Search results for ""vandenhoeck ruprecht gmbh""

Die Ränder der Welt sind mehr als die Kante am Rande einer scheibenförmigen Welt. Sie sind die Räume am Rande der Wahrnehmung, die der Mensch auf der Basis noch so geringen Wissens phantasievoll gestaltet. In der Vorstellungswelt der Griechen von Homer bis zu Alexander dem Großen spielten diese Ränder eine bedeutende Rolle. Auch noch als die Erde nicht mehr als Scheibe begriffen wurde, blieben sie als Ränder der Oikumene, der bewohnten und bekannten Welt, bestehen. Sie waren Projektionsflächen für Ängste und Wünsche und Reflexionsräume, in denen die Griechen über sich selbst und ihre Gesellschaft nachdachten. Was den Kosmos, die bewohnte und bekannte Welt, die griechische Kultur und das Menschsein für die Griechen ausmachte, zeigt sich besonders deutlich in ihren Vorstellungen von den Rändern.

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Kaum eine Studie zum Deutschen Kaiserreich kommt ohne einen Verweis auf die »Preußischen Jahrbücher« als einflussreicher Stimme der Zeit aus, deren Herausgeber Hans Delbrück keine Kontroverse scheute. Jonas Kleins systematische Beziehungsgeschichte untersucht, woher das Vertrauen resultierte, das Hans Delbrück als politischer Intellektueller parteiübergreifend genoss. Indem die wichtigsten innen- und außenpolitischen Krisenherde des Kaiserreichs in den Blick genommen werden, kristallisieren sich die politischen Grundlinien heraus, auf die Delbrück die »Preußischen Jahrbücher« verpflichtete: für einen starken Staat, kulturellen Liberalismus, progressive Sozialpolitik und nationale Integration. Sein unermüdlicher, keineswegs solitärer Kampf für einen »aufgeklärten Konservatismus« zeugt von alternativen Entwicklungsoptionen des Hohenzollernstaates.

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Jahrzehntelang vertrat der Berliner jüdische Politiker und Diplomat Richard Lichtheim (1885-1963) die Interessen der Zionisten gegenüber den herrschenden Mächten der Zeit. Als Emissär der Zionistischen Organisation bemühte er sich während des Zweiten Weltkriegs vom schweizerischen Genf aus um die Rettung verfolgter Juden und verstand dabei als einer der ersten zeitgenössischen Beobachter, dass es sich bei den nationalsozialistischen Massenmorden an den europäischen Judenheiten um ein Verbrechen ungekannten Ausmaßes handelte: um ihre systematische und totale Vernichtung. Zuvor hatte Lichtheim während des Ersten Weltkriegs im osmanischen Konstantinopel gewirkt, wo es ihm durch geschicktes Verhandeln gelungen war, die Maßnahmen der repressiven jungtürkischen Minderheitenpolitik von der jüdischen Ansiedlung in Palästina abzuwenden. Die sich wandelnde politische Realität in Europa und Palästina brachte Lichtheim immer wieder dazu, auch die eigenen Nationalismusvorstellungen zu überdenken: Verfocht er in der Zwischenkriegszeit noch die Maximalforderungen der Zionisten-Revisionisten, wurde er vor dem Hintergrund des Holocaust schließlich ein Anhänger der linksliberalen Partei Aliya Hadasha. Andrea Kirchner entfaltet Lichtheims von Brüchen und Neuausrichtungen geprägte Biografie und zeigt, wie eng diese mit der komplexen Geschichte der jüdischen Nationalidee verknüpft ist, deren Verwirklichung immer wieder existenziellen Bedrohungen ausgesetzt war.

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Der Schwerpunkt dieses Jahrbuchs ist Else Lasker-Schüler gewidmet. Anhand ausgewählter Werke wie dem 1913 erschienenen Gedichtband "Hebräische Balladen" werden die Palästina-Imaginationen der Dichterin mit ihren realen Erfahrungen, die sie etwa 1937 in "Das Hebräerland" verarbeitete, abgeglichen. Historische und literaturwissenschaftliche Beiträge setzen Lasker-Schülers Schreiben in Beziehung zur Vorstellungswelt ihrer Zeitgenossen, indem sie das Schicksal von Flucht und Exil, den unwiederbringlichen Verlust der Heimat und die Bedeutung der Muttersprache als Aspekte einer deutsch-jüdischen Erfahrungsgeschichte konzeptualisieren. Im Allgemeinen Teil stehen die materiellen Spuren jüdischer Lebenswelten Ostmitteleuropas im Zentrum. Am Beispiel von verschiedenen Einrichtungen und Sammlungen jüdischer Provenienz werden die Dynamiken von mitunter multiplen Zerstörungsgeschichten und transnationalen Rettungsinitiativen während und nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg untersucht. Ergänzend dazu finden sich Beiträge zur italienisch-jüdischen Geschichte, zur jüdischen Geschichte als Gegenstand der Historiografie sowie zur Rechtsgeschichte in dem Band.Das Jahrbuch des Dubnow-Instituts ist ein Peer-reviewed-Journal (double blind).

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Die Dialektik der Aufklärung (1944) von Theodor W. Adorno und Max Horkheimer ist eine inzwischen zum Klassiker gewordene Krisenschrift. Geprägt durch europäische, amerikanische und jÃ"dische Erfahrungen hat das Buch eine ambivalente Rezeption erfahren. Lange Zeit wurde das Werk kaum beachtet, bevor es in den Sechzigerjahren zu einem SchlÃ"sseltext der Neuen Linken wurde. Nur zögerlich entschieden sich die Autoren 1969 zu einer Wiederauflage. Heute steht die Schrift vornehmlich unter dem Verdikt einer "pessimistischen Wende" und der Abkehr vom materialistischen, interdisziplinären Forschungsprogramm des frÃ"hen Frankfurter Instituts fÃ"r Sozialforschung hin zu einer resignativen Naturgeschichte. Vor allem in den Vereinigten Staaten â dem Land, das die exilierten Kritischen Theoretiker nachhaltig geprägt hatte â stieÃ� die Radikalität des Buches eher auf Ablehnung. Bisher ist kaum versucht worden, die amerikanische Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte durch das Prisma von Adornos und Horkheimers Philosophischen Fragmenten hindurch zu betrachten und damit der amerikanischen Dialektik der Aufklärung auf die Spur zu kommen. Ausgehend von der Rezeptions- und Entstehungsgeschichte des Werks widmet sich der Sammelband diesem Vorhaben und vereint Beiträge aus der Philosophie, der Soziologie sowie der Geschichts- und Literaturwissenschaften. Die Amalgamierung von europäischen und amerikanischen Traditionsbeständen in der Kritischen Theorie wird dabei als Herausforderung und Potenzial zugleich verstanden werden: als Möglichkeit, Erkenntnisse Ã"ber die Neue und die Alte Welt zu erlangen.

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Vokabeln und Formen sind das A und O des Lateinunterrichts. Der "Thesaurus Latinus" bietet eine breite, solide und in langjähriger Praxis bewährte Basis fër die Sicherung und Erweiterung der Sprachkompetenzen:- 3350 Vokabeln des Grund- und Aufbauwortschatzes,- 750 weitere Angaben zu speziellen Kasus- und Wortverbindungen,- eigene Einträge fër berëchtigte Stolpersteine wie "se" oder "eius",- Sortierung der Vokabeln nicht nach Wort- oder Sachfeldern, sondern nach Alphabet, dadurch kein umständliches Hin- und Herblättern,- kritisch ëberprëfte Bezeichnung der Vokalquantitäten und zahlreiche Angaben zur korrekten Aussprache des Lateinischen,- vollständige und zugleich ëbersichtliche Tabellen zur Formenlehre,- passend zu den neuen Kerncurricula und zu G 8.Der "Thesaurus Latinus" ist eine optimale Ergänzung zu allen gängigen Schulausgaben lateinischer Texte: Was dort nicht als Lesevokabel oder in einer Spezialbedeutung angegeben ist, wird man hier finden, und zwar deutlich schneller als in einer systematischen Wortkunde oder in einem Schulwörterbuch. Die Präsentation der lateinischen Vokabeln und ihrer deutschen Bedeutungen unterliegt keinem akademischen Systemzwang, sondern nimmt immer diejenige Gestalt an, die von Schëlern am leichtesten zu verstehen und umzusetzen ist. In fënf vollständigen Durchgängen von Klasse 8 bis 13 wurde das Manuskript immer wieder von Schëlern mehrerer niedersächsischer Gymnasien verbessert, bevor es in den Druck ging. Ein in mancher Hinsicht durchaus unkonventionelles Buch mit einem sehr hohen praktischen Nutzen - von der Anfangslektëre bis zum Abitur!

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Am 1. September 1948 trat in Bonn erstmals der Parlamentarische Rat zusammen, um Verfassungsstrukturen für das westliche Nachkriegsdeutschland zu erarbeiten. Am 23. Mai 1949 war sein Auftrag erfüllt: das Grundgesetz wurde verkündet, wiederum in Bonn, zukünftiger "Sitz der Bundesorgane" der Bundesrepublik. Michael F. Feldkamp schildert in diesem Buch sachkundig den konfliktreichen Weg zum Grundgesetz. Er beschreibt die Vorgänge und Diskussionen im Parlamentarischen Rat selbst, aber auch die Ereignisse und die informellen Gespräche im Hintergrund. So entsteht ein plastisches Bild von den parteipolitischen Auseinandersetzungen und vom Ringen um Kompromisse zwischen verschiedenen Vorstellungen staatlicher Ordnung. Ein biographischer Anhang stellt alle Mitglieder des Parlamentarischen Rates vor. Zahlreiche Fotos zeigen den Rat bei seiner alltäglichen Arbeit und illustrieren dieses zentrale Kapitel in der Gründungsgeschichte der Bundesrepublik.

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Nikolaus Ludwig Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf wurde am 26. Mai 1700 in Dresden geboren. Nach Studium, Auslandsaufenthalten und seiner Eheschließung 1722 erwarb er das Gut Berthelsdorf in der Oberlausitz und erlaubte die Ansiedlung von ausgewanderten Mitgliedern der mährischen Brüderkirche. Mit ihnen gründete er die Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine: eine christliche Lebens- und Glaubensgemeinschaft, die bald ein intensives missionarisches Engagement entwickelte und weltweit als "Moravian Church" bekannt wurde.Dietrich Meyer schildert in seinem Buch die Entstehungsgeschichte der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine und die Besonderheiten des Gemeindelebens zur Zeit Zinzendorfs sowie die Arbeit in den englischen und nordamerikanischen Auswanderergemeinden und in der Mission. Die Entwicklung seit Zinzendorfs Tod 1760 sowie im 19. und beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert rundet diese kurze Geschichte der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine ab.

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In the field of biblical hermeneutics one area which scholarship has neglected is Catholic biblical scholarship during the early modern era. A brief look through a standard textbook on hermeneutics reveals the all-to-common jump from Luther, Calvin and the other Reformers, straight to Spinoza and the pioneers of the historical critical method. Catholic figures during the Reformation and afterward are often considered too reliant on tradition, too entrenched in dogmatic disputes, and too ignorant of historical methods to be taken as serious scholars of Scripture. In this timely work, Dr. Murray addresses these misconceptions and systematically shows why they are inadequate and a more nuanced judgment is needed. Beginning with a much-needed overview of contemporary scholarship, the work examines the historical context and key influences on the Catholic approach to the Bible. After addressing the Council of Trent and the Jesuit Order, it then examines two influential Jesuit biblical scholars in the next two chapters, the Spanish Cardinal Franciscus Toletus (1532-1596) and the great Flemish exegete Cornelius a Lapide (1567-1637). Dr. Murray examines the life, works, secondary literature, and biblical hermeneutics of both great scholars showing that Catholics, just like their Reformed brethren, could be serious and quality exegetes. While they lacked the historical knowledge and tools of today, the work shows that the Jesuits were pioneers in showing how their faith and devotion could be compatible with a historical and scientific study of Scripture. Jesuit Biblical Studies After Trent is a must read for those seeking to understand how Catholics were approaching the Bible after the Reformation and for those seeking to learn how to integrate their personal faith with a scientific study of Scripture.

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At the twilight of the Weimar Republic, politicians, scientists, and theologians were engaged in debates surrounding the so-called Jewish Question. When the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, these discussions took on a new sense of urgency and poignancy. As state measures against Jews unfolded, theological conceptions of the meaning of Israel and Judaism began to impact living, breathing Jewish persons. In this study, Ryan Tafilowski traces the thought of the Lutheran theologian Paul Althaus (1888-1966), who once greeted the rise of Hitler as a gift and miracle of God, as he negotiated the Jewish Question and its meaning for his understanding of Germanness across the Weimar Republic, the Nazi years, and the post-war period. In particular, the study uncovers the paradoxical categories Althaus used to interpret the ongoing theological significance of the Jewish people, whom he considered both an imminent threat to German ethnic identity and yet a mysterious cipher by which Germans might decode their own spiritual destiny in world history. Sketching the peculiar contours of Althaus theology of Israel, this study offers a fresh interpretation of the Erlangen Opinion on the Aryan Paragraph, which is an important artifact not only of the Kirchenkampf, but also of the complex and ambivalent history of Christian antisemitism. By bringing Althaus into conversation with some of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century -- from Karl Barth and Emil Brunner to Rudolf Bultmann and Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- Tafilowski broadens the scope of his inquiry to vital questions of political theology, ethnic identity, social ethics, and ecclesiology. As Christian theologians must once again reckon with questions of national self-understanding under the pressures of mass migration and resurgent nationalisms, this investigation into the logic of ethno-nationalist theologies is a timely contribution.

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How did the Greeks respond to the experiences of uncertainty that they so acutely made in the aftermath of Alexander the Great's world-changing conquest of the Persian Empire? How were old values upheld and reshaped? And how did the societies of Greek cities and royal courts accommodate the overwhelming newfound power of Greek individuals? By developing a custom methodology, this book tries to shed new light on the complex textuality of the period of the Diadochi, the successors of Alexander. In four case studies, new readings are presented of Theophrastus Characters and Xenophon's Cyropaedia, but also of the substantial early Hellenistic anecdotal material, as well as the Colossus of Rhodes. The studies are united by an interest in how these texts cast the relationships between individuals and how they constructed various media of interrelation, such as money, friendship, women and the divine. Reading these texts on these terms reveals how values were renegotiated through paradoxes and inverted stories that subtly reshaped the utopias of the 4th century BCE. Overall, the study's hypothesis is that this particular brand of social storytelling contributed to the stabilisation of the nascent Hellenistic world by providing new visions of society capable of accommodating individual power and offering a new sense of control and place.

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Lustrum Band 56 enthält zunächst eine erste Fortsetzung des großen Homer-Berichts von Edzard Visser. Als ausgewiesener Kenner bespricht Visser eingehend und kritisch die umfangreiche Forschungsliteratur zur Sprache der homerischen Epen aus der Zeit zwischen 1977 und 2000. Dabei kommen sämtliche Aspekte der homerischen Dichtersprache zur Geltung, u. a. ihre sprach- und dialektgeschichtliche Einordnung sowie Morphologie, Etymologie, Semantik und Syntax. Der zweite Beitrag ist der kritischen Dokumentation der gesamten zwischen 1982 und 2012 publizierten Forschungsliteratur zu den lange Zeit wenig beachteten Argonautica des Valerius Flaccus gewidmet. Verfasserin ist Gesine Manuwald, die mit ihren eigenen Arbeiten wesentlich zu dem neu entfachten Interesse der Forschung an diesem flavischen Epiker beigetragen hat.

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The reading contains selected texts from Augustine's work "De civitate dei". In 410 Rome, the invincible city, was sacked by the Visigoths - but what was the cause of the decline of Rome? For many Romans it was clear: Christianity was to blame. Augustine turns against this accusation and gives us insights into society at the end of the Western Roman Empire and into the political thinking of early Christianity.

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Diese neue binnendifferenzierte Lektëre ist ganz besonders: Man kann wahlweise wenige oder viele Übersetzungshilfen zu den Texten -falten": Das Layout ist eigens dafër gemacht, dass fër schwächere Schëlerinnen und Schëler an einer vorgegebenen Linie entlang noch zusätzliche Hilfen hinzugefaltet werden können - die stärkeren Schëlerinnen und Schëler hingegen können diesen Teil umgeklappt lassen und sich den Texten mit nur wenigen Hilfen widmen. So funktioniert Binnendifferenzierung heute! Eine pfiffige Textauswahl aus den Fabeln des Phaedrus rundet die neue Lektëre ab und schafft zusätzliche Motivation.

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In his work coniuratio Catilinae, Sallust reports not only on the person of Catiline and the course of the conspiracy. Rather, he is also interested in an interpretation of Roman history: an idealized initial phase is contrasted with the later decline.

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Abraham is one of the central figures of faith for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This interfaith elementary school material enables a dialogical acquaintance with the ancestor of the Abrahamic religions. The special feature of this work is the cooperation of an evangelical pastor with an imam in the representation of the figure of Abraham. It is presented as a cross-religious and religious connection. The booklet consists of three parts: Part 1 tells the story of Abraham both according to the Judeo-Christian model and the tradition of the Koran. Part 2 offers additional image and working material for copying. Finally, part 3 gives theological remarks and pedagogical suggestions as well as references to the curriculum for each story.

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Die Bibel erzählt in vielfältiger Weise von existenziellen Grunderfahrungen des Menschen wie Freundschaft oder der Frage nach der Herkunft. Erstmalig werden in diesem Heft Bibelgeschichten des Alten und Neuen Testaments kindgerecht jeweils aus der Perspektive einer beteiligten oder zuschauenden Person erzählt. Die SchÃ"lerinnen und SchÃ"ler können auf diese Weise ihre Gedanken und GefÃ"hlswelt mitvollziehen und so zu einem eigenen Standpunkt finden.Bibelgeschichten betreffen die Menschen unmittelbar. Die perspektivischen Erzählungen in diesem Band sind so aufbereitet, dass die Lebens- und Erfahrungswelt der Lernenden im Fokus steht. Er lädt dazu ein, individuelle Erfahrungen mit den biblischen Erzählungen in Beziehung zu bringen. Zu jeder Geschichte ist eine passende Abbildung vorhanden, die im Kontext der Geschichte didaktisch vielfältig einsetzbar ist. Das Heft wird durch eine kurze Methodensammlung abgerundet, die durch text- und bildspezifische Zugänge kreative Anregungen fÃ"r die Unterrichtspraxis bietet.Wagen Sie mit Ihren SchÃ"lerinnen und SchÃ"lern einen besonderen Blick auf die Bibel und ihre Geschichten!

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Although considered as one of the 20th century most central ethical thinkers, Emmanuel Levinas claimed that his task was not to construct an ethics, but to seek the meaning of the ethical. This claim is the point of departure of the present study, which asks how ethics could be regarded as meaningful at all in light of the crisis of meaning that according to Levinas is inherent to being.Ethical meaning is for Levinas sought otherwise than being or beyond essence in terms of a radical responsibility for the Other. At the same time, it is questionable whether the ethical may be said to represent an overcoming of the crisis of meaning. This is visible in Levinas rather harsh descriptions of the ethical situation, involving not only the meaningless, but also feelings like melancholy, trauma, and shame.As the study shows, such feelings can for Levinas not be seen apart from their religious significance, although Levinas does not rely on conventional theology, but rather understands transcendence in a deeply sensible manner. This is shown in the radical passivity and self-emptying to the point of messianism of the responsible subject, which is the only way the meaning of the ethical may be rescued.The study also discusses how the utopian aspect of such a position is problematic in practical life, and why Levinas therefore admits the need for the ethical to be betrayed in ontology, which also implies an involvement with aesthetics as ontological par excellence. Although considered as one of the 20th century most central ethical thinkers, Emmanuel Levinas claimed that his task was not to construct an ethics, but to seek the meaning of the ethical. In this study Stine Holte examines the problem of ethical meaning in Levinas thinking and shows how the articulation of the ethical implies notions like trauma, melancholy, and shame, and hence a questioning of what we normally regard as meaningful.

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Three recent and commercially successful series of novels employ and adapt the resources of popular fantasy fiction to create visions of religious identity: J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books, Phillip Pullmans Dark Materials and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins Left Behind series. The act of creating fantasy counter-worlds naturally involves all three stories in the creation of what Mike Gray terms transfigurations of transcendence: hopeful albeit paradoxical encodings of the ambiguous, non-observable reality whose primary locus in modern society is the societally extra-systemic human individual. Popular fantasy fiction turns out to involve acts of world-creation that are inherently religious and inherently paradoxical.A substantive examination shows that all three are involved in more or less intentional re-narrations of traditional Christian beliefs and narratives. The "atheist" His Dark Materials series does not deny but re-imagines the Christian visions of selfhood; the "traditionalist" Left Behind series does not simply replicate but modifies its own declared values; the apparent secularity of the Harry Potter series is shaped by its creative reception of Christian patterns and narratives. While the stories visions of selfhood clearly clash, the basic paradoxes involved in their struggle to articulate transcendence expose significant parallels and a productive conversation with the Christian tradition.It is not simply that popular fantasy fiction is theologically relevant the Christian Heilsgeschichte, too, proves to be highly relevant in popular culture. However, while far from obsolescent, models of religious identity in contemporary society require criticism and creativity and, as evinced most powerfully in the Harry Potter stories, a flair for constructive engagement with paradox. Three recent and commercially successful series of novels employ and adapt the resources of popular fantasy fiction to create visions of religious identity: J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books, Phillip Pullmans Dark Materials and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins Left Behind series.The act of creating fantasy counter-worlds naturally involves all three stories in the creation of what Mike Gray terms transfigurations of transcendence: hopeful albeit paradoxical encodings of the ambiguous, non-observable reality whose primary locus in modern society is the societally extra-systemic human individual. Popular fantasy fiction turns out to involve acts of world-creation that are inherently religious and inherently paradoxical.A substantive examination shows that all three are involved in more or less intentional re-narrations of traditional Christian beliefs and narratives. The "atheist" His Dark Materials series does not deny but re-imagines the Christian visions of selfhood; the "traditionalist" Left Behind series does not simply replicate but modifies its own declared values; the apparent secularity of the Harry Potter series is shaped by its creative reception of Christian patterns and narratives. While the stories visions of selfhood clearly clash, the basic paradoxes involved in their struggle to articulate transcendence expose significant parallels and a productive conversation with the Christian tradition.It is not simply that popular fantasy fiction is theologically relevant the Christian Heilsgeschichte, too, proves to be highly relevant in popular culture. However, while far from obsolescent, models of religious identity in contemporary society require criticism and creativity and, as evinced most powerfully in the Harry Potter stories, a flair for constructive engagement with paradox.

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Leserinnen und Leser kennen Lyrik vor allem aus Anthologien. Jüdische Lyrik wird dabei meist mit der Dichtung von Shoah-Überlebenden assoziiert. Jüdische Herausgeber sammelten jedoch schon viel früher jüdische Dichtung. Den Anspruch, für eine Gruppe zu sprechen und damit ihr Bild in der Öffentlichkeit mitzubestimmen, machte die Gattung Anthologie nicht nur für literarisch Ambitionierte attraktiv, sondern auch für unterschiedliche politische Gruppen. Unter Titeln wie Junge Harfen (1903), Lyrische Dichtung deutscher Juden (1920) oder Jüdische Volkslieder (1935) versuchten Kulturzionisten, eigenständige jüdische Dichtungstraditionen zu etablieren. Doch auch alternative kulturpolitische Konzepte wählen die Anthologie als Mittel, wie etwa in Julius Moses Anthologie Hebräische Melodien (1920), die das Jüdische über das Thema und nicht die Herkunft bestimmt. Einige jiddischsprachige Anthologien schlugen einen ähnlichen Weg ein: Sie versuchen, eine nationale jiddische Dichtung zu etablieren, indem sie auf die von Herder zurückgeführte Idee von in der Volksdichtung verwurzelten Nationalliteraturen setzen. Die Anthologie zeigt sich dabei nicht nur als Publikationsform, sondern auch als literarische Gattung mit einem dezidierten Bewusstsein über ihre Geschichte. Carmen Reichert zeigt, dass Anthologien nicht nur als ein zu Unrecht vernachlässigter Teil unserer Literaturgeschichte anzusehen sind, sondern auch als wichtige historische Dokumente einer um ihr kollektives Wesen und dessen Darstellung nach außen ringenden Gemeinschaft.

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In 1885, a large hypogeum was discovered at the Saint-E'tienne Compound, the domain acquired only two and a half years before by the Dominicans on the western slope of El Heidhemiyeh hill, about 250 m north of the Jerusalem Ottoman wall. After the unearthing of a second large hypogeum, only fifty metres north of Hypogeum 1, in their monumental work on the history of Jerusalem, the two eminent Dominican scholars Louis-Hugues Vincent and Felix-Marie Abel proposed to date the two burial complexes to the Hellenistic or Roman period. This dating remained unchallenged until the survey of 1974-75, carried out by the distinguished Israeli archaeologists Gabriel Barkay and Amos Kloner, who proposed to date the two burial caves towards the end of the Judahite kingdom, on the basis of an unsystematic comparison of few architectural features with those of other tombs. In the frame of the improved knowledge of the broad and adjacent archaeological contexts since the last study of the Saint-E'tienne Compound Hypogea, between 2011 and 2014 Riccardo Lufrani carried out a detailed survey of the two burial caves, providing new and more detailed photographic, topographic, archaeological and geological documentation. The systematic comparison of the significant architectural features of the Saint-E'tienne Compound Hypogea with a consistent sample of 22 tombs in the region suggest dating the hewing of the two hypogea to the Early Hellenistic period, shedding a new light on the history of Jerusalem.

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Auf den ersten Blick ist die asiatische Religionsgeschichte reich an Begegnungen von Religionen. Buddhismus, Hinduismus, Daoismus, Konfuzianismus, Shintō und andere Religionen koexistierten in bestimmten Regionen und Epochen, setzten sich miteinander auseinander und beeinflussten sich gegenseitig. Diese Darstellungsweise ist allerdings recht abstrakt und sagt wenig darüber aus, wer oder was sich bei einer Religionsbegegnung eigentlich begegnet. Was genau ist in einem spezifischen historischen Kontext mit Religionsbegegnung gemeint? Welche Prozesse sind zu beobachten? Und welche Konsequenzen hat eine genaue Analyse solcher Prozesse für die religionswissenschaftliche Theoretisierung von religiösen Identitäten und sozialer Dynamik? Die Beiträge in diesem Band diskutieren diese Fragen anhand von konkreten historischen Fällen aus verschiedenen geographischen Regionen: Südasien, Südostasien, Zentralasien und Ostasien. Sie zeigen, dass der Begriff Religionsbegegnung zwar nicht irrelevant ist, dass aber die jeweiligen Grenzen zwischen Religionen in jedem konkreten historischen Kontext unterschiedlich bestimmt werden können. Es muss daher für jeden Fall genau untersucht werden, was Begegnung für die religiösen Menschen und Traditionen bedeutet.

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This book challenges scholars' assumption, without any explicit evidence, of institutionalized public prayer with fixed contents and times in the Qumran community. As the book observes, this assumption rests in part on a failure to distinguish between voluntary supplication prayers and biblically mandated blessings and thanks. The book closely examines the three Qumran writings assumed to typify prayer and critiques scholars' attempts to deduce the existence of public prayer from these and other sources, which are most likely pious expressions of individual authors. The lack of indispensable instructions for institutionalized prayer offers circumstantial evidence that such prayer was not practiced at Qumran. This study also explores the assumption that Qumran prayer was intended as a substitute for sacrifices after the group's separation from the temple cult and discusses relevant rabbinic statements. The innovative character of rabbinic fixed prayer is discussed and identified as an element of the fundamental transformation of Jewish theology and practice from worship founded on sacrificial rituals performed by priests at the Jerusalem Temple to abstract, unmediated, direct approaches to God by every Jew in any location. The book also examines Samaritan prayer and detects a variety of attitudes, rules, and customs similar to those found at Qumran that are incompatible with their rabbinic counterparts. This opens the door for investigating religious belief and practice at a crucial period in the history of Western civilization, namely, before the vast rabbinic reform of Judaism after 70 CE.

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Ist der menschliche Embryo schon eine Person? Die Möglichkeiten der Abtreibung und Reproduktionsmedizin, die Beseitigung des Embryos aus persönlichen Gründen oder sein Verbrauch um hochrangiger medizinischer Forschungsziele willen geben dieser Frage eine existentielle Brisanz, die nicht nur viele Menschen in Gewissenskonflikte stürzt, sondern an der sich leidenschaftlich geführte Diskussionen und öffentliche Proteste entzünden. Jürgen Boomgaarden gibt eine differenzierte Antwort auf die Embryonenstatusfrage aus evangelischer Sicht. Am Anfang steht die Erörterung biologischer, philosophischer, rechtlicher und soziologischer Erkenntnisse und Positionen zum Embryonenstatus. Das Buch untersucht die biologische Entwicklung des Embryos auf ihre statusrelevanten Einschnitte und würdigt besonders die Kernverschmelzung als möglicher personaler Anfang kritisch. Die sogenannten SKIP-Argumente (Spezies, Kontinuität, Identität, Potentialität) beleuchtet Jürgen Boomgaarden ebenso wie die soziologische Analyse des ungeborenen Lebens, die die gewandelte Bedeutung des Kindes und seiner Liebe zu ihm in der westlichen Gesellschaft reflektiert. Auf der Basis von evangelischen Positionen zur Embryonenstatusfrage skizziert der Autor eine eigene systematische Theologie des ungeborenen menschlichen Lebens und geht dabei auch auf die ethische Problematik der In-vitro-Fertilisation ein. Boomgaarden vermeidet einfache Antworten auf die Embryonenstatusfrage und entwickelt dennoch klare Entscheidungskriterien aus evangelischer Sicht.

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Vordenker der Moderne wie Thomas Hobbes, Baruch de Spinoza, James Harrington, Christian Thomasius und viele mehr griffen in ihren politischen Lehren oft auf das Modell des alten jüdischen Gemeinwesens zurück. Entscheidend beeinflusste sie dabei ein Schrifttum (politia-judaica-Literatur), das in der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts entstand und Moses Gesetze als politisches Vorbild darstellte. Markus M. Totzeck legt die erste vollständige Untersuchung zur Entstehung dieser Literatur vor. Die antiken außerbiblischen Mose-Traditionen bilden den Hintergrund seiner Arbeit. Diese Traditionen waren in der Frühen Neuzeit zum ersten Mal als Druckausgaben erschienen und hatten sich im Renaissance-Humanismus mit Konzeptionen einer uralten Theologie und Weisheit (prisca theologia bzw. prisca sapientia) des Mose verbunden. Totzeck stellt heraus, wie Debatten über die politische Relevanz der mosaischen Gesetze später in der Reformation zur Entstehung der politia-judaica-Literatur beitrugen. Die ersten Werke stammten aus der Feder humanistischer Gelehrter, die in erster Linie ausgebildete Juristen und Historiographen waren, zugleich aber auch einen mehrheitlich calvinistischen Hintergrund hatten. Die Nähe zwischen humanistischer Jurisprudenz und dem Calvinismus prägte die politia-judaica-Literatur in einer ersten Phase bis zu Petrus Cunaeus Werk De republica Hebraeorum libri III (1617). Die Verbreitung dieses Buchklassikers des 17. Jahrhunderts führte den ursprünglichen Rechtsdiskurs in umfangreichere politische Diskussionen.

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Emergentism, as a metaphysical option between Reductive Physicalism and Substance Dualism, provides a space for free will to be both experientially balanced and evidentially accurate. By expanding notions of causation and adopting a process ontology, Emergentism revaluates age-old commitments to human free will. With Emergentism, James W. Haag believes Philip Hefners model of human being (the created co-creator) to be a valuable place to look for dialogue. Hefners claim that the created co-creator is simultaneously constrained and free fits securely with Dynamic Theological Naturalism and its acceptance of Emergentism.

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It starts with the definition: what is a religious experience? What is the short circuit of synaptic connections in our brain? Where does the border go? Which experiences are considered "divine" and which are considered purely neuronal? In the footsteps of Michael Persinger, Andrew Newberg and Eugene dAquilis, the author explores the question of whether and to what extent neuroscientists can explain religious experiences at all. It defines the term "religious experience" and defines various criteria for assessing scientific research, especially for assessing the quality of strongly reductionist studies. Runehov comes to the conclusion that the perspectives should not only be thought of, but can complement each other fruitfully. This harbors great potential for interdisciplinary research and dialogue, which should not refer to "sacred or neural" but "sacred and neural".

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Robert McKelvey argues that John Bunyan wrote The Holy War as a warfare allegory symbolizing the salvation history of Scripture from a Calvinistic-covenantal perspective. In this cosmic drama of redemption, the "Histories That Mansoul, and her Wars Anatomize" include the individual-soteric-microcosmic level or ordo salutis unfolding analogous to the redemptive-historical-macrocosmic level or historia salutis. The eternal covenant of redemption provides the foundation for this history of salvation, which progresses from creation to the anticipation of consummation. This scheme finds its roots in the Puritan philosophy of "universal history" which sees all historical events serving God's redemptive purposes. The individual, through union with Christ founded on election, participates in the drama by inclusion within the trans-historical covenant of grace. As a depiction of cosmic war, The Holy War sets forth the enmity between the church and Antichrist, which is representative of the greater battle between Christ and the devil from Genesis to Revelation. As a pastoral guide to persecuted saints, Bunyan retrospectively rehearses the history of redemption to grant comfort. In addition, he prospectively reveals the consummation of redemption to encourage perseverance and instil eschatological hope. This thesis is substantiated contextually through Bunyan's life and writings, historiographically by surveying the history of Holy War interpretation, pre-textually by examining the introduction to the allegory, and textually by analyzing the allegory itself.

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Stuart Miller examines the hermeneutical challenges posed by the material and literary evidence pertaining to ritual purity practices in Graeco-Roman Palestine and, especially, the Galilee. He contends that "stepped pools", which we now know were in use well beyond the Destruction of the Temple, and, as indicated by the large collection on the western acropolis of Sepphoris and elsewhere, into the Middle and Late Roman/Byzantine eras,must be understood in light of biblical and popular perspectives on ritual purity. The interpretation of the finds is too frequently forced to conform to rabbinic prescriptions, which oftentimes were the result of the sages unique and creative, nominalist approach to ritual purity. Special attention is given to the role ritual purity continued to play in the lives of ordinary Jews despite (or because of) the loss of the Temple. Miller argues against the prevailing tendency to type material finds -- and Jewish society -- according to known groups (pre-70 C.E.: Pharisaic, Sadducaic, Essenic; post 70 C.E.: rabbinic, priestly, etc.). He further counters the perception that ritual purity practices were largely the interest of priests and argues against the recent suggestion that the kohanim resurfaced as an influential group in Late Antiquity. Building upon his earlier work on "sages and commoners," Miller claims that the rabbis emerged out of a context in which a biblically derived "complex common Judaism" thrived. Stepped pools, stone vessels, and other material finds are realia belonging to this "complex common Judaism". A careful reading of the rabbis indicates that they were acutely aware of the extent to which ritual purity rites pertaining to home and family life had "spread," which undoubtedly contributed to their intense interest in regulating them.

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In this volume Frank Ewerszumrode studies the Eucharist teachings of Johannes Calvin from a Roman Catholic perspective. At the center of his focus lies the question concerning the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine. First the author describes Calvin's position on this matter in the context of the internal controversy among the Reformers concerning the nature of the Eucharist. A closer look reveals that broad agreement reigns between Calvin's theology in this matter and the Roman Catholic teaching of transsubstantiation.

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Hakon Naasen Tandberg explores how, when, and why humans relate to the non-human world. Based on two ethnographic fieldworks among the Parsis in Mumbai, the research focuses on the role of temple fires in the lives of present-day Parsi Zoroastrians in India as an empirical case. Through four ethnographic portraits, the reader will get a deeper look into the lives of four Parsi individuals, and how their individual biographies, personalities, and interhuman relationships, along with religious identities and roles, shape -- and to a certain extent are shaped by -- their personal relationships with non-human entities. The book combines affordance theory, exchange theory, and social support to analyse such relationships, and offers suggestive evidence that relationships with non-human entities -- in this case the Zoroastrian temple fires -- can be experienced as no less real, important, or meaningful than those with other human beings. The book also provides evidence not only that non-human entities such as the temple fires must be considered relational entities analogous to humans, but also that the kind of support provided by the fires and their availability in providing it is experienced as comparable -- and in some cases, superior -- to support received from human peers. The findings demonstrate that future approaches to religion as a social phenomenon will benefit from moving beyond mere interaction to exploring how and when engagement with religious entities can lead to long-term and emotionally satisfying personal relationships, thus paving the way for a more nuanced and relevant theory of religion as something interwoven into people's everyday lives.

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Frederik A.V. Harms examines Calvin's ecclesiology based on his commentary on the Little Prophets from 15571559. Harms presents Calvin's view of the church from a historical-systematic perspective. His study of the great reformer's ecclesiology is accompanied by two historical parts. On the one hand, Harms Calvin offers historical context from 1558 to 1559, when he gave lectures on the Little Prophets. On the other hand, Harms provides an overview of the history of interpretation of the Little Prophets from the early church to the first generation of reformed orthodoxy.

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Die Konzepte der Zweiseeligkeit im Jakobusbrief und des Kleinglaubens im Matthäusevangelium reagieren darauf, dass christliche Existenz zu dissonantem Erleben und Verhalten, ja sogar zum Zweifel führen kann. Im Neuen Testament erscheinen mit dípsychos und oligópistos innovative Ausdrücke für die Erkenntnis, dass der Mensch vom Ideal der Einheit mit sich selbst bzw. der ganzheitlichen Ausrichtung auf Gott hin abweichen kann. Um das Neue in den christlichen Texten zu erfassen, unterscheidet Anna Nürnberger bildlich-konkrete, philosophisch-abstrakte, metaphorische, mythische und allegorische Texte und untersucht diese auf Dissonanzphänomene hin. Die Arbeit versteht sich als textorientierter Beitrag zur Historischen Psychologie und will den Facettenreichtum von Vorstellungen erlebens- und verhaltensrelevanter Dissonanz des Menschen in der Antike aufzeigen.

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Word of God, words of men. The book presents many aspects of the phenomenon of translation and commentary work of the Bible in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries. It contains studies of eminent scholars as well as of some young adepts, coming mainly from Poland, but also from Lithuania and Czech Republic. The texts present various aspects of the researches conducted on this phenomenon nowadays. As it was an exceptional movement, extremely varied and long-time lasting, it would be difficult to offer its complete synthesis in one volume. Though, the exhaustive presentation of the historical and linguistic contexts allows the reader to understand the phenomenon. Intensified interest in translations of the Bible is closely connected with the interest in the Polish language, its literary expression as well as its grammatical and orthographic standardisation that occurred just in the same time. The intellectual activity related to the Bible contributed simultaneously to the development of the Polish literary language and even inspired the translations of the sacred texts of other religions present in the country. Moreover, contacts between different languages of Central and Eastern European area, where many attempts of new translations appeared, are very important. A quick rise of the different Reformation movements contributed to a "natural" need for new translations and commentaries to be used by community members. These new currents, first easily accepted and spread in the country, even when suppressed, could not stop this activity, and later new Catholic translations and commentaries of the post-Trident period, both in Polish and Lithuanian, proved it. Big part of study is also dedicated to particular typographical realizations of this activity and an interesting example of the musical expression directly inspired by the biblical translation, is also provided.

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The role played by artistic, literary, historical and theological representations in the establishment of the European Reformation has attracted scholarly attention over the years. While they were generally regarded as a significant means of conveying the evangelical message, particularly in a society with a low average literacy rate, this scholarly consensus was then seriously challenged by objecting that their meaning must have remained opaque to those who couldnâ t read and interpret their sometimes multilayered imagery and their verbal and figurative messages. This volume, which publishes some of the papers delivered at the Fourth Reformation Research Consortium Conference held in Bologna, May 15thâ 17th, 2014, is an attempt to examine the visual intelligibility of the European Reformation by a comparative, multiconfessional and multidisciplinary analysis of examples taken from both the Catholic and the Protestant world in the Early Modern and Modern Era, with particular reference to the figurative arts, but also to history and theology. All the case studies included here examine their peculiar subjects with regard to their religious and artistic contexts, in order to understand their historical significance in a new fashion, combining approaches from political history, history of arts, historiography, anthropology, philosophy and theology. Thus, the volume offers a very rich outline of how visual culture and representation through arts was embodied in very different cultural portraits and images.

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Volume 1 includes the original Acta Authentica of the synod, here published for the first time. Following the Acta Authentica, the corresponding acts, as first published in the Acta Synodi Nationalis - Dordrechti Habitae (Leiden, 1620), are reprinted; these published Acta were a significantly revised version, for stylistic and political purposes, of the original Acta Authentica. Also included are the Acta Contracta, a topical summary of the Acta Authentica, and the minutes of the meetings of the state delegates, who represented the Dutch government at the synod; neither of these has been previously published. This volume begins with a general introduction to the Synod of Dordt and its context, an introduction to the Acta Authentica, the published Acta and Acta Contracta, and an introduction to the role of the state delegates and the minutes of their meetings.

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These twelve essays by international scholars investigate Melanchthons theological activities as teacher, confessor of the faith, and defender of his doctrine and ecclesiastical policies as they developed within the context of his service of society and church. In the past quarter century Melanchthon researchers have scrutinized older, mostly negative, interpretations of the Preceptor Germaniae. The editors present in this volume precisely focused appraisals of "Master Philip" in his role as theologian at the university and in the service of his own prince and others. By carefully placing his use of Aristotle, his understanding of the nature of training for pastoral ministry, his biblical exegesis in context, by analyzing four of his attempts to formulate Wittenberg teaching in public confession, by assessing how his own writings took on normative character for the church, and by tracing his thinking on the free will and the Lords Supper in the midst of controversy, these authors offer carefully etched portraits of Melanchthon as Preceptor ecclesiae. This volume contributes to the expansion of our understanding of Melanchthon as key figure in the Wittenberg Reformation and the currents of controversy that have long surrounded the interpretation of his contributions. These twelve essays by international scholars investigate Melanchthons theological activities as teacher, confessor of the faith, and defender of his doctrine and ecclesiastical policies as they developed within the context of his service of society and church. In the past quarter century Melanchthon researchers have scrutinized older, mostly negative, interpretations of the Preceptor Germaniae. The editors present in this volume precisely focused appraisals of "Master Philip" in his role as theologian at the university and in the service of his own prince and others. By carefully placing his use of Aristotle, his understanding of the nature of training for pastoral ministry, his biblical exegesis in context, by analyzing four of his attempts to formulate Wittenberg teaching in public confession, by assessing how his own writings took on normative character for the church, and by tracing his thinking on the free will and the Lords Supper in the midst of controversy, these authors offer carefully etched portraits of Melanchthon as Preceptor ecclesiae. This volume contributes to the expansion of our understanding of Melanchthon as key figure in the Wittenberg Reformation and the currents of controversy that have long surrounded the interpretation of his contributions.

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This volume contains the proceedings of the conference entitled "Halakhah in Light of Epigraphy" held on 29 May 2008 under the auspices of the David and Jemima Jeselsohn Center for Epigraphy at Bar-Ilan University. Epigraphic finds, here interpreted broadly to include papyri, scrolls, and the like, have immeasurably enriched our knowledge of the ancient Jewish past while at the same time posing a challenge to modern scholarship: how does one integrate old knowledge, based on previously known sources, with new information? We now recognize that Rabbinic texts are normative: they tell us how their authors believed life should be lived, rather than the details of ordinary, everyday, experience. What weight, then, should be given to traditional halakhic texts in evaluating the contents of newly discovered written remains? And what light can be shed by these new finds, especially those inscriptions and documents that record small moments of ancient Jewish life, upon the long-familiar normative texts? The conference on "Halakhah in Light of Epigraphy" was intended to generate discussion on these broad issues, as well as to provide a forum for exploration of specific matters of halakhah reflected in the epigraphic sources. The papers in this volume tend to emphasize the centrality of halakhah in ancient Judaism.

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Bennie H. Reynolds analyzes of the language (poetics) of ancient Jewish historical apocalypses. He investigates how the dramatis personae, i.e., deities, angels/demons, and humans are described in the Book of Daniel (chapters 2, 7, 8, and 10-12) the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85-90), 4QFourKingdoms(a-b) ar, the Book of the Words of Noah (1QapGen 5 29-18?), the Apocryphon of Jeremiah C, and 4QPseudo-Daniel(a-b) ar. The primary methodologies for this study are linguistic- and motif-historical analysis and the theoretical framework is informed by a wide range of ancient and modern thinkers including Artemidorus of Daldis, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Peirce, Leo Oppenheim, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Umberto Eco. The most basic contention of this study is that the data now available from the Dead Sea Scrolls significantly alter how one should conceive of the genre apocalypse in the Hellenistic Period. This basic contention is borne out by five primary conclusions. For example, while some apocalypses employ symbolic language to describe the actors in their historical reviews, others use non-symbolic language. Some texts, especially from the Book of Daniel, are mixed cases. Among the apocalypses that use symbolic language, a limited and stable repertoire of symbols obtain across the genre and bear witness to a series of conventional associations. While several apocalypses do not use symbolic ciphers to encode their historical actors, they often use cryptic language that may have functioned as a group-specific language. The language of apocalypses indicates that these texts were not the domain of only one social group or even one type or size of social group.

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This study is a comparison of the book of Ezekiel with the well-known city lament genre of ancient Mesopotamia. Nine shared features are analyzed and explained. These features derive from the work of F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp and his comparison of biblical Lamentations with city laments of Mesopotamia. This material provides a fruitful point of comparison, one that is more than coincidental given Ezekiel s geographical location in Nippur (the provenience of one of the five historical city laments). Compelling comparative evidence reveals that the lament genre is reflected in the book of Ezekiel and was used as a matrix for its compilation. Ezekiel s usage of the city lament genre is, perhaps, the key to understanding the organizational structure of much of the book along with its various themes.

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The Sahidic version of 1 Samuel is an ancient daughter version of the Septuagint. Because the Sahidic translation was made before most of the Greek manuscripts we know were copied, it potentially contains ancient readings no longer preserved or only faintly attested in the Greek tradition. This study considers the Sahidic version of 1 Samuel as a translation and how it may best be used in Greek textual criticism. The aim of this study is twofold. First, to examine the translation technique of the Sahidic translator. Second, to analyze the affiliations between the Sahidic manuscripts as well as the affiliations between the Sahidic version and Greek traditions. In the translation-technical section, clause connections and translator s additions feature prominently. In the chapter concerning the affiliations of the Sahidic text, detailed textual analyses prevail. These analyses describe the textual character of each Sahidic manuscript, and search for the existence of secondary readings and/or corruptions. This study supports the creation of a new critical edition of the Septuagint of 1 Samuel for the Göttingen series. With respect to this edition, the primary goal is to identify the affiliations of the Sahidic version. This translation-technical study, however, will additionally allow for a more careful and accurate citation of the Sahidic version within the critical apparatus of the Greek text.

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Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3), also known as Authoritative Teaching,is a little studied story of a souls descent and ascent in the Nag Hammadi library. With her book Ulla Tervahauta fills a gap in the scholarship and provide the first monograph-length study that has this writingas its primary focus. The aim is to find a place and context for Authentikos Logos within early Christianity, but Tervahauta also adds new insight into the scholarship of the Nag Hammadi Library and study of early Christianity. Contrary to the usual discussion of the Nag Hammadi writings from the viewpoint of Gnostic studies, she argues that Authentikos Logos is best approached from the context of Christian traditions of late ancient Egypt between the third and the fifth centuries. Tervahauta discusses the story of the souls journey in light of various Christian and Platonic writings. Also, she analyses the relationship of Authentikos Logos with the Valentinian Wisdom myth and suggests that no firm evidence connects the writing closely with Valentinian traditions. And although a Platonic mind-set can be assumed, the writing combines motifs in a unique manner. For example, the four epithets used in the writing the invisible soul, the pneumatic soul, the material soul, and the rational soul are not found thus combined elsewhere. Discussion of matter (hyle) is connected with Christian scriptural allusions and the focus is on ethics and the evilness of matter. The body, on the other hand, is the souls place of contest and progress. The Pauline term pneumatic body (1 Cor 15:44) is used allusively and from a Platonic perspective. With this book Ulla Tervahauta makes an important contribution to the study of early Christianity in late ancient Egypt by discussing a writing thatshows knowledge and creative combination of literary traditions that circulated in late ancient Egypt.

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The aim of Odgaard Møllers book is threefold: The first main section seeks to clarify how and why Jesus is presented in the pre-1968 writings of the Danish theologian and philosopher K.E. Løgstrup (1905-1981). Throughout his work, Løgstrups main focus has been a rehabilitation of the insight that life is something definite, because it is created. Here, Jesus primarily plays a methodological/strategic role as the one confirming and giving witness to Løgstrups interpretation of created life in a given time of his authorship. When faith in creation is formulated polemically against another interpretation of life, Jesus serves as Løgstrups ally in this discussion. In the second main section, this examination is extrapolated to include a discussion with Bultmann and two of his students in order to clarify the character of his Christology, not least whether -- or in what way -- this can be characterised as implicit Christology. Finally, in the light of Ricoeurs hermeneutic philosophy of religion, the third main section considers the systematic-theological validity of this picture of Jesus. The overall conclusion can be summed up in this way: The main line in Løgstrups work goes from created life to the human being Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus incarnates created life; therefore he is the true human being. This close connection between (created) Life and (true) Human Being is the kernel in Løgstrups thought. This makes his perception of Jesus and his Christology distinctive, original and specifically Løgstrupian.

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Abi T. Ngunga explores the theme of messianism in the entire corpus of the Old Greek of Isaiah (LXX-Isaiah). This is done through the lens of an intertextual hermeneutic employed by the Isaiah translator as a mode of reading this text.Its introductory chapter looks at the need in scholarship to investigate the topic of messianism in the Greek Bible in general, and in the whole of the LXX-Isaiah in particular. After dealing with a few issues related to the LXX-Isaiah as a translation, Ngunga also surveys thoroughly the topic of intertextuality from its inception to its use in biblical studies including LXX research. Particular attention is given to its application in research done, to date, on the Greek text of Isaiah.Chapter two re-examines a few arguments pertinent to the scholarly opinion that messianic hopes were not prominent among the Alexandrian Jews in comparison to their co-religionists in Palestine. It also explores the relationships between the non-Jewish citizens of the Ptolemaic kingdom and the Alexandrian Jews, with the aim to ascertain the legitimacy of investigating the theme of messianism in a piece of Jewish literature such as the LXX-Isaiah authored in the Hellenistic period. Chapter three analyses in-depth nine selected messianic passages within the LXX-Isaiah (7:10-17; 9:1-7(8:23-9:6); 11:1-10; 16:1-5; 19:16-25; 31:9-32:8; 42:1-4; 52:13-53:12; and 61:1-3a). The study concludes by highlighting the detected particular messianic imprints left on the LXX-Isaiah. Given the results, the study dismisses any doubt concerning the contention that there is a dynamic messianic thought running through the whole of the Greek Isaiah. It also sheds some light on the understanding of some of the messianic beliefs later echoed in early Christianity.

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The "Wisdom of Salomo", or Sapientia Salomonisin Latin, is one of the most linguistically sophisticated books of the Greek Old Testament. It covers timeless theological and philosophical questions. Thus, its great age - 2000 years - is hardly noticeable, and Martin Luther's praise of the text as "containing much good, and well worth reading" is still valid today.The first part presents justice as a guideline especially for the powerful. They are called on the love justice and seek God. They need to learn wisdom, as the second part states. The third and longest part of the text describes how wisdom came to the rescue of Adam, Joseph, Mose, and many others.The present volume provides an introduction and a new translation which does not require previous theological knowledge.

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The apocalypse of Ezra was written as response to the desperate situation of the Jewish people after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (70 AD) around 100 AD. The writer projected the story to the Babylonian exile in the year 597 BC and thus demonstrated that distress and burden are universal for all mankind. The experience of the suffering of the righteous raises the question why a good God permits evil in the world. In his despair, the protagonist addresses God in a daring way, looking for understanding. He seeks answers why God acts apparently unjustly towards his people. In three episodes he debates this problem with an angel who was sent by God. The four following episodes are arranged as visions, in which the events before the eschatological judgment are revealed. Rise and decline of the last kingdoms are foreshadowed, the coming of the Messiah prophesied, and eventually it is promised that the righteous will be saved on account of his faith and his trust in the almighty God.

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Sergio Rosell Nebreda focuses on how the Philippian Christ-followers received Paul's letter. The social, historical, literary, rhetorical, anthropological and theological elements are dealt with in order to understand the effect Paul wanted to achieve.The main thesis of the book is that the apostle Paul, who greatly suffered at Philippi, and writing from a prison, desires to affect the Philippians believers to acquire a Christ-orientation based on the values expressed in the Christ-hymn. Phlp 2, 5-11 forms the core of Paul's theological narrative that aims at constructing a sense of imitatio and conformatio in the Christ-following community. Paul uses a 'friendly' style in his letters in order to produce rapport and trust in the community, presenting himself as examplum ad imitando, after that of Christ. It is because Paul so fully identifies with Christ's orientation in life that the apostle presents himself as a slave of Jesus Christ.In the midst of a society ill with the desire for honour and power, the Christ narrative stands as a radical call for an alternative life-style, based on the exercise of humility which seeks the interest of others rather than focusing on one's own needs and desires. Paul insists on the basis of the Christ-hymn that such a life-style reveals God's character and it is therefore a life rewarded. Through the use of Social Identity Theory this book evaluates how ancient people constructed their group identity in daily life and how through a seemingly inferior model (that of Christ's kenosis in 2, 5-11) the community receives a re-definition of values which are according to God's values, and who has the last word in history. Paul thus presents an alternative and viable way of life in the midst of a society he knows well.

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