The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most familiar passages in the New Testament. In this concise and clearly-written introduction to and commentary on the Sermon, Charles Talbert pays particular attention to its role in character formation and ethical decision making.
After introductory chapters on reading the Sermon on the Mount, the book offers a section-by-section commentary. Talbert points out structural highlights, provides illuminating cross-references to Jewish and Greco-Roman literature, and concludes each section with a consideration of how it contributes to character formation and how it can be used with the rest of Scripture for ethical decision-making. The book is packed with insights that will be of great use to students as well as those who preach and teach the Sermon.

"Ephesians and Colossians" is the first of eighteen volumes in the Paideia commentary series. In this inaugural volume, leading New Testament scholar Charles Talbert distills interpretive insights for students in theology, biblical studies, and religion.

Commentaries in the Paideia series focus on the final form of each New Testament book, attending to historical setting, canonical context, and contemporary hermeneutical concerns. Authored by a diverse team of illustrious scholars, Paideia commentaries add fresh insight to consensus scholarship, focusing especially on how these theological texts use narrative and rhetorical strategies from the ancient educational world to form and shape the reader.

"Charles Talbert initiates Baker Academic's new Paideia series, which promises a fresh approach beneficial especially to beginning students but of value to the more advanced as well, with an accessible, user-friendly commentary on Ephesians and Colossians. Talbert's contribution shines forth as a concise yet comprehensive gem illustrating his mastery of the present state of research. His vast erudition enlightens readers with new insights into not only the theological content but also the cultural and literary contexts to facilitate an appreciation of the contemporary relevance of two closely related but sometimes neglected Pauline letters." --John Paul Heil, professor of New Testament, Catholic University of America

"The Pauline letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians are extraordinarily rich texts. Drawing on his many years of distinguished teaching and scholarship, Charles Talbert is a most trustworthy guide ("paidag??gos"), for students and all who love Scripture, to theliterary, historical, and theological treasures in these marvelous early Christian writings." --Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, professor of New Testament, Weston Jesuit School of Theology

"Here is a commentary that has about everything you really want and almost nothing you don't want! Talbert is clear, concise, informative, and interesting, providing solid exegesis and exhibiting judicious and balanced wisdom throughout. This is a most auspicious beginning to a new commentary series. I recommend it very enthusiastically." --Donald A. Hagner, George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

In this fresh commentary, the fourth of eighteen volumes in the Paideia series, a leading New Testament scholar examines cultural context and theological meaning in Matthew. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by
- Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
- Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
- Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
- Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
- Making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format

Innovative excursion into New Testament teaching on the earthly life of faith What does it mean to -get saved-? Is conversion a gift of God's grace but the post-conversion Christian life in our own hands? Is the covenant relationship sustained by a sense of personal gratitude for God's past gift of conversion -- or is post-conversion faithfulness itself an ongoing gift from God? In this book Charles H. Talbert and Jason A. Whitlark, together with Andrew E. Arterbury, Clifford A. Barbarick, Scott J. Hafemann, and Michael W. Martin, address such questions about God's role in the Christian's life. Through careful, consistent exegesis of relevant New Testament texts, they show that -getting saved- involves both God's forgiveness and God's enablement to obey -- or -new covenant piety- -- from initial conversion to eschatological salvation.

"Reading John" concentrates on the literary and theological distinctives of the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles. New Testament scholar Charles Talbert's unique commentary considers the entire scope of these works attributed to John, their literary settings and particularities, and their continuing theological importance to the Christian story. Thoughtful and engaging, Reading John is an essential book for students and ministers studying the New Testament and the Johannine writings.

Paul's letters to the Christians in Corinth portray a young church struggling to live out the demands of the gospel amid the life of a thoroughly urban setting. In "Reading Corinthians," biblical scholar Charles Talbert helps his reader to grasp what was at stake in the conversations between Paul and the Corinthians. What we find there is not only a word for the struggling faithful in Corinth, but an always truthful word for the church today.

Answers to the usual introductory questions do not yield sufficient harvest to enable an intelligent reading of Acts. The approach of "Reading Acts" is to ask how ancient Mediterranean auditors would have heard Acts when it was read in their presence. To be successful Talbert divides this approach into two parts- how Acts would have been heard in its precanonical context and in its canonical context.

Inside this issue:1. The Rehabilitation of an Exegetical Step-Child: 1 Peter in Recent Research, by John H. Elliott2. The Critical Exploration of 1 Peter, by Dennis Sylva3. Parenesis and Kerygma in 1 Peter, by Eduard Lohse, translated by John Steely4. 1 Peter, Its Situation and Strategy: A Discussion with David Balch, by John H. Elliott5. Hellenization / Acculturation in 1 Peter, by David Balch6. The Literary and Theological Function of 1 Peter 1:3-12, by David W. Kendall7. The Functional Christology of First Peter, by Earl Richard8. Once Again: The Plan of 1 Peter, by Charles H. Talbert

The primary focus of this book is to demonstrate how Hebrews represent, in view of its historical and religious context, human fidelity to God. In order to provide a fresh perspective on this issue Whitlark examines Hebrews understanding of fidelity from the perspective of its authorial audience. His conclusions have far reaching implications for understanding the soteriology of Hebrews, the authors and the auditors presumed experience of salvation in Jesus Christ, and how the message of the supremacy of Jesus Christ was heard in the context Hebrews presupposes.

In this concise and clearly written commentary, Charles H. Talbert brings to mainline Christians a fresh reading of the book of Revelation, demonstrating that it is not only accessible but relevant for the modern-day Christian. According to Talbert, the primary causes of the marginalized status of the book of Revelation by mainline Christians are threefold--the apparent inaccessibility of its meaning, the seeming impossibility of its pastoral application, and its demonstrated susceptibility to abuse. By asking basic questions such as Who wrote this document? To whom? From where? and For what purpose? Talbert ably demonstrates that the book of Revelation was written to help the early Christians avoid assimilation into the larger pagan culture. Talbert also gives full attention to the literature of the Greco-Roman, early Christian, and early Jewish worlds as he examines the more mystical components of the narrative.

From the various biblical explanations of suffering, this volume chooses to focus on one: suffering sometimes possesses an educational value. It explores the differing versions of this view in Paul, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and Luke-Acts, and sets these Christian perspectives against the backdrop of similar explanations in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures.

From the various biblical explanations of suffering, this volume chooses to focus on one: suffering sometimes possesses an educational value. It explores the differing versions of this view in Paul, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and Luke-Acts, and sets these Christian perspectives against the backdrop of similar explanations in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures.

In Reading the Sermon on the Mount, Charles H. Talbert explores the religious message put forth in the first large teaching section of the Gospel according to Matthew and finds it to have a relevance often overlooked in academic studies. Seeking to hear and understand the text of Matthew 5-7 as someone living in the Mediterranean about 100 C.E. would have encountered it, Talbert argues for a broader interpretation of the Sermon than scholars typically advance. He suggests that the Sermon cannot be reduced to a discussion of ethics but includes considerations of piety. He contends that it is a text about covenant fidelity to God and to other humans, in which Jesus seeks to affect perceptions, dispositions, and intentions. The text thus functions primarily as a catalyst for character formation rather than as a compendium of obligations. To prepare readers for a thorough examination of the Sermon, Talbert investigates Matthew's relation to Judaism and inquires into the composition of the audience who received Jesus' charge. He also takes into account the order of Jesus' discourse, the distinction between character formation and decision making, and the question of whether or not the Jesus who speaks in the Sermon is a legalist. In his reading of the text, Talbert attends to the six large units of thought in Matthew 5-7, exploring the relationship of each to possible concerns of character formation and decision making. Section by section, he analyzes form and content, comparing Jesus' directives with similar statements in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Talbert concludes that only when the text is read in three contexts - the whole of Matthew, the whole of the New Testament, and the entire biblical plot - can the Sermon on the Mount make a contribution to decision making.