Justin Marc Smith argues that the gospels were intended to be addressed to a wide and varied audience. He does this by considering them to be works of ancient biography, comparative to the Greco-Roman biography. Smith argues that the earliest Christian interpreters of the Gospels did not understand their works to be sectarian documents. Rather, the wider context of Jesus literature in the second and third centuries points toward the broader Christian practice of writing and disseminating literary presentations of Jesus and Jesus traditions as widely as possible. Smith addresses the difficulty in reconstructing the various gospel communities that might lie behind the gospel texts and suggests that the 'all nations' motif present in all four of the canonical gospels suggests an ideal secondary audience beyond those who could be identified as Christian.

Even when he was a prototype of European identity, Paul transgressed the limits of Europe. It is not clear whether he was conformist or rebellious, orthodox or liberal, sexist, or egalitarian. Instead of pushing the Apostle into the arbitrary categories of modern European identity, Fatima Tofighi takes into account the challenge that Paul brings to normative conceptions of political theology (Rom 13), 'religion' (Gal 2.12-14), and women's veiling (1 Cor 11. 5-16). Alternative interpretations of these passages, with the help of postmodern theory, both solve the major problems of biblical exegesis and offer a critique of the allegedly well-defined European categories.

Sechrest describes Pauline Christianity as a nascent ancient racial group, drawing on a Jewish understanding of race in Second Temple Judaism. With analysis of nearly five thousand Jewish and non-Jewish passages about identity from around the turn of the era, the models presented describe ancient Greek and Jewish ethnic and racial identity. Further, these models become resources for examining the racial character of Paul's self-identity and the continuities and discontinuities between the three races in his social world: Jews, Gentiles, and Christians/ Using historical and literary methods of exegesis for passages in the Pauline corpus, Sechrest describes Paul as someone who was born a Jew, but who later saw himself as a member of a different race. Analyzing Christian identity in Galatians in terms of membership criteria, membership indicia, and inter-group dynamics, a final section of the book con-trasts the portrait of Paul that emerges from this study with those in Daniel Boyarin's "A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity" and Brad Braxton's "No Longer Slaves: Galatians and African American Experience". This section engages all three of these descriptions of community and identity, and illuminates the problems and opportunities contained in a modern appropriation of a racial construction of Christian identity. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".

Eldon Jay Epp's second volume of collected essays consists of articles previously published during 2006-2017. All treat aspects of the New Testament textual criticism, but focus on historical and methodological issues relevant to constructing the earliest attainable text of New Testament writings. More specific emphasis falls upon the nature of textual transmission and the text-critical process, and heavily on the criteria employed in establishing that earliest available text. Moreover, textual grouping is examined at length, and prominent is the current approach to textual variants not approved for the constructed text, for they have stories to tell regarding theological, ethical, and real-life issues as the early Christian churches sought to work out their own status, practices, and destiny.

In this title, Kuecker uses social identity theory to examine the interface between the Holy Spirit and ethnicity in "Luke-Acts". Kuecker uses an artillery of social identity theory to demonstrate that in "Luke"'s narrative the Spirit is the central figure in the formation of a new social identity. In his argumenation, Kuecker provides extended exegetical treatments of "Luke" 1-4 and "Acts" 1-15. He shows that "Luke" 1-4 establishes a foundation for "Luke"'s understanding of the relationship between human identity, the Spirit, and the 'other' - especially as it relates to the distribution of in-group benefits beyond group boundaries. With regard to "Acts" 1-15, Kuecker shows that the Spirit acts whenever human identity is in question in order to transform communities and individuals via the formation of a new social identity. Kuecker argues that "Luke" depicts this Spirit-formed social identity as a different way of being human in community, relative to the normative identity processes of other groups in his narrative. This transformed identity produces profound expressions of interethnic reconciliation in "Luke-Acts" expressed through reformed economic practice, impressive intergroup hospitality, and a reoriented use of ethnic language. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", this is a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".

In his Epistle to the Philippians, Paul positions himself as an example of 'being in Christ'. The way in which he does this points out that he consciously positions himself in the tradition of classical rhetoric, where the use of paradigms (exempla) was a standard element in deliberative arguing. Paul describes his life as coloured by Christ in such a way that he represents Christ to the Philippians, and the response he hopes to evoke in their congregation is that of similar behaviour. The analysis of Smit combines observations on classical rhetoric, exegetical analyses of Philippians, and views from the perspective of gender and masculinity studies into a new and fresh analysis of the material. He shows that ancient ideals of deliberative rhetoric have influenced Philippians in much the same way in which they appear in e.g. Aristotle, Plutarch, and (also) 2 Maccabees. This study both positions Paul in the cultural context of his day and indicates the newness of his enterprise.

What is an 'echo' of Scripture? How can we detect echoes of the Old Testament in Paul, and how does their detection facilitate interpretation of the Pauline text? These are questions addressed by this collection of essays from the SBL programme unit Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. The first part of the book reports its vigorous 1990 discussion of Richard Hays's 'Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul', including contributions by Craig Evans, James Sanders, William Scott Green and Christiaan Beker, as well as a response by R.B. Hays. The second part of the book studies specific passages where reference is made to the Old Testament explicitly or allusively. The contributors here are James Sanders, Linda Belleville, Carol Stockhausen, James Scott, Nancy Calvert and Stephen Brown.

This title demonstrates that the Qumran document "The Rule of the Community", provides linguistic clues which illuminate our understanding of the "Fourth Gospel". This work sets out to demonstrate that the sectarian Qumran document "The Rule of the Community", provides linguistic clues which illuminate our understanding of how the author of the "Fourth Gospel" used truth terminology and expected it to be understood. It establishes that there are significant linguistic similarities shared by these two corpora. While these may be attributed to a development of the common tradition shared by both, as well as the influence ideology, the semantic continuity with the Rule of the Community makes it likely that the author of the "Fourth Gospel" was familiar with the mode of thought represented in the linguistic matrix of the Qumran literature and that he followed this in articulating his ideas in certain parts of his Gospel. This series focuses on early Jewish and Christian texts and their formative contexts; it also includes sourcebooks that help clarify the ancient world.

Historical- critical approaches to Scripture rule out some readings and commend others, but they rarely offer much help to either theological reflection or the preaching of the Word. They do not point the church forward in the life of discipleship. These commentaries have learned from tradition, but they are most importantly commentaries for today. The authors share the conviction that their work will be more contemporary, more faithful, and more radical, to the extent that it is more biblical, honestly wrestling with the texts of the Scriptures.--from the series introduction The volumes in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible from Westminster John Knox Press offer a fresh and invigorating approach to all the books of the Bible. Building on a wide range of sources from biblical studies, the history of theology, the church's liturgical and musical traditions, contemporary culture, and the Christian tradition, noted scholars focus less on traditional historical and literary angles in favor of a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the texts. This series is an invaluable resource for those who want to probe beyond the backgrounds and words of biblical texts to their deep theological and ethical meanings for the church today.

This detailed exegetical study of Gal 3.28c in the light of 3.14-29 and 4.21-31 shows not only how integral this verse is to chapters 3 and 4 of the letter, but also that it is the key to understanding Paul's theological argument of promise in Galatians. Paul's use of the story of Abraham in 3.14-29 and of Sarah in 4.21-31 in light of God's promise to the patriarch and the matriarch in Genesis 17 have implications displays the joint role of Abraham and Sarah in bringing about the promise, and underscores the unity of the believers in Christ. In light of this, Uzukwu examines important aspects of the history of the interpretation of Gal 3.28c. Uzukwu sheds light on the link between Gal 3:28 and the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek writings. Links are also revealed to the three blessings of gratitude that appear at the beginning of the Jewish cycle of morning prayers, Gen 1.27c (in the Septuagint), and the alleged pre-Pauline baptismal formula. She goes further to demonstrate how 3.28c is related to the unity of Galatians 3-4, focusing on the theme of the promise as the text discusses the effect of the Christ event in bringing about the fulfillment of that promise.

Christianity as a movement developed within the already established, but volatile Jewish movement/religion, expressing a profound sense of inclusivism illustrated in the transcendence of social boundaries. In this book the dynamic reality of creating and transcending boundaries and the relationship between insiders and outsiders are explored by way of reflecting on mission and ethos.