This book is a controversial new biography of the apostle Paul that argues for his inclusion in the pantheon of key figures of classical antiquity, along with the likes of Socrates, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and Augustus. It first provides a critical reassessment of the apostle's life in its historical context that focuses on Paul's discourse of authority, which was both representative of its Roman context and provocative to his rivals within Roman society. It then considers the legend that developed around Paul as the history of his life was elaborated and embellished by later interpreters, creating legends that characterized the apostle variously as a model citizen, an imperial hero, a sexual role model, an object of derision and someone to quote from. It is precisely this rewriting of Paul's history into legend that makes the apostle a key transformative figure of classical antiquity.

This collection of major essays by the distinguished Finnish New Testament scholar will prove an invaluable sourcebook for students of this much-debated complex of problems.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! 2 Peter 3:18 See Your Savior Through New Eyes No human has changed the world more than Jesus, as demonstrated by the many great statements written about him through the ages. In It's All About Jesus, bestselling author Randy Alcorn has compiled some of the most powerful and inspiring words ever said about the Son of God-words that will inspire, instruct, and encourage you to love, trust, and follow him. You'll find yourself spiritually enriched as you read these profound and heartfelt observations about Jesus' character, life, names, and more by well-known Bible scholars, teachers, and writers such as Augustine, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Joni Eareckson Tada, Francis Chan, and Trillia Newbell. It's All About Jesus will... give you a richer appreciation for who Jesus is and what he has done for you help you discover what it means to seek Jesus above all else increase your motivation to know Christ more intimately Grow closer than ever to the Savior as you reflect on these insights that are all about Jesus.

Where does evil come from? And how did it become so powerful? We can have a sense that when we try to do right by one another, we aren't merely striving against ourselves. The feeling is that we are struggling against something-someone-else. As if there's a force-a person-that wishes us ill. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul describes just such a person: Sin, a cosmic tyrant who constrains our moral freedom, confuses our moral judgment, and condemns us to slavery and to death. Commentators have long argued about whether Paul literally means to say Sin is a person or is simply indulging in literary personification, but regardless of Paul's intentions, for modern readers it would seem clear enough: there is no such thing as a cosmic tyrant. Surely it is more reasonable to suppose "Sin" is merely a colorful way of describing individual misdeeds or, at most, a way of evoking the intractability of our social ills. In The Emergence of Sin, Matthew Croasmun suggests we take another look. The vision of Sin he offers is at once scientific and theological, social and individual, corporeal and mythological. He argues both that the cosmic power Sin is nothing more than an emergent feature of a vast human network of transgression and that this power is nevertheless real, personal, and one whom we had better be ready to resist. Ultimately, what is on offer here is an account of the world re-mythologized at the hands of chemists, evolutionary biologists, sociologists, and entomologists. In this world, Paul's text is not a relic of a forgotten mythical past, but a field manual for modern living.

This book compares our contemporary preoccupation with ownership and consumption with the role of property and possessions in the biblical world, contending that Christian theology provides a valuable entry point to discussing the issue of private property-a neoliberal tool with the capacity to shape the world in which we live by exercising control over the planet's resources. Babie and Trainor draw on the teaching on property and possessions of Jesus of Nazareth. They demonstrate how subsequent members of the Jesus movement-the writers of early collection of Jesus sayings (called 'Q'), and the gospels of Mark and Luke-reformulated Jesus' teaching for different contexts that was radical and challenging for their own day. Their view of wealth and possessions continues today to be as relevant as ever. By placing the insights of the Galilean Jesus and the early Jesus movement into conversation with contemporary views on private property and consumer culture, the authors develop legal, philosophical and theological insights, what they describe as 'seven theses', into how our desire for ethical living fares in the neoliberal marketplace.

The interest that the Epistle to the Hebrews arouses today is testimony to its enduring message, with its focus on what Jesus Christ did and continues to do for his people. McKelvey provides new insight on Hebrews by demonstrating that two of its chief images, pioneer and priest, function not just independently, but in tandem. Christ is not pioneer without also being priest, and his priesthood is only properly understood in terms of the pioneer figure. This double analogy conveys the meaning of the Christian faith, because only one who is both pioneer and priest can provide the church with the help it needs. Pioneer and Priest will appeal to those who want to know more about Hebrews as well as those who believe that the emerging church must follow Christ 'outside the camp'.

This book looks in detail at Paul's description of apostles in 1 Corinthians 4 and 9 as divinely appointed administrators (oikonomoi) and considers what this tells us about the nature of his own apostolic authority. John Goodrich investigates the origin of this metaphor in light of ancient regal, municipal and private administration, initially examining the numerous domains in which oikonomoi were appointed in the Graeco-Roman world, before situating the image in the private commercial context of Roman Corinth. Examining the social and structural connotations attached to private commercial administration, Goodrich contemplates what Paul's metaphor indicates about apostleship in general terms as well as how he uses the image to defend his apostolic rights. He also analyses the purpose and limits of Paul's authority - how it is constructed, asserted and contested - by examining when and how Paul uses and refuses to exercise the rights inherent in his position.

Exam board: Edexcel Level: A-level Subject: Religious Studies First teaching: September 2016 First exams: Summer 2017 Build, reinforce and assess students' knowledge throughout their course; tailored to the 2016 Edexcel A level specification and brought to you by the leading Religious Studies publisher, this guide combines clear content coverage with practice questions and sample answers. Written by teachers with extensive examining experience, this guide: - Helps students identify what they need to know with a concise summary of the topics examined at AS and A-level - Consolidates understanding through assessment tips - Offers opportunities for students to improve their exam technique by consulting sample student answers and commentary for each question type - Builds understanding through accessible explanations of key definitions and thinkers

Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ's wife, an adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about woman and man and the divine. It seeks the real Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and in the Gnostic gospels where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ. It investigates how and why the Church recast her as a fallen woman, it traces her story through the Renaissance when she became a goddess of beauty and love, and it looks at Mary Magdalene as the feminist icon she has become today.

Form of God, Form of a Servant examines the Greek noun morphe and seeks to discover Paul's meaning when he portrayed Christ as existing in the 'form of God' as well as taking on the 'form of a servant' in Philippians 2:6-7. This book adopts a synchronic approach to lexical semantics, and examines a cross section of Greek writers who use morphe from the classical period up through the first century A.D. The book also looks at how morphe has been interpreted throughout the church age, before exegetically examining the passage and interpreting the term in its context.

While there are many commentaries written today, most have been products of Euro-American scholars who have sought to address questions and concerns of the western church. The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) has provided an opportunity for scholars from the non-majority communities in Biblical Studies to engage fully with NT writings without bracketing their diverse backgrounds in the interpretive process. Consequently, in Andrew Mbuvi's interpretation of Jude and 2 Peter, the author seeks to be faithful in the first century Greco-Roman world setting of the letters while also allowing aspects of his postcolonial, African, and liberation theology interests to inform his hermeneutics. Mbuvi reads the epistles within the context of first-century Greco-Roman Associations since the communities of Jude and 2 Peter seem to share significant commonalities with these groups. The 'Fusing Horizons' sections address aspects of concern to the Church, with inclination towards issues that have occupied the church outside of the Western world (the Global South), home to the majority of Christians today. Mbuvi's useful analysis shows that Jude's and 2 Peter's message remains as relevant today as when the letters were written.

The apocalyptic discourse of Mark 13 predicts that cataclysmic events will occur within the generation of Jesus' contemporaries, but readers today know these events have not taken place. Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics enables a reader to understand this text as a presentation of truth rather than as a failed prediction. Ricoeur argues that the meaning of a text is not defined by the author's intention nor by the reader's reception, but by the text itself. Therefore, although Mark 13 was originally understood literally, today's reader is able to read it as metaphor, and to discern latent meaning that is present in the text. As Ricoeur explains, metaphor associates previously unrelated concepts and creates new, multiple meanings. In doing, metaphor is able to present truth, not as a verifiable presentation of the world, but as a novel manifestation of the world. Mark 13 functions as metaphor because of a double dissonance: first between the configured world of the text and the lived world of the reader, and second between claim that Jesus is able to predict when the events will take place (v. 30) and the assertion that he is not able to do so (v. 32). One option for the metaphorical meaning that Mark 13 offers for today's reader is the perception of the presence of forces that challenge and subvert powers which appear to be dominant, and which deceive, destroy, and persecute. This book will appeal to two sets of readers. First, scholars who study New Testament apocalyptic texts and the eschatological expectations of the early church will appreciate a new approach to a challenging subject matter. Second, Ricoeur scholars who focus upon the religious aspects of his work will enjoy the employment of his interpretive approach on a Biblical genre that has heretofore receive only cursory attention.

The fourth volume in Peterson's best-selling "conversations" in spiritual theology Just as God used words both to create the world and to give us commandments, we too use words for many different purposes. In fact, we use the same language to talk to each other and to talk to God. Can our everyday speech, then, be just as important as the words and prayers we hear from the pulpit? Eugene Peterson unequivocally says "Yes!" Peterson's Tell It Slant explores how Jesus used language, particularly in his parables and prayers. His was not a direct language of information or instruction but an indirect, oblique language requiring a participating imagination -- "slant" language. Tell It Slant beautifully points to Jesus' engaging, relational way of speaking as a model for us today.

The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers offers an informative introduction to the extant body of Christian texts that existed beside and after the New Testament known to us as the apostolic fathers. Featuring cutting-edge research by leading scholars, it explores how the early Church expanded and evolved over the course of the first and second centuries as evidenced by its textual history. The volume includes thematic essays on imperial context, the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, the growth and diversification of the early church, influences and intertextuality, and female leaders in the early church. The Companion contains ground-breaking essays on the individual texts with specific attention given to debates of authorship, authenticity, dating, and theological texture. The Companion will serve as an essential resource for instructors and students of the first two centuries of Christianity.

This volume examines 1 Corinthians 1-4 within first-century politics, demonstrating the significance of Corinth's constitution to the interpretation of Paul's letter. Bradley J. Bitner shows that Paul carefully considered the Roman colonial context of Corinth, which underlay numerous ecclesial conflicts. Roman politics, however, cannot account for the entire shape of Paul's response. Bridging the Hellenism-Judaism divide that has characterised much of Pauline scholarship, Bitner argues that Paul also appropriated Jewish-biblical notions of covenant. Epigraphical and papyrological evidence indicates that his chosen content and manner are best understood with reference to an ecclesial politeia informed by a distinctively Christ-centred political theology. This emerges as a 'politics of thanksgiving' in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and as a 'politics of construction' in 3:5-4:5, where Paul redirects gratitude and glory to God in Christ. This innovative account of Paul's political theology offers fresh insight into his pastoral strategy among nascent Gentile-Jewish assemblies.

Engaging, perceptive, and academically thorough, the New Beacon Bible Commentary will expand your understanding and deepen your appreciation for the meaning and message of each book of the Bible.

Written from the Wesleyan theological perspective, this indispensable commentary provides pastors, professional scholars, teachers, and Bible students with a critical, relevant, and inspiring interpretation of the Word of God in the 21st century.

EACH VOLUME FEATURES:

CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARSHIP from notable experts in the Wesleyan theological tradition

CONVENIENT INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL, including information on authorship, date, history, audience, sociological/cultural issues, purpose, literary features, theological themes, and hermeneutical issues

CLEAR VERSE-BY-VERSE EXPLANATIONS

HELPFUL SIDEBARS,

AN EXPANDED BIBLIOGRAPHY

If God knows human actions in advance, do humans really have freedom of choice? Throughout the centuries various solutions have been offered as to how to retain or reconcile both the concepts of divine omniscience and human freedom. One solution focuses on the idea of middle knowledge. This theory originates with the Spanish Jesuit Luis de Molina, was contested by Reformed theologians such as Herman Bavinck, and makes a remarkable comeback among present-day analytical philosophers such as William Lane Craig. Apart from a wealth of philosophical considerations, the appeal to biblical texts also plays an important role in the work on middle knowledge by each of these thinkers. The book examines their writings and investigates how contemporary biblical scholars interpret the biblical texts used by them. The author elaborates a creative proposal as to how these gained insights apply to the theory of middle knowledge and what this means for our overall evaluation of this theory.

This Companion volume offers a concise and engaging introduction to the New Testament. Including twenty-two especially-commissioned essays, written by an international team of scholars, it examines a range of topics related to the historical and religious contexts in which the contents of the Christian canon emerged. Providing an overview of the critical approaches and methods currently applied to the study of biblical texts, it also includes chapters on each of the writings in the New Testament. The volume serves as an excellent resource for students who have some familiarity with the New Testament and who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the state of academic discussion and debate. Readers will also gain a sense of the new research questions that are emerging from current scholarship.

In Biblical Philosophy, Dru Johnson examines how the texts of Christian Scripture argue philosophically with ancient and modern readers alike. He demonstrates how biblical literature bears the distinct markers of a philosophical style in its use of literary and philosophical strategies to reason about the nature of reality and our place within it. Johnson questions traditional definitions of philosophy and compares the Hebraic style of philosophy with the intellectual projects of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Hellenism. Identifying the genetic features of the Hebraic philosophical style, Johnson traces its development from its hybridization in Hellenistic Judaism to its retrieval by the New Testament authors. He also shows how the Gospels and letters of Paul exhibit the same genetic markers, modes of argument, particular argument forms, and philosophical convictions that define the Hebraic style, while they engaged with Hellenistic rhetoric. His volume offers a model for thinking about philosophical styles in comparative philosophical discussions.

While the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece is designed for scholarly research, the Greek New Testament, 5th Revised Edition is designed for translators and students. Like NA28, this is the leading edition of the original text of the New Testament. It contains the same Greek text as NA28, differing only in some details of punctuation and paragraphing.

World-renowned scholar Michael Gorman examines the important Pauline theme of participation in Christ and explores its contemporary significance for Christian life and ministry. One of the themes Gorman explores is what he calls "resurrectional cruciformity"--that participating in Christ is simultaneously dying and rising with him and that cross-shaped living, infused with the life of the resurrected Lord, is life giving. Throughout the book, Gorman demonstrates the centrality of participating in Christ for Paul's theology and spirituality.

This new commentary in the New Testament Library series is not a systematic study of Pauline theology; rather, the aim of this study is to trace Paul's theology as it unfolds in his letter to the church at Galatia, and to attempt to illuminate, as far as possible, how the Galatians likely comprehended it, at the time they received it. The author asks readers to imagine themselves as silent witnesses to Paul's dictation of the letter and to observe, through a historical perspective, how the Galatian Christians might have understood Paul's words.