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In this innovative study, Anna Miller challenges prevailing New Testament scholarship that has largely dismissed the democratic civic assembly--the ekkl¿sia--as an institution that retained real authority in the first century CE. Using an interdisciplinary approach, she examines a range of classical and early imperial sources to demonstrate that ekkl¿sia democracy continued to saturate the eastern Roman Empire, widely impacting debates over authority, gender, and speech. In the first letter to the Corinthians, she demonstrates that Paul's persuasive rhetoric is itself shaped and constrained by the democratic discourse he shares with his Corinthian audience. Miller argues that these first-century Corinthians understood their community as an authoritative democratic assembly in which leadership and "citizenship" cohered with the public speech and discernment open to each. This Corinthian identity illuminates struggles and debates throughout the letter, including those centered on leadership, community dynamics, and gender. Ultimately, Miller's study offers new insights into the tensions that inform Paul's letter. In turn, these insights have critical implications for the dialogue between early Judaism and Hellenism, the study of ancient politics and early Christianity, and the place of gender in ancient political discourse.

Perichoresis (mutual indwelling) is a concept used extensively in the so-called Trinitarian revival; and yet no book-length study in English exists probing how the term actually developed in the "classical period" of Christian doctrine and how it was carefully deployed in relation to Christian dogma. Consequently, perichoresis is often used in imprecise and even careless ways.This path-breaking study aims at placing our understanding of the term on firmer footing, clarifying its actual usage in relation to doctrines of God, Christ, and salvation in the thought of John of Damascus, the eighth-century theologian, monk, and hymn writer who gave it its historically influential application.Since John summed up a whole theological tradition, this work provides not only an introduction to his theological vision but also to the key themes of Greek patristic thought generally and thereby lays an essential foundation for those who would dig deeper into the present-day usefulness of perichoresis.

Description:"". . . that you may become partakers in the divine nature"" 2 Peter 1:4""The theme of deification intimately touches on human identity and the actualization of humanity''s ultimate purpose. It is predominantly an anthropological and soteriological expression of Christian theology. At the same time, it testifies to the identity of a Christian God, divine universal design, and God''s economy, where the trinitarian and christological apprehension receives the central place. Theosis, both on an individual and cosmic scale, is not exiguous in its eschatological perspective, either. The testimony of theosis is testimony to the inexplicable mystery of divine intimacy. Deification penetrates all spheres of human existence, and can be seen as an answer to most pending ultimate questions. It is essentially practical in its manifestation and uplifting in its content, but nevertheless, always evasive and arcane in its comprehension.""From the IntroductionThis book contains biblical and historical-theological essays that offer innovative approaches to the issue of theosis. The interconnections between the theology of deification and the doctrines of the Trinity, Christology, anthropology, protology, hamartiology, soteriology, and eschatology are made manifest in these fascinating new studies. It is aimed both at those who are already students of theosis and at those who are looking for an introductory text. It also contains a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography for those seeking further resources on the theme.Endorsements:""Theosis is back, and it is here to stay--no longer as the focus solely of one stream of the Christian tradition, but as a fully biblical and ecumenical account of salvation. Vladimir Kharlamov, with his colleagues, offers us another volume of significant essays on theosis/deification in the Christian tradition, from the evangelists to contemporary Baptists. They add to the burgeoning literature on the central reality of Christian faith: transformative participation in the very life of the Triune God.""--Michael J. GormanThe Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary''s Seminary & University, Baltimore, MD""Vladimir Kharlamov has successfully gathered a lively collection of studies covering foundational aspects of the ancient concept of theosis. The chapters range from the teachings of Jesus and the Fathers, to contemporary attempts to appropriate the notion today (its relevance to the Reformed tradition, its importance to Christian ecology). The book is an exciting example of the energy that still exists in putting the ancient tradition in discussion with the pressing concerns of the world.""--V.Revd. Dr. John A. McGuckinNielsen Professor of Ancient & Byzantine Christian HistoryUnion Theological Seminary, New York""Vladimir Kharlamov has assembled a rich and remarkable volume that will offer profound gifts to the church''s theological reflection. Whether one is already a student of the doctrine of theosis or is seeking an introduction to its riches, s/he will do well to take this volume and read it carefully."" --Philip E. ThompsonProfessor of Systematic Theology and Christian HeritageSioux Falls Seminary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota""A well-researched,  carefully edited, and welcomed volume on the amazing, engaging, enduring, bold, and bewildering notions of deifying grace in Scripture, historical theology, ecumenical discussion, and contemporary reflection.Vladimir Kharlamov, as editor, expertly navigates students of Scripture and seasoned scholars through the complexities of theosis, from East to West, from historical to contemporary contexts, and succeeds in connecting esoteric ideas, Eastern Orthodox spirituality, and Baptist theologies in one volume.""Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D, co-editor of Partakers of the Divine Nature: Deification in the Christian Traditions, and Affiliate Associate Professor of Theology at Drew University.About the Contributor(s):Vladimir Khar

Description:Despite the voluminous and ever-growing scholarly literature on Karl Barth, penetrating accounts of his theological method are lacking. In an attempt to fill this lacuna, Todd Pokrifka provides an analysis of Barth''s theological method as it appears in his treatment of three divine perfections--unity, constancy, and eternity--in Church Dogmatics, II/1, chapter VI. In order to discern the method by which Barth reaches his doctrinal conclusions, Pokrifka examines the respective roles of Scripture, tradition, and reason--the ""threefold cord""--in this portion of the Church Dogmatics. In doing so he finds that for Barth Scripture functions as the authoritative source and basis for theological critique and construction, and tradition and reason are functionally subordinate to Scripture. Yet Barth employs a predominantly indirect way of relating Scripture and theological proposals, a way in which tradition and reason play important ""mediatory"" roles. Barth''s approach to theology involves the humble yet serious attempt to ""redescribe God,"" that is, to say again on a human level what God has already said in the divine self-revelation attested in Scripture.Redescribing God features an original conceptual framework for the analysis of Barth''s method and an extensive application of that framework in the context of close readings of portions of the Church Dogmatics. Through this process it draws from, critiques, and complements a wide variety of Barth scholarship on topics such as the role of Scripture and theological exegesis in Barth, the role of tradition in Barth, the meaning and role of ""reason"" in Barth, and the nature of Barth''s doctrine of divine perfections. The book also provides a fruitful basis for those who wish to learn from Barth''s distinctive way of constructing the Christian doctrine of God as an attempt to obey God''s self-revelation. Endorsements:""A thoroughly up-to-date and well-researched account of how Barth deploys Scripture, especially in doctrinal statements concerning God''s character. Pokrifka moves resolutely and carefully through the secondary literature and offers his own fresh appraisal.""--Christopher R. SeitzWycliffe College, University of Toronto""One fundamental problem for Barth was to find a mode of interpretation faithful to the final form of the biblical text that yet was amenable to critical reason. One way in which Barth did this was to argue that the doctrines on divine unity, constancy, and eternity were themselves part of this mode of interpretation. Pokrifka makes good in showing how this was so.""--Neil B. MacDonaldRoehampton UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Todd Pokrifka is Lecturer in Theology at Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, CA).

Description:This book constitutes the second volume of a three-volume study of Christian testimonies to divine suffering: God''s Wounds: Hermeneutic of the Christian Symbol of Divine Suffering, vol. 2, Evil and Divine Suffering. The larger study focuses its inquiry into the testimonies to divine suffering themselves, seeking to allow the voices that attest to divine suffering to speak freely, then to discover and elucidate the internal logic or rationality of this family of testimonies, rather than defending these attestations against the dominant claims of classical Christian theism that have historically sought to eliminate such language altogether from Christian discourse about the nature and life of God. This second volume of studies proceeds on the basis of the presuppositions of this symbol, those implicit attestations that provide the conditions of possibility for divine suffering-that which constitutes divine vulnerability with respect to creation-as identified and examined in the first volume of this project: an understanding of God through the primary metaphor of love (""God is love""); and an understanding of the human as created in the image of God, with a life (though finite) analogous to the divine life-the imago Dei as love. The second volume then investigates the first two divine wounds or modes of divine suffering to which the larger family of testimonies to divine suffering normally attest: (1) divine grief, suffering because of betrayal by the beloved human or human sin; and (2) divine self-sacrifice, suffering for the beloved human in its bondage to sin or misery, to establish the possibility of redemption and reconciliation. Each divine wound, thus, constitutes a response to a creaturely occasion. The suffering in each divine wound also occurs in two stages: a passive stage and an active stage. In divine grief, God suffers because of human sin, betrayal of the divine lover by the beloved human: divine sorrow as the passive stage of divine grief; and divine anguish as the active stage of divine grief. In divine self-sacrifice, God suffers in response to the misery or bondage of the beloved human''s infidelity: divine travail (focused on the divine incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth) as the active stage of divine self-sacrifice; and divine agony (focused on divine suffering in the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth) as the passive stage of divine self-sacrifice.Endorsements:""Pool''s book provides a probing study of the meaning of suffering and evil in the light of the Christian revelation. This second volume of a trilogy offers a depth of analysis of a perennial subject that contemporary theologians will value.""--Chester GillisGeorgetown University""Jeff Pool''s God''s Wounds provides one of the most carefully written discussions of the relationship between evil and divine suffering. This deeply theological book offers a sustained treatment of a theme that many Christians invoke but few can discuss with any clarity: the meaning of divine suffering and its role in liberation from all forms of oppression. It ought to be read by anyone concerned with the contemporary meaning of the drama of sin and redemption.""--Stephen J. PopeBoston College""The second volume of Jeff Pool''s trilogy interprets the core of our Christian heritage as a story and message of divine suffering in loving response to the miseries of creaturely cupiditas. Consistent in his method and in his critical approach, while painstakingly careful in dealing with both the Bible and the flood of relevant studies, the author offers his readers a coherent and challenging construal of the biblical view of the universe and its destiny.""--Petr Macek, Charles University in PragueAbout the Contributor(s):Jeff B. Pool is Associate Professor of Religion, College Chaplain, and Director of the Campus Christian Center, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.

For both Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662) and Jurgen Moltmann (b. 1926), understanding what it means to be human springs from a contemplative vision of God. This comparative study explores surprising parallels between the theological anthropology of the seventh-century Byzantine monk and the contemporary German Protestant. Bingaman argues that Maximus and Moltmann root their understanding of the human calling in their Trinitarian and christological reflection, in contrast to many modern theologies that tend to devise an account of human being first, and then try to find ways in which Christ and the Trinity are somehow relevant to this human being.In this constructive work, Bingaman demonstrates the intrinsic connection between Maximus' and Moltmann's views of human being, Christ and the Trinity, the church, and the human calling in creation. Illustrating the richness of these ancient and postmodern theologies in conversation, All Things New lays out future trajectories in theological anthropology, patristic ressourcement, ecologically attuned theology and spirituality, and Orthodox-Protestant dialogue.

The Practice of the Body of Christ begins a conversation between "apocalyptic" interpretations of the Apostle Paul and the contemporary revival in "virtue ethics." It argues that the human actor's place in Pauline theology has long been captive to theological concerns foreign to Paul and that we can discern in Paul a classical account of human action that Alasdair MacIntyre's work helps to recover. Such an account of agency helps ground an apocalyptic reading of Paul by recovering the centrality of the church and its day-to-day Christic practices, specifically, but not exclusively, the Eucharist. To demonstrate this Miller first offers a critique of some contemporary accounts of agency in Paul in light of MacIntyre's work. Three exegetical chapters then establish a "MacIntyrian" rereading of central parts of the letter to the Romans. A concluding chapter offers theological syntheses and prospects for future research.

This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers

This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers

This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers

This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers