Description: Enigmas and Powers is a celebration and engagement of the work of the noted author, biblical scholar, peace activist, pastor, speaker, and workshop leader, Walter Wink. Among Wink's numerous influential works are The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of the Man, The Bible in Human Transformation, Homosexuality and Christian Faith, Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way, and The Powers trilogy (Naming the Powers, Unmasking the Powers, and Engaging the Powers). This is the only volume devoted to responses by Walter's colleagues and students to the entire range of his work and its vast impact across disciplines, from biblical studies to peace studies, from theology to psychology. ""You hold in your hands an unusual book. In it you will find essays, letters, speeches, prayers, toasts, reminiscences, arguments, footnotes, and open-ended conversation. You will find addressed--and by addressed, I mean that the authors are variously talking to these persons/entities--God; the Spirit; Psyche; Walter Wink the person; Walter Wink the essay, book, theory, method, and/or argument(s); and finally, and throughout, you, the reader. Most of all, you will find, I hope, truth. Or, at least, meaningful, productive, and enticing approaches toward truth itself, and toward the world in light of truth."" --from the introduction Endorsements: Contributors: Marcus Borg, Balfour Brickner, Tansy Chapman, Hal Childs, Bruce Chilton, Richard Deats, J. Harold Ellens, Robert (Bob) Evans, Ray Gingerich, Ted Grimsrud, Joseph C. Hough, Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Amy-Jill Levine, Alastair McIntosh, Jack Miles, Henry Mottu, Robert Raines, Sharon H. Ringe, Wayne G. Rollins, Bonnie Rosborough, D. Seiple, Frederick W. Weidmann, and Barbara Wheeler About the Contributor(s): Frederick W. Weidmann is the Director of the Center for Church Life and Professor of Biblical Studies at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York. He is the author of Polycarp and John: The Harris Fragments and their Challenge to the Literary Traditions and The Shorter Epistles of Paul. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. D. Seiple is a postdoctoral researcher and is coeditor (with Casey Haskins) of Dewey Reconfigured. He is a licensed minister at Broadway United Church of Christ (New York City).

This book in the Westminster Bible Companion series explores some of Paul's most central writings--including his earliest letters (those to the Thessalonians), his friendliest letter (Philippians), his most personal letter (Philemon), and a detailed autobiographical sketch of Paul's early life (Phil 3:3-8). In an engaging style, accessible for a broad readership, Weidmann explains how Paul set forth an energizing and steadfast foundation for life in Christ that has resonated throughout history.

This book in the Westminster Bible Companion series explores one of Paul's most central letters. Frederick W. Weidmann observes the changes and developments in Paul's thought and practice in order to help pastors negotiate the distinction between their calling and self-identity.

This is a multifaceted work concerning an important, if little-known, text on Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop and martyr, and his association with the apostle John. This ancient work includes significant portions of narrative description and dialogue which are preserved nowhere else among extant texts and shows significant similarities to the earliest strata of other important early Christian works such as the Acts of John and the Martyrdom of Polycarp. The text of the Harris Fragments on Polycarp and John raises exciting questions about martyrdom and apostolicity, the earliest history of the important Christian communities at Ephesus and Smyrna, and the legacies of Polycarp and John among early Christians.

This is a multifaceted work concerning an important, if little known, text on Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop and martyr, and his association with the apostle John. This ancient work includes significant portions of narrative description and dialogue which are preserved nowhere else among extant texts and shows significant similarities to the earliest strata of other important early Christian works such as the Acts of John and the Martyrdom of Polycarp. The text of the Harris Fragments on Polycarp and John raises new exciting questions about martyrdom and apostolicity, the earliest history of the important Christian communities at Ephesus and Smyrna, and the legacies of Polycarp and John among early Christians. Frederick W. Weidmann accomplishes several important things in one volume. Foundationally, he presents an authoritative critical edition and translation of the Harris Fragments on Polycarp and John. Coptologists and philologists are well served through extensive text-critical notes, while a broader range of interested readers will appreciate, and benefit from, the register of parallels to the New Testament and other ancient literature, and the informative introduction to the ancient text. An essay on the narrative strategy of the text identifies the broad theme of the work, "apostolicity and martyrdom," as well as many of the rhetorical motifs and elements employed. The Commentary, a significant work in itself, provides a wealth of information about possible biblical sources and parallels, as well as consideration of pertinent Jewish, pagan, and other early Christian works. Weidmann suggests and pursues several relevant avenues of inquiry in order to illuminate the words, phrases, and episodes which make up the extant text, and to engage the cultural context, social location, and theological proclivities of the community in and for which the work may have been written. In a final chapter, the work preserved by the text of the Harris Fragments on Polycarp and John is located in time and place according to both literary-historical and social-historical considerations. Through a detailed series of inquiries, ranging from consideration of the early Christian apologist Irenaeus and his agendas, to the fascinating and troublesome record of John's martyrdom--or lack thereof, and, finally, to the notorious rivalry between the cities, and Christian communities of, Smyrna and Ephesus, Weidmann is able to narrow significantly the provenance of the work, while also further illuminating its significance. Polycarp and John: The Harris Fragments and Their Challenge to the Literary Traditions will be influential in New Testament and Early Christian studies, particularly in the areas of Johannine trajectories, martyrdom, noncanonical acts, Coptic literature, and the development of Christianity in Asia Minor.