Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875) was a Cornish-born Biblical scholar who travelled to major libraries all over Europe in order to study ancient manuscripts. Biblical textual criticism was a burgeoning new field in the mid-nineteenth century, with leading scholars including Lachmann and Tischendorf in Germany and Tregelles' contemporaries Scrivener, Westcott and Hort in England all working towards the ideal of a more authoritative Greek New Testament text than had previously been available. Volume 3 (1865) of Tregelles' landmark seven-volume edition begins with a description of the many manuscripts consulted. This volume contains the Acts of the Apostles and the Catholic epistles. As well as the Greek text, each page has Jerome's Latin Vulgate text in the right margin, indications of manuscripts used and Biblical cross-references in the left margin, and a full textual apparatus at the foot.

Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875) was a Cornish-born Biblical scholar who travelled to major libraries all over Europe in order to study ancient manuscripts. Biblical textual criticism was a burgeoning new field in the mid-nineteenth century, with leading scholars including Lachmann and Tischendorf in Germany and Tregelles' contemporaries Scrivener, Westcott and Hort in England all working towards the ideal of a more authoritative Greek New Testament text than had previously been available. Volume 4 (1869) of Tregelles' landmark seven-volume edition begins with a description of the many manuscripts consulted. This volume contains Romans to 2 Thessalonians (ending at chapter 3 verse 3, with the remaining pages appearing in Volume 5). As well as the Greek text, each page has Jerome's Latin Vulgate text in the right margin, indications of manuscripts used and Biblical cross-references in the left margin, and a full textual apparatus at the foot.

The first major publication by the distinguished biblical scholar Frederick Henry Scrivener, this is a collation of twenty-three Greek manuscripts of the gospels. The Greek text is preceded by detailed introductory chapters in English, illustrating Scrivener's criteria for selecting the manuscripts, the methods he adopted to edit and collate the texts, and his critique of contemporary biblical scholarship. The introduction also provides comprehensive background information for each of the manuscripts, including details on location, condition and the likely date of origin, and offering valuable context for any study of the texts. First published in 1853, at a time when many ancient manuscripts were being rediscovered, this landmark book will fascinate all those interested in biblical textual studies and the history of the Greek Bible.

This posthumous volume, published in 1895, contains two lectures delivered in the 1880s by the biblical scholar F. J. A. Hort, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. In these lectures, Hort addresses the question of the dating of Romans and Ephesians, their purpose, and their original readership. He examines their context in the relationship of Judaism to Christianity in the Apostolic period and the difference between Gentile, Judaistic and Roman Christianity. By treating the Epistles as historical as well as religious artefacts and analysing their language and grammar as well as content, Hort argues for the authenticity of both texts and therefore for a first-century dating. The dating of the New Testament was a central concern of Hort toward the end of his career, and he argued against F. C. Baur and the T bingen school, who placed it in the second century. These lectures present evidence to support his argument.

Study Hebrews in its Second Temple Context Following the proven model established in Reading Romans in Context, Reading Mark in Context, and Reading Revelation in Context, this book brings together a series of accessible essays that compare and contrast the theology and hermeneutical practices of the book of Hebrews with various early Jewish literature. Going beyond an introduction that merely surveys historical events and theological themes, this textbook examines individual passages in Second Temple Jewish literature in order to illuminate the ideas and emphases of Hebrews' varied discourses. Following the rhetorical progression of Hebrews, each chapter in this textbook: pairs a major unit of Hebrews with one or more sections of a thematically related Jewish text introduces and explores the historical and theological nuances of the comparative text shows how the ideas in the comparative text illuminate those expressed in Hebrews In addition to the focused comparison provided in the essays, Reading Hebrews in Context offers other student-friendly features that help them engage broader discussions, including an introductory chapter that familiarizes students with the world and texts of Second Temple Judaism and a glossary of important terms. The end of each chapter contains a list of other thematically-relevant Second Temple Jewish texts recommended for further study and a focused bibliography pointing students to critical editions and higher-level discussions in scholarly literature they might use to undertake their own comparative studies.

Fenton John Antony Hort (1828 1892) was Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and the editor, with B.F. Westcott, of an influential edition of the Greek New Testament. His detailed commentary on the Greek text of the Epistle (Letter) of St James was left incomplete at his death. When it was published in 1909, the editor wrote 'Each word and phrase and sentence has been examined in the light of the whole available evidence with characteristic freshness, and with a singularly delicate sense both of the meaning of words, and of subtle variations of grammatical structure.' The Introduction situates the Epistle in its New Testament context, and reflects on issues of authorship, reception and content. Hort's scholarly insights remain of interest to modern theologians. His work also bears witness to the strenuous efforts made by late Victorian theologians to create a textual bulwark against the growth of religious scepticism.

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.

In this addition to the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (CCSS), a seasoned scholar interprets First Corinthians for pastoral ministers and lay readers alike. The CCSS series, which will cover the entire New Testament, relates Scripture to life, is faithfully Catholic, and is supplemented by features designed to help readers understand the Bible more deeply and use it more effectively in teaching, preaching, evangelization, and other forms of ministry.
Praise for the CCSS
"A landmark achievement in theological interpretation of Scripture in and for the Church. Highly recommended for all "--Michael J. Gorman, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore

These essays presented to Dr Dodd to honour a great teacher and scholar are on two themes. Part I systematically surveys the present state of research on the background of the New Testament. (Dr Dodd's studies in the Septuagint and Hermetica suggested this theme.) Part II is on the particular problem of eschatology in the new Testament (with which his name is chiefly identified).

How might late second/early third century readings of Paul illuminate our understanding of the first century texts? A close comparison of Tertullian and Paul reveals the former to be both a dubious and a profoundly insightful interpreter of the latter. With growing interest in the field of patristic exegesis, there is a need for examination of Tertullian's readings of Paul. Tertullian, the first among the significant Latin writers, shaped generations of Christians by providing both a vocabulary for and an exposition of elemental Christian doctrines, wherein he relied heavily on Pauline texts and appropriated them for his own use. This new collection of essays presents a collaborative attempt to understand, critique, and appreciate one of the earliest and most influential interpreters of Paul, and thereby better understand and appreciate both the dynamic event of early patristic exegesis and the Pauline texts themselves. Each chapter takes a two pronged approach, beginning with a patristic scholar considering the topic at hand, before a New Testament response. This results in a fast paced and illuminating interdisciplinary volume.

In this study the methods of social concept criticism, poststructuralism, and social memory theory are innovatively and rewardingly combined with a revalued component of Greimas' system, the morpho-syntactic and actantial model. Analysis clearly reveals that the Lukan author reconceptualized social memory of the covenant and employed it as a literary device by following a sequence of the Exodus motifs culminating in the altered Exodus goal of covenant service/worship. The Lukan author also employed the reconceptualized covenant as a theological device that provided thematic links in the logical flow of the story, organizing the collective memory of Israel, through which perceived social needs are addressed and a call is issued for a mimetic response to the salvific activity of servant Jesus. The actantial model accurately illustrates the organizing capacity of the covenant, mapping the covenant's strategic placement and function to structure the plot-episode story and interrelate themes which articulate the servant identity of the Christian community. Researchers and academics alike will engage with this study that demonstrates the organizational capacity of the covenant concept in Lukan compositional design.

This book proposes a theological reading of 1 Thessalonians, making an important response to the increasing demand to relate biblical scholarship more closely to theological concerns. Paddison's interpretation adheres very closely to the text and is divided into three parts. Part I offers a theological critique of dominant historical-critical readings of 1 Thessalonians. Part II examines the history of interpretation of 1 Thessalonians focusing on the pre-Modern exegesis of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. Paddison explores what theological exegetes can learn from Thomas Aquinas' Lectura and John Calvin's commentary on 1 Thessalonians. Aided by the insights of these neglected pre-Modern commentators, Part III presents a theologically driven interpretation of the letter. Theological exegesis is practised as a dialogue with Paul, the canon and a plethora of theological voices to elucidate Paddison's central argument, that the astonishing subject-matter of 1 Thessalonians is God's all-powerful hold over death.

This is a collection of studies of suffering and martyrdom concentrating on the link, historically envisaged in different ways, between the sufferings of the faithful and the figure of Christ (or the messianic hope, in relation to one Jewish writer). The distinguished scholars contributing to this cohesive but many-sided book are C. F. D. Moule, J. C. O'Neill, B. E. Beck, B. Lindars, M. D. Hooker, W. F. Flemington, E. Bammel, J. P. M. Sweet, B. McNeil, W. Horbury, N. L. A. Lash and the late G. W. H. Lampe. All have been associated closely with the Cambridge New Testament Seminar and Professor Moule prefaces the volume with an account of the history of the Seminar and of its secretary for many years, G. M. Styler, in whose honour the collection is published. The importance and centrality of the topic will make the book of interest beyond the immediate circle of students of the New Testament, to those interested in patristic and Jewish studies and systematic theology.

This is a comprehensive and essential introductory textbook on the New Testament by an eminent professor in the field."The New Testament in Context" is the fruit of a scholarly life teaching the New Testament to undergraduate students.George Shillington, now Emeritus Professor at Canadian Mennonite University, has written a textbook on the New Testament which stresses the varying social, rhetorical and theological contexts of these twenty-seven texts. He introduces the book by emphasizing the importance of 'context' for reading 'texts'. The discussion then moves onto a description of the socio-rhetorical and theological approach, illustrated by exploring a text from one of Paul's letters. The usefulness of a socio-rhetorical reading is often limited by neglecting to recognize the theological aspect of a text. Shillington's textbook addresses this tendency by never losing sight of the theological dimension. The discussion is then broadened out to explore the larger context of the New Testament world within which the various documents were written.In addition to leading the students into the texture of the texts, Shillington encourages them to engage in interpretation, e.g. for writing an exegetical essay on a given text. The terms of reference are defined along the way, and different schools of thought on given subjects are brought to light. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further research on the particular material.

This is a clearly written and extremely helpful introduction to many different approaches to the interpretation of the New Testament. Experts from around the world and across many disciplines contribute specialised explanations, while Paula Gooder's excellent discussions apply each form of criticism to actual New Testament textual examples. It will become an indispensable tool and is greatly to be welcomed' Richard A. Burridge Dean of King's College London and Professor of Biblical Interpretation This book introduces readers to the different methods used when interpreting the New Testament. Although there are other books on the market that introduce the various techniques they are often very theoretical and it is hard for readers to see what difference the methods of interpretation make in practice to how a passage might be understood. Here, Paula Gooder responds to this gap in the market by giving practical textual examples of how a text might be interpreted using a broad range of interpretational methods. She also explores techniques that are often omitted from books on biblical interpretation, such as textual criticism and post-colonial criticism. The emphasis throughout is on what difference the method of interpretation makes for understanding the text. The text is mainly written by Paula Gooder but includes short contributions from world class scholars who offer nuggets of wisdom on their particular area of expertise.

Provides a unique and compelling examination of crucifixion as a form of sexual assault, probing ethical questions around this act unexplored before. Offers fascinating comparative anaylsis of contemporary forms of state terror and the torture of Jesus which encourages further discussion and research into a subject which is often shyed-away from. Fosters a deeper understanding of Jesus' experience which prompts more constructive ways of reading key concepts of resurrection and salvation.

Hansen argues that unity formula employed in "Gal 3.28", "1 Cor 12.13" and "Col 3.11" offers equality between competing social groups. Hansen argues against prevalent views that the unity formula employed in "Gal 3.28", "1 Cor 12.13" and "Col 3.11" reflects either a Hellenistic anthropology of ideal androgyny or a modern liberal conception of social equality. Rather, Hansen contends, attention to function and context demonstrates each epistle's vision of social unity. Insights from ethnic theory elucidate how the epistles characterize this unity in terms of a new social identity, and the practices warranted by that identity. Furthermore, Hansen claims that because identity construction is continual, dynamic and discursive, alternate identities (e.g. ethnic, gender, religious, economic) within the new Christian communities, may be seen as influencing one another and may be termed as the collective Christian identity. Hansen employs theories from Ethnic study as tools for assessing how such overlapping identities persist and interact with one another. His analysis thereby demonstrates that the social unity promoted by this formula opposes cultural dominance by any particular group and, conversely reinforces the persistence of marginal social identities within new communities. The issue is then not one of gender equality, but of the equality that Paul wishes to develop between competing social groups. 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.

The first monograph examining the implied metaphysics of the quest for the historical Jesus. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to historical Jesus research and making a significant, original contribution to the field.

In this landmark study of the literary relationship between the gospel of John and the synoptic gospels, Gary Greenberg presents compelling evidence for the existence of a written pre-canonical Alpha gospel that contained almost all of the main episodes in the adult life of Jesus (excluding major speeches, such as discourses, parables, and "I Am" sayings) and which became the written source for the core biography of Jesus in Mark, Luke, John, and Matthew. While Mark used the Alpha gospel with only slight variations, John had profound theological disagreements with it, objecting to its theological message about how to obtain eternal life, the depiction of Jesus, and other matters. This induced him to rewrite the Alpha gospel so that it conformed to his own very different theological agenda. Consequently, John's gospel functions as a thorough theological critique of Mark, but the changes he introduced made it difficult to see how he and Mark worked from the same written source. By using John's theological concerns as a filter for reading and understanding what objections John would have with Mark's Jesus stories, The Case for a Proto-Gospel reverse-engineers the editorial path taken by John and reconstructs the content of the Alpha gospel. Finally, the author discusses the relationship of the other two synoptic gospels to the Alpha gospel, asserting that Luke also knew the Alpha gospel but used Mark as his primary source, and that while Matthew did not know the Alpha gospel, his use of Mark as a primary source ensured that his core biography of Jesus also derived from this earlier source.

Mark's Gospel tells the complete story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Accurate and readable, the NIV (New International Version) is the world's most popular modern English Bible translation.

In A Relevant Way to Read, Margaret G. Sim draws on her in-depth knowledge of New Testament Greek to forge a new exegesis of the Gospels and Paul's letters. Locating her studies in the linguistic concept of relevance theory, which contends that all our utterances are laden with crucial yet invisible context, Sim embarks on a journey through some of the New Testament's most troubling verses. Here she recovers some of that lost information with a meticulous analysis that should enlighten both the experienced biblical scholar and the novice. Whether discussing Paul's masterful use of irony to shame the Corinthians, or introducing the ground-breaking ideas behind relevance theory into a whole new field of study, Margaret G. Sim demonstrates her vast learning and experience while putting her complex subject into plain words for the developing student.

Any student of the New Testament must be conscious of the competing expectations in ancient Jewish thought of what and who the Messiah would be. In King and Messiah, Aage Bentzen offers a fascinating glimpse into this topic, which preoccupied the most eminent Scandinavian biblical scholars of the mid-twentieth century. Beginning with the Messiah described in many of the Psalms, representing a demythologised form of the Oriental concept of kingship, Bentzen proceeds to the eschatological Messiah of Isaiah and Micah. He next discusses the later, prophetic-Messianic Moses Redivivus of Deutero-Isaiah, reaching the final stage of Old Testament Messianic thought in the description of the Son of Man in Daniel 7, which carries the eschatologising process still further. Bentzen shows how all of these Old Testament types are synthesised in the Christology of the New Testament - Jesus is the new Adam, the present Messiah, the suffering Prophet, the new Moses and the future Divine King - and yet simultaneously superseded. The Christian myth adds its own adornment to the complex question of Jesus identity.

Core to Paul's gospel is the relationship between Israel and the Nations in light of the coming of Christ. But historic Christianity, in claiming to be a new Israel, and in not recognising the purpose of God in Christ for Jews and the nations, has ignored its Jewish roots, the scriptures of Israel, and the Jewishness of Jesus and the apostles leaving a lacuna in its own identity, which Campbell argues, can only be overcome by a covenantal understanding of diversity in Christ. The denial of the covenant leads to a negation of God's revelation to Israel, and leaves Christianity with a deficient self-understanding. Although covenant language is not prominent in Paul's letters it remains the basis of his thought in differentiated ways concerning Israel and the nations. The covenant remains God's covenant with Israel. But through the covenant re-ratified in Christ, non-Jews although not included in the covenant, participate through Christ in the Abrahamic promises. Hence participation language is prevalent in Paul's letters since these address non-Jews in Christ as representatives of the nations. Rather than being 'indifferent to difference', Paul's gospel is not anti-ethnic, but is focused on the continuation of difference in Christ. God's purpose is designed to relate to differing peoples, not in their becoming one and the same, but in reciprocal blessing among those who remain different. The corollary of this respect for difference is the call for reconciliation as an essential part of following Christ, a fundamental element in Paul's gospel. God created a diverse world so that his people will find blessing in its rainbow diversity.