Does the increasing prominence of Asia also mark a new era for human rights in the region? This timely book uncovers the political drivers behind both recent regional and country-based changes to the recognition, promotion, and protection of rights. Human Rights in Asia focuses on the relationships between political regimes, institutions and cultures, and external actors, such as international organizations, NGOs, and business. The contributing authors provide important discussions on Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Phillipines. Thematic chapters then go on to frame these individually focused contributions, by examining the international pressure to 'normalize' rights regimes, and the relationship between Islam and rights in the region. Providing a unique combination of country-specific and thematic analysis, this book will be a fascinating and beneficial read for postgraduate and undergraduate students in human rights and international relations, as well as scholars in politics, human rights, international relations and government and NGO analysts. Contributors include: M.K. Connors, T.W.D. Davis, M. Ford, B. Galligan, A. Kent, A. McGregor, T. Milner, R.C. Pangalangan, S. Peou, G. Rodan, A. Saeed, R. Samaddar

This volume gathers together studies on various ""engagements"" between Judaism and Christianity. Following an introduction on ""my odyssey in New Testament interpretation,"" Professor Davies examines such topics as the nature of Judaism, canon and Christology, Torah and dogma, law in Christianity, and the promised land in Jewish and Christian tradition. Part II focuses on Paul and Judaism, with special attention to Paul and the exodus, Paul and the law, and the allegory of the two olives in Romans 11:13-24. Part III looks at the background and origins of the Gospels, centering specifically on Matthew and John. Part IV takes up an exclusively American engagement with Judaism, that is, the Mormon's claim to be Christian and their assertion that they are genealogically connected with Jews and therefore physically a recovered, restored, and reinterpreted Israel. The volume concludes with a discussion and critique of ""mystical anti-Semitism,"" that is, ascribing to ""The Jews"" (not to ""Jews"") the central role in the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, leading to a view of ""The Jews"" as essentially satanic or demonic. This collection of seminal essays by a preeminent New Testament scholar highlights the encounter of two great religious traditions and stimulates the dialogue between them. W. D. Davies was Emeritus Ivey Professor of Advanced Studies and Research in Christian Origin at Duke University. He was the author of many books, including Paul and Rabbinic Judaism and Jewish and Pauline Studies.

How should this massive work of scholarship be assessed? The three volumes stand as one of the major commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew in which all future interpreters of the Gospel will find a source of fruitful dialogue and helpful ideas. It is a "must have," both in libraries and in footnotes. Davies and Allison are to be thoroughly commended on the fruits of their considerable toil.' Robert K. McIver, Seminary Studies

This volume which completes the internationally acclaimed three-volume commentary on St Matthew's Gospel includes a verse-by-verse and section-by-section commentary in which all linguistic, historical, and theological issues are discussed in detail. A complete index to all three volumes is included.

These essays presented to Dr Dodd to honour a great teacher and scholar are on two themes. Part I systematically surveys the present state of research on the background of the New Testament. (Dr Dodd's studies in the Septuagint and Hermetica suggested this theme.) Part II is on the particular problem of eschatology in the new Testament (with which his name is chiefly identified).

The first three volumes of The Cambridge History of Judaism cover the history of the Jews from the Exile in 5 87 B.C.E. to the early Roman period extending into the third century C.E. A comprehensive examination is made of all the relevant literary and archeological sources, and special attention is given to the interaction of Iranian, Semitic, Hellenistic and Roman cultures. The contributors include both Jewish and Gentile scholars from many countries, and this History thus helps to deliver the study of Jewish history and Christian origins from geographical and religious limitations, and contributes to a deeper understanding and a broader tolerance. This first volume opens with three introductory chapters to the work as a whole dealing with the geographical background, the chronology and the numismatic history of Judaism. The remainder of this volume concentrates on the Persian period, the two and a half centuries following the Babylonian Exile.

The second of four volumes covering the history of Judaism from 540 BCE to 250 CE, this book deals with the encounter of Judaism with the Hellenistic culture spread throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond by Alexander the Great and his successors. Drawing upon recent scholarship in archaeology, history and scriptures, the contributors describe the religious, social and cultural rejection and adoption of Hellenism by Judaism. Illustrated with plates and diagrams, the text will prove an invaluable resource to scholars and general readers interested in Jewish or Mediterranean history.

This volume covers the history of Judaism in the Roman period. Political history is treated from Pompey to Vespasian, but many chapters on Jewish life and thought go beyond the period of the Flavian emperors to present themes and evidence of importance for Judaism up to the 3rd century CE. The approach has concentrated on the study of institutions and schools of thought through consideration of archaeological finds and inscriptions. Jewish-Gentile relations, temple and synagogue, groups and schools of thought - Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Baptist sects, the ‘fourth philosophy’ and similar groups, Samaritans and the Christian movement - are examined. An unusual feature of the volume is its historical treatment of Christianity within the context of ancient Judaism. The Qumran texts, Philo and Josephus receive attention as does Jewish society in Judaea and Galilee.

In The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount, first published by the Cambridge University Press in 1964 and issued as a paperback in 1976, Professor Davies made a new approach to the Sermon, placing it in its historical setting within the context of the world from which it originated. This shorter book sets out the main lines of his argument in a more accessible form so as to interest the widest possible readership. The Sermon has been described both as a pernicious document, and as the finest statement of the highest morality ever produced. Professor Davies examines it in five settings. First he considers how Matthew himself intended the Sermon to be understood, placing it in its setting within the Gospel as a whole and showing that Matthew presented Jesus as a second Moses and lawgiver. He then considers it in the setting of Jewish Messianic expectation and the contemporary Judaism, where he shows that there were certain forces at work which led to the presentation of Jesus in this light. He discusses whether this concept was an innovation or whether forces in the early church prepared the way for this interpretation, and finally he debates whether Matthew was departing from the mind of Jesus himself.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

This work is an abbreviated version of the monumental, three-volume 'Matthew, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary' in the International Critical Commentary series (ICC). Davies and Allison's magisterial work is considered to be the standard work on Matthew and is still a best-selling title. Retaining all the important features of the ICC volumes, this Shorter Commentary includes the new translation of the Gospel as well as a condensed introduction and a summary of the main exegetical points in a non-technical verse-by-verse commentary. For those who lack the linguistic and historical grounding, or the time, to deal with the ICC volume, this shorter volume is an accessible, affordable and practical alternative.>

"For over one hundred years, the International Critical Commentary series has held a special place among works on the Bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic and textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological-with a level of comprehension and quality of scholarship unmatched by any other series. No attempt has been made to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the biblical text: contributors have been invited for their scholarly distinction, not for their adherence to any one school of thought. The first paperback editions to be published cover the heart of the New Testament, providing a wealth of information and research in accessible and attractive format."