In this illuminating study Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul's use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as called to proclaim the Gospel among the gentiles. Ehrensperger examines the broad range of perspectives on how this use of power should be evaluated. These range from the traditional interpretation of unquestioned, taken for granted for a church leader, to a feminist interpretation. She examines whether or not Paul's use of power presents an open or hidden re-inscription of hierarchical structures in what was previously a discipleship of equals. Paul and the Dynamics of Power questions whether such hierarchical tendencies are rightly identified within Paul's discourse of power. Furthermore it considers whether these are inherently and necessarily expressions of domination and control and are thus in opposition to a 'discipleship of equals'? In her careful analysis Ehrensperger draws on such wide-ranging figures as Derrida, Michel Foucault and James Scott. This enables fresh insights into Paul's use of authority and power in its first century context.

This new collection celebrates the distinguished contribution of William S. Campbell to a renewed understanding of Paul's theologizing and its influence on the shaping of early Christian identity. The essays are clustered around two closely related topics: Paul's theologizing, and the way it influenced Christian identity within the context of Roman Empire. The essays consider the continued relevance of previous identities in Christ', the importance of the context of the Roman Empire, and the significance of the Jewishness of Paul and the Pauline movement in the shaping of identity. The political context is discussed by Neil Elliott, Ekkehard Stegemann, Daniel Patte, and Ian Rock whilst the Jewish roots of Paul and the Christ-movement are addressed in essays by Robert Jewett, Mark Nanos, Calvin Roetzel, and Kathy Ehrensperger. Paul's specific influence in shaping the identity of the early Christ-movement is the concern of essays by Robert Brawley, Jerry Sumney, Kar Yong Lim, and J. Brian Tucker. Finally, methodological reflection on Paul's theologizing within Pauline studies is the concern of essays by Terrence Donaldson and Magnus Zetterholm.

Based on recent studies in intercultural communication Kathy Ehrensperger applies the paradigm of multilingualism, which includes the recognition of cultural distinctiveness, to the study of Paul. Paul's role as apostle to the nations is seen as the role of a go-between - as that of cultural translator. This role requires that he is fully embedded in his own tradition but must also be able to appreciate and understand aspects of gentile culture. Paul is viewed as involved in a process in which the meaning of the Christ event is being negotiated 'in the space between' cultures, with their diverse cultural coding systems and cultural encyclopaedias. It is argued that this is not a process of imposing Jewish culture on gentiles at the expense of gentile identity, nor is it a process of eradication of Jewish identity. Rather, Paul's theologizing in the space between implies the task of negotiating the meaning of the Christ event in relation to, and in appreciation of both, Jewish and gentile identity.

This book provides various perspectives of leading contemporary scholars concerning Paul's message, particularly his expressed expectation of the end-time redemption of Israel and its relation to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations, in the context of Jewish eschatological expectation. The contributors engage the increasingly contentious enigmas relating to Paul's Jewishness: had his perception of living in a new era in Christ and anticipating an imminent final consummation moved him beyond the bounds of what his contemporaries would have considered Judaism, or did Paul continue to think and act "within Judaism"?

Ancient literature was generally written by and produced for elite men. That fact creates specific challenges to modern interpreters of gender roles in the ancient world, especially once contemporary understandings of gender as construction and performance are embraced. In Gender and Second-Temple Judaism, world-renowned scholars take on these challenges with regard to ancient Judaism (here including early Christianity and early rabbinic Judaism as well), at once examining the ancient evidence and quite consciously addressing difficult methodological questions regarding gender. Taken together, these chapters further complicate discussions of the construction of identity (e.g., "who is a Jew?") by inflecting them with questions of gender construction as well. Scholars of ancient Judaism and of gender alike will find much to grapple with in these pages.

Decisive Meals discusses various aspects of meal traditions and their relevance in terms of boundaries between different groups in the context of first century Judaism and the early Christ-movement. The contributors discuss different communities at different times and places - under the same focus of common meals: The postexilic community in Judaea, the Pauline communities in Asia Minor, as well as in the Roman dominated city of Caesarea and the Hellenistic Jewish community and the emerging rabbinical community - each time a community is affected through the sharing of meals, but how exactly? What are similar effects - where are the differences? This sheds light on power dynamics between rich and poor, well fed and hungry, but also between men and women. These questions will clarify how detailed exegesis is influenced by hermeneutical patterns and ideas about food, boundaries and power dynamics.

Noting that a traditional understanding of Paul as “convert� from Judaism has fueled false and often dangerous stereotypes of Judaism, and that the so-called “new perspective on Paul� has not completely escaped these stereotypes, František �bel has gathered leading international scholars to test the hypotheses of the more recent “Paul within Judaism� movement. Though hardly monolithic in their approach, these scholars’ explorations of specific topics concerning Second Temple Judaism and Paul’s message and theology allow a contextually more nuanced understanding of the apostle’s thought, one free from particular biases rooted in unacknowledged ideologies and traditional interpretations transmitted by particular church traditions. Contributors include František �bel, Michael Bachmann, Daniel Boyarin, William S. Campbell, Kathy Ehrensperger, Paula Fredriksen, Jörg Frey, Joshua Garroway, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Isaac W. Oliver, Shayna Sheinfeld, and J. Brian Tucker.

This volume of essays provides presentations and analyzes of several Reformation theologians' interpretations of Romans as a whole or in part, some focusing on one particular interpreter, such as Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Bullinger, and Bucer; others compare and contrast two or more of the major interpreters whether in relation to a particular section of the letter. The commonalities and divergence in the readings are analyzed in relation to and as a reflection of the various social, political and personal circumstances of the Reformers."Romans through History and Cultures" includes a wealth of information regarding the receptions of Romans throughout the history of the church and today, in the 'first' and the 'two-thirds' world. It explores the past and present impact of Romans upon theology, and upon cultural, political, social, and ecclesial life, and gender relations.

Decisive Meals discusses various aspects of meal traditions and their relevance in terms of boundaries between different groups in the context of first century Judaism and the early Christ-movement. The contributors discuss different communities at different times and places - under the same focus of common meals: The post-exilic community in Judaea, the Pauline communities in Asia Minor, as well as in the Roman dominated city of Caesarea and the Hellenistic Jewish community and the emerging rabbinical community - each time a community is affected through the sharing of meals, but how exactly? What are similar effects - where are the differences? This sheds light on power dynamics between rich and poor, well fed and hungry, but also between men and women. These questions will clarify how detailed exegesis is influenced by hermeneutical patterns and ideas about food, boundaries and power dynamics.

Based on recent studies in intercultural communication Kathy Ehrensperger applies the paradigm of multilingualism, which includes the recognition of cultural distinctiveness, to the study of Paul. Paul's role as apostle to the nations is seen as the role of a go-between - as that of cultural translator. This role requires that he is fully embedded in his own tradition but must also be able to appreciate and understand aspects of gentile culture. Paul is viewed as involved in a process in which the meaning of the Christ event is being negotiated 'in the space between' cultures, with their diverse cultural coding systems and cultural encyclopaedias. It is argued that this is not a process of imposing Jewish culture on gentiles at the expense of gentile identity, nor is it a process of eradication of Jewish identity. Rather, Paul's theologizing in the space between implies the task of negotiating the meaning of the Christ event in relation to, and in appreciation of both, Jewish and gentile identity.

This new collection celebrates the distinguished contribution of William S. Campbell to a renewed understanding of Paul's theologizing and its influence on the shaping of early Christian identity. The essays are clustered around two closely related topics: Paul's theologizing, and the way it influenced Christian identity within the context of Roman Empire. The essays consider the continued relevance of previous identities in Christ', the importance of the context of the Roman Empire, and the significance of the Jewishness of Paul and the Pauline movement in the shaping of identity. The political context is discussed by Neil Elliott, Ekkehard Stegemann, Daniel Patte, and Ian Rock whilst the Jewish roots of Paul and the Christ-movement are addressed in essays by Robert Jewett, Mark Nanos, Calvin Roetzel, and Kathy Ehrensperger. Paul's specific influence in shaping the identity of the early Christ-movement is the concern of essays by Robert Brawley, Jerry Sumney, Kar Yong Lim, and J. Brian Tucker. Finally, methodological reflection on Paul's theologizing within Pauline studies is the concern of essays by Terrence Donaldson and Magnus Zetterholm.

This book deals with aspects of sociological, feminist and current (particularly deconstructive) approaches to the issue of power in Paul's theological thinking and in his concrete activity, including the relevance of this for a contemporary discourse on/of power. In this illuminating study Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul's use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as called to proclaim the Gospel among the gentiles. Ehrensperger examines the broad range of perspectives on how this use of power should be evaluated. These range from the traditional interpretation of unquestioned, taken for granted for a church leader, to a feminist interpretation. She examines whether or not Paul's use of power presents an open or hidden re-inscription of hierarchical structures in what was previously a discipleship of equals. "Paul and the Dynamics of Power" questions whether such hierarchical tendencies are rightly identified within Paul's discourse of power. Furthermore it considers whether these are inherently and necessarily expressions of domination and control and are thus in opposition to a 'discipleship of equals'? In her careful analysis Ehrensperger draws on such wide-ranging figures as Derrida, Michel Foucault and James Scott. This enables fresh insights into Paul's use of authority and power in its first century context. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".

There has been a revolutionary shift of thinking in Pauline Studies, fundamentally changing the image of Paul. Postmodern literary criticism of Paul's epistles and sociorhetorical criticism of his letters has created a New Perspective approach to Pauline studies. At the same time, feminist criticism of the Pauline corpus has been growing. Unfortunately there has been hardly any interaction and exchange of research results between these different strands of scholarship. The result of this is that in Pauline studies scholars are hardly aware of feminist perspectives. Similarly, feminist interpretations of Paul, not fully conversant with the most recent strands of Pauline research, are often based on traditional images of Paul. Ehrensperger's analysis of feminist commentaries on Paul thus contains a rather negative depiction of theological thinking. However, both strands of research, feminist and those of the New Perspective, provide fresh and illuminating insights that emphasize similar aspects from different perspectives. Ehrensperger advocates a closer interaction between these two schools of Pauline studies. She analyzes Romans 14-15, exploring the results of recent research in both Pauline schools. Pauline studies from the New Perspective emphasize the Jewish context and texture of Paul's thinking. She sets these in dialogue with feminist theology, which focuses on issues of identity, diversity, and relationality. Her study results in a perspective on Paul which views him as a significant dialogue partner in the search for a theology beyond anti-Semitism and misogyny, beyond force and domination. Kathy Ehrensperger studied theology at the Universities of Basel and Berne, and was a pastor for sixteen years in Switzerland. She is currently a Lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Ancient literature was generally written by and produced for elite men. That fact creates specific challenges to modern interpreters of gender roles in the ancient world, especially once contemporary understandings of gender as construction and performance are embraced. In Gender and Second-Temple Judaism, world-renowned scholars take on these challenges with regard to ancient Judaism (here including early Christianity and early rabbinic Judaism as well), at once examining the ancient evidence and quite consciously addressing difficult methodological questions regarding gender. Taken together, these chapters further complicate discussions of the construction of identity (e.g., "who is a Jew?") by inflecting them with questions of gender construction as well. Scholars of ancient Judaism and of gender alike will find much to grapple with in these pages.

Noting that a traditional understanding of Paul as "convert" from Judaism has fueled false and often dangerous stereotypes of Judaism, and that the so-called "new perspective on Paul" has not completely escaped these stereotypes, Frantisek Abel has gathered leading international scholars to test the hypotheses of the more recent "Paul within Judaism" movement. Though hardly monolithic in their approach, these scholars' explorations of specific topics concerning Second Temple Judaism and Paul's message and theology allow a more contextually nuanced understanding of the apostle's thought, one free from particular biases rooted in unacknowledged ideologies and traditional interpretations transmitted by particular church traditions. Contributors include Frantisek Abel, Michael Bachmann, Daniel Boyarin, William S. Campbell, Kathy Ehrensperger, Paula Fredriksen, Joerg Frey, Joshua Garroway, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Isaac W. Oliver, Shayna Sheinfeld, and J. Brian Tucker.