In the past forty years, while historical-critical studies were seeking with renewed intensity to reconstruct events behind the biblical texts, not least the life of Jesus, two branches of literary studies were finally reaching maturity. First, researchers were recognizing that many biblical texts are rewritings or transformations of older texts that still exist, thus giving a clearer sense of where the biblical texts came from; and second, studies in the ancient art of composition clarified the biblical texts' unity and purpose, that is to say, where biblical texts were headed. The work of tracing literary indebtedness and art is far from finished but it is already possible and necessary to draw a conclusion: it is that, bluntly, Jesus did not exist as a historical individual. This is not as negative as may at first appear. In a deeply personal coda, Brodie begins to develop a new vision of Jesus as an icon of God's presence in the world and in human history.

The international conference held in Limerick, Ireland, in May 2005 produced far more than the usual collection of loosely related papers. Rather, this volume from the 17 contributors demarcates and organizes a whole field, serving as an indispensable introduction to intertextuality in general, and as an original examination of the topic in relation to the New Testament epistles. CONTENTS Thomas L. Brodie, Dennis R. MacDonald and Stanley E. Porter Introduction: Tracing the Development of the Epistles: The Potential and the Problem PART I. ASPECTS OF THEORY, PRACTICE AND RELATED RESEARCH Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher Intertextuality: Between Literary Theory and Text Analysis Steve Moyise Intertextuality, Historical Criticism and Deconstruction Peter Phillips Biblical Studies and Intertextuality: Should the Work of Genette and Eco Broaden our Horizons? Erkki Koskenniemi Josephus and Greek Poets Jon Paulien Elusive Allusions in the Apocalypse: Two Decades of Research into John's Use of the Old Testament PART II. FROM THE OT TO THE EPISTLES Thomas L. Brodie The Triple Intertextuality of the Epistles. Introduction Lukas Bormann Triple Intertextuality in Philippians Stanley E. Porter Further Comments on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament PART III. FROM EPISTLE TO EPISTLE Annette Merz The Fictitious Self-Exposition of Paul: How Might Intertextual Theory Suggest a Reformulation of the Hermeneutics of Pseudepigraphy? Hanna Roose 2 Thessalonians as Pseudepigraphic Reading Instruction for 1 Thessalonians: Methodological Implications and Exemplary Illustration of an Intertextual Concept J. Michael Gilchrist Intertextuality and the Pseudonymity of 2 Thessalonians Outi Leppa 2 Thessalonians among the Pauline Letters: Tracing the Literary Links between 2 Thessalonians and Other Pauline Epistles David J. Clark Structural Similarities in 1 and 2 Thessalonians: Comparative Discourse Anatomy IV. FROM EPISTLE TO NARRATIVE (GOSPEL/ACTS) Dennis R. MacDonald A Categorization of Antetextuality in the Gospels and Acts: A Case For Luke's Imitation of Plato and Xenophon to Depict Paul as a Christian Socrates Paul Elbert Possible Literary Links between Luke-Acts and Pauline Letters Regarding Spirit-Language Heikki Leppa Reading Galatians with and without the Book of Acts Mike Sommer A Better Class of Enemy: Opposition and Dependence in the Johannine Writings Thomas L. Brodie, Dennis R. MacDonald, Stanley E. Porter Problems Of Method: Suggested Guidelines

Many are saying that the prevailing paradigm of New Testament origins is going nowhere. In its place, Brodie's stunning book invites us to suspend all 'knowledge' we already have about the history of the New Testament's development, and to be willing to entertain the following thesis. Everything hinges on Proto-Luke, a history of Jesus using the Elijah-Elisha narrative as its model, which survives in 10 chapters of Luke and 15 of Acts. Mark then uses Proto-Luke, transposing its Acts material back into the life of Jesus. Matthew deuteronomizes Mark, John improves on the discourses of Matthew. Luke-Acts spells out the story at length. Add the Pauline corpus, the descendant of Deuteronomy via the Matthean logia, and the New Testament is virtually complete. This is a totalizing theory, an explanation of everything, and its critics will be numerous. But even they will be hugely intrigued, and have to admit that Brodie's myriads of challenging observations about literary affinities demand an answer.

The Elijah-Elisha narrative (1 Kgs 16:29-2 Kgs 13) is the most underestimated text in the Bible. Far from being a disparate collection, it is actually a carefully crafted double drama that both mirrors life and synthesizes systematically the entire Primary History (Genesis-Kings). In a bold hermeneutical move it transforms the language of historiography-of patriarchs and kings-into the language of prophetic biography. This prophetic biography, rooted in historiography, later becomes the evangelists' primary literary model. The Elijah-Elisha narrative is the crucial bridge between the foundational narratives of Judaism and Christianity. Since the 1970s there has been increasing evidence that Scripture texts that at first sight appear fragmented are in fact unified. Judges is a striking example of this. Because of the earlier exegetical models used, Judges was often regarded as a collection of rugged traditions that were independent of one another. Now, however, these apparently disconnected stories are intimately interconnected. Brodie explains that, as with earlier research on Judges, the quest for history-for underlying traditions-has tended to obscure the existing narrative account. In particular, the Elijah-Elisha narrative has often been read as consisting largely of two independent units, two cycles of traditions. The Elijah-Elisha narrative is indeed twofold-it clearly highlights two main prophets-but it is also a careful unity, as closely knit as Judges is now seen to be. Chapters are "The Unity of the Narrative (1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 13)," "A Synthesis of the Primary History: Initial Comparison Quantity Analysis," "A Synthesis of the Primary History: A More Detailed Comparison," "A Reinterpretation of the Leading Scriptures," and "A Literary Model for the Gospels." Thomas L. Brodie, OP, has taught Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament in various institutions across the U.S. and in South Africa and is now teaching in his native Ireland. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on the Scriptures. "

Recent years have seen a remarkable surge in interest in the book of Genesis - the first book of the Bible - and a foundational text of Western culture. In this new commentary, Thomas Brodie offers a complete and accessible overview of Genesis from literary, theological, and historical standpoints. Brodie's work is organized around three main ideas: the first is that the primary subject of Genesis is human existence - while full of historical echoes, it is primarily a sophisticated portrayal of the progress and pitfalls of human life. His second thesis is that Genesis' basic organizational unity is binary, or diptych: building on older insights that Genesis is somehow dialogical, he argues that the entire book is composed of diptychs - accounts which, like some paintings, consist of two parts or panels. Finally, Brodie contends that many of Genesis' sources still exist, and can be identified and verified.

While synthesizing well-established commentators as diverse as Bultmann and Brown, Brodie expands Johannine studies in two directions. First, by drawing on the techniques of contemporary literary studies, he shows that John's Gospel, far from being poorly edited, is a carefully-wrought unity. Second, he shows that the final basis of this unity lies not in history or theology but, as ancient tradition suggested, in spirituality. Brodie also includes his own innovative translation of John. The result is a new type of commentary that is thoroughly contemporary in style, perspective, and method.