For a generation after his death his surviving associates preserved good traditions about the message of Jesus. Then disaster struck: it began to be believed that he was risen, exalted to heaven, and soon to return to establish his kingdom on earth. A cult of Jesus' person and fictitious lives of him quickly followed, and the surviving traditions of his actual teaching became totally blurred - as they still are.Since then, nobody has ventured to assess Jesus seriously, as a thinker. But today, as the supernatural beliefs fade, and better reconstructions of his teaching have become available, Don Cupitt thinks we can at least question Jesus from the standpoint of philosophy. Just how original and important is he? What is the status of his ideas: was he a religious figure at all, and why did he arouse such fierce antagonism? The Jesus who emerges from this enquiry is an astonishing figure, and much bigger than the insipid Christ of popular faith. Don Cupitt is a philosopher of religion and the author of over 40 books. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

How did early Christians remember Jesus--and how did they develop their own ""Christian"" identities and communities? In this accessible and revelatory book, Greg Carey explores how transgression contributed to early Christian identity in the Gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul, and Revelation. Carey examines Jesus as a friend of sinners, challenger of purity laws, transgressor of conventional masculine values of his time, and convicted seditionist. He looks at early Christian communities as out of step with ""respectable"" practices of their time. Finally, he provides examples of contemporary Christians whose faith requires them to ""do the right thing,"" even when it means violating current definitions of ""respectability.

Conflict stories appear throughout the Synoptic Gospels, and although they are familiar and dramatic, the stories are particularly challenging for pastors to interpret and teach. In this book, David Buttrick delves into each conflict story, analyzing the particular controversy at hand and highlighting problems that these passages pose for preachers--including anti-Jewish attitudes in the text. As he moves through each story, he helps readers correct long-standing biases, shows how many of these controversies are still with us, and provides sample sermons to demonstrate how these stories might be preached more effectively.

This book examines Paul's letter to the Philippians against the social background of the colony at Philippi. After an extensive survey of Roman social values, Professor Hellerman argues that the cursus honorum, the formalized sequence of public offices that marked out the prescribed social pilgrimage for aspiring senatorial aristocrats in Rome (and which was replicated in miniature in municipalities and in voluntary associations), forms the background against which Paul has framed his picture of Jesus in the great Christ hymn in Philippians 2. In marked contrast to the values of the dominant culture, Paul portrays Jesus descending what the author describes as a cursus pudorum ('course of ignominies'). The passage has thus been intentionally framed to subvert Roman cursus ideology and, by extension, to redefine the manner in which honour and power were to be utilized among the Christians at Philippi.

Jesus of Galilee taught through stories, which even today contain the power to startle us out of our prejudices and preconceptions. Now Father Andrew M. Greeley, one of America's most beloved storytellers, examines the parables told by Jesus in search of a fuller understanding of the man and his message.This engaging and informal collection of homilies reveals a Jesus whose simple parables carry profound lessons about the Kingdom of Heaven. Along the way, Father Greeley touches on such provocative topics as the significance of Jesus's Jewish roots, his deep and revolutionary relationship with women, "The Da Vinci Code", and "The Passion of the Christ". He also singles out the four greatest parables, which best illustrate the infinite love and mercy of the God whose kingdom began with Jesus and continues even today.As a storyteller, Jesus often surprised his listeners with unexpected twists that challenged them to see the world in a whole new light. Father Greeley's insightful tour of the Gospels provides a fresh look at the parables that strips away centuries of false and mistaken interpretations to get at the essential truth of who Jesus really was and what he believed.

Drawing on the wisdom and teaching experience of highly respected theologians, the Engaging Theology series builds a firm foundation for graduate study and other ministry formation programs. Each of the six volumes-- Scripture, Jesus, God, Discipleship, Anthropology, and Church--is concerned with retrieving, carefully evaluating, and constructively interpreting the Christian tradition. Comprehensive in scope and accessibly written, these volumes, used together or independently, will stimulate rich theological reflection and discussion. More important, the series will create and sustain the passion of the next generation of theologians and church leaders. "This book means to explore who Jesus was, is, and is to come, and by what series of events this man of Jewish history came to be viewed by millions as a man of God-like powers in their present lives and their hoped for future." Rich in familiarity with Jesus' Jewish world, Gerard Sloyan helps us discover a Jesus thoroughly situated in his own time and place. Grounded in the New Testament gospels, Sloyan's study leads us to an already interpreted Jesus, distinctly portrayed by each evangelist. Going outside the New Testament, Sloyan takes us into the theological questions and developments that culminated in the affirmations of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. This impressive, clearly written work challenges readers to see both the historical Jesus who preached the in-breaking of God's reign and the post-resurrection Jesus whom Christians named Lord and Savior.

Contending that preachers have become silent on a major doctrinal theme of the Christian faith--the meaning of the crucifixion and the cross as a theological symbol--Sally A. Brown describes the nature and causes of this phenomenon and provides a strategy for reclaiming "cross talk" in the pulpit. Brown proposes a metaphorical and pastoral model for preaching about the cross. Preachers can reclaim preaching on the cross, she urges, by joining New Testament metaphors to pastoral situations rather than adapting atonement theories for the pulpit. She offers specific examples in sermons designed for particular homiletical occasions.

This richly illustrated book traces the development of a specifically Catholic imagination from its roots in the thought-world of Jesus to Catholic art at the end of the first millennium.

This book, beautifully illustrated with maps and photos, traces the little-known story of the original Jewish Christian community and presents intriguing evidence connecting Jesus and his family with the Essenes. Focusing on the first century (33-135 C.E.) in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus, its thesis is that the Jerusalem community remained true to their Jewish heritage and had a connection with the Essenes. The first bishop of Jerusalem was James, the brother of Jesus. He was the author of the letter of James. He was murdered in the year 62. An Essene priest, Thabuti, expected to replace James but was not elected, and this led to the first schism in the church. James was followed by Simon, the cousin of Jesus, who was bishop until 104. At that time, descendants of the house of David were persecuted by the Romans. There were 13 bishops between then and 135. Christianity was a sect within Judaism. After the Bar Kohaba rebellion a gentile bishop was appointed. The Jewish church was inundated by gentiles and eventually integrated into the Byzantine church. The purpose of the book is to bring to light our Jewish connections, and, as the state of Israel is being threatened, an appreciation of our Jewish heritage. Uniqueness: * The only book available that attempts to reconcile Christianity with our Jewish heritage

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Do you not understand this parable? is a question Jesus posed to his disciples (Mark 4:13). Just as the first disciples often did not understand Jesus ' many parables, so it is for listeners and readers nearly two thousand years later. In Parables of the Kingdom, Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan helps readers to hear and see and understand the parables of Jesus. She offers a general introduction to the use of parables in the life and ministry of Jesus and the early church. In addition, Getty-Sullivan helps readers learn to interpret parables, to enter into what the parables can reveal about Jesus and his audience, about the evangelists and their communities, and about how we are to understand the Kingdom of God today. Parables of the Kingdom helps us hear and see Jesus ' parables with new eyes and renewed hearts 'thereby allowing the parables to transform our lives and help us respond with new conviction to the gospel's power in our world. Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan holds an S.T.D. from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She has been teaching New Testament courses in colleges and seminaries for more than thirty years and has recently retired from teaching full time to devote more time to writing and lecturing. Mary Ann has written several commentaries on the Letters of Saint Paul. Her recent books include Women in the New Testament published by Liturgical Press.

Recent years have seen an explosion of talk about the historical Jesus from scholarly settings as well as media outlets (including sensational TV documentaries and national magazines). How is the student of the Bible to assess these various claims about Jesus? And what difference does knowledge of his time and place make for Christian faith, theological thinking, and historical research? James Charlesworth presents the solid results of modern study into the life and times of Jesus, especially regarding the role of the Essenes, the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the nature of messianic expectation, and much more. No one today is better equipped than James Charlesworth to lead students through the thickets of controversy that surround much of contemporary historical Jesus research.

This Abingdon Essential Guide will fulfill the need for a brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introduction to this core area of New Testament studies. Drawing on the best in current scholarship, written with the need of students foremost in mind, addressed to learners in a number of contexts, this Essential Guide will be the first choice of those who wish to acquaint themselves or their students with the broad scope of issues, perspectives, and subject matters relating to modern quests for the historical Jesus. It will also be a preferred text for those who need or want to refresh their knowledge regarding the context within which Jesus lived in preparation for leading church discussion groups in studies of the Gospels.

In what has been passed down to us about Jesus' life, there is not a single detail that is not in total conformity with the language and mode of thinking of the Near East - a culture completely different from our own. In this book we travel with the author, a Lebanese Christian born in 1869, back into this vanished Biblical world.

He had experienced it first-hand, since during his boyhood living conditions were still identical with those of Jesus' time. When Abraham Rihbany tells us about the domestic life of his family and the world of Syrian shepherds and farmers, the Biblical world comes to life with the colorful commotion of the market-place, the discomforts of traveling, the birth of children, the struggle for ones' daily bread, the Eastern manner of speech - in short, Rihbany immerses us in this ancient world, and we see Jesus the man in his own Near Eastern culture.

This powerful and warmhearted book will delight the reader with its simplicity of narrative and with its insight into the world of the Near East.

How did Jesus, a much-loved and highly respected Jewish teacher, get sentenced to death as a criminal? The questions of students and scholars about the actual circumstances, legal situation, and subsequent development of the Passion Narratives are here answered in Sloyan's second edition of this reliable resource, first published by Fortress Press in 1973. This second edition includes additional text, updated bibliography and notes, and a new preface.

Catholic storyteller Ann Ball joins Damian Hinojosa to offer remarkable stories about Jesus' infant life, including scripture stories and apocryphal narratives. Photos from around the world highlight unforgettable art that depicts the young Jesus.

Dorothy Lee argues passionately for restoring the study of The Transfiguration to the centre of the theological stage, and she succeeds triumphantly. Whereas a theology of transfiguration has long been an essential part of the Eastern theologoical tradition, it has often seemed strange to our Western rational minds. The book argues that the transfiguration functions as an epiphany revealing Jesus' true identity and also an apocalyptic vision, depicting God's transforming future. A chapter is devoted to each of the four New Testament narratives of the transfiguration, setting the story within the wider literary and theological framework of the text. Traces of the transfiguration are examined in other parts of the New Testament, particularly in The Gospel of John, where the symbolism is close to that of the transfiguration. Finally, the author draws out the symbolism and theological implications of the transfiguration for an understanding of Christ, God's radical future and the transformation of all creation, drawing on the icons of Eastern Christianity and Western theologies of beauty. This book is a small masterpiece and a model of clarity and lucid exposition.

In this series of reflections on the mystery of Jesus and the questions that surround him, noted New Testament scholar Wayne Meeks redirects the course of the Jesus debates. Insisting that we cease focusing on who the historical Jesus was and ask instead, who is Christ? Meeks demonstrates with electric and lucid prose that Jesus is not a permanent artifact whose precise nature can be traced back through history but, rather, a figure whose identity continues to emerge as contemporary persons engage him in their daily lives.

Among the classics of ancient Greek and Jewish literature, the story of Luke-Acts has few rivals. Yet we moderns miss much of the meaning of Luke's two-part drama because we read it like any other text and not as it would have been "heard" by ancient listeners -- in public performance by a skilled storyteller.

"The Way according to Luke" unlocks the big picture of Jesus' mission by attending to the repetition, patterns, and other clues of oral narrative. In this single volume Paul Borgman lays out a holistic view of the organic unity between Luke and Acts while demonstrating that the meaning of Luke-Acts is uniquely embedded in its narrative. Borgman's distinctive work makes available both the satisfying pleasure of reading the Bible as great literature and the rewarding insight gained from receiving Scripture as it was originally delivered.

The book investigates the life and motives of the man who played a pivotal role in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, and argues that the historical figure of Caiaphas has been distorted and demonized by Christian tradition, looking at his portrayal in later legend and modern literature.

Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, was released on Ash Wednesday, February 24, 2004 to capacity audiences in theatres and auditoriums across the U.S. and other countries. Prior to the film's release, a groundswell of controversy filled the airwaves and media outlets. Some religious groups protested the film, while others embraced it. Mel Gibson focuses on the Passion not the life nor resurrection of Christ. By doing so, he leaves out most of the elements of the Jesus story familiar to Christians and consequently he adds non-biblical gruesome details foreign to the Gospels. Mel Gibson's Passion: The Film, the Controversy, and Its Implications exposes the flaws of Gibson's cinematic Christ and lays out assertively and persuasively the rationale of Jews and Christians in how to grasp and comprehend the passion and execution of the Christian savior known scripturally as the "King of the Jews."

Everyone knows about the famous images of Mary, from Michelangelo's Pieta to her appearances at Lourdes and Fatima. But the Holy Virgin has many lesser known images and titles, from her life as a young infant to her dormition. In this book, Ann Ball, a leading Catholic devotional writer, tells us the stories of these other faces of Mary--each one beautiful and unexpected, and all of them a tribute to the enduring power of the Mother of God around the world.

This introductory textbook on the history of Judaism, written by one of the foremost scholars in the field, is ideal for college freshmen and high school seniors. The book includes chapters on the Pentateuch and the definition of Israel, the Torah and the Mishnah and Judaism's way of life, the Talmud and Judaism's worldview, and the definition and nature of God in Judaism. The book concludes with a discussion of why Judaism has succeeded through centuries of competition with Christianity and Islam, and a chapter on exemplary figures in the emergence of Judaism. The book also includes a bibliography, glossary of terms, and many important primary documents, including the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the Talmud of the Land of Israel, the Talmud of Babylonia, Genesis and Genesis Rabbah, the Fathers (Abot) and the Fathers according to Rabbi Nathan.

The twelve essays in this volume explore, through various approaches, not only the biblical portraits of Mary but also both 'the quest for the historical Mary' and the understandings of those portraits through the centuries. The expert contributors address such topics as the understandings of sexuality, the divine feminine, soteriology, first-century social history, christology, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox hermeneutics, ecumenical and interfaith relations, and the meaning of 'virginity'. This is Volume 10 of the Feminist Companions to the New Testament & Early Christian Literature series.

Jonathan Knight provides a useful overview and guide to the main issues in current research into the historical Jesus, making a major contribution to this topic of international debate. Whereas some scholars think that Jesus' journey to Jerusalem was a funeral march to victory, Knight argues that Jesus travelled there inspired by eschatological hope. On his arrival, Jesus performed symbolic acts such as the Triumphal Entry, the Cleansing of the Temple and the Last Supper as part of the eschatological process which he thought would herald the arrival of the Son of Man and thus yield dramatic change. While the mindset of Jesus remains obscure to us (not least because of the nature of the sources), this book represents a new and creative attempt to set Jesus in the context of apocalyptic Judaism and to restore eschatological hope to the centre of his message.