on early Christian use of ancient rhetorical techniques has flourished. One focus of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament has been the function of ekphrasis, or vivid visual description. In this landmark collection, leading New Testament scholars come together to probe the purpose and import of ekphrasis in early Christian literature. The research in this collection explores the relationship between vivid ...
Shows, with solid reasons, that the Book of Revelation has a literary form, similar to the short story.
Provides a new history of catechesis in early Latin Christianity that foregrounds core questions of knowledge, faith, and teaching.
"In this volume, Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan liturgical poetry from Late Antiquity (ca. 3rd-4th c. CE) is examined not only from within the context of religious traditions of biblical interpretation and conventions of prayer but also through the lenses of performance, entertainment, and spectacle. Recognizing that liturgical poets were as invested engaging their listeners as orators and actors were, this study analyses hymnody as a performative genre akin to oratory and theatre, the two primary modes of public performance from the wider societal context. Attention to liturgical poetry's "theatricality" draws our attention to a range of subjects, from how biblical stories were adapted to...
This is a study that combines the insights of historical, literary, and theological approaches to the Gospel of John.
In recent years, a growing number of New Testament scholars have questioned traditional portrayals of the Apostle Paul as a leader of a new religious movement that set faith in Christ in opposition to the Jewish tradition. Instead, they have stressed the need to interpret Paul from within the Judaism of his day, regarding him as a faithful Jew who cherished deeply his Jewish identity and saw observance of the Mosaic law or Torah among Jewish believers in Christ as a good thing. While the present work argues strongly in favor of this latter interpretation of Paul, it also seeks to delve deeper into his thought in order to explore at length the points of continuity and convergence between Paul...