Many ideas once thought to be foundational to Christianity are now known to be false due to scientific discoveries regarding the nature of the universe and historical findings about how Christianity began. Is Christianity doomed to irrelevance or even extinction? How might Christianity reinvent itself so that it can address the real concerns of people in today's world? This collection of essays from such leading thinkers as Karen Armstrong and John Shelby Spong addresses questions such as life after death, the meaning of God, apocalypticism, and the significance of Jesus' death. Contributors: Karen Armstrong, Don Cupitt, Arthur J. Dewey, Robert W. Funk, Lloyd Geering, Roy W. Hoover, Robert J. Miller, Stephen J. Patterson, Bernard Brandon Scott, John Shelby Spong

A slow rumbling, that has been building up among New Testament scholars for the past twenty years, is only now beginning to make its effects felt on a more general public. A new Paul is beginning to emerge, one who differs from the Paul of Augustine and Luther, who is no friend to the traditional orthodoxy that has co-opted him for almost two thousand years.

To help us see Paul in this new way, Scott arrives at three conclusions argued step-by-step throughout the book: Paul was called; His concern was with the nations; Paul addresses particular situations, not a universal human condition.

The new Paul threatened Roman authorities with anti-imperial rhetoric, much of which is still operative today. Thus, the new Paul may prove an even more radical challenge to church and society than did the historical Jesus.

The term "resurrection" has come to stand for what Christianity is all about. But a close look reveals that it should not be understood monolithically, but rather as a pluralistic and diverse phenomenon. Early Christian communities were convinced that Rome had not defeated Jesus when they crucified him. They employed a whole host of metaphors to express that conviction. The use of the single term "resurrection" to cover the phenomenon is a mistake, one that has tyrannized Christianity. Furthermore, most Christians believe in a physical resurrection, although Paul clearly calls this into question. Once that tradition became fixed, it provided the lens through which everything else was viewed-and distorted. By examining the so-called resurrection stories in chronological order, this book aspires to prompt readers to consider questions such as, What does the New Testament really say about the resurrection? What is the influence of Judaism on Christian belief in the resurrection? How did the resurrection become the central belief in Christianity? Why did early Christians choose to believe in the resurrection? And why is resurrection not the right word?

In the Hellenistic world, writings were read aloud, heard and remembered. But modern exegesis assumes a silent text. According to Margaret Lee & Brandon Scott, the disjuncture between ancient and modern approaches to literature obscures the beauty and meaning in writings such as the New Testament. Further, the structure of a Hellenistic Greek composition derives from its sounds and not from the meaning of its words. Analysis of the sound dimension, they argue, is therefore foundational to interpreting the composition. ""Sound Mapping the New Testament"" opens with an exploration of writing technology in the Greco-Roman world. It then turns to Hellenistic literary criticism for descriptions of grammar as a science of sound and literary composition as a woven fabric of speech. Based on these perspectives and a close analysis of writings from the four gospels, Paul, and Q it advances a theory of sound analysis that will enable modern readers to hear the New Testament afresh.

Who was the apostle Paul? That question has provided grist for the scholarly mill for millennia. This fifth volume of the Jesus Seminar Guides opens with summaries of the traditional understanding of Paul that examine its inconsistencies and contradictions and reveal its bankruptcy. The authors then move beyond that traditional framework provided by Augustine and Luther to more radical approaches as they struggle with questions such as: who was the historical Paul, how is Paul's message related to Jesus', what problem was Paul trying to solve, and what was his concept of God?

The event of Jesus' resurrection is like the event of creation: There were no eye-witnesses. So how does one make sense of the story of the resurrection - or rather stories, for not one but many diverse reports survive from early Christianity? Brandon Scott suggests that we must begin by erasing all Christian art about the resurrection from our memory. And then forget all the sermons we heard at Easter. The best way to understand the resurrection, he argues, is to arrange the texts chronologically and observe how the story itself developed. ""The Resurrection of Jesus: A Sourcebook"" begins with just such a list, compiled with commentaries by Robert W. Funk.It proceeds to a report of the Jesus Seminar's votes on the resurrection, followed by a collection and discussion by Robert Price of resurrection stories found in the Greek culture of Jesus' day, and an in-depth study by Arthur Dewey of a little-known resurrection story in the ""Gospel of Peter"". Philosopher Thomas Sheehan concludes the volume with two essays that help put the pieces back together again, in ways that make sense in the modern world.

"What if the purpose or function of a parable is not to instruct but to haunt?" So begins Listening to the Parables of Jesus, edited by Edward F. Beutner, who suggests that, from time to time, even scholars scratch their heads in puzzlement over the yin and yang of Jesus' parables. This concise, well-edited book brings together insights from world-renowned scholars into the interpretation of parables. Lane McGaughy's opening essay provides high fidelity earphones that let readers hear the vivid and distinctive nature of the language of parable. Robert Miller offers an original treatment of two parables from the gospels of Matthew and Thomas, parables that he renames, "The Overpriced Pearl" and "The Treasure of Immorality." With his eye for narrative structure, film director Paul Verhoeven identifies fault lines in Matthew's version of the Vineyard Laborers and proposes an alternative version in which the ?first will be first.? In his essay on the Leased Vineyard, Brandon Scott demonstrates how rabbinic parables can illuminate the otherwise shadowy nooks and crannies of a dark parable of violence found in Mark's gospel. The final three essays describe the parables globally as artful language events?as fulcrums, so to speak, upon which our understanding of the world gets overturned and undermined. According to Robert Funk, Jesus? parables are knotholes in the cosmic fence through which we glimpse the world as Jesus saw it. In Listening to the Parables of Jesus, leading scholars of the parables help readers find the knotholes. The rest is up to them.

Often referred to by the press and critics alike as a single voice, the Jesus Seminar ?is not, in fact, monolithic," writes Bernard Brandon Scott. "Biblical scholars are notoriously independent and contrary." The scholars of the Jesus Seminar are no different. In Jesus Reconsidered, readers will hear the diverse voices of pioneering scholars, some of whom put their reputations and careers on the line when, in 1985, they chose to go public with scholarship that had been common knowledge in scholarly circles for more than a hundred years. Witty, timely and full of provocative issues, articles by Robert Funk, Marcus Borg, Roy Hoover and others invite readers to step inside scholarly debates and discussions previously obscured by jargon and obfuscation. Jesus Reconsidered is the first in a series titled Jesus Seminar Guides. Over the next few years, the series will gather the best writings of Westar Fellows from the pages of its membership magazine, The Fourth R, its academic journal Forum, and occasionally from previously unpublished material. Arranged topically, the Guides will focus on topics such as the the historical Jesus, parables, Easter, and canon and inspiration that have formed the core of the Seminar's work for more than twenty years. Jesus Reconsidered begins with the opening remarks of Jesus Seminar Founder Robert Funk at its first meeting in March 1985. There he laid the groundwork upon which the Seminar would be built. Robert Funk concludes his remarks by saying, "Our stories are eroding under the acids of historical criticism. We must retell our stories. And there is one epic story that has Jesus in it." For those curious about the quest and the questions that drive theJesus Seminar, this book is a must read.

In this book the author sets his interpretation of the key parables of Jesus in the context of other things Jesus said and did. The result is a startling and provocative picture of the historical figure and the challenge he presents to contemporary life.

A concise and readable introduction to the parables for all readers, this first report of the Jesus Seminar reviews the authenticity of all gospel versions of the thirty-three parables attributed to Jesus. Individual versions of each parable are grouped together and arranged for easy reference and comparison.

This much-needed volume provides a comprehensive study of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, in selected intertestamental and Rabbinic texts, and in the New Testament. An introductory essay summarizes the various meanings of wisdom in current research and offers an accurate understanding of the term. With seventeen essays by leading scholars, this helpful book allows students to identify and understand the presence of wisdom in the Bible and related literatures.

An accomplished biblical scholar here juxtaposes movies and New Testament themes to uncover the mythic dimensions of each and to explore the primary conflicts in American society.

Hear Then the Parable is an innovative literary-social reading of all the parables of Jesus.