Steve Moyise, an expert on the use of the Old Testament in the New, offers a brief but reliable introduction to the use of the Old Testament in the Gospels' portrayals of Jesus.

Introduces literary, historical, and theological issues of Luke and Acts.

Biblical texts create worlds of meaning, and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are often strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The controlling perspective is expressed in the operative word of the title--interpreting. The primary focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the texts or out of which the texts have arisen as on the worlds created by the texts in their engagement with readers.
In keeping with the goals of the series, this volume provides an introductory guide to readers of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts. It focuses on both the synchronic and diachronic dimensions of the literature in an effort to acquaint readers with literary, historical, and theological issues that will facilitate interpretation of these important books.

F. Scott Spencer is Professor of New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

Discourse related to sex excites passion and debate, partly because sexuality is a central aspect of what it means to be human. Following up on his recent book on sexuality in the Septuagint, William Loader here explores what the Christian Gospels and related writings have to say about sexuality, how they reflect the faith and social values of their day, and what impact they've had on our own.

"Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition is thorough in its investigation and compelling in its analyses. Loader examines all of the passages that convey views about sexuality in the Gospels and other first-century literature, including the "Gospel of Thomas, and the influence in Paul of the Jesus tradition. Among the interesting topics covered are attitudes concerning lust, perspectives on marriage and divorce, and views about celibacy. Loader shows how, despite the passing of two thousand years and massive social change, these ancient texts contain common issues that we still grapple with today.

Which translation do I choose?

In an age when there is a wide choice of English Bible translations, the issues involved in Bible translating are steadily gaining interest. Consumers often wonder what separates one Bible version from another.

The contributors to this book argue that there are significant differences between literal translations and the alternatives. The task of those who employ an essentially literal Bible translation philosophy is to produce a translation that remains faithful to the original languages, preserving as much of the original form and meaning as possible while still communicating effectively and clearly in the receptors' languages.

Translating Truth advocates essentially literal Bible translation and in an attempt to foster an edifying dialogue concerning translation philosophy. It addresses what constitutes "good" translation, common myths about word-for-word translations, and the importance of preserving the authenticity of the Bible text. The essays in this book offer clear and enlightening insights into the foundational ideas of essentially literal Bible translation.

In this resourceful and illuminating exploration of the biblical virtues, Benjamin W. Farley examines both the Old and the New Testament and applies their teachings on moral character to the Christian life today.

This book breaks new ground in offering an exposition of the theological message of the Shorter Pauline Letters. Karl P. Donfried expounds the theology of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, examining the cultural setting of these letters and the particular milieu in which their distinctive themes took shape. He shows that the notion of election is a key theme in the Thessalonian correspondence, while both letters have important things to say to people in our own day about Christ, about forgiveness, and about a sanctifying God who pours out his Spirit. I. Howard Marshall's study of Philippians brings out especially the understanding of the theological basis of the Christian life which underlies the letter, while his discussion of Philemon emphasises how the main theme of the letter is the relation between the gospel and Christian ethics; the implications of Paul's teaching on slavery are considered in a manner which goes much further than the surface of the text might imply.

The books constituting the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, have a complex history of authorship, resulting in a variety of styles, perspectives, and meanings. The authors and editors of the books that became the Bible lived through the political vicissitudes of a region that was a cultural crossroads, subject to successive waves of invasion, settlement, and influence by a variety of civilizations. Consequently, their works reflect the diverse political, intellectual, and literary legacies of the ancient Near East and, in some cases, the incorporation of non-Hebrew texts.

S. A. Nigosian, a scholar of Biblical and Near Eastern religions, explores the diverse literary antecedents of the Old Testament as well as the Apocrypha -- books excluded from the canonical Hebrew text but included in the Septuagint. Closely analyzing the formation and contents of these works, Nigosian compares them with the religious, philosophical, didactic, and historical works created by the neighboring Near Eastern civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor. Proceeding book by book, he highlights parallels in language, structure, and story among Hebrew and non-Hebrew and non-canonical Hebrew texts.

From the ubiquity of flood myths throughout the ancient Near East to similarities between seduction tales in Genesis and Egyptian mythology, Job-like stories from Babylonian legend, and the recycling of elements within the Hebrew Bible, this book offers a concise and accessible history of the composition and compilation of the Bible and the complex process of canonization. It also features a glossary, an extensive bibliography, and a chronology of the composition of the Hebrew Bible andthe Apocrypha.

Written by leading experts on Aquinas's theology, the essays in Reading John with St. Thomas Aquinas bear common witness to a central theological conviction: the tasks of biblical exegesis and speculative theology, though distinct, indwell and inform each other. As the first book-length study of the full breadth of Aquinas's Commentary on the Gospel of John, this work illuminates the way in which thinking systematically or speculatively about revelation flows from questions raised within biblical exegesis itself.
Like any medieval biblical commentator, Aquinas attempts to understand a biblical text not only in itself but also by appealing to parallel interpretive texts drawn from throughout the Bible as well as the accumulated insights of the Church Fathers. This method enables him to penetrate deeply into the thought of the Bible, recognizing that the biblical authors, speaking from within the context of Israel and the Church, raise questions that are theological and that belong to coherent speculative theological frameworks. The result is, in large part, a speculative theological commentary that is not imposed on the biblical texts but emerges from it.
The essays in Reading John with St. Thomas Aquinas seek to illumine the necessary conjunction of the inspired words of Scripture, exegetical commentary, and theological analysis. The volume is both a study of Aquinas's thought and an attempt to foster contemporary exegetical approaches that emphasize the need to interpret Scripture speculatively, through the historical lens of tradition.
Michael Dauphinais is Associate Academic Dean and Assistant Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University. Matthew Levering is AssociateProfessor of Theology at Ave Maria University and author of Christ's Fulfillment of Torah and Temple: Salvation According to St. Thomas Aquinas and Scripture and Metaphysics: Aquinas and the Renewal of Trinitarian Theology. They are coeditors of the English edition of Nova et Vetera and coauthors of Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible.

Pick up nearly any English Bible today, and you have already encountered Eugene A. Nida-his influence is that widespread. Nida's dynamic-equivalence approach to Bible translation helped to shape the Good News Bible, the Contemporary English Version, the New International Version, and the New Jerusalem Bible. In addition, Nida's longtime work with the American Bible Society and collaboration with the United Bible Societies spread his theories and methods around the world. Drawing on archival records and interviews with those who know Nida best, "Let the Words Be Written" examines and assesses the ongoing influence of this scholar of wide-ranging abilities and boundless energy. Bible translators, students and scholars of translation theory or cross-cultural studies, and general readers with an interest in the Bible will find this volume both accessible and enlightening. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

This volume offers a unique approach to the history of biblical interpretation, examining the historical, theological, and philosophical presuppositions of select interpreters in order to tease out the complexity of factors that shape one's engagement with biblical texts. Taking seriously the power of biblical texts to shape and address questions common to all humanity, these essays not only provide a window into how the biblical text was read at specific times and places and but also suggest fruitful ways to read it today. Contributions in both English and German focus on biblical interpretation in Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity, nineteenth-century German philosophy, and contemporary biblical theology. The contributors are Harold Attridge, Wilhelm Grab, Stephan Gratzel, Garrett Green, Christine Helmer, Bernd Janowski, Maren Niehoff, Joachim Ringleben, Marvin Sweeney, and Karen Torjesen. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

The six biblical manuscripts that reside in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC are historically significant artifacts for tracing the early history of the transmission of the writings that make up the New Testament and the Septuagint. The manuscripts, all purchased in Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century by Charles Freer, date to the third through fifth centuries and include codices of the four Gospels, Deuteronomy and Joshua, the Psalms, and the Pauline Epistles, as well as a Coptic codex of the Psalms and a papyrus codex of the Minor Prophets, which, until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, was the earliest Greek manuscript of the Minor Prophets known. The ten essays in this volume are a notable collection of fresh scholarship with long-term value for the study of what is a small but highly valuable treasure trove of biblical manuscripts. The contributors are Malcolm Choat, Kent D. Clarke, Kristin De Troyer, Timothy J. Finney, Dennis Haugh, Larry W. Hurtado, J. Bruce Prior, Jean-Francois Racine, James R. Royse, Ulrich Schmid, and Thomas A. Wayment. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

This leader's guide to Unfailing Love will assist you in your role as a Sisters small-group leader. It outlines the Sisters program, which is very simple: after an initial gathering meeting with a brief introductory video segment, the women in your group will read and reflect each day for the following six weeks. Once a week, you will come together for 60 90 minutes. You will view a video presentation by Rebecca Laird, followed by a Sisters group discussion that Rebecca leads. Then it is your turn to facilitate the discussion in your own Sisters group. Step-by-step instructions are here as well as questions and suggestions to help you and your group connect what you have seen, read, and reflected on during the previous week. You will be able to relax and participate fully as a member of your Sisters group.
For more information about Sisters, go to www.sisters.cokesbury.com."

This book overflows with ideas that will help teachers inspire kids in Kindergarten-fifth grade to learn and remember Bible stories. Sections 1 3 highlight stories from the Old Testament, Advent/Christmas, and Holy Week. Weekly programs include: . Storytelling ideas . Creative dramatics . Music suggestions . Action packed games . Innovative crafts . Puzzles . Worship tie-ins . Service projects . Bulletin Boards that the children help design . Key Scripture verse Each section closes with plans for a rousing, fun-filled "Sonsational" Sunday event for the whole church Weekly lessons are reinforced as children of all ages participate in activities and crafts related to the program themes. Section 4, All Year Long, includes a myriad of monthly activities that can be shared by small groups or the entire church family. . Movie nights . Treasure hunts . Seasonal and holiday events . Field trips These intergenerational activities are designed to bring people closer together and help them grow in their Christian faith. More Bible Time with Kids also includes a section of Bible Activities, Bible Story Art, and Bible Story Games that are designed to help the children remember the Bible stories and characters they have studied. More Bible Time with Kids can be used in Sunday school programs, Christian school settings, VBS programs, after school clubs, home schooling programs, and by anyone interested in helping children learn more about the Bible. "

Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

Who are the mothers in the biblical text? What do they do? What kinds of power do they have? Issues of identity, authority, violence, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, sexual exploitation and rape-marriage, murder, and relation to God have haunted the characters and representations of motherhood from Eve to Mary and beyond. For better or for worse, these images speak potent messages even today. To explore biblical mothers and their relationships with their daughters and sons, the contributors to this volume participate in a comparative analysis between biblical mothers and mothers in popular media, history, literature, and the arts. The diversity of methods they employ prompts a rich discussion on the deconstruction of motherhood, offering new ways of envisioning both biblical and contemporary motherhood.The contributors are Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan and Tina Pippin, Madeline McClenney-Sadler, Wil Gafney, Brian Britt, Frank M. Yamada, Mignon R. Jacobs, Linda S. Schering, Mark Roncace and Deborah Whitehead, Andrew M. Mbuvi, Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Brenda Wallace, Margaret Aymer, Tat-siong Benny Liew, and Alison Jasper.

Volume 2 of "History of Biblical Interpretation" deals with the most extensive period under examination in this four-volume set. It begins in Asia Minor in the late fourth century with Bishop Theodore of Mopsuestia, the founder of a school of interpretation that sought to accentuate the literal meaning of the Bible and thereby stood out from the tradition of antiquity. It ends with another outsider, a thousand years later in England, who by the presuppositions of his thought stood at the end of an era: John Wyclif. In between these two interpreters, this volume presents the history of biblical interpretation from late antiquity until the end of the Middle Ages by examining the lives, works, and interpretive practices of Didymus the Blind, Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, the Venerable Bede, Alcuin, John Scotus Eriugena, Abelard, Rupert of Deutz, Hugo of St. Victor, Joachim of Fiore, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, and Nicolas of Lyra. Translation of: Reventlow, Henning Graf. Epochen der Bibelauslegung. Munchen, C. H. Beck.

This volume reexamines and reconstructs the relationship between the Deuteronomic History and the book of Chronicles, building on recent developments such as the Persian-period dating of the Deuteronomic History, the contribution of oral traditional studies to understanding the production of biblical texts, and the reassessment of the relationship of Standard Biblical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew. These new perspectives challenge widely held understandings of the relationship between the two scribal works and strongly suggest that they were competing historiographies during the Persian period that nevertheless descended from a common source. This new reconstruction leads to new readings of the literature.

"Interpreting Exile" considers forced displacement and deportation in ancient Israel and comparable modern contexts in order to offer insight into the realities of war and exile in ancient Israel and their representations in the Hebrew Bible. Introductory essays describe the interdisciplinary and comparative approach and explain how it overcomes methodological dead ends and advances the study of war in ancient and modern contexts. Following essays, written by scholars from various disciplines, explore specific cases drawn from a wide variety of ancient and modern settings and consider archaeological, anthropological, physical, and psychological realities, as well as biblical, literary, artistic, and iconographic representations of displacement and exile. The volume as a whole places Israel s experiences and expressions of forced displacement into the broader context of similar war-related phenomena from multiple contexts. The contributors are Rainer Albertz, Frank Ritchel Ames, Samuel E. Balentine, Bob Becking, Aaron A. Burke, David M. Carr, Marian H. Feldman, David G. Garber Jr., M. Jan Holton, Michael M. Homan, Hugo Kamya, Brad E. Kelle, T. M. Lemos, Nghana Lewis, Oded Lipschits, Christl M. Maier, Amy Meverden, William Morrow, Shelly Rambo, Janet L. Rumfelt, Carolyn J. Sharp, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, and Jacob L. Wright.

Priestly functionaries occupy a paramount position in the study of the Hebrew Bible. Despite more than a century of critical research, questions still abound regarding social location and definitions of the various priestly groups, the depictions of their origins, their ritual functions, the role of the laity and family religion, the relationship between prophecy and the priesthood, and the dating of texts. Making use of cross-disciplinary approaches, this volume provides a representative look at the state of current research into various aspects of priesthood in ancient Israel.

This second volume of studies by members of the SBL Seminar on Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of Christian Origins reassesses the agenda of modern scholarship on Paul and the Corinthians. The contributors challenge the theory of religion assumed in most New Testament scholarship and adopt a different set of theoretical and historical terms for redescribing the beginnings of the Christian religion. They propose explanations of the relationship between Paul and the recipients of 1 Corinthians; the place of Paul s Christ-myth for his gospel; the reasons for a disinterest in and rejection of Paul s gospel and/or for the reception and attraction of it; and the disjunction between Paul s collective representation of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians and the Corinthians own engagement with Paul in mythmaking and social formation, including mutual (mis)translation and (mis)appropriation of the other s discourse and practices. The contributors are Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller, Jonathan Z. Smith, Burton L. Mack, William E. Arnal, Stanley K. Stowers, Richard S. Ascough, and John S. Kloppenborg.

This text-critical study of the Apostolos (all of the New Testament apart from the Gospels) of the fourth-century Greek father Athanasius of Alexandria has two aims in view: one analytical and one methodological. An initial review of Athanasius s life and writings and a survey of the Alexandrian text-type precede an analysis of Athanasius s text to determine its classification within the major New Testament text-types, and particularly its suspected Alexandrian character. The book also compares the results of methods traditionally used on the texts of the fathers with the use of an alternative and advanced method, multivariate analysis. Unlike quantitative and group profile analyses, multivariate analysis utilizes not just a single dimension but the full dimensionality of the source data.

"Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel," originally published in 1982 and extensively revised in 1999, was a turning point in Gospel studies, both for the contribution it made to Markan scholarship and for the methodological insights that it advanced. This volume celebrates "Mark as Story" and offers critique, engagement, and exploration of the new hermeneutical vistas that emerged in the wake of this pioneering study. In these essays, leading international Markan scholars discuss various texts and themes in the Second Gospel, reflect upon the rise of narrative criticism, and offer a glimpse at future trends in Gospels research. The contributors are Christopher W. Skinner; Mark Allan Powell; Elizabeth Struthers Malbon; Stephen D. Moore; Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B.; Thomas E. Boomershine; R. Alan Culpepper; Morna D. Hooker; Kelly R. Iverson; Holly E. Hearon; Robert M. Fowler; and David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie.