The three apostles Peter, Paul and John are the most important starting point for understanding the beginnings of Christianity. Each brings a different background and language: Peter's Old Testament imagery, Paul's connection with Greek culture, and John's independent lyricism. This fascinating book paints a vivid picture of the three, exploring what they had in common as well as their significant differences, and demonstrating their continuing relevance today. The authors start by discussing the pre-Christian context, and finish by tracing the esoteric streams of Petrine, Pauline and Johannine Christianity in the first few centuries after Christ. They show above all that all three are needed to truly approach the reality of Jesus Christ.

The perfect little gift for your new little love! What better baby shower or dedication gift than God's Word? The CSB Baby's New Testament with Psalms will welcome baby now and become a sweet keepsake later. Features include: Presentation page Gift boxWords of Christ in redSilver page edgesNew Testament and Psalms in the CSB (Christian Standard Bible). Part of what makes the CSB Baby's New Testament special is the text of the Christian Standard Bible. The CSBs optimal blend of accuracy and readability makes it a trustworthy, easy-to-understand resource for kids to study and memorise today -- and to live and share for a lifetime.

Die Weihnachtsvorlesung gehoert zu den fest etablierten Veranstaltungen der Padagogischen Hochschule Freiburg. Jedes Jahr referieren Wissenschaftler*innen aus der Perspektive ihrer jeweiligen Disziplin zum Thema "Weihnachten". Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert eine Reihe dieser interdisziplinaren Weihnachtsvorlesungen, prasentiert neue Beitrage und bildet so die gesellschaftlich-kulturelle Prasenz und Popularitat des Weihnachtsfestes ab. Das Spektrum der Aufsatze reicht von theologischen Artikeln wie "Weihnachten im Alten Testament?" und "Weihnachten bei Martin Luther" bis zu kulturwissenschaftlichen Beitragen wie "Weihnachtsszenen im Theater" und religionspadagogischen Aufsatzen wie "Der grosse Gott wird ein kleines Kind".

A sequel to Word of Mouth by Janet Lees The purpose of the gospel is to change things and the change it offers is from death to life. Many people will be familiar with the gospel in written form but not everyone uses written versions of the gospel all of the time. Alongside the written Bible, ordinary people often use oral or remembered versions. This book is about the why, how, when, where and what of remembering the gospel. Altogether it presents a companion to remembering the One - Jesus, the Life Giver - whose gospel it is. Tell Me the Stories of Jesus is based on work done with many groups of different sizes and ages and cultures. The examples are set out here to encourage other groups to 'just go for it': remember and by remembering share life and build community. This companion to the remembered gospel aims to encourage and support those who want to work with this process with ordinary people in any place. Janet Lees, a speech therapist and an ordained minister of the United Reformed Church, has been developing the remembered Bible method for over 15 years, with ordinary people of all ages and abilities in Yorkshire and around the UK.

In this volume, William C. Mattison, III demonstrates that virtue ethics provides a helpful key for unlocking the moral wisdom of the Sermon on the Mount. Showing how familiar texts such as the Beatitudes and Petitions of the Lord's Prayer are more richly understood, and can even be aligned with the theological and cardinal virtues, he also locates in the Sermon classic topics in morality, such as the nature of happiness, intentionality, the intelligibility of human action, and the development of virtue. Yet far from merely placing the teaching of Aristotle in the mouth of Jesus, he demonstrates how the Sermon presents an account of happiness and virtue transformed in the light of Christian faith. The happiness portrayed is that of the Kingdom of heaven, and the habits needed to participate in it in the next life, but even initially in this one, are possible only by God's grace through Jesus Christ, and lived in the community that is the Church.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." When the Reformers of the sixteenth century turned to this biblical text, originally written by Paul to the first-century church in Corinth, they found truths that apply to Christians regardless of their historical context. For example, Reformed theologian Wolfgang Musculus wrote, "To be a Christian is to be in Christ. If anyone is outside of Christ, he is not a Christian. It is easy to partake of the sacraments and to be of the name and profession of Christ, but that is not what it means to be in Christ... The largest part of Christians is still an old creature for they have not yet been regenerated and renewed by the spirit of Christ. To know a Christian, therefore, we should not so much examine his external profession, but his life." In this volume of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Reformation scholar Scott Manetsch guides readers through a wealth of early modern commentary on the book of 2 Corinthians. Readers will hear from familiar voices and discover lesser-known figures from a diversity of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Drawing upon a variety of resources-including commentaries, sermons, treatises, and confessions-much of which appears here for the first time in English, this volume provides resources for contemporary preachers, enables scholars to better understand the depth and breadth of Reformation commentary, and seeks to encourage all those who would be newly created in Christ.

Das Handbuch bietet eine umfassende Einfuhrung in die historischen, literatur- und religionsgeschichtlichen Zusammenhange, in denen eminente religioese und literarische Texte in der Antike kanonisiert wurden. Es diskutiert zugleich die entscheidenden Faktoren, Grunde und wirkungsgeschichtlichen Folgen dieser Kanonisierungsprozesse: Es werden u.a. Homer und Vergil, die Septuaginta und Qumran, einzelne fruhchristliche Texte und das Neue Testament in Hinblick auf ihre Kanonizitat miteinander in Beziehung gesetzt. Indem die genannten Textsammlungen aus den Bereichen der griechischen, lateinischen, judischen und fruhchristlichen Textkultur gewahlt werden, wird ein vergleichender und multiperspektivischer Einblick in die Konstruktion, Autorisierung und Interpretation von Texten und Autoren, die Teil kanonisch gewordener Textcorpora geworden sind, moeglich. So bietet das Handbuch eine differenzierte Zusammenschau zur Erfassung und Beschreibung der vielfaltigen Aspekte antiker religioeser und literarischer Kanonisierungsprozesse. Es nimmt dabei besonders die soziale Konstruktion und Funktion von kanonischen Textsammlungen in den Blick und fragt nach moeglichen kanonspezifischen Formen von literarischer und religioeser Kommunikation. Zugleich werden auf der Grundlage der modernen Text-, Kultur-, Literatur- und Medienforschung wichtige hermeneutische Fragen zur Rezeptionsgeschichte, Deutung und moeglichen Fortschreibung dieser Textsammlungen bis in die gegenwartige Kanondebatte hinein diskutiert.

Apostolizitat und Einheit sind zentrale Themen der OEkumene. Epheserbrief-Textanalyse und grundliche Untersuchung des Zustandes der damaligen Kirche versuchen Integrationsfahigkeit in der gespalteten Kirche zu finden. Geschichte, Entwicklung und heutige Situation der Thomaschristenheit werden selbstkritisch dargestellt. Der Beitrag des Vatikanum II gilt als Chance und Wendepunkt fur die Orientalischen Kirchen und lasst Perspektiven fur eine moegliche Zukunft erkennen.

In this book, Sabine R. Huebner explores the world of the protagonists of the New Testament and the early Christians using the rich papyrological evidence from Roman Egypt. This gives us unparalleled insights into the everyday lives of the non-elite population in an area quite similar to neighboring Judaea-Palestine. What were the daily concerns and difficulties experienced by a carpenter's family or by a shepherd looking after his flocks? How did the average man or woman experience a Roman census? What obstacles did women living in a patriarchal society face in private, in public, and in the early Church? Given the flight of Jesus' family into Egypt, how mobile were the lower classes, what was their understanding of geography, and what costs and dangers were associated with travel? This volume gives a better understanding of the structural, social, and cultural conditions under which figures from the New Testament lived.

First published in 2011, The Jewish Annotated New Testament was a groundbreaking work, bringing the New Testament's Jewish background to the attention of students, clergy, and general readers. In this new edition, eighty Jewish scholars bring together unparalleled scholarship to shed new light on the text. This thoroughly revised and greatly expanded second edition brings even more helpful information and new insights to the study of the New Testament. * Introductions to each New Testament book, containing guidance for reading and specific information about how the book relates to the Judaism of the period, have been revised and augmented, and in some cases newly written. * Annotations on the text-some revised, some new to this edition-provide verse-by-verse commentary. * The thirty essays from the first edition are thoroughly updated, and there are twenty-four new essays, on topics such as "Mary in Jewish Tradition,", "Christology," and "Messianic Judaism." * For Christian readers The Jewish Annotated New Testament offers a window into the first-century world of Judaism from which the New Testament springs. There are explanations of Jewish concepts such as food laws and rabbinic argumentation. It also provides a much-needed corrective to many centuries of Christian misunderstandings of the Jewish religion. * For Jewish readers, this volume provides the chance to encounter the New Testament-a text of vast importance in Western European and American culture-with no religious agenda and with guidance from Jewish experts in theology, history, and Jewish and Christian thought. It also explains Christian practices, such as the Eucharist. The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Second Edition is an essential volume that places the New Testament writings in a context that will enlighten readers of any faith or none.

Let the wisdom of Colossians transform relationships in every area of your life -- home, church, and even the world -- with this study guide from renowned Bible teacher Joyce Meyer. Paul's letter to the Colossians reminds us that as we have died with Christ, so, too, do we need to die to our sins. It encourages us that because we have also been raised in Him, we must submit to Jesus and adopt qualities motivated by Christian love. In this comprehensive study tool, Joyce Meyer's commentary on Colossians affirms the Lordship of Christ and offers practical advice on family, relationships, and faith.

In this commentary, Michael Bird and Nijay Gupta situate Paul's letter to the Philippians within the context of his imprisonment as well as the Philippians' situation of suffering and persecution. Paul draws the Philippians' attention to the power and progress of the gospel in spite of difficult circumstances. He also warns them about the dangers of rival Christian groups who preach out of poor motives or have a truncated gospel. Bird and Gupta unpack the rich wisdom and theology of the Christ Hymn (2:6-11). Throughout the commentary, they apply a broad range of exegetical tools to interpret this letter including historical, sociological, rhetorical, and literary analysis, and they give attention to the reception of this important Pauline text throughout history. Bird and Gupta also includes short reflections on the meaning of Philippians for today.

It has been a century since the first publication of the Apokritikos extracts, which were written by a Greek philosopher of the 3rd century (Adolf von Harnack, 1911). One hundred years later, as part of the same series, there now follows a complete bilingual edition of the entire Apokritikos. Along with a German translation, this volume includes a newly reconstructed Greek text with critical commentary. The Apokritikos contains one of the three most sweeping anti-Christian polemics preserved from classical philosophy, together with Makarios s refutation from the Christian side."

In this book, Katherine M. Hockey explores the function of emotions in the New Testament by examining the role of emotions in 1 Peter. Moving beyond outdated, modern rationalistic views of emotions as irrational, bodily feelings, she presents a theoretically and historically informed cognitive approach to emotions in the New Testament. Informed by Greco-Roman philosophical and rhetorical views of emotions along with modern emotion theory, she shows how the author of 1 Peter uses the logic of each emotion to value and position objects within the audience's worldview, including the self and the other. She also demonstrates how, cumulatively, the emotions of joy, distress, fear, hope, and shame are deployed to build an alternative view of reality. This new view of reality aims to shape the believers' understanding of the structure of their world, encourages a reassessment of their personal goals, and ultimately seeks to affect their identity and behaviour.

This is a new critical edition, with translation and commentary, of the Scholia in Apocalypsin, which were falsely attributed to Origen a century ago. They include extensive sections from Didymus the Blind's lost Commentary on the Apocalypse (fourth century) and therefore counter the current belief that Oecumenius' commentary (sixth century) was the most ancient. Professor Tzamalikos argues that their author was in fact Cassian the Sabaite, an erudite monk and abbot at the monastery of Sabas, the Great Laura, in Palestine. He was different from the alleged Latin author John Cassian, placed a century or so before the real Cassian. The Scholia attest to the tension between the imperial Christian orthodoxy of the sixth century and certain monastic circles, who drew freely on Hellenic ideas and on alleged 'heretics'. They show that, during that period, Hellenism was a vigorous force inspiring not only pagan intellectuals, but also influential Christian quarters.

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are central events in our salvation. Yet few Christians have a good grasp of the first-century historical and religious context in which the Crucifixion took place, nor of its true significance for the people of that time-and hence for our time as well.

Biblical scholar and attorney Dr. Constantinou puts modern readers in the center of the events of Christ's Passion, bringing the best of modern scholarship to bear while keeping her interpretation faithful in every particular to the Orthodox Tradition.

A Translation of the Good News for Everyone.

If the Bible cannot be understood by everyone, then it is not good news. But from the very first days of the church at Pentecost, the good news of Jesus was translated into languages of everyday people through the power of the Holy Spirit, spreading like wildfire to the ends of the earth. Many modern readers of the New Testament have grown overly familiar with the biblical text, losing sight of the wonder and breadth of its innovative ideas and world-changing teachings about the life and role of Jesus of Nazareth.

The New Testament for Everyone is an updated translation of the New Testament by renowned biblical scholar and author N.T. Wright, which builds upon on the work done in N. T. Wright’s The Kingdom New Testament. This newly typeset edition features slight translation revisions from N. T. Wright along with new book introductions – providing a fresh and dynamic translation of the New Testament for the next generation. The language used in this translation seeks to convey the meaning of the original Greek while also being accessible to the modern reader, making it a valuable resource for scholars, pastors, and laypeople alike.

Features:

• Complete text of the New Testament translated by N. T. Wright
• Preface and book introductions by N. T. Wright
• Dozens of maps throughout the text
• Smyth-sewn hardcover lies flat when open
• Type size: 11

The first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most discussed biblical books in New Testament scholarship today. Despite this, there has been no consensus on its arrangement and central theme, in particular why the topic of the resurrection was left until the end of the letter, and what its theological significance would have been to the Corinthian church. Matthew R. Malcolm analyses this rhetoric of 'reversal', examines the unity of the epistle, and addresses key problems behind particular chapters. He argues that while Jewish and Greco-Roman resources contribute significantly to the overall arrangement of the letter, Paul writes as one whose identity and rhetorical resources of structure and imagery have been transformed by his preaching, or kerygma, of Christ. The study will be of interest to students of New Testament studies, Pauline theology and early Christianity.

In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul addresses internal struggles and external pressures that the church faced. In the letter he presents the sacrificial life of Christ as the ultimate example, "the ethical foundation for all of life," and then calls believers to imitate Christ in their own lives. In this volume, Mark J. Keown scrupulously examines Philippians with a clear eye on the original text and a fine-tuned ear to first-century culture while also interacting with the full history of scholarship on Philippians. Keown also carefully considers the letter's theological and devotional importance for present-day believers. The result is the most comprehensive commentary on Philippians yet published.

This book addresses two crucial, related questions in current research on the Epistle to the Hebrews: when and where did Jesus offer himself? And what role does Jesus' death play both in Hebrews' soteriology as a whole, and specifically in Jesus' high-priestly self-offering? The work argues that the cross is not when and where Jesus offers himself, but it is what he offers. After his resurrection, appointment to high priesthood, and ascent to heaven, Jesus offers himself to God in the inner sanctum of the heavenly tabernacle, and what he offers to God is the soteriological achievement enacted in his death. Hebrews figures blood, in both the Levitical cult and the Christ-event, as a medium of exchange, a life given for life owed. Represented as blood, Christ's death is both means of access and material offered: what he achieved in his death is what he offered to God in heaven.

First published in 2002, this book offers an authoritative and accessible introduction to the New Testament and early Christian literature for all students of the Bible and the origins of Christianity. Delbert Burkett focuses on the New Testament, but also looks at a wealth of non-biblical writing to examine the history, religion and literature of Christianity in the years from 30 CE to 150 CE. The book is organized systematically with questions for in-class discussion and written assignments, step-by-step reading guides on individual works, special box features, charts, maps and numerous illustrations designed to facilitate student use. An appendix containing translations of primary texts allows instant access to the writings outside the canon. For this new edition, Burkett has reorganized and rewritten many chapters, and has also incorporated revisions throughout the text, bringing it up to date with current scholarship. This volume is designed for use as the primary textbook for one and two-semester courses on the New Testament and Early Christianity.