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This collection by Scandinavian scholars offers studies on the background of John's Gospel, on literary approaches and on central theological issues.

Early Christology must focus on not simply 'historical' but also theological ideas found in contemporary Jewish thought and practice. In this book, a range of distinguished contributors considers the context and formation of early Jewish and Christian devotion to God alone - the emergence of 'monotheism'.

Provides a study to Paul's use of enthymemes as a rhetorical and argumentative tool and evaluates what this reveals about his thought, his teaching, and his social world. This study begins with a discussion of the problem of enthymeme definition, followed by a clarification of criteria for identifying enthymemes in texts.

Acts 1-2 shows the apostles' change of status from followers to leaders. This book uses the model of a modern day ritual in examining the stages of this transformation.

Presents an investigation, which builds upon developments in the study of Paul's use of Scripture that centre around the concept of 'intertextuality.' This book also finds that many of the themes Paul deals with in "Romans 9-11" are also present in ancient Jewish and Christian interpretive traditions surrounding the passages he invokes.

In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus overrides the Old Testament teaching of ''an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth'' - the Lex Talionis law - and commands his disciples to turn the other cheek. James Davis asks how Jesus'' teaching in this instance relates to the Old Testament talionic commands, how it relates to New Testament era Judaism and what Jesus required from his disciples and the church.Based on the Old Testament texts such as Leviticus 24, Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 19, a strong case can be made that the Lex Talionis law was understood to have a literal application there are several texts that text of Leviticus 24 provides the strongest case that a literal and judicial application. However, by the second century AD and later, Jewish rabbinic leadership was essentially unified that the OT did not require a literal talion, but that financial penalties could be substituted in court matters. Yet there is evidence from Philo, Rabbi Eliezer and Josephus that in the first century AD the application of literal talion in judicial matters was a major and viable Jewish viewpoint at the time of Jesus. Jesus instruction represents a different perspective from the OT lex talionis texts and also, possibly, from the Judaism of his time. Jesus commands the general principle of not retaliation against the evil person and intended this teaching to be concretely applied, as borne out in his own life. JSNTS

This study covers the Johannine Christian response to the fall of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. A crucial text is John 2.13-22 and its context, which provide a lens through which other texts in John are viewed. The book also examines the Temple festivals of Passover, Tabernacles and Dedication.

Virtually all scholars agree that apocalyptic and millenarianism formed at least part of the matrix of the culture in first-century Jewish Palestine, but there is a sharp disagreement concerning the extent to which Jesus shared apocalyptic and millenarian beliefs. Although there has been a great deal written defending or opposing an ''apocalyptic Jesus'', almost nothing has been said on the questions of what, from the standpoint of modern historiography of Jesus, is at stake in the issue of whether or not he was an apocalypticist or a millenarian prophet, and what is at stake in arguing that his alleged apocalypticism is a central and defining characteristic, rather than an incidental feature. Much has been said on the kind of Jew Jesus was, but almost nothing is said on why the category of Judaism has become so central to historical Jesus debates. These questions have less to do with the quantity and character of the available ancient evidence than they do with the ways in which the modern critic assembles evidence into a coherent picture, and the ideological and theological subtexts of historical Jesus scholarship. Scholars of Christian origins have been rather slow to inquire into the ideological location of their own work as scholars, but it is this question that is crucial in achieving a critical self-awareness of the larger entailments of historical scholarship on Jesus and the early Jesus movement. This volume begins the inquiry into the ideological location of modern historical Jesus scholarship.JSHJ, JSNTS275

This book re-examines exegetical devices commonly employed by all parties in the debate on 1 Tim.2.9-15. In the light of contextual and linguistic markers including verbal aspect, it concludes that the immediate context is general, not ecclesial.

This study considers the New Testament as a "reception" of various antecedents, such as the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism and Graeco-Roman culture. It explores the reception of Jesus, Paul's reception in Acts, feminist reception, reception history within the New Testament and translation.

Slater presents a study of the three major christological images of Revelation and their meanings for the original audience. Employing both historical criticism and elements of sociology of knowledge, Christ and Community explores the social functions of ''one like a son of man'', the Lamb, and the Divine Warrior, identifying both similarities and dissimilarities. The study argues, on the one hand, that the religious laxity found in Revelation 2-3 reflects attempts by some Christians to accommodate to provincial social pressures, while, on the other hand, Revelation 4-19 reflect the low status of Christians in the cities of Asia Minor.

Pickett explores how Paul appealed to the death of Jesus in the Corinthian correspondence in order to promote a community ethos and ethic consistent with the ideals and values it symbolized. In so doing, Paul was responding to interpersonal conflicts within the community and criticisms of his ministry-criticisms he saw as founded on Graeco-Roman cultural values of the cultivated elite. His consistent emphasis on the weakness of the cross served to critique social expressions of power in Corinth. More constructively, Paul attempted to secure conduct befitting the gospel by invoking the death of Jesus as a symbol of other-regarding behaviour.

The Gospel of Mary, the only known Gospel that is named after a woman, has aroused new interest in the figure of Mary Magdalene and the beginnings of Christianity.

Goulder and the Gospels is the first comprehensive response to the radical challenge Michael Goulder has posed for New Testament scholarship. Goulder dispenses with all hypothetical sources-Q, M and L and postulates highly creative evangelists who write in the light of the liturgy. In this penetrating critique, Goodacre provides a critical overview of Goulder''s work, focusing on several key areas, the vocabulary of Q, the language of the Minor Agreements, the creativity of Luke and the lectionary theory. He does not simply assess the plausibility of Goulder''s ideas but also develops new ways to test them. The theories are sometimes found to be wanting, but at the same time Goulder is reaffirmed as one of the most important and stimulating Biblical scholars of this generation.

In The Unity of the Corinthian Correspondence, David Hall argues that 1 and 2 Corinthians are closely related. In both letters, Paul faces the same opponents, referring to them in the same disguised, indirect way in both 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians 1-9 before confronting them directly in 2 Corinthians 10-13.

Creates a set of definitions, which are applied to the examination of the relevant Diaspora Jewish literature, inscriptions and papyri, and the NT passage. This examination reveals different attitudes adopted by different Jews towards idolatry, serving as parallels to the three positions in 1 Cor 8.1-11.1, 'the strong', 'the weak', and Paul.

The seventh volume of this companion series is devoted to the writings ascribed to Paul but widely thought not to be genuinely from the Apostle. These are of particular importance in showing how Paul's authority was exploited in the early Church.