The First Edition of the New Testament is a groundbreaking book that argues that the New Testament is not the product of a centuries-long process of development. Its history, David Trobisch contends, is the history of a book--an all Greek Christian bible--published as early as the second century C.E. and intended by its editors to be read as a whole. Trobisch claims that this bible achieved wide circulation and formed the basis of all surviving manuscripts of the New Testament. Review: Dr. Trobisch has produced a thought-provoking and significant study that will surely challenge the traditional understanding of the formation of the canon....The First Edition of the New Testament could have relevance for years to come.--Faith & Mission

A critical reconsideration of the repeated use of the biblical letters of Paul. The letters of Paul have been used to support and condone a host of evils over the span of more than two millennia: racism, slavery, imperialism, misogyny, and anti-Semitism, to name a few. Despite, or in some cases because of, this history, readers of Paul have felt compelled to reappropriate his letters to fit liberal or radical politics, seeking to set right the evils done in Paul's name. Starting with the language of excrement, refuse, and waste in Paul's letters, Profaning Paul looks at how Paul's "shit" is recycled and reconfigured. It asks why readers, from liberal Christians to academic biblical scholars to political theorists and philosophers, feel compelled to make Paul into a hero, mining his words for wisdom. Following the lead of feminist, queer, and minoritized scholarship, Profaning Paul asks what would happen if we stopped recycling Paul's writings. By profaning the status of his letters as sacred texts, we might open up new avenues for imagining political figurations to meet our current and coming political, economic, and ecological challenges.

"Reading Jesus" is a personal journey through the fundamental Biblical stories. As celebrated author Mary Gordon ponders the intense strangeness of a deity in human form, unresolved moral ambiguities within the text, and the problem posed to her as an enlightened reader by the miracle of the Resurrection. What she rediscovers--and reinterprets with her signature candor, intelligence, and straightforwardness--is a rich store of overlapping, sometimes conflicting teachings that feel both familiar and tantalizingly elusive.

The act of martyrdom in the worldview of the Apocalypse has been considered to be an exemplification of non-violent resistance. Paul Middleton argues here, however, that it is in fact a representation of direct participation by Christians, through their martyrdom, in divine violence against those the author of Revelation portrays as God's enemies. Middleton shows that acceptance of martyrdom is to grasp the invitation to participate in the Revelation's divine violence. Martyrs follow the model laid down by the Lamb, who was not only slain, but resurrected, glorified, and who executes judgement. The world created by the Apocalypse encourages readers to conquer the Beast through martyrdom, but also through the experience of resurrection and being appointed judges. In this role, martyrs participate in the judgement of the wicked by sharing the Lamb's power to judge. Different from eschewing violence, the conceptual world of the Apocalypse portrays God, the Lamb, and the martyrs as possessing more power, might, and violent potential than the Emperor and his armies. Middleton believes that martyrdom and violence are necessary components of the worldview of Revelation.

First published in 1951, this book forms a critique of the Two-Source Hypothesis, the theory in biblical studies that postulates the existence of a lost 'Q' Gospel. The Q theory achieved popularity through its formal completeness in explaining the presence of parallel verses in Luke and Matthew with no parallel in Mark. Yet, as Butler argues in this book, these narrative links can also be explained by a direct comparison of the third and fourth Gospels, one that avoids the necessity of a missing source. The text is highly detailed and contains numerous references to original material, together with generous additional notes. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical history and theology.

Originally published in 1908, this book constitutes an exploration of the concept of 'spirit' in the New Testament. The text is divided into two parts: part one provides a synopsis of passages relating to spirit, with English explications being given beneath original Greek quotations; part two analyses the general teaching of New Testament literature in relation to the divine Spirit and its influence. The reader is thus provided with a concise document relating the position of spirit in relation to the Scriptures, together with its abiding importance for the relationship between Church and the individual. This concise, yet detailed, book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christian theology or biblical exegesis.

The Biblical World is a comprehensive guide to the contents, historical settings, and social context of the Bible. This new edition is updated with several new chapters as well as a new section on biblical interpretation. Contributions from leading scholars in the field present wide-ranging views not just of biblical materials and their literary and linguistic context, but also of the social institutions, history and archaeology, and religious concepts. New chapters cover topics such as the priesthood and festivals, creation and covenant, ethics, and family life, while a new section on biblical interpretation discusses Jewish and Christian bible translation and key thematic emphases, and modern reader-response and cultural approaches. This revised edition of The Biblical World offers an up-to-date and thorough survey of the Bible and its world, and will continue to be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and their history and interpretation, as well as anyone working on the societies, religions, and political and cultural institutions that created and influenced these texts.

Peter is a fascinating character in all four canonical gospels, not only as a literary figure in each of the gospels respectively, but also when looked at from an intertextual perspective. This book examines how Peter is rewritten for each of the gospels, positing that the different portrayals of this crucial figure reflect not only the theological priorities of each gospel author, but also their attitude towards their predecessors. Rewriting Peter as an Intertextual Character in the Canonical Gospels is the first critical study of the canonical gospels which is based on Markan priority, Luke's use of Mark and Matthew, and John's use of all three synoptic gospels. Through a selection of close readings, Damgaard both provides a new critical portrait of Peter and proposes a new theory of source and redaction in the gospels. In the last thirty years there has been an increasing appreciation of the gospels' literary design and of the gospel writers as authors and innovators rather than merely compilers and transmitters. However, literary critics have tended to read each gospel individually as if they were written for isolated communities. This book reconsiders the relationship between the gospels, arguing that the works were composed for a general audience and that the writers were bold and creative interpreters of the tradition they inherited from earlier gospel sources. Damgaard's view that the gospel authors were familiar with the work of their predecessors, and that the divergences between their narratives were deliberate, sheds new light on their intentions and has a tremendous impact on our understanding of the gospels.

A critical reconsideration of the repeated use of the biblical letters of Paul. The letters of Paul have been used to support and condone a host of evils over the span of more than two millennia: racism, slavery, imperialism, misogyny, and anti-Semitism, to name a few. Despite, or in some cases because of, this history, readers of Paul have felt compelled to reappropriate his letters to fit liberal or radical politics, seeking to set right the evils done in Paul's name. Starting with the language of excrement, refuse, and waste in Paul's letters, Profaning Paul looks at how Paul's "shit" is recycled and reconfigured. It asks why readers, from liberal Christians to academic biblical scholars to political theorists and philosophers, feel compelled to make Paul into a hero, mining his words for wisdom. Following the lead of feminist, queer, and minoritized scholarship, Profaning Paul asks what would happen if we stopped recycling Paul's writings. By profaning the status of his letters as sacred texts, we might open up new avenues for imagining political figurations to meet our current and coming political, economic, and ecological challenges.

The publication in 1881 of The New Testament in the Original Greek, by the Cambridge scholars Brooke Foss Westcott (1825 1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828 1892), marked the culmination of twenty-eight years of work and revolutionised the theory and methods of New Testament textual criticism. The editors broke with tradition and reconstructed a critical text based on the third-century uncial manuscripts Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, paving the way for future editions. Westcott and Hort's claim to reconstruct the 'original text' may seem extravagant today; but according to Bruce Metzger theirs was the 'most noteworthy critical edition of the Greek Testament ever produced by British scholarship'. This second volume contains the reconstructed text. Readings that the editors thought were possible contenders for the original are printed in the margin; other readings, judged to be of value but appearing later, are given in the appendix.

Published posthumously in 1893, Frederick Scrivener's Adversaria Critica Sacra remains a volume of key importance to biblical scholars today, representing Scrivener's remarkable accuracy in his study and collation of manuscripts. During an age when many manuscripts were being newly discovered, and New Testament textual criticism was a rapidly developing field, Scrivener's collations played an important role in highlighting and making available the many different readings in existence. The book presents sixty-three manuscripts containing all or part of the Greek New Testament, including twenty which contain the Gospels in whole or in part, fifteen Lectionaries (Greek Church Lesson-books), five copies of Acts and the Catholic Epistles, and ten which are collations of the earliest printed editions of the Greek New Testament. Scrivener provides an informative general account of each manuscript, and an estimate of their respective critical values.

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. This volume contains the short Volumes 5 (1870) and 6 (1872) of Tregelles' edition (the Epistles continued, and Revelation), which the author had originally intended to publish together, along with the posthumous Volume 7 (1879) containing Prolegomena (compiled by F. J. A. Hort and A. W. Streane from earlier publications by Tregelles), and additional collations of parts of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. The Greek text is accompanied by Jerome's Latin Vulgate and a full textual apparatus.

Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875) was a Cornish-born Biblical scholar who travelled to major libraries all over Europe 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. Tregelles begins Volume 1 (1857) of his seven-volume edition with an explanation of his editorial principles and a description of the many manuscripts consulted, whether whole codices or separate leaves. This volume contains the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. 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 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.

Feasting on the Gospels is a new seven-volume series that follows up on the success of the Feasting on the Word series to provide another unique preaching resource, this time on the most prominent and preached upon New Testament books, the four Gospels. With contributions from a diverse and respected group of scholars and pastors, Feasting on the Gospels will include completely new material that covers every single passage in the New Testament Gospels, making it suitable for both lectionary and non-lectionary use. Moreover, these volumes will incorporate the unique format of Feasting on the Word, with four perspectives for preachers to choose from for each Gospel passage: theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical. Feasting on the Gospels will provide a special resource for all who preach, either continuously or occasionally, on the Gospels.

In Marriage Gifts and Social Change in Ancient Palestine, 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.

For over one hundred years the International Critical Commentary has had a special place amongst works on the Bible. This new volume on James brings together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary and theological - to enable the scholar to have a complete knowledge and understanding of this old testament book. Allison incorporates new evidence available in the field and applies new methods of studies. No uniform theological or critical approach to the text is taken.

How can we find abundance in our daily journey? As part of the "Spirit-Filled Life(R) Study Guide" series, "Living Beyond the Ordinary" examines the profound truths revealed in the gospel of John. This "how-to" guide leads readers into experiencing life far beyond what this world has to offer. "Spirit-Filled Life(R)" "Study Guides" are perfect companions to the "New Spirit-Filled Life(R)" "Bible "or for use on their own.

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• 12 lessons, plus an introduction to establishing and deepening a relationship with Jesus, who gives abundant life
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The publication in 1881 of The New Testament in the Original Greek, by the Cambridge scholars Brooke Foss Westcott (1825 1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828 1892), marked the culmination of twenty-eight years of work and an innovation in the theory and methods of New Testament textual criticism. This first of two volumes contains a detailed discussion of the theories and methods behind the reconstructed text, sets out the editors' theory of text-types, and justifies their choice to break with the dominant use of the Textus Receptus. It argues for the Neutral Text, represented by the uncials Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, as being the earliest and least corrupt form. Westcott and Hort's claim to reconstruct the 'original text' may seem extravagant today but according to Bruce Metzger theirs was the 'most noteworthy critical edition of the Greek Testament ever produced by British scholarship'.

Frederick Henry Scrivener's 1861 introduction to the textual history of the New Testament marks a key moment in the history of biblical studies. The author, a renowned biblical scholar and textual critic of his time, focuses on the central areas of his research field. These include the Greek New Testament manuscripts and their general character, early printed and later critical editions, ancient versions of the New Testament in various languages and the linguistic features of New Testament Greek. In addition, he discusses editorial principles and practice and the differing approaches that had recently been adopted, and gives examples of their application to actual New Testament passages. Originally intended for readers with no previous knowledge of this subject, and carefully organised so as to be accessible to them, the book is still of interest to upper-level students and to historians of the discipline.

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 2 (1861) of Tregelles' landmark seven-volume edition begins with a description of the many manuscripts consulted. Tregelles refers to the anticipated publication of the Codex Sinaiticus described by Tischendorf, and to the work of Hort and Westcott. This volume contains the Greek text of the Gospels of Luke and John together with Jerome's Latin Vulgate text, indications of manuscripts used, Biblical cross-references, and a full critical apparatus.

This annotated edition of The Acts of The Apostles was prepared for classroom use by Thomas Ethelbert Page, a schoolmaster at Charterhouse, and published in 1886. The text is taken directly from the critical edition of the New Testament in Greek published by Fenton Hort and Brooke Westcott in 1881, the most authoritative version then available. Page's extensive annotations (over two hundred pages to accompany seventy pages of text) aimed to provide an explanation of the Greek text free of doctrinal discussions and moral reflections, unlike most existing commentaries which Page found 'quite unadapted for practical work with boys'. Page endeavoured to make the translation process as straightforward as possible and his extensive commentary offers a clear and simple understanding of the text. His book is still a useful guide for those approaching the Greek text for the first time.

Frederick Henry Scrivener (1813-1891) was a pioneer of New Testament textual criticism. His transcription of the Codex Augiensis - a ninth-century Greek and Latin manuscript of St Paul's Epistles which had been part of the famous Benedictine library at Reichenau - was published in 1859 and is a document of considerable historical significance in biblical research. It presents 'as true an image as possible' of the ninth-century text. The volume also includes a 'full and exact' collation of fifty manuscripts of the Gospels. In his Critical Introduction, Scrivener provides a detailed account of the manuscripts he has collated, setting the context for the reader. He also investigates the principles of comparative criticism, demonstrating that true and faithful readings of the Greek New Testament cannot be derived from any one authority, but must be the result of patient comparison of the evidence provided by all.