The idea of God the Father has attracted scholarly attention for centuries, especially in terms of the revelation of God's fatherhood through the Son. 'The Father Who Redeems and the Son Who Obeys' balances the Christological perspective on God's nature with the image of God the Father that has its roots in the Old Testament, and is more prominent in the Second Temple period than sometimes acknowledged. For Paul, God is the Father who redeems. The Old Testament imagery that shaped the Israelites' conception of God's interaction with them (and which was a basis for God's future restoration of the nation, despite their unfaithfulness) is central to Paul's explanation of the new salvific act of God the Father in Christ, the faithful and obedient Son.

Rather than viewing the Apostle Paul's many references to peace and non-retaliation as generalized ethical principles drawn from Paul's background, Jeremy Gabrielson argues that peace and non-retaliation should be understood in relation to Paul's history of being a violent persecutor of Jesus' followers. After his 'Damascus road' experience, Paul zealously announced the gospel and abandoned his violent ways. His apostolic vocation included calling and equipping assemblies of people whose common in life was ordered by a politics characterized by peaceableness. This political dimension of Paul's gospel, in continuity with the earliest evidence we possess regarding Jesus and his disciples, stands in stark contrast to the politics of both the contemporary Roman imperial power and those who would seek to replace Rome by violent means.

When you need to know how to do something, a manual is the best place to start. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus could be called the 'Teacher's Manual' because these letters contain so much advice about the kind of teaching Christian leaders should - and shouldn't - be giving. Just as Timothy and Titus needed help to lead their young churches in the midst of powerful cultural forces, we need guidance for leading and living well in our own context. These studies of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus point us in the right direction. They bring us to a greater understanding of ourselves and show us the way through the challenges we face.

A Case for Mixed-Audience with Reference to the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews discusses the nature of the warnings in Hebrews and how these warnings relate to the theological question of the eternal security of believers. The main argument is that these warnings are intended to target a particular segment of the author's community, about whose appropriation of and subsequent attitude toward the Christian message he was deeply concerned. That is to say, while the book of Hebrews is addressed as a message of encouragement to the community as a whole, its warnings are aimed at a certain element in the community whose salvation is threatened by a possible dangerous course of action. The book implies that while the author is persuaded that the majority in the community are genuine believers, there are some about whose salvation he doubts; hence the «case for a mixed-audience. What is threatened, therefore, is not a salvation already possessed, but the salvation of those in danger of coming up short. Theologically, the work falls within the sphere of the Calvinistic-Arminian debate regarding the assurance of salvation and the perseverance of the saints. It argues strongly for the Calvinistic position, but does so within the confines of the discipline of biblical studies, and lends extensive exegetical support to the Calvinistic position on the warning passages. The book is highly recommended for Bible College and seminary students and professors, as well as pastors and lay leaders who must give answers to their parishoners on those tough warning passages in Hebrews.

This study of the Matthean narrative uses the interpretive lens of food exchange to explore the Matthean community's relationship with the wider world. While many studies depict this community as withdrawing from or in conflict with the larger society, James P. Grimshaw's focus on the daily need for food reveals a community that, while distinct, progressively integrates itself into the larger Jewish and Gentile society and the natural world. In addition, this view of community corresponds to the view of a God who actively provides for and relates to all creation. Grimshaw's alternative portrayal of the Matthean community, whose interactions with its surrounding environment are more complex and sustained than often imagined, is a compelling interpretation for today's stratified and disconnected world.

This book addresses the influence of the imperial cult in first-century AD Asia Minor and its subsequent relevance to the reading of the New Testament. In particular, this work argues, through a contrapuntal reading of 1 Timothy 2: 1-7, that the early Christian community strongly resisted the Emperor's claim to be the "mediator" between the gods and humanity. In contrast to this claim, the author shows that 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 can be read as a polemic from a minority community, the Christian church in Ephesus, against the powerful voice of the Roman Empire in regard to divine mediation.

This volume presents a detailed case for the plausible literary dependence of the Gospel of Mark on select letters of the apostle Paul. The book argues that Mark and Paul share a gospel narrative that tells the story of the life, death, resurrection, and second coming of Jesus Christ "in accordance with the scriptures," and it suggests that Mark presumed Paul and his mission to be constitutive episodes of that story. It contends that Mark self-consciously sought to anticipate the person, teachings, and mission of Paul by constructing narrative precursors concordant with the eventual teachings of the itinerant apostle-a process Ferguson labels Mark's 'etiological hermeneutic.' The book focuses in particular on the various (re)presentations of Christ's death that Paul believed occurred within his communities-Christ's death performed in ritual, prefigured in scripture, and embodied within Paul's person-and it argues that these are all seeded within and anticipated by Mark's narrative. Through careful argument and detailed analysis, A New Perspective on the Use of Paul in the Gospel of Mark makes a substantial contribution to the ongoing debate about the dependence of Mark on Paul. It is key reading for any scholar engaged in that debate, and the insights it provides will be of interest to anyone studying the Synoptic Gospels or the epistles of Paul more generally.

Death, judgement, heaven and hell - these are the 'Four Last Things' traditionally linked together under the heading of 'Eschatology'. In this book, John Robinson examines them all with trenchancy and lucidity, providing a new and vital understanding of how these themes relate to contemporary Christian life. In the End, God identifies a gap that exists in the treatment of eschatology within the Christian faith. As Robinson points out, eschatology had traditionally dealt with the last things in a way that is remote and removed from everyday life and Christianity, and the goal of his book is to make eschatology fully relevant to the modern world. Although it is commonly held that eschatology within modern Christianity is centred on the fact and moment of death, Robinson shows that the true nature of eschatology is something quite different. It is not about the last things after everything else, but rather is about the relation of all things to the 'last things' or, as it were, about the 'lastness' of all things. Revealing the foundation of biblical eschatology to be the experience of God by the community of faith, Robinson calls readers to embrace the eschatological vision of the Bible, but to do so in a way that is alert to its mythic character. In the course of these explorations he also lays bare his own theology of universal salvation. However, contrary to what one may expect, this universalism is one that seeks to take both human freedom and the reality of hell with the utmost seriousness. This special edition of John A.T. Robinson's classic text also includes an extended introductory essay by Professor Trevor Hart of the University of St Andrews, and an exchange between Robinson and Thomas F. Torrance, first published in 1949 in the Scottish Journal of Theology.

The topic of this book is to scholars what Uranus was to Scientists before 1781. The ignorance of astrologers about the existence of Uranus before 1781 does not negate the factuality of its being. This is similar in the case of the Servant of God in John. His predicates are there, although the title is missing. Scholars and epochs have witnessed researches and contributions in the Gospel of John. Many see aspects of the Servant of God in John. But just as Uranus could not be seen but its existence was proven because of its effects on the orbits of the other planets, so the Servant of God of the Fourth Gospel could not be seen as a title but its effects on the other christological titles of the gospel indicate its reality in the gospel. The author's approach is purely exegetico-theological.

The history of scholarship narrates a complicated past for the interpretation of the -Shepherd Discourse in the Fourth Gospel. Both the internal and contextual integrity of John 9: 39-10: 21 have been compromised by a misapplied analogy dividing the passage into a parable and explanation structure, and by reading models that favor historical approaches. As a result, the images and figures encountered in the discourse have not been allowed their full imaginative impact and the tendency is to look outside the Gospel for their referents and explanations. The meaning of the -Shepherd Discourse lies not in its relation to the rest of the Fourth Gospel, but to that which is imported into the narrative. Moreover, its function as the discourse to chapter 9, and in the whole of the Gospel, is overlooked. Lewis employs the strategy of rereading, borrowed from literary theory, to address the internal integrity of the discourse and the relationship of the discourse to the rest of the narrative. The literary phenomenon of rereading highlights the interconnectedness of the whole of the discourse and allows all of the imagery to be assessed at a figurative level. Rereading also foregrounds the function of John 9: 39-10: 21 as the discourse to the healing of the blind man in chapter nine, and calls attention to the importance of the -Shepherd Discourse for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, especially the often-ignored image of Jesus as the door. This book suggests that rereading is necessitated by the Gospel itself as a fundamental feature of its unique theological expression."

The Passion Translation is a modern, easy-to-read Bible translation that unlocks the passion of God's heart and expresses his fiery love-merging emotion and life-changing truth. This translation will evoke an overwhelming response in every reader, unfolding the deep mysteries of the Scriptures. If you are hungry for God, The Passion Translation will help you encounter his heart and know him more intimately. Fall in love with God all over again.

What was life like among the first Christians? For the last thirty years, scholars have explored the historical and social contexts of the New Testament in order to sharpen their understanding of the text itself. This interest has led scholars to focus more and more on the social features of early Christian communities and less on their theologies or doctrines.

Scholars are keen to understand what these communities were like, but the ritual life of early Christians remains largely unexplored. Studies of baptism and eucharist do exist, but they are very traditional, showing little awareness of the ritual world, let alone the broader social environment, in which Christians found themselves. Such studies make little or no use of the social sciences, Roman social history, or the archaeological record.

This book argues that ritual was central to, and definitive for, early Christian life (as it is for all social orders), and explores the New Testament through a ritual lens. By grounding the exploration in ritual theory, Greco-Roman ritual life, and the material record of the ancient Mediterranean, it offers new and insightful perspectives on early Christian communities and their cultural environment. In doing justice to a central but slighted aspect of community life, it outlines an alternative approach to the New Testament, one that reveals what the lives of the first Christians were actually like.

In the biblical tradition revelation from God is frequently mediated through certain gifted individuals. Disclosure and hiddenness are both integral to revelation and this study explores how Matthew presents Jesus as a true discerner of revelation and how he seeks to persuade his readrs to accept the truth of his claim. Discemment of revelation is a significant motif running through Matthew's Gospel, relating closely to other aspects of his theological dynamic. This is explored by examining the background in the Old Testament and early Jewish literature, model discemment (Jesus), fragile discemment (Peter) and failed discernment (opponents). A general composition critical approach is taken, although insights from literary criticism are also used, especially to explore literary devices familiar in the apocalyptic and wisdom traditions which Matthew uses as persuasive tools.

"Journeying through Acts" explores the literary and cultural aspects of Acts and offers a fresh reading of this dramatic volume.
Acts is unique in the New Testament canon in part because it is not a gospel or a Pauline letter. It presents a dynamic story of the spread of the Christian gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. The gospel was propelled by the earliest followers of the risen and ascended Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is arguably the chief protagonist in the narrative.
Spencer's reading offers a traveler's guide through the book of Acts. He charts narrative features--plot development, character building, and shifting points of view--and explores cultural scenarios that affect the events in Acts--honor/shame contests, patron-client relations, and purity-pollution boundaries. Within this literary-cultural framework, Spencer undertakes to map the temporal, spatial, and social settings of each segment of the Acts journey.
"Journeying through Acts" offers students, pastors, scholars, and lay readers a satisfying--although by no means exhaustive--understanding of the overall narrative of Acts in light of recent academic scholarship.

This study develops the thesis that the Epistle to the Hebrews uses temporal oppositions as an important literary and theological device within its discourse. It provides a detailed analysis on the lexical field of time and the temporal lines of sense in the Epistle. In addition to the traditional historical-literary methods, the author applies elements from modern linguistics, reader-response theory, and hermeneutics. By using temporal contrasts, this Epistle obtains a clear delineation of the present eschatological status of the Christian community, and creates a forceful exhortation to live according to our stance in history.

Jesus' ministry on this earth only lasted three and a half years, yet in that time His words turned heads, turned hearts, and ultimately turned the world upside down. The words of Jesus offer much to those who have ears to hear. They are His legacy. They are our heritage. In Experiencing the Words of Jesus, you will have the opportunity to hear His voice for yourself.
The words of Christ--discourses, parables, prayers, conversations. Eminently quotable. Undeniably powerful. Eternally true. Let the message that changed the world change your life forever.

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.

This study deals with the structural and exegetical relationship between pre-existence and incarnation in the dynamics of John's Prologue (John 1:1-18). It discusses the point in the narrative at which the shift from the pre-existent Logos to the incarnate Christ takes place and, therefore, the perspective from which the individual parts of the passage (vss. 1-5; vss. 6-13; vss. 14-18) should be interpreted. By making a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the text and evaluating all contrasting views on the subject, the book shows the essential chronological order of the narrative, whose climax (vss. 14-18) is not the announcement of the incarnation proper, but rather a profound theological reflection on the significance of that event based on the covenantal traditions of the exodus story and later prophetic expectations.

Most of Paul's letters, especially First Corinthians, were written in the context of conflict with troublemaking opponents and the social dilemma at the Lord's Supper in Corinth. First Corinthians provides a unique glimpse into the social custom of the Christian congregation in a Greaco-Roman environment during the early years of the Christian Church. Much effort has gone into reconstructing what happened at the Lord's Supper and the social issues that were involved. More recently, attention has focused on the Corinthian congregation itself and how Paul solved the issue of idol food and dining in a pagan temple.

This book demonstrates that the encounter between Christianity and various African cultures gives rise to a number of problems for Africans who become Christians. It draws attention to certain traditional African beliefs and practices that seem to be incompatible with Christianity and create problems for Africans who embrace Christianity. Against this background it argues for the need to inculturate Christianity. It contends that in this exercise African Christianity can learn from the attempts at inculturation found in the New Testament times and in the early church. It offers examples of how the early church sought to make use of non-Christian categories of thought and elements in its articulation of the Christian message and in worship. It suggests a few areas of Ghanaian and African life where inculturation could and should take place. These include funeral rites, widowhood rites, child-naming rites, the rites of marriage, libation and christology. It concludes by offering some guidelines for use in the process of the inculturation of Christianity in Africa today.

There are twenty-seven books in the traditional New Testament, but the early-Christian community was far more vibrant than that small number might lead you to think. In fact, many more scriptures were written and were just as important as the New Testament in shaping early-Christian communities and beliefs. Over the past century, many of those texts that were lost have been found and translated, yet they are rarely read in contemporary churches; they are discussed mainly by scholars or within a context only of gnostic gospels. In A New New Testament Hal Taussig seeks to change that.

The historical claims of the New Testament--that Jesus performed miracles, fulfilled prophecy, died and rose again, and ascended into heaven--come to us as received tradition, and we receive them in faith, trusting that the New Testament is indeed an inspired collection of writings, that it indeed tells us the truth. Increasingly, the reliability of not just the New Testament but really any document of history is called into question. If everyone writes from a point of view and with an agenda, can we reasonably expect any historical account to be objective--to tell us the truth? In this newly revised edition of Is the New Testament Reliable? Paul Barnett defends the task of the historian and the concept of history. He then addresses questions about the New Testament of importance to people of faith and skeptics alike: How close in time are the New Testament documents to the life of Jesus? Why should we believe the writings of "biased" early Christians? Were any of the writers of the New Testament books eyewitnesses to the events it records? How can we know that what was originally written has not been altered through the centuries? It is no small thing to trust ancient claims, but Barnett shows that we can take confidence in the New Testament, for it tells us the truth.