Eleven papers from the First Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, examining aspects of the Textus Receptus, the 'Pre-Johannine Text' of the Gospel, the ratings system in the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament and the application of probability theory to textual transmission, as well as surveys of non-continuous papyrus witnesses to the New Testament and the Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony, alongside studies of variation in the form of the Beatitudes and the location of Emmaus.

Good news. It was good news, not only of Jesus' birth but of what he offered to everyone throughout his ministry. To the sick he offered healing. To the hurting, comfort. To the outcast, acceptance. In this study you will discover that this message of hope and joy is for you as well. This revised title features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, as well as a "now or later" section in each study. This book contains twenty six studies for individuals and groups.

To enclaves of young converts tucked away in the mountains of Asia Minor, Paul wrote what is perhaps the oldest document in the New Testament - the letter to the Galatians. What problems were they facing? Among a variety of religious authorities espousing different teachings, how were they to know who was right? How were men and women to be put right with God? How could Christians in the midst of a pagan culture live lives truly pleasing to God? 'Only one way -' answered Paul, 'through Jesus Christ.' His answer holds true for us as well. The details of our struggle have changed since Paul's day, but the principles he sets forth are as timeless as the Lord he exalts.

Reconsidering Johannine Christianity presents a full-scale application of social identity approach to the Johannine writings. This book reconsiders a widely held scholarly assumption that the writings commonly taken to represent Johannine Christianity - the Gospel of John and the First, Second and Third Epistles of John - reflect the situation of an introverted early Christian group. It claims that dualistic polarities appearing in these texts should be taken as attempts to construct a secure social identity, not as evidence of social isolation. While some scholars (most notably, Richard Bauckham) have argued that the New Testament gospels were not addressed to specific early Christian communities but to all Christians, this book proposes that we should take different branches of early Christianity, not as localized and closed groups, but as imagined communities that envision distinct early Christian identities. It also reassesses the scholarly consensus according to which the Johannine Epistles presuppose and build upon the finished version of the Fourth Gospel and argues that the Johannine tradition, already in its initial stages, was diverse.

The goals of Management and the Gospel: Luke's Radical Message for the First and Twenty-First Centuries may appear to be simple: it describes what management theory and practice looked like in the first century, uses this as a lens to examine what the Gospel of Luke says about management, and draws out implications for today. However, the book is quite profound in finding that management is a dominant theme in the Gospel, that its message is consistently counter-cultural, and that Luke contains a four-phase 'how to' process model to help readers to implement change. Readers will acquire a new way to understand the Gospel as well as the moral foundations of modern management.

The American Standard Version is a classic text for digging into the depths of God's Word. The complete Bible, first published in 1901, has been used since that time to seek a full understanding of Scripture. The Version sought-and greatly achieved-a literal translation of the original languages into American English. Because the translation is so literal, it has been treasured as a tool for understanding God's original intent by those who do not read Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

The relationship between the so-called 'theological' (Eph 1 3) and 'paraenetic' (Eph 4 6) sections of Ephesians has been a matter of extensive scholarly discussion. Central to this debate is the question whether the ethical material found in Ephesians 4 6 is an integral part of the theological statements in Ephesians 1 3, or whether it is merely an appendage with its own self-contained theology. This study undertakes a fresh investigation into the relationship between the 'theological' and 'paraenetic' sections of Ephesians. It demonstrates the intrinsic integration of both parts of the letter by examining the soteriological pattern of Ephesians, and how salvation entails the moral and social transformation of believers; this, in turn, renders meaningless the category-distinction between 'theology' and 'ethics'.

This volume collects the best articles on the Synoptic gospels from the first fifty issues of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of the volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Here the reader will find ground-breaking studies that introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in this particular topic of New Testament studies, and articles that engage with each other in specific debates. For undergraduates this book offers an invaluable critical introduction to Synoptic Gospel studies. More advanced students and scholars can use it to find background material or to gain an overview of the research in this area of scholarship. This builds on the reputation of JSNT as a conduit for first-class research and a major influence within the scholarly community.

Lukan scholars offer varying responses to the issue of divergent viewpoints in the gospel regarding the identity of Jesus, wealth, women, and the emphasis on doing vis-vis hearing. Many forms of criticism attempt to explain or harmonize these apparent contradictions. Conversely, Raj Nadella argues that there is no dominant viewpoint in Luke and that the divergence in viewpoints is a unique literary feature to be celebrated rather than a problem to be solved. Nadella interprets selected Lukan passages in light of Bakhtinian concepts such as dialogism, loophole, and exotopy to show that the disparate perspectives, and interplay between them, display Lukes superior literary skills rather than his inability to produce a coherent work. Luke emerges as a work akin to Dostoevskys Brothers Karamazov that accommodates competing views on several issues and allows them to enter into an unfinalizable dialogue as equal partners.

The expression "in the heavenlies" appears five times in Ephesians and is not found at any other point in the New Testament. The two appearances which have provoked the most debate are the session of earthly believers in 2:6 and the presence of the spiritual forces of evil in 6:12.
M. Jeff Brannon conducts a lexical, exegetical, and conceptual analysis of the expression arguing against the prevailing interpretation of the term and provides in-depth examinations of three significant concepts associated with it; namely the redeemed on earth having a heavenly status, evil powers in heaven, and the cosmology of Ephesians. Brannon uses a wide range of souces; Greek, Jewish, the Apostolic Fathers, and the Septuagint. Brannon concludes that there is no basis for a distinction between the terms 'heavens' and 'in the heavenlies' in Ephesians . He also asserts that Qumran and apocalyptic texts can shed light upon and assist in a proper understanding of the difficult passages in which the expression appears.

This book explores the Matthean Posteriority Hypothesis (MPH), a largely neglected solution to the Synoptic Problem which holds that the author of the Gospel of Luke used the Gospel of Mark as a source, and that the author of the Gospel of Matthew used both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke as sources. MacEwen begins with a survey of the scholars who have defended various forms of the MPH. Chapter 2 discusses two key lines of evidence which support the MPH. The first line of evidence is textual - demonstrating that Matthew could have known the contents of Luke's Gospel beyond merely the double tradition material. The second line of evidence, involving a study of strings of verbatim agreements in the Gospels, supports the view that Matthew depended directly on Luke. Chapter 3 explores evidence and arguments which can be seen as problematic for the MPH. MacEwen concludes that the MPH has been neither definitely proved nor disproved, and deserves further scholarly scrutiny.

New volume in the TNTC revision and replacement programme

Based on recent studies in intercultural communication Kathy Ehrensperger applies the paradigm of multilingualism, which includes the recognition of cultural distinctiveness, to the study of Paul. Paul's role as apostle to the nations is seen as the role of a go-between - as that of cultural translator. This role requires that he is fully embedded in his own tradition but must also be able to appreciate and understand aspects of gentile culture. Paul is viewed as involved in a process in which the meaning of the Christ event is being negotiated 'in the space between' cultures, with their diverse cultural coding systems and cultural encyclopaedias. It is argued that this is not a process of imposing Jewish culture on gentiles at the expense of gentile identity, nor is it a process of eradication of Jewish identity. Rather, Paul's theologizing in the space between implies the task of negotiating the meaning of the Christ event in relation to, and in appreciation of both, Jewish and gentile identity.

The richly varied collection of 15 essays in this volume showcase the afterlife of the Book of Revelation. It is a biblical book that has left its mark in many fields of intellectual endeavour: literature, film, music, philosophy, political theology, and religious ideology. It is perhaps paradoxical that this book, which promises God's punishment upon anyone expanding on its contents, has nevertheless accumulated to itself over two millennia vast amounts of commentary, exposition, and appropriation. Offered at the close of the 'Blair/Bush years', this volume also exposes and highlights the often deeply ironic resonances generated while studying the reception history of Revelation during a period when the book has both significant public currency and a potentially terrifying global impact. Contents. Decoding, Reception History, Poetry: Three Hermeneutical Approaches to the Apocalypse (Jonathan Roberts); Self-Authorization in Christina Rossetti's The Face of the Deep (Jo Carruthers); Revelation, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Alison Jack); Revelation and Film (Melanie J. Wright); The Apocalypse according to Johnny Cash (William John Lyons); The Johannine Apocalypse and the Risk of Knowledge (James E. Harding); Revelation, Violence, and War (Heikki Raisanen); The Reception of Revelation, c. 1250-1700 (Anke Holdenried); A Seventeenth-Century Particular Baptist on Revelation 20.1-7 (Simon Woodman); The Book of Revelation, the Branch Davidians and Apocalyptic (Self-)destruction? (Kenneth Newport); Ecological Readings of the Apocalypse of John in Contemporary America (Michael S. Northcott); Feminist Reception of the Book of Revelation (Hanna Stenstrom); Revelation as Form and Content in the Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Jorunn Okland)

This collection examines the allusions to the Elijah- Elisha narrative in the gospel of Luke. The volume presents the case for a "maximalist" view, which holds that the Elijah-Elisha narrative had a dominant role in the composition of Luke 7 and 9, put forward by Thomas L. Brodie and John Shelton, with critical responses to this thesis by Robert Derrenbacker, Alex Damm, F. Gerald Downing, David Peabody, Dennis MacDonald and Joseph Verheyden. Taken together the contributions to this volume provide fascinating insights into the composition of the gospel of Luke, and the editorial processes involved in its creation. Contributions cover different approaches to the text, including issues of intertextuality and rhetorical-critical examinations. The distinguished contributors and fast-paced debate make this book an indispensable addition to any theological library.