All Things to All Cultures sets Paul in his first-century context and illuminates his interactions with Jews, Greeks, and Romans as he spread the gospel in the Mediterranean world. In addition to exploring Paul's context and analyzing his letters, the book has chapters on the chronology of Paul's life, the text of the Pauline letters, the scholarly contributions to our understanding of Paul over the last 150 years, and the theology of the Pauline corpus. There is no comparable introduction to Paul that integrates the Jewish, Greek, and Roman influences on him and the letters that make up a substantial portion of the New Testament. Contributors Mike BirdCavan ConcannonDavid EastmanChris ForbesMark HardingTim HarrisJim HarrisonPaul McKechnieBrent NongbriIan SmithMurray SmithLarry Welborn

Bringing together the internationally recognized excellence of Macquarie University faculty -- renowned for their knowledge of the New Testament's Greco-Roman background -- and the theological expertise of scholars affiliated with the Australian College of Theology, this book provides a major, integrated, and distinctively Australian contribution to the study of the content and setting of the New Testament Gospels. Seventeen scholars here delve into the archaeology, the manuscripts, and the political, social, and religious context of the Gospels, as well as their place and use in the early churches. Even more, however, they offer in-depth, in-context examinations of Jesus' life and ministry as recounted in the Gospels.Contributors: Evelyn Ashley Scott D. Charlesworth Johan Ferreira Chris Forbes Greg W. Forbes Mark Harding Timothy J. Harris James R. Harrison Theresa Yu Chui Siang Lau Erica A. Mathieson Robert K. McIver Alanna Nobbs Brian Powell Van Shore Ian K. Smith Murray J. Smith Stephen Voorwinde

E.A. Judge's third collection of essays moves on from Rome and the New Testament to the interaction of the classical and biblical traditions, to the cultural transformation of late antiquity, and to the contested heritage of Athens and Jerusalem in the modern West. A lifelong interest in Rome bridges this range. Christianity emerges as essentially a movement of ideas, opposed at first to the cultic practice of ancient religion which had been meant to secure the existing order of things. The new message with its demanding morality laid the foundations for our radically different sense of 'religion' as the quest for the ideal life.The 'Judge method' tackles such momentous questions by starting with textual detail, translated from Latin and Greek. Inspired by the project of the Doelger-Institut in Bonn (the interaction of antiquity and Christianity), he brings to it a particular focus on those documents of the times retrieved from stone or papyrus. The collection reflects the more holistic approach to history, starting with the ancient world, that has been developed at Macquarie University in Sydney, where diverse interests are now drawn together from as far back as ancient Egypt or China in an attractive approach to the modern world.

Into All the World-the third volume from editors Mark Harding and Alanna Nobbs on the content and social setting of the New Testament-brings together a team of eminent Australian scholars in ancient history, New Testament, and the early church to take the story of Christianity into the Jewish and Greco- Roman world of the first century.In thirteen chapters, the contributors discuss all the post-Pauline New Testament writings, devoting attention to both their content and their context. They examine the impact of the growth of the church on both Jews and Gentiles, exploring issues such as the diaspora, minorities, the Book of Acts, and the Fourth Gospel. The book then proceeds to a discussion of the impact of Christianity on the Roman state, including consideration of the book of Revelation and the imperial cult. A final chapter investigates how the church was perceived by Clement of Rome at the end of the first century.