The American Standard Version is a classic text for digging into the depths of God's Word. The complete Bible, first published in 1901, has been used since that time to seek a full understanding of Scripture. The Version sought-and greatly achieved-a literal translation of the original languages into American English. Because the translation is so literal, it has been treasured as a tool for understanding God's original intent by those who do not read Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

To enclaves of young converts tucked away in the mountains of Asia Minor, Paul wrote what is perhaps the oldest document in the New Testament - the letter to the Galatians. What problems were they facing? Among a variety of religious authorities espousing different teachings, how were they to know who was right? How were men and women to be put right with God? How could Christians in the midst of a pagan culture live lives truly pleasing to God? 'Only one way -' answered Paul, 'through Jesus Christ.' His answer holds true for us as well. The details of our struggle have changed since Paul's day, but the principles he sets forth are as timeless as the Lord he exalts.

This volume collects the best articles on the Synoptic gospels from the first fifty issues of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of the volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Here the reader will find ground-breaking studies that introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in this particular topic of New Testament studies, and articles that engage with each other in specific debates. For undergraduates this book offers an invaluable critical introduction to Synoptic Gospel studies. More advanced students and scholars can use it to find background material or to gain an overview of the research in this area of scholarship. This builds on the reputation of JSNT as a conduit for first-class research and a major influence within the scholarly community.

This study offers the first sustained examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM), a computerized method being used to edit the most widely-used editions of the Greek New Testament. Part one addresses the CBGM's history and reception before providing a fresh statement of its principles and procedures. Parts two and three consider the method's ability to recover the initial text and to delineate its history. A new portion of the global stemma is presented for the first time and important conclusions are drawn about the nature of the initial text, scribal habits, and the origins of the Byzantine text. A final chapter suggests improvements and highlights limitations. Overall, the CBGM is positively assessed but not without important criticisms and cautions.

The ending of Mark's Gospel is one of the great unsolved mysteries. However, interest in the Markan conclusion is not a modern phenomenon alone. Comments about the different attested endings date back to Eusebius' Ad Marinum in the fourth century. Responding to the apparent discrepancy between the timing of the resurrection in Matthew and Mark, Eusebius notes one may solve the difficulty in one of two ways: either ignore the passage on the basis of the manuscript evidence or harmonize the two passages. Unfortunately, Eusebius' comments are all too often viewed through the lens of the modern text-critical endeavor, and for that reason, his intent has largely been missed. This volume argues that Eusebius' double solution can be read as recognizing the authority of both the Longer and the Abrupt conclusions to Mark's Gospel. The solution represents his ecumenical synthesis of those authors who preceded him, the faithful and pious" from whom the Scriptures have been received. Only with this understanding of the double solution may we fully appreciate Eusebius' dual reception.

Reconsidering Johannine Christianity presents a full-scale application of social identity approach to the Johannine writings. This book reconsiders a widely held scholarly assumption that the writings commonly taken to represent Johannine Christianity - the Gospel of John and the First, Second and Third Epistles of John - reflect the situation of an introverted early Christian group. It claims that dualistic polarities appearing in these texts should be taken as attempts to construct a secure social identity, not as evidence of social isolation. While some scholars (most notably, Richard Bauckham) have argued that the New Testament gospels were not addressed to specific early Christian communities but to all Christians, this book proposes that we should take different branches of early Christianity, not as localized and closed groups, but as imagined communities that envision distinct early Christian identities. It also reassesses the scholarly consensus according to which the Johannine Epistles presuppose and build upon the finished version of the Fourth Gospel and argues that the Johannine tradition, already in its initial stages, was diverse.

In Speech-in-Character, Diatribe, and Romans 3:1-9, Justin King argues that the rhetorical skill of speech-in-character (prosopopoiia, sermocinatio, conformatio) offers a methodologically sound foundation for understanding the script of Paul's imaginary dialogue with an interlocutor in Romans 3:1-9. King focuses on speech-in-character's stable criterion that attributed speech should be appropriate to the characterization of the speaker. Here, speech-in-character helps to inform which voice in the dialogue speaks which lines, and the general goals of diatribe help shape how an "appropriate" understanding of the script is best interpreted. King's analyses of speech-in-character, diatribe, and Romans, therefore, make independent contributions while simultaneously working together to advance scholarship on a much debated passage in one of history's most important texts.

The expression "in the heavenlies" appears five times in Ephesians and is not found at any other point in the New Testament. The two appearances which have provoked the most debate are the session of earthly believers in 2:6 and the presence of the spiritual forces of evil in 6:12.
M. Jeff Brannon conducts a lexical, exegetical, and conceptual analysis of the expression arguing against the prevailing interpretation of the term and provides in-depth examinations of three significant concepts associated with it; namely the redeemed on earth having a heavenly status, evil powers in heaven, and the cosmology of Ephesians. Brannon uses a wide range of souces; Greek, Jewish, the Apostolic Fathers, and the Septuagint. Brannon concludes that there is no basis for a distinction between the terms 'heavens' and 'in the heavenlies' in Ephesians . He also asserts that Qumran and apocalyptic texts can shed light upon and assist in a proper understanding of the difficult passages in which the expression appears.

Written by two internationally renowned scholars and communicators, with decades of experience in teaching the New Testament to students in different parts of the world

Recent scholars have tended to interpret 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 as an attempt to belittle ecstatic experiences, such as Paul's ascent to paradise, in favor of suffering in the service of the gospel. This study offers an alternative. An analysis of ascent traditions in the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds investigates ascent as both a literary motif and a religious practice. This analysis probes several issues relevant to 2 Cor 12:1-10, including dynamics of ascent and suffering. The study turns next to religious experiences Paul believes he and his communities have undergone. A pattern emerges in which extraordinary experiences provide the basis for suffering and service. Moreover, Paul expects his communities to have had experiences similar to, if less dramatic than, his ascent to heaven. The author argues that in its context in 2 Corinthians, Paul's ascent should be understood as an encounter with Christ that transcends human language and endows Paul with divine power, which must be refined through suffering. With the help of four premodern interpreters, the study further explores the theological relevance of Paul's ascent. For Paul, mystical encounter with Christ forms the precondition for suffering and service because it enables self-transcending love for God and neighbors.

This book explores the Matthean Posteriority Hypothesis (MPH), a largely neglected solution to the Synoptic Problem which holds that the author of the Gospel of Luke used the Gospel of Mark as a source, and that the author of the Gospel of Matthew used both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke as sources. MacEwen begins with a survey of the scholars who have defended various forms of the MPH. Chapter 2 discusses two key lines of evidence which support the MPH. The first line of evidence is textual - demonstrating that Matthew could have known the contents of Luke's Gospel beyond merely the double tradition material. The second line of evidence, involving a study of strings of verbatim agreements in the Gospels, supports the view that Matthew depended directly on Luke. Chapter 3 explores evidence and arguments which can be seen as problematic for the MPH. MacEwen concludes that the MPH has been neither definitely proved nor disproved, and deserves further scholarly scrutiny.

David C. Parker is one of the world's foremost specialists in the study of the New Testament text and of Greek and Latin manuscripts. In addition to editions, monographs and more popular writings, he has published many articles on different aspects of textual criticism. This volume brings together twentyfive of them in a revised and updated version. The collection is divided into three topics. The first deals with manuscript studies. As well as three very different studies of Codex Bezae, there are articles and reports on individual manuscripts and classes of manuscripts and reports on visits to libraries. The second section has the theme of textual criticism. It includes broader studies dealing with the theory of the discipline and more detailed discussions of particular problems, including translations into Latin, techniques for grouping Greek manuscripts, and the comparison of modern editions. The third section contains papers in which Parker has discussed the often overlooked relationship between textual criticism and theology. These studies explore particular textual problems and their wider significance, and cover topics as varied as "Jesus and Textual Criticism", "Calvin's Biblical Text" and "The Early Tradition of Jesus' Sayings on Divorce".

This reception history of the Gospel of Matthew utilizes theoretical frameworks and literary sources from two typically distinct disciplines, patristic studies and Valentinian (a.k.a. "Gnostic") studies. The author shows how in the second and third centuries, the Valentinians were important contributors to a shared culture of early Christian exegesis. By examining the use of the same Matthean pericopes by both Valentinian and patristic exegetes, the author demonstrates that certain Valentinian exegetical innovations were influential upon, and ultimately adopted by, patristic authors. Chief among Valentinian contributions include the allegorical interpretation of texts that would become part of the New Testament, a sophisticated theory of the historical and theological relationship between Christians and Jews, and indeed the very conceptualization of the Gospel of Matthew as sacred scripture. This study demonstrates that what would eventually emerge from this period as the ecclesiological and theological center cannot be adequately understood without attending to some groups and individuals that have often been depicted, both by subsequent ecclesiastical leaders and modern scholars, as marginal and heretical.

In History of the Pauline Corpus in Texts, Transmissions, and Trajectories , Chris S. Stevens examines the Greek manuscripts of the Pauline texts from P46 to Claromontanus. Previous research is often hindered by the lack of a systematic analysis and an indelicate linguistic methodology. This book offers an entirely new analysis of the early life of the Pauline corpus. Departing from traditional approaches, this text-critical work is the first to use Systemic Functional Linguistics, which enables both the comparison and ranking of textual differences across multiple manuscripts. Furthermore, the analysis is synchronically oriented, so it is non-evaluative. The results indicate a highly uniform textual transmission during the early centuries. The systematic analysis challenges previous research regarding text types, Christological scribal alterations, and textual trajectories.

Based on recent studies in intercultural communication Kathy Ehrensperger applies the paradigm of multilingualism, which includes the recognition of cultural distinctiveness, to the study of Paul. Paul's role as apostle to the nations is seen as the role of a go-between - as that of cultural translator. This role requires that he is fully embedded in his own tradition but must also be able to appreciate and understand aspects of gentile culture. Paul is viewed as involved in a process in which the meaning of the Christ event is being negotiated 'in the space between' cultures, with their diverse cultural coding systems and cultural encyclopaedias. It is argued that this is not a process of imposing Jewish culture on gentiles at the expense of gentile identity, nor is it a process of eradication of Jewish identity. Rather, Paul's theologizing in the space between implies the task of negotiating the meaning of the Christ event in relation to, and in appreciation of both, Jewish and gentile identity.

The richly varied collection of 15 essays in this volume showcase the afterlife of the Book of Revelation. It is a biblical book that has left its mark in many fields of intellectual endeavour: literature, film, music, philosophy, political theology, and religious ideology. It is perhaps paradoxical that this book, which promises God's punishment upon anyone expanding on its contents, has nevertheless accumulated to itself over two millennia vast amounts of commentary, exposition, and appropriation. Offered at the close of the 'Blair/Bush years', this volume also exposes and highlights the often deeply ironic resonances generated while studying the reception history of Revelation during a period when the book has both significant public currency and a potentially terrifying global impact. Contents. Decoding, Reception History, Poetry: Three Hermeneutical Approaches to the Apocalypse (Jonathan Roberts); Self-Authorization in Christina Rossetti's The Face of the Deep (Jo Carruthers); Revelation, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Alison Jack); Revelation and Film (Melanie J. Wright); The Apocalypse according to Johnny Cash (William John Lyons); The Johannine Apocalypse and the Risk of Knowledge (James E. Harding); Revelation, Violence, and War (Heikki Raisanen); The Reception of Revelation, c. 1250-1700 (Anke Holdenried); A Seventeenth-Century Particular Baptist on Revelation 20.1-7 (Simon Woodman); The Book of Revelation, the Branch Davidians and Apocalyptic (Self-)destruction? (Kenneth Newport); Ecological Readings of the Apocalypse of John in Contemporary America (Michael S. Northcott); Feminist Reception of the Book of Revelation (Hanna Stenstrom); Revelation as Form and Content in the Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Jorunn Okland)

New volume in the TNTC revision and replacement programme

This collection examines the allusions to the Elijah- Elisha narrative in the gospel of Luke. The volume presents the case for a "maximalist" view, which holds that the Elijah-Elisha narrative had a dominant role in the composition of Luke 7 and 9, put forward by Thomas L. Brodie and John Shelton, with critical responses to this thesis by Robert Derrenbacker, Alex Damm, F. Gerald Downing, David Peabody, Dennis MacDonald and Joseph Verheyden. Taken together the contributions to this volume provide fascinating insights into the composition of the gospel of Luke, and the editorial processes involved in its creation. Contributions cover different approaches to the text, including issues of intertextuality and rhetorical-critical examinations. The distinguished contributors and fast-paced debate make this book an indispensable addition to any theological library.

Writing in an accessible and anecdotal style, Tom Wright opens up to us the wisdom of the letters of James, Peter, John and Judah (Jude). A vital resource for every church and every Christian, these letters are full of clear practical advice for Christians. Written for those new to the faith, they warn of the dangers and difficulties a young Christian community would face both within and without, while revelling in the delight of budding faith, hope and life. Today, these letters are just as relevant as they were two thousand years ago. They continue to help Christians to live with genuine faith in a complex modern age.