Becoming Christian examines various facets of the first letter of Peter, in its social and historical setting, in some cases using new social-scientific and postcolonial methods to shed light on the ways in which the letter contributes to the making of Christian identity. At the heart of the book chapters 5-7, examine the contribution of 1 Peter to the construction of Christian identity, the persecution and suffering of Christians in Asia Minor, the significance of the name 'Christian', and the response of the letter to the hostility encountered by Christians in society. There are no recent books which bring together such a wealth of information and analysis of this crucial early Christian text. Becoming Christian has developed out of Horrell's ongoing research for the International Critical Commentary on 1 Peter. Together these chapters offer a series of significant and original engagements with this letter, and a resource for studies of 1 Peter for some time to come.

This book offers a detailed analysis of the Gospel of Thomas in its historic and literary context, providing a new understanding of the genesis of the Jesus tradition. Discovered in the twentieth century, the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas is an important early text whose origins and place in the history of Christianity continue to be subjects of debate. Aiming to relocate the Thomasine community in the wider context of early Christianity, this study considers the Gospel of Thomas as a bridge between the oral and literary phases of the Christian movement. It will therefore, be useful for Religion scholars working on Biblical studies, Coptic codices, gnosticism and early Christianity.

Repentance and conversion are key topics in New Testament interpretation and in Christian life. However, the study of conversion in early Christianity has been plagued by psychological assumptions alien to the world of the New Testament. Leading New Testament scholar Joel Green believes that careful attention to the narrative of Luke-Acts calls for significant rethinking about the nature of Christian conversion. Drawing on the cognitive sciences and examining key evidence in Luke-Acts, this book emphasizes the embodied nature of human life as it explores the life transformation signaled by the message of conversion, offering a new reading of a key aspect of New Testament theology.

How did the author of the Gospel of Luke intend it to be read? In The Spiral Gospel, Rob James shows that the assumptions many modern readers bring to the text - that it claims to be historically factual, or merely regurgitates existing stories - are not those of antiquity. Building on the central insight that it was written for a community who would have used it as their pre-eminent text, James argues convincingly for a continuous, cyclical reading of Luke's narrative. The evidence for this view, and also its consequences, can be seen in the gospel's intratextuality. Context is given at the end of the gospel that informs the beginning, and there are countless other intratextual elements throughout the text that are most readily noticeable on a second or subsequent reading. This deliberate, creative interweaving on the author's part opens up new levels of appreciation and faith for those who read in the way Luke's first audience received his work.

In this new analysis of the Gospel of John, Kari Syreeni argues that the gospel is a heavily reworked edition of an earlier Johannine work, and that the original did not include Jesus' passion. Syreeni theorizes that the original gospel ended at Chapter 12, with the notion of Jesus' disappearance from the world, and that the passion narrative was incorporated by a later editor freely using the existing gospels of Mark and Matthew. Syreeni suggests that the letters of John - written after the predecessor gospels but before the final edition - reveal a schism in the Johannine community that was caused by the majority faction's acceptance of Jesus' death and resurrection, as it was then recorded in the new gospel. By exploring the gospel's different means of legitimizing the passion story, such as the creation of the 'Beloved Disciple' to witness Jesus' passion, and the foreshadowing of the resurrection of Jesus in the miracle of Lazarus, Syreeni provides a bold and provocative case for a new understanding of John.

The question of how to interpret scripture and whether there is a distinctively Anglican approach to doing so is one of the leading theological questions in the Anglican Communion. An Anglican Hermeneutic of the Transfiguration analyzes major Anglican interpretations of the Transfiguration from the eighth century to the present and suggests that Anglicans do in fact have a distinctive hermeneutical approach to this event. Moreover, this approach may point to larger trends in the interpretation of Scripture overall, but especially the Gospels. With respect to the Transfiguration, Anglicans interpret the event within the biblical context, assume its basic historic character, and juxtapose high Christology with the human limitations of Jesus' self-understanding. Furthermore, Anglicans draw pastoral implications for the lives of Jesus and the disciples from the Transfiguration and assert that the glory manifested on the mountain supports a partially realized eschatology. Finally, Anglicans write for well-educated, non-specialists in theology.

A translation of many of the forbidden books of the Bible banned by the Council of Nicene, including the Gospels of the Infancy of Jesus, translated and published by William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury 1716-1737. Less than a century before, William Tyndale had been executed by the church for daring to translate the Bible into English. Wake believed that many, if not most, of these passages were historically accurate, even those showing the young Jesus in a less than sympathetic light. The Fascination of Lost Scripture continues to be of great interest to Bible Scholars and Lay People.

This tried and true classroom favorite by respected New Testament scholar Gary Burge has been praised for its usefulness. The expanded second edition has been revised throughout to take account of current scholarship and introduces software tools that have become available since the original edition was published. Combining original insight with how-to guidance, this textbook helps students interpret the Gospel of John and apply it in teaching and preaching.

The story of Mark is one of trauma and loss, but also one of healing and provisional selfhood. These themes reoccur time and time again throughout modern-day films, sculptures, graphic novels, and electronic media. By examining these contemporary interpretations of this particular early Christian gospel, this book breaks new ground in ways of understanding traditional religious texts. The authors use the Gospel of Mark as a resource enabling traumatized persons or groups to resist capitulation and restore at least partial identity, and do so in a way that avoids traditional theological or dogmatic assumptions. While not claiming the Gospel of Mark as the definitive or complete answer to experiences of pain and loss, this book models new ways of reading it for coping and healing.

John the Baptist as a Rewritten Figure in Luke-Acts compares the Gospel of Luke's account of John's ministry with those of Matthew, Mark, and John to make the case for the hypertextual relationship between the synoptic gospels. The book is divided into three parts. Part I situates the Gospel of Luke within the broader context of biblical rewritings and makes the general case that a rewriting strategy can be detected in Luke, while Parts II and III combined offer a more detailed and specific argument for Luke's refiguring of the public ministry of John the Baptist through the use of omitted, new, adapted, and reserved material. While the "two source hypothesis" typically presupposes the independence of Luke and Matthew in their rewritings of Mark and Q, Chauchot argues that Luke was heavily reliant on Matthew as suggested by the "L/M hypothesis". Approaching the Baptist figure in the synoptic gospels from a literary-critical perspective, Chauchot examines "test cases" of detailed comparative analysis between them to argue that the Gospel of Luke makes thematic changes upon John the Baptist and is best characterized as a highly creative reshaping of Matthew and Mark. Making a contribution to current research in the field of New Testament exegesis, the book is key reading for students, scholars, and clergy interested in New Testament hermeneutics and Gospel writing.

Dislocation, which involves moving from a familiar place to an unknown place, is a common experience in this era of globalization yet it can cause a deep sense of alienation - people feel invisible, voiceless, and anonymous. A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience: Creating a Borderland, Constructing a Hybrid Identity employs socio-rhetorical criticism from a postcolonial perspective, providing a hermeneutic on the experience of dislocation from the perspective of Asian immigrant women. The author's focus on Asian immigrant women's spirituality is interwoven with different texts such as the story of a woman caught in adultery (Jn. 7: 53-8:11), Asian immigrant women's stories in the novels Dictee and Crossings, and stories of Korean shamans encountered in the author's ethnographic fieldwork. This book suggests that people who experience dislocation can create a borderland where their own marginality gains power and voice. In that borderland, they are able to construct a hybrid identity as a result of deep engagement with one another. In particular, the author's fieldwork on Korean shamans reveals how the shamanic ritual itself functions as a borderland, wherein the marginalized Korean shamans gain hybrid identity. A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience is a valuable resource for classes in Asian studies, ethnography, cultural anthropology, biblical spirituality, women's spirituality, and interdisciplinary courses.

The metaphor of the cosmos as the Body of Christ offers an opportunity to escape the aporias of standard Body of Christ imagery, which has often proved anthropocentric, exclusivist, triumphalist and/or sexist in the analyses of classical theologies. The body motif in particular contains starting points for current body discourses of gender-sensitive and ecological theologies, especially in their mutual overlaps. This book offers a critical evaluation of the prospects and boundaries of an updated metaphor of the Body of Christ, especially in its cosmic dimension. The first part of the book addresses the complex tradition in which the universal dimension of cosmological Christologies is located, including the thinking of the Apostles Paul and John, Origen, Cusanus, Teilhard de Chardin, McFague, and Panikkar. In the second part of the book, representatives of various innovative concepts will contribute to the anthology. This is a wide-ranging study of the implications of a new cosmic Body of Christ. As such, it will be of interest to academics working in Religion and Gender, Religion and the Environment, Theology and Christology.

Written by scholars with extensive experience teaching in colleges and universities, the Exploring the Bible series has for decades equipped students to study Scripture for themselves. Exploring the New Testament, Volume Two provides an accessible introduction to the Letters and Revelation. It's filled with classroom-friendly features such as discussion questions, charts, theological summary sidebars, essay questions, and further reading lists. This volume introduces students to Jewish and Greco-Roman background Paul's life, mission, and theology the structure and major themes of each book issues of authorship, date, and setting methods in reading and interpreting the Letters and Revelation the intersection of New Testament criticism with contemporary issues of faih and culture Now in its third edition, this popular textbook has been updated and revised to take account of the latest advances in scholarly findings and research methods, including new sections on the theological links between Jesus and Paul the way New Testament authors read the Hebrew Scriptures the contribution of archaeology to New Testament studies updated bibliographies highlighting the most important and influential works published in the last decade Exploring the New Testament, Volume Two offers a thorough overview of the Letters and Revelation that will give students a stronger understanding and a solid foundation for ongoing study.

In Defence of Christianity examines the early Christian apologists in their context in thirteen articles divided in four parts. Part I provides an introduction to apology and apologetics in antiquity, an overview of the early Christian apologists, and an outline of their argumentation. The nine articles of Part II each cover one of the early apologists: Aristides, Justin, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, the author of the Letter to Diognetus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Minucius Felix. Part III contextualises the apologists by providing an English translation of contemporary pagan criticism of Christianity and by discussing this critique. Part IV consists of a single article discussing how Eusebius depicted and used the apologists in his Ecclesiastical History.

"Genesis in the New Testament" brings together a set of specially commissioned studies by authors who are experts in the field. After an introductory chapter on the use of Genesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls and second temple literature, each of the New Testament books that contain quotations from Genesis are discussed: Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, John, Paul, Deutero-Paul, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter and Jude, Revelation. The book provides an overview of the status, role and function of Genesis in the first century. It considers the Greek and Hebrew manuscript traditions and offers insights into the various hermeneutical stances of the New Testament authors and the development of New Testament theology. The book follows on from acclaimed volumes considering Isaiah, Deuteronomy and the Minor Prophets in a similar manner.

This textbook on how to read the Gospels well can stand on its own as a guide to reading this New Testament genre as Scripture. It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification.
Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.

Eph 3:10 (Principalities and Authorities in the Heavenly Places) articulates the related cluster of terms that express the "Pauline" spirit world in Ephesians'. Through a psychological-hermeneutical study, this book contributes to provide a theologically-founded response to the immense challenges the spirit world apprehensions among the Igbo (Africans), pose to true discipleship in these settings. Identifying the strongly influential role played here by the Igbo traditional religion/world view(s) and the foundation of these biblical terms in the attempts at Weltbewaltigung, the book highlights how proper appreciation of the Christological paraenetics of Eph enhances critical consciousness and cognitive reconstruction towards mature faith and societal betterment.

"Clarence Jordan spoke with an unwavering prophetic voice. He firmly rejected materialism, militarism, and racism as obstacles to authentic faith... He was a fearless and innovative defender of human rights." -President Jimmy Carter On 440 depleted acres in Sumter County, Georgia, a young Baptist preacher and farmer named Clarence Jordan gathered a few families and set out to show that Jesus intended more than spiritual fellowship. Like the first Christians, they would share their land, money, and possessions. Working together to rejuvenate the soil and the local economy, they would demonstrate racial and social justice with their lives. Black and white community members eating together at the same table scandalized local Christians, drew the ire of the KKK, and led to drive-by shootings, a firebombing, and an economic boycott. This bold experiment in nonviolence, economic justice, and sustainable agriculture was deeply rooted in Clarence Jordan's understanding of the person and teachings of Jesus, which stood in stark contrast to the hypocrisy of churches that blessed wars, justified wealth disparity, and enforced racial segregation. "You can't put Christianity into practice," Jordan wrote, "You can't make it work. As desperately as it is needed in this poor, broken world, it is not a philosophy of life to be 'tried.' Nor is it a social or ethical ideal which has tantalized humankind with the possibility of attainment. For Christianity is not a system you work - it is a Person who works you." This selection from his talks and writings introduces Clarence Jordan's radically biblical vision to a new generation of peacemakers, community builders, and activists.

The Middle Ages spanned the period between two watersheds in the history of the biblical text: Jerome's Latin translation c.405 and Gutenberg's first printed version in 1455. The Bible was arguably the most influential book during this time, affecting spiritual and intellectual life, popular devotion, theology, political structures, art, and architecture. In an account that is sensitive to the religiously diverse world of the Middle Ages, Frans van Liere offers here an accessible introduction to the study of the Bible in this period. Discussion of the material evidence - the Bible as book - complements an in-depth examination of concepts such as lay literacy and book culture. This introduction includes a thorough treatment of the principles of medieval hermeneutics, and a discussion of the formation of the Latin bible text and its canon. It will be a useful starting point for all those engaged in medieval and biblical studies.

The Gospel writers state they aim to tell the story of Jesus in a clear manner, but throughout Paul McCarren's years in ministry, he has seen that these simple and important messages are too often missed. In his Simple Guides to the Gospels series, McCarren provides a new translation of each Gospel book, leading readers chapter by chapter through the text. Each section includes scripture and a brief, engaging commentary about how readers can relate to the material. The Simple Guides introduce readers to life in early Christianity, describe points of controversy, and show how each section fits with those that went before. The Simple Guide to Matthew highlights many of Jesus' compelling sayings, stories such as the Sermon on the Mount, and key themes of Jesus' ministry, such as trust. The books in the Simple Guides to the Gospels series are available individually or together as a complete set.

Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans examines the life, work, and influence of this controversial figure, who remains the most highly visible of the Roman client kings under Augustus. Herod's rule shaped the world in which Christianity arose and his influence can still be seen today. In this expanded second edition, additions to the original text include discussion of the archaeological evidence of Herod's activity, his building program, numismatic evidence, and consideration of the roles and activities of other client kings in relation to Herod. This volume includes new maps and numerous photographs, and these coupled with the new additions to the text make this a valuable tool for those interested in the wider Roman world of the late first century BCE at both under- and postgraduate levels. Herod remains the definitive study of the life and activities of the king known traditionally as Herod the Great.

The Book of Revelation holds a special fascination for both scholars and the general public. The book has generated widely differing interpretations, yet Revelation has surprisingly not been the focus of many single-volume reference works. The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation fills a need in the study of this controversial book. Thirty essays by leading scholars from around the world orient readers to the major currents in the study of Revelation. Divided into five sections-Literary Features, Social Setting, Theology and Ethics, History of Reception and Influence, and Currents in Interpretation-the essays identify the major lines of interpretation that have shaped discussion of these topics, and then work through the aspects of those topics that are most significant and hold greatest promise for future research.

Spirit Christology has emerged as an important focus in recent theology. It offers new perspectives on Christology and Pneumatology. Can these new perspectives lead to advances in trinitarian theology itself? The classical theologies of both East and West tended to express great reserve about moving too easily from the economy of salvation to ideas about God in se. In the twentieth century, Karl Rahner's argument that the 'economic' Trinity is the 'immanent' Trinity and vice versa helped lead to a significant erosion of this reserve, though not without controversy. The work of David Coffey represents a significant contribution to reflection on this nexus of questions. This book examines his treatment of the relation of Spirit Christology to Logos Christology, his reformulation of Rahner's axiom, and his suggestion that Spirit Christology offers an 'ascending' basis for a 'mutual love' Pneumatology, in the service of a renewed trinitarian theology. It presents an analysis of Coffey's achievement in its various contexts, historical and contemporary. It highlights his methodological balance and argues that his theology represents an important development within the tradition, casting new light on issues of pressing contemporary interest.

The Gospel writers state they aim to tell the story of Jesus in a clear manner, but throughout Paul McCarren's years in ministry, he has seen that these simple and important messages are too often missed. In his Simple Guides to the Gospels series, McCarren provides a new translation of each Gospel book, leading readers chapter by chapter through the text. Each section includes scripture and a brief, engaging commentary about how readers can relate to the material. The Simple Guides introduce readers to life in early Christianity, describe points of controversy, and show how each section fits with those that went before. The Simple Guide to Matthew highlights many of Jesus' compelling sayings, stories such as the Sermon on the Mount, and key themes of Jesus' ministry, such as trust. The books in the Simple Guides to the Gospels series are available individually or together as a complete set.