In this book, Cronauer proposes that a close source, composition, and redaction analysis of the Naboth material found in the books of Kings raises serious questions about the traditional interpretation of this material and of its dating to the time of Jehu. These questions have to do with the actual history behind this material, the history of the composition, redaction, transmission, and traditional dating of this material to the period of Jehu. He contends that there is sufficient evidence to challenge the traditional positions regarding these issues and to hypothesize a much more complex history of composition and redaction, and, a much latter dating for this material.

In The Time That Remains, Agamben seeks to separate the Pauline texts from the history of the Church that canonized them, thus revealing them to be the fundamental mession nic texts of the West. He argues that Paul's letters are concerned not with the foundation of a new religion but rather with the messianic abolition of Jewish law. Situating Paul's texts in the context of early Jewish messianism, this book is part of a growing set of recent critiques devoted to the period when Judaism and Christianity were not yet fully distinct, placing Paul in the context of what has been called Judaeo-Christianity. Agamben's philosophical exploration of the problem of messianism leads to the other major figure discussed in this book, Walter Benjamin. Advancing a claim without precedent in the vast literature on Benjamin, Agamben argues that Benjamin's philosophy of history constituies a repetition and appropriation of Paul's concept of remaining time. Through a close reading and comparison of Benjamin's Theses on the Philosophy of History and the Pauline Epistles, Agamben discerns a number of striking and unrecognized parallels between the two works. Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics

In Jeremiah 12:5 God says to the prophet, "If you're worn out in this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses?" We all long to live life at its best-to fuse freedom and spontaneity with purpose and meaning. Why then do we often find our lives so humdrum, so unadventuresome, so routine? Or else so frantic, full of activity, but still devoid of fulfillment? How do we learn to risk, to trust, to pursue wholeness and excellence-to run with the horses instead of shuffling along with the crowd? In a series of profound reflections on the life of Jeremiah the prophet, Eugene Peterson explores the heart of what it means to be fully and genuinely human. In his signature pastoral style, he invites readers to grasp the biblical truth that each person's story of faith is completely original. Peterson's writing is filled with humor and self-reflection, insight and wisdom, helping to set a course for others in the quest for life at its best. This special commemorative edition includes a preface taken from Eric Peterson's homily at his father's memorial service.

This study argues that the gist and movement of the prophecy in the book of Amos can be attributed to Amos himself, who composed a coherent cycle of poetry. His dire predictions came after the Fall of Samaria but before the Fall of Jerusalem. Writing a century later, the author of the book preserved but updated Amos' text by fitting it into a developing literary, historical and prophetic tradition. Amos is used as a test case to show that prophecy originated in the performing arts but was later transformed into history and biography. The original prophecy is a song Amos recited at symposia or festivals. The book's interest focusses on the performer and his times.

Paul and Ancient Views of Sexual Desire refutes the argument put forward by some biblical scholars that Paul, in his sexual ethics, is in partial agreement with a current of thought in the Graeco-Roman world that condemns sexual desire and advocates the elimination of such desire from marital sex. Ellis argues not only against this line of thought but also the attendant notion that this way of thinking underlies Paul's comments on homosexual activity in Romans 1. Through close analysis of numerous ancient passages relating to sexual desire, Ellis demonstrates that ancient thinkers tend to condemn not sexual desire in itself but excessive sexual desire and lack of self-control and, furthermore, that ancient auditors would have been unlikely to see condemnation of sexual desire in Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 4 or 1 Corinthians 7.

Burkett offers a new viewpoint on the much-debated Synoptic Problem. He contends that each theory regarding the Synoptic Problem is problematic. Each presents a case for the mutual dependence of one source upon another - for example, Matthew and Luke depend primarily on Mark, but use each other where they report the same story not contained already in Mark. Neither Mark nor Matthew nor Luke served as the source for the other two, but all depended on a set of earlier sources now lost. The relations between the Synoptic Gospels are more complex than the simpler theories have assumed.

This reading of Hosea explores the book from a feminist, psychoanalytical and poetic perspective. What is God doing with a prostitute? How does the theme of prostitution relate to the abjection of the woman as the other, and the fantasy of sexual ecstasy, precisely because she escapes patriarchal order? Where is the prophet situated in the dialectic of rage and desire that both seduces and condemns Israel? His voice is both masculine and feminine, and poetically embodies the sensuality of wayward Israel. The ambiguity of voice is also that of the prophet's role, which is both to nurture Israel, as on its Exodus from Egypt, and to be the trap that destroys it. The problematic of voice and prophetic function is evident in the vivid dissection of Israel's social institutions, whose disintegration is inversely related to the centrality of the discussion in the structure of the book, and in the violent swings from despair to impossible hope. The focus on immediate and uncontrollable entropy, manifest in extended tangled metaphors, that occupies the centre of the book, is framed in the outer chapters by intertextual references to Israel's primordial vision, and the romantic distantiation of the Song of Songs, in which the erotic and poetic contradictions of the book find their perhaps ironic resolution.>

This collection of essays focuses on the book of Job, exploring the complex interplay of methodology and hermeneutics. There are two major parts: approaches that are primarily historical, i.e. the recovery of what the text 'meant'; and those that are contextual, i.e. that take seriously the context of reading. Both approaches engage the theological issue of how this reading helps us to better appropriate what the text 'means'. Contributors include the editors, Mark S. Smith, Douglas J. Green, Victoria Hoffer, Ellen F. Davis and Claire Matthews McGinnis.An introductory essay surveys the contents and outcomes of the various contributions and proposes new directions for the question of integrating methods.

This book encompasses all major events recorded in the Bible fromthe destruction of the planet Earth between the first two versesof Genesis; the new doctrine of the Age of Grace delivered to theApostle Paul by Jesus Christ himself; details of the Great Tribulation asprophesied by Daniel; the believers of today reigning with Jesus in hisMillennial Kingdom and the new heaven and earth, where the streets arepaved with gold. Get ready for the "read" of your life

"Fred Wolfe has dedicated his life to examining the history, practice, andinterpretation of the word of God. Th e Bible is too oft en misquoted, and this book will help to shed light on some common misconceptions, challenging the reader to strengthen their understanding of God. Withscholarly evidence and reasoning, he has writt en a blueprint of theBible's inception, as well as the deepest meanings of its words. By closelyexamining one's understanding of the word of God, they will fi nd a faithand clarity so absolute that it can never be shaken. Th is book is a must read, no matt er where one is in their walk with God."-Pastor Matt hew Barnett, Co-Founder of the Dream Center

"Roloff has produced an intrepretation of the Revelation of John that can be certain to gain the special interest of theologians because of his . . . emphasis on the Christological starting-point of Revelation and the perspective that this discloses for the Christian community." -- Hans-Friedrich Weiss "In this commentary, one catches the Revelator's vision of eternity ablaze with promise and expectation of accountability in the bleakness of the present. May this book find many who are willing to dialog with the Revelator." -- Frederick Danker

The keenly awaited second volume completing this major commentary on 2 Corinthians. Volume II covers chapters 8-13. Dr Thrall provides an exegetical verse-by-verse exposition and addresses all historical, linguistic and theological issues. This volume also contains two concluding essays, on the nature of the opposition Paul faced in the Corinthian church, and on Paul's understanding of apostleship, as well as excursuses on particular topics such as the question of Paul's Roman citizenship. The two volumes of this commentary now form the most comprehensive and up-to-date work available on 2 Corinthians.

The Message of Isaiah 40-55 traces the argument of Isaiah 40-55 to show how the chapters bring a message of encouragement and challenge about God's intention to restore the Judean community, some of whose members are in exile in Babylon, others living in the city of Jerusalem that has lain devastated since it fell to the Babylonians in 587. The chapters hold before this community's eyes a vision of the nature of its God as the powerful creator and the loving restorer. In the course of following the argument, the reader becomes aware that the chapters have to deal with their audience's mysterious resistance to their message. It cannot give God the kind of response the message needs and deserves, nor can it fulfil the role as God's servant that is designed for it. God nevertheless remains committed to it. The prophet eventually becomes aware of a distinctive personal calling to embody that response, until the people are ready to do so. It is the prophet's willingness to do this (notwithstanding the suffering it brings) that embodies the kind of ministry that needs to be exercised to them so that they may be brought back to God and find a restoration of spirit, as well as a physical restoration.

Galatians 3:28, in particular the phrase, "There is ...no longer male and female; for you all are one in Christ Jesus," would seem to point towards an ethos of gender equality among Christians. Acting on this assumption, a number of scholars have considered the phrase significant in reconstructing attitudes towards women in early Christianity. Until now, however, a study of the history of interpretation of Gal 3:28 has been lacking. The exploration of the post-New Testament career of the verse is therefore the focus of this book. The approach is historical-critical, discussing the exegesis of Gal 3:28 in the context of attitudes about the roles of women in the first four centuries CE.

This study reveals that early Christians did not always approach this verse with the same concerns as modern readers. Ancient commentators brought several different questions to their discussion of Gal 3:28, and it is impossible to discover the trajectory in exegesis of this verse that might have been expected. It becomes apparent that during the first four centuries of Christianity most writers treated Gal 3:28 as a statement about the identification of Christians with Christ and therefore an indication that in the resolution of various differences into unity, they could achieve an ideal state. While some writers applied this concept to status differences between men and women, others used it to discuss the qualities of the ideal disciple, the character of the first created human beings, the state of the believer in heaven, and even the nature of God.