Anyone who reads the Gospels carefully will notice that there are differences in the manner in which they report the same events. These differences have led many conservative Christians to resort to harmonization efforts that are often quite strained, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Many people have concluded the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and, therefore, historically unreliable accounts of Jesus. The majority of New Testament scholars now hold that most if not all of the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography and that this genre permitted some flexibility in the manner that historical events were narrated. However, few scholars provide a robust discussion on how this plays out in Gospel pericopes (self-contained passages). Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? provides a fresh approach to the matter by examining the works of Plutarch, a Greek essayist who lived in the first and second centuries CE. Michael R. Licona discovers three-dozen pericopes narrated two or more times in Plutarch's Lives, identifies differences between the accounts, and views these differences in light of compositional devices acknowledged by classical scholars to have been commonly employed by ancient authors. The book then uses the same approach with nineteen pericopes narrated in two or more Gospels to demonstrate that the major differences found in them likely result from the same compositional devices employed by Plutarch. By suggesting that both the strained harmonizations and the hasty dismissals of the Gospels as reliable accounts are misguided, Licona invites readers to view the Gospels in light of their biographical genre in order to gain a clearer understanding of why the differences are present.

Originally published in 1905 for use in schools, this book contains the Revised Version text of the Gospel of St John with critical annotations by Arthur Carr, then vicar of Addington in Surrey. Carr's introduction explains many of the Gospel's characteristics and provides a brief analysis. This volume will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christianity or the history of education.

Originally published in 1903 for use in schools, this book contains the Revised Version text of the Gospel of St Mark with critical annotations by Sir A. F. Hort, then assistant master at Harrow School, and Mary Dyson Hort. Hort's introduction supplies a history of gospel and an overview of their historical setting. This volume will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christianity or the history of education.

First published in 1923, and originally delivered as a series of lectures to divinity students in Dublin, this book measures the other biblical epistles against the teachings of St Paul. McNeile also explains Paul's effect on Christianity as taught by Christ, and the use to which the early Church put Paul's teachings. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Bible's historical setting and the history of Christianity.

Originally published in 1917, this book applies Jewish approaches to Scripture to New Testament texts in order to balance the teaching of Jesus with that of Pharasaic Judaism. Abrahams heavily references C. G. Montefiore's two-volume commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, and delves deeply into the historical background to many of the key stories and events of the Gospels, such as ancient divorce and the importance of fasting. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Jewish context of the Gospels.

Originally published in 1924 as a sequel to the 1917 book of the same name, this text continues to analyse New Testament teaching using the tools of Pharisaic Judaism. Abrahams delves deeply into the historical background to many of the key stories and events of the Gospels, such as whitewashed tombs and rabbinic conceptions of prayer. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Jewish context of the Gospels.

The Gospels record that Jesus purported to forgive sins. What significance would such a claim have had for his contemporaries and what would the implications have been for his identity as a first-century popular prophet? Tobias Hagerland answers these questions and more as he investigates the forgiveness of sins in the mission of the historical Jesus. The Gospels are interpreted within the context of first-century Judaism as part of a broader reconstruction of Jesus' career as a healer and prophet, and rhetorical criticism is introduced as a tool for explaining how the gospel tradition about Jesus and forgiveness developed. Hagerland combines detailed exegesis and rigorous methodology with a holistic view of the historical Jesus, evaluating recent scholarship about first-century Jewish prophets and utilizing previously neglected textual evidence to present a thorough investigation of the theology of forgiveness in early Judaism and primitive Christianity."

Originally published in 1910, this book attempts to reconstruct the original order of the Gospel of John, which many theologians still claim has suffered from interpolation and other forms of disruption. Lewis demonstrates that, with a few alterations, the Gospel can be made more fluid in terms of its narrative, which may consequently shift the intelligibility of certain theological points and parables. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the construction of the Gospels.

Originally published in 1912, this book provides an extensive review of Gospel theology and Christology through the lens of the pseudepigraphical Psalms or Odes of Solomon. Abbott compares the language of the Gospels and other early Christian writings with the Psalms, and provides a translation of them, with alternative readings, at the back of the book. This richly detailed book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christian readings of Jewish writings.

T. M. Lemos traces changes in the marriage customs of ancient Palestine over the course of several hundred years. The most important of these changes was a shift in emphasis from bridewealth to dowry, the latter of which clearly predominated in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Whereas previous scholarship has often attributed these shifts to the influence of foreign groups, Lemos connects them instead with a transformation that occurred in Palestine's social structure during the very same period. In the early Iron Age, Israel was a kinship-based society with a subsistence economy, but as the centuries passed it became increasingly complex and developed marked divisions between rich and poor. At the same time, the importance of its kinship groups waned greatly. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach that draws heavily on anthropological research, cultural theory, archaeological evidence, and historical-critical methods, Lemos posits that shifts in marriage customs were directly related to these wider social changes.

Paul as Pastor demonstrates the critical nature of Paul's pastoral care to his identity and activities. Despite the fact that Paul never identifies himself as a pastor, there is much within the Pauline letters that alludes to this as a possible aspect of Paul's vocation and commitments, and this has been a topic of relative scholarly neglect. The contributors to this volume consider the household setting of Paul's pastoral practice, the evidence of Acts and a survey of themes in each of the letters in the traditional Pauline corpus. Additionally, three chapters supply case studies of the Wirkungsgeschichte of Paul's pastoral practice in the pastoral offices of the Anglican Communion in the denomination's Ordinal, and in the lives and thought of Augustine of Hippo and George Whitfield. As such Paul as Pastor provides a stimulating resource on a neglected and critical dimension of Paul and his letters and an invaluable tool for those in pastoral ministry and those responsible for their training.

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 need of the hour is for Spirit-filled, Christ-centred, Father-glorifying, Bible-based, fruitful individuals and churches. This book can only help towards that goal.' In A Fruitful Life we ponder the teaching of Jesus in John chapter 15, the famous 'vine' passage. He is preparing his disciples for his departure and describing how they can be effective witnesses in a hostile world. Just as his instructions revolutionised their lives, so a proper understanding of what he is saying can revolutionise our lives also. It is the heart of the gospel message: the only way to live the Christian life is to allow Jesus to live his life in us and through us. This book includes material for individual reflection and questions for group discussion.

Mark Forman explores the extent to which Paul's concept of inheritance' in Romans, and its associated imagery, logic and arguments, served to evoke socio-political expectations that were different to those which prevailed in contemporary Roman imperial discourse. Forman explores how Paul deploys the idea of inheritance in Romans and analyses the sources which inform and overlap with this concept. Coins, literature and architecture are all examined in order to understand the purpose, hopes and expectations of first-century society. This book contributes to recent studies covering Paul and politics by arguing that Paul's concept of inheritance subverts and challenges first-century Roman ideologies."

Originally published in 1889, this book presents chapters 11.28 to 13.25 of the Harklean version of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The text also contains an introduction and comprehensive notes. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the books of the New Testament and biblical criticism.

Originally published in 1936, this book contains the text of Charles Harold Dodd's inaugural lecture upon taking up the position of Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in New Testament studies in the interwar period in Britain and in the work of Dodd more generally.

A painstaking compiler of catalogues and indexes, the biblical scholar and bibliographer Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780 1862) first published his most famous work in 1818, having begun his research for it many years earlier in 1801. Reissued here in five parts is the expanded four-volume tenth edition of 1856, which includes revisions by the scholars Samuel Davidson (c.1806 98) and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813 75). This monumental and influential work of nineteenth-century biblical scholarship remains a valuable resource for modern researchers, reflecting the methods and perspectives of its era. Volume 4, rewritten by Tregelles for this edition, addresses textual criticism of the New Testament. Drawing strongly on his previous scholarship, Tregelles covers the history of the text, distinguished readings and important manuscripts, and he provides an introduction to each book of the New Testament."

Originally published in 1926, this book attempts to reconstruct the Old Latin text of the Bible used by St Augustine prior to his adoption of the Vulgate translation in the early fifth century. Milne compares the passages cited in Augustine's pre-Vulgate writings to those cited after the new Latin translation's publication and examines the extent to which Augustine continued to be influenced by the older version even in later writings. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Augustine, the transformation of church Latin or the history of biblical translation.

This synoptic history of the life and teachings of Christ was originally published in 1890 as an aid for clergymen and other instructors in biblical texts. James combines the four gospel accounts of the life of Jesus into one useful text with scriptural references in the margins for accurate study and quotation, complete with a list of individual variations among the sources. Written in the language of the Revised Version, this book will be useful to anyone involved in Bible study or with an interest in Christian theology.

Canonizing Paul explores how ancient editorial practices utilized in the publication of corpora (e.g. preparation of texts, selection and arrangement of tracts, and composition and deployment of paratexts) were not only employed to shape editions of Paul's letters (i.e. the Marcionite, Euthalian, and Vulgate), but also their interpretation. By considering the deployment of ancillary materials alongside other editorial practices and exploring the interpretive interplay (and sometimes uneasy negotiation) of text and paratexts, this study fills an often overlooked gap in the field of New Testament textual criticism. Investigation into the Marcionite edition shows how its paratexts introduced Marcion's hermeneutic and, in some measure, justified his editorial principles. The Euthalian edition preferred instead a catechetical and pedagogical goal extending from the deployment of paratexts to the organization of the tracts and a textual arrangement for ease of comprehension. The exploration of text and sometimes disparate paratexts culminates in an investigation of Codex Fuldensis, which transmits the Vulgate textual revision of Paul's letters and its Primum Quaeritur prologue alongside numerous other paratexts such as the Marcionite prologues, Old Latin capitula, capitula drawn from the Euthalian edition, and sundry other paratexts. The incorporation of such diverse paratexts, loosed from their original editions and juxtaposed with later editorial products founded on alternative hermeneutical presuppositions, resulted in interpretive tensions that testify to the physical manuscript as a locus of authority, over which many early Christians were trying to gain interpretive control, if not by altering the text, then by furnishing paratexts. By demonstrating how these practices and interpretive concerns left their mark on these editions of the Corpus Paulinum, this study reveals that editorial practices and hermeneutics were deeply, sometimes inextricably, intertwined.

Parables and Conflict in the Hebrew Bible examines the intimate relationship between parables and conflict in the Hebrew Bible. Challenging the scholarly consensus, Jeremy Schipper argues that parables do not function as appeals to change their audience's behavior. Nor do they serve to diffuse tensions in regards to the various conflicts in which their audiences are involved. Rather, the parables function to help create, intensify, and justify judgments and hostile actions against their audiences. In order to examine how the parables accomplish these functions, this book pays particular attention to issues of genre and recent developments in genre theory, shifting the central issues in the interpretation of Hebrew Bible parables.

Michael Peppard examines the social and political meaning of divine sonship in the Roman Empire. He begins by analyzing the conceptual framework within which the term ''son of God'' has traditionally been considered in biblical scholarship. Then, through engagement with recent scholarship in Roman history - including studies of family relationships, imperial ideology, and emperor worship - he offers new ways of interpreting the Christian theological metaphors of ''begotten''and ''adoptive'' sonship. Peppard focuses on social practices and political ideology, revealing that scholarship on divine sonship has been especially hampered by mistaken assumptions about adopted sons. He invites fresh readings of several early Christian texts, from the first Gospel to writings of the fourth century. By re-interpreting several ancient phenomena - particularly divine status, adoption, and baptism - he offers an imaginative refiguring of the Son of God in the Roman world.