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Book SynopsisThis book investigates the question of human flourishing in African New Pentecostalism in South Africa. In a context marked by deep economic inequality and high unemployment, many poor South Africans rely on African New Pentecostal prophets to bring spiritual meaning to their lives. Collectively, and using various theoretical frameworks and methods, the authors of this volume analyze and critique the concept of this pursuit, and ask what can be done to challenge African New Pentecostal prophets to respond effectively. The book will be of interest to academics, pastors, researchers and university students in Pentecostalism in Africa, Missiology and Science of Religion, Sociology and Psychology of Religion and the public role of religion in South Africa and beyond. "This volume provides a uniquely fresh perspective on African Pentecostalism by linking three important discursive fields: human flourishing, charismatic Pentecostalism, and decoloniality. The volume provides important insights into the normative notions brought forward by prophetic Pentecostalism on what constitutes a good life. It thereby substantially advances the debate on Pentecostalism and prosperity. Even though the book zooms in on South Africa, its chapters bear relevance far beyond. The volume is therefore a must-read for anyone wanting to engage with current trends in African Christianity." —Philipp Öhlmann, Associated Senior Researcher, Center for Rural Development, Humboldt University; Research Fellow, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Botswana "This is an intellectually stimulating, original, and thought-provoking contribution to the field of African Pentecostal Studies. It has not failed to deliver and must be read to understand new creative interpretations of the movements by African Christian scholars." —Chammah Kaunda, Assistant Professor, Yonsei University, South Korea; Extraordinary Professor, University of the Western Cape, South Africa "This important book creatively explores human flourishing in the context of New Prophetic Pentecostalism in Africa. It should be read by all who are interested in the most recent developments of Southern African Pentecostalism and those concerned about genuine human flourishing in the church and wider society." —Dr. Simo Frestadius, Dean of Research, Regents Theological College; Executive Director, Institute for Pentecostal Theology; Chair, European Pentecostal Theological AssociationTrade ReviewThis volume provides a uniquely fresh perspective on African Pentecostalism by linking three important discursive fields: human flourishing, charismatic Pentecostalism, and decoloniality. The volume provides important insights into the normative notions brought forward by prophetic Pentecostalism on what constitutes a good life. It thereby substantially advances the debate on Pentecostalism and prosperity. Even though the book zooms in on South Africa, its chapters bear relevance far beyond. The volume is therefore a must-read for anyone wanting to engage with current trends in African Christianity. Philipp Öhlmann Associated Senior Researcher at the Center for Rural Development Humboldt University, Research Fellow, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Botswana. This is an intellectually stimulating, original, and thought-provoking contribution to the field of African Pentecostal Studies. It has not failed to deliver and must be read to understand new creative interpretations of the movements by African Christian scholars. Chammah Kaunda Assistant Professor, Yonsei University, South Korea. Extraordinary Professor, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. This important book creatively explores human flourishing in the context of New Prophetic Pentecostalism in Africa. It should be read by all who are interested in the most recent developments of Southern African Pentecostalism and those concerned about genuine human flourishing in the church and wider society. Simo Frestadius Dr. Simo Frestadius, Dean of Research, Regents Theological College Executive Director, Institute for Pentecostal Theology Chair, European Pentecostal Theological AssociationTable of ContentsIntroduction – Collium Banda: Black Theology and Human Flourishing in South African Neo-Pentecostal Prophetism – Sello Jonas Thinane: Religion and Economy: The Nexus between the ECG Church Leader’s Lavish Lifestyle and His Congregants’ Human Flourishing – Bekithemba Dube: Human Unflourishing at Universal Church of the Kingdom of God: A Decoloniality Approach – Sphesihle Khanyile: From Christianity to Plentianity: Reading Discourses of Human Flourishing, Prosperity Gospel, and Black Emancipation in King HQ Nala’s Virtual Sermons – Sibusiso Masondo: Blessing Seekers or Bounty Hunters?: The Case of the Followers of Prosperity Preachers in South Africa – Kelebogile Resane: Human Flourishing in African Pentecostal Prophetism: Authentic or a Fallacy? – Abraham Modisa Mkhondo Mzondi: “Not yet Uhuru”: Looking at the Poor, Ubuntu, African Pentecostal Prophetism and Human Flourishing in the Post–1990 South African Context – Marius Nel: Prophetic Neo-Pentecostal Churches and the Theodicy Challenge – Mookgo S. Kgatle, Anthony Reddie, and Collium Banda: Epilogue – Notes on Contributors – Index.

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Book SynopsisIn the first century, the Jewish Jesus, his followers, and the Pythagorean Apollonius journeyed widely, each to spread their good news. Spectral Lives by Luke and Philostratus: Journeying of Holy Men studies their biographers, Luke and Philostratus, and how they felt ethically compelled to tell their stories of good news to help their world. Post Enlightenment developments in historiography have expanded understanding of ancient texts with a “third dimension,” a transhuman habitat evident in ancient texts. In this book, Robert Lee Williams investigates how affect theory has sensitized interpreters to inner awareness of humans to their world, both beneficial and harmful, recorded in emotional responses. Survey of biographers from 500 BCE to 300 CE shows Luke and Philostratus particularly attuned to the journeying impelled by the deities and their spectral agents, forces active in their world ethically for good. Journeying from ghostly influences proves to be both more evident in texts than noticed since the Enlightenment and more indispensable for spreading the good and the right to our world, ethically and equitably. Table of ContentsList of MapsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1: Biographical Writings: 500 BCE to 300 CEPart I First Century Biographies: Jewish and ChristianChapter 2: Philo: Ancient Jewish LivesChapter 3: Luke: The GospelChapter 4: Luke: The Acts of the ApostlesPart II: Third Century Biographies: PythagoreanChapter 5: Philostratus: The Life of Apollonius of TyanaChapter 6: Iamblichus: On the Pythagorean Way of LifeConclusionBibliography

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Book SynopsisFlora & Fauna of the Bible is an engaging and informative study of all the most important plants and animals mentioned in the Bible, relating the references both to Bible times and to wildlife in the Holy Land now and, where appropriate, explaining the message or symbolism behind the texts. The Prologue sets the scene by giving a simple description of the topography and climate of Israel, so that readers - wherever they are - may get a sense of what the place is like. The following two sections of the book cover first the plants, then the animals mentioned in the Bible. A wide range of plant life, including wild and cultivated trees, shrubs and herbs is covered and all creatures, great and small, from whales to ants. Mention of the flora and fauna may be used as metaphors in Jesus' teaching or simply referred to as part of the everyday life of the time.

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Book SynopsisThis volume of the Biblia Americana (1693-1728) contains Cotton Mather's annotations on Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, and Revelation, as well as two series of essays on various matters of biblical interpretation. A mixture of pious explications and historical-textual criticism, the annotations are a treasure-trove for scholars interested in the development of Reformed theology and biblical exegesis during a decisive period of intellectual change in the early modern Atlantic world. Mather, an apologetically oriented but deeply learned scholar, confronts the early Enlightenment challenges to the authority of the Bible and core doctrines like the Trinity. He discusses problems of translation, textual variants (e.g., the Johannine comma), but also authorship and canonicity, especially with a view to the so-called Catholic Letters and James. The extensive annotations on Revelation offer a window into the development of Mather's millennialism and, more specifically, his changing interpretations of hotly-debated issues such as the eschatological conversion of the Jews, the expected date for the return of Christ and the nature of His kingdom. In the appended essays, Mather, in conversation with German Pietism, develops a biblical hermeneutic that emphasizes an experiential approach and the need for spiritual illumination. He also engages with antiquarian scholarship on the Scriptures, their original contexts, provenance, and transmission, as well as with literature that situates Judaism and Christianity in a larger history of ancient religions and cultures.

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Book SynopsisThis monograph presents an entirely new solution to the synoptic problem. It demonstrates that the Acts of the Apostles functioned as the structure-giving hypotext for the Gospel of Matthew. Accordingly, the Gospel of Matthew is a reworking of not only the Gospel of Luke, but also, in a strictly sequential way, of the Acts of the Apostles. This strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Acts explains the Matthean relocations of the Marcan and Lucan material, numerous Matthean modifications thereof, and many surprising features of the Matthean Gospel. Critical explanations of such features, which are offered in this monograph, ensure the reliability of the new solution to the synoptic problem.Table of ContentsMatthew and Luke, Matthew and Acts – Mt　1-2 as a reworking of Acts　1:1-8:35 – Mt　3:1-9:34 as a reworking of Acts　8:36-12:25 – Mt　9:35-14:36 as a reworking of Acts　13-14 – Mt　15-20 as a reworking of Acts　15:1-18:21 – Mt　21-25 as a reworking of Acts　18:22-21:9 – Mt　26-28 as a reworking of Acts　21:10-28:31

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Book SynopsisWhat can man know about God? This question became one of the main problems during the 4th-century Trinitarian controversy, which is the focus of this book. Especially during the second phase of the conflict, the claims of Anomean Eunomius caused an emphatic response of Orthodox writers, mainly Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa. Eunomius formulated two ways of theology to show that we can know both the substance (ousia) and activities (energeiai) of God. The Orthodox Fathers demonstrated that we can know only the external activities of God, while the essence is entirely incomprehensible. Therefore the 4th-century discussion on whether the Father and the Son are of the same substance was the turning point in the development of negative theology and shaping the Christian conception of God.Table of ContentsChristian negative theology – Incomprehensibility of God – Trinitarian controversy of the 4th century – Substance (ousia) of God – Activity (energeia) of God – Arius – Aetius – Eunomius – Athanasius – Marius Victorinus – Basil the Great – Gregory of Nyssa – Gregory of Nazianzus – John Chrysostom

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Book SynopsisThe presence in the Bible of texts (i.e. Exo 21; Num 25; Deu 7) about violence and pointing to God as its direct agent raises many doubts in the contemporary reader. These texts understood literally can be read as an encouragement to aggression and hatred. A closer study of this type of texts based on modern research methods (i.e. historical criticism) allows a deeper understanding of their meaning and loosens their relation to God. The study of texts points that the Bible or any part of it cannot be a pretext for any kind of aggression or hatred.Table of ContentsViolence in the Yahvistic Faith – Ḥērem: the Curse of God – Contradiction between the laws "Thou shalt not avenge" and "An eye for an eye" – Jesus and the law of talion – Blessed violence in the Divine Comedy – God’s violence in the Bible in the light of the approach through belles-lettres

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Book SynopsisDoes Jesus remain concealed by the very traditions intended to portray him? History and theology define Jesus to be a 1st-century Galilean or the son of God, a man limited by his time and place or exalted as the Messiah and Christ. He has been recognized as a Jewish rabbi or the prophet of a coming apocalypse. The quest for the historical Jesus and theology’s Christ of faith may both be essential and undeniable in the history of scholarship. Secular historians and the Christian church have made their claims. Jesus’ self-conception, however, has been neglected, his consciousness largely ignored. A new interpretation of the gospels presents Jesus as a unprecedented human being who will "utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 13:35) and make their meanings significant for the here and now. Jesus’ life from the virgin birth to the resurrection can neither be reduced to history’s scepticism nor theology’s affirmation. Is it possible to re-imagine the life and words of Jesus? He reveals himself to be a "first-born" who makes possible the second act of creation for every individual no less than for the social world.Table of ContentsIntroduction Hermeneutics of the Gospels - 1 The Virgin Birth - 2 Children - 3 Families - 4 The Son of Man - 5 Nature - 6 History - 7 Death - 8 The Resurrection

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Book SynopsisThis monograph demonstrates that the book of Deuteronomy is a result of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Ezekiel. Likewise, it shows that the books of Joshua–Judges, taken together, are a result of one, highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. In both cases, the detailed reworking consists of almost 700 strictly sequentially organized conceptual, and at times also linguistic correspondences. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on the earlier works explains numerous surprising features of Deuteronomy and Joshua–Judges. This critical analysis of Deuteronomy and Joshua–Judges sheds entirely new light on the question of the origin of the Pentateuch and the whole Israelite Heptateuch Genesis–Judges.Table of ContentsSequential hypertextuality – Deuteronomy and Ezekiel – Joshua–Judges and Deuteronomy – Date and place of composition – Deuteronomy as a reworking of the book of Ezekiel – Joshua as a reworking of Deut 1:1–32:50 – Judges as a reworking of Deut 32:51–34:12

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Book SynopsisThis monograph demonstrates that the book of Genesis is a result of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. This detailed reworking consists of around 1,000 strictly sequentially organized conceptual, and at times also linguistic correspondences between Genesis and Deuteronomy. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Deuteronomy explains numerous surprising features of Genesis. The critical analysis of Genesis as a coherently composed hypertextual work disproves hypotheses of the existence in this writing of Priestly and non-Priestly materials or multiple literary layers.Table of ContentsSequential hypertextuality – Genesis and Deuteronomy – Date and place of composition – Gen 1–3 as a reworking of Deut 1:1–2:1 – Gen 4–11 as a reworking of Deut 2:2–5:33 – Gen 12:1–22:19 as a reworking of Deut 6–13 – Gen 22:20–36:43 as a reworking of Deut 14:1–23:9 – Gen 37–50 as a reworking of Deut 23:10–34:12

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Book SynopsisA hopeless individual is more vulnerable and is threatened with indifference, meaninglessness, apathy, anxiety, stress, and despair. Are there symptoms of this in the West? Is it an individual phenomenon or has it been historically-culturally transmitted? This book analyzes, from an interdisciplinary perspective (psychology, sociology, neuroscience, philosophy, theology), how hope contributes to forming a mentally healthy and mature identity. But what hope? Is this just for moments of despair? Can hope free imagination, enlarge desires and rehabilitate the zest for life? Is there a phenomenology of hope?Table of Contents Status Quaestionis: On Identity, Modernity, and Postmodernity The Role of Hope in Metz and Lynch’s Theological Anthropology Rethinking Identity in Hope Epilogue: Images of Hope

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Book SynopsisAnimal liberation contends that humans and animals are of equal value and that standard views of human uniqueness are an anthropocentric prejudice called "speciesism." It advocates ending human use of animals in recognition of animal rights. Animal liberation theology attempts to ground similar views in the Bible. It typically envisions an original creation free of predation to be restored free of meat-eating and animal use. It views animal sacrifice as murder and speaks of a "deep incarnation" by which God in Christ takes on "all flesh" for the salvation of all creatures in a "cosmic redemption." This is the first full-fledged critique of animal liberation in general and so-called speciesism in particular from a biblical and theological standpoint, with accompanying scientific and philosophical analysis. After it introduces the major thinkers, the book demonstrates the incoherence of animal liberation with human evolution, the use of animals in the domestic and religious life of Israel, and the New Testament assertion that God the Son was uniquely incarnated in the human Jesus for human salvation. This book reasserts historic Christian faith as sufficient to the scientific, philosophical and ethical challenges posed by animal studies, and concludes with an appraisal of key ethical concerns regarding animal use and foundational issues within the animal liberation movement. Table of Contents Animal studies and cognitive ethology present ongoing challenges to human uniqueness and Christian theology. A predation-less original creation is to be restored free of meat-eating. Questions surround the value of sacrifice in the Old Testament. "Deep incarnation" and kenotic theology see God taking on "all flesh" or materiality instead of a rational human nature in Christ. A "cosmic redemption" sees all things redeemed.

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Book Synopsis Gospel Characters: Jesus and His Contemporaries contributes to an understanding of Jesus in the New Testament that is persons-centred. It highlights how different biblical characters help shape the stories that have come down to us. This book provokes thoughts for further research on other biblical figures and themes. It is an invaluable resource for catechists, pastoral workers, evangelizers and for instructions in Houses of Formation, particularly in furthering the ministry of the Word Made Flesh, who dwells among us.Table of ContentsAbbreviations – Literary Genre of the Gospels – Jesus and his Parents –Jesus and John the Baptist –Jesus and the Jewish Leaders – Jesus and the Gentiles – Jesus and His Disciples – Bibliography

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Book SynopsisHow it is possible that the story about Elisha’s succession in 2 Kings 2:1-18 is now remembered as the story about Elijah’s ascent? The intertextual answer is provided by the contrast between the number of references about the human heavenly ascension in the Hebrew Bible, and the popularity of this theme in the Ancient Near East. However, in this dissertation we focus on the more direct intratextual approach. We analyze the construction of the narrative in order to discern the features of style, structure, and symbolism which emphasize Elijah’s ascent, rather than Elisha’s succession. As a result, we can identify the proto-symbol of the narrative (Gilgal) which is interpreted by three elements (whirlwind, chariotry, and rolled mantle) referring to Elijah’s ascent.Table of Contentsstyle, structure, and symbolism in 2 Kings 2:1-18 – Elisha’s succession vs. Elijah’s heavenly ascent traditions – Hebrew Bible etiology referring to Gilgal – whirlwind, chariotry, and rolled mantle as tradition elements – intratextuality vs. intertextuality of the Ancient Near East literature

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Book SynopsisIn this monograph, the author demonstrates that the Acts of the Apostles is a highly creative hypertextual reworking of the Letter to the Galatians, with over 500 strictly sequentially organized conceptual and linguistic correspondences between Acts and Galatians. This hypertextual dependence on Galatians explains numerous surprising features of Acts. Critical explanations of these features, which are offered in this monograph, ensure the reliability of the new solution to the problem of the relationship between Acts and the Pauline and post-Pauline letters.Table of ContentsThe church in Jerusalem (Acts 1– 5; cf. Gal 1:1– 10) - The Hellenists (Acts 6– 8; cf. Gal 1:11– 15) - The early Paul (Acts 9– 12; cf. Gal 1:16– 23b) - The first missionary journey (Acts 13– 14; cf. Gal 1:23c– 2:1) - The second missionary journey (Acts 15:1–18:23a; cf. Gal 2:2– 5:7) - The third missionary journey (Acts 18:23b–21:38; cf. Gal 5:8– 6:12) - The final apology of Paul (Acts 21:39– 28:31; cf. Gal 6:13– 18)

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