Search results for ""jcb mohr (paul siebeck)""

Reformation historian Scott Hendrix has argued that, despite the divisions that occurred in Western Christianity in the sixteenth century, the various movements of the Reformation shared a vital commonality: They were all attempts to make sixteenth-century Europe more authentically Christian. While research on the Reformation has tended to emphasize the theological differences and disputes among the reformers, Hendrix sees a fundamental coherence in this common goal of Christianization. In this volume, nineteen Reformation historians respond by treating diverse aspects of Reformation scholarship and employing their own research to test the usefulness of the Christianization thesis. In their analyses of late medieval reform movements, Luther's attempts at reform, changes in this epoch for women and the family, significant efforts to reform piety, and the theological controversies of the late Middle Ages and the Reformation, an interpretive debate develops about the viability of macrohistory and the significance of the Reformation as an epoch in European history and the history of Christianity.Contributors:Robert Bireley, S.J., Amy Nelson Burnett, Gerald Christianson, Irene Dingel, James M. Estes, Berndt Hamm, Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Russell Kleckley, Robert Kolb, Volker Leppin, Carter Lindberg, John A. Maxfield, Elsie Anne McKee, Austra Reinis, Ronald K. Rittgers, Risto Saarinen, James M. Stayer, Timothy J. Wengert, Merry Wiesner-Hanks

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This volume contains articles by Martha Himmelfarb on topics in Second Temple Judaism and the development and reception of Second Temple traditions in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The section on "Priests, Temples, and Torah" addresses the themes of its title in texts from the Bible to the Mishnah. "Purity in the Dead Sea Scrolls" contains articles analyzing the intensification of the biblical purity laws, particularly the laws for genital discharge, in the major legal documents from the Scrolls. In "Judaism and Hellenism" the author explores the relationship between these two ancient cultures by examining the ancient and modern historiography of the Maccabean Revolt and the role of the Torah in ancient Jewish adaptations of Greek culture. The last two sections of the volume follow texts and traditions of the Second Temple period into late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The articles in "Heavenly Ascent" consider the relationship between the ascent apocalypses of the Second Temple period and later works involving heavenly ascent, particularly the hekhalot texts. In the final section, "The Pseudepigrapha and Medieval Jewish Literature," Himmelfarb investigates evidence for knowledge of works of the Second Temple period by medieval Jews with consideration of the channels by which the works might have reached these later readers.

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Late medieval Christians lived in a world of visions, but they knew that not all visions came from God: angels, demons, illness, nature, or passion could also inspire an apparent divine visitation. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the involvement of visionaries in everything from reform movements to military campaigns to papal schisms raised the political and spiritual stakes of determining whether or not a vision was truly from God. In response, a diverse group of medieval thinkers - including men and women, clergy and laity, visionaries and theologians - gradually began to transform the loose patristic readings of Pauline discretio spirituum into a system with the potential to distinguish between true and false visions and between genuine and delusional visionaries. Wendy Love Anderson chronicles the historical, political, and spiritual struggles behind the flowering of late medieval mysticism and what came to be seen as the Christian doctrine of discernment of spirits.

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In this volume Devorah Dimant assembles twenty-seven thoroughly updated and partly rewritten articles discussing various aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls that she published over the past three decades. An introductory essay written especially for this volume surveys the present state of research on the Scrolls. Dealing with major themes developed in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author reflects the rapid expansion and change of perspective that has taken place in research on the collection in recent years following its full publication. Among the topics treated are the nature and contents of the Scrolls collection as a whole, the specific literature of the community that owned this collection, the Aramaic texts and the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works found therein. Each of these chapters contains an inventory list of the texts under discussion. In the article on the entire Scrolls collection she provides an updated inventory and analysis of all the Dead Sea Scrolls. Besides these general surveys, the volume includes discussions of particular themes such as the history of the community related to the Scrolls, its self-image and particular interpretation of biblical prophecies, and its notion of time. In addition, various previously unknown apocryphal works found among the Scrolls are analyzed, such as Pseudo-Ezekiel (4Q385-4Q386,4Q388), Apocryphon of Jeremiah C (4Q385a-4Q390), Apocryphon of Joshua (4Q522), Pesher on the Periods (4Q180, with a fresh edition), and a new edition and interpretation of the Words of Benjamin (4Q548).

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The earlier consensus concerning the Pentateuch and the Deuteronomistic History has been significantly challenged in recent scholarship. Because of its canonical placement, the book of Deuteronomy plays an important role in these discussions. The earlier consensus was that the D source in the Pentateuch was primarily (if not only) found in Deuteronomy and that Deuteronomy was the founding source for the Deuteronomistic History. Recently, however, some scholars are once again talking about the D source in books before and after Deuteronomy, while others are questioning the centrality of the D source for the formation of the so-called Deuteronomistic History. This volume brings together various voices in these recent debates concerning the role of Deuteronomy in the larger literary works incorporating material before and after the book of Deuteronomy. Contributors include Reinhard Kratz, Jeffrey Stackert, Sandra Richter, Christophe Nihan, Cynthia Edenburg, Juha Pakkala, and Konrad Schmid.

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The festival calendars in the Pentateuch have made up the heart of critical biblical research from the beginning. Each of the calendars was thought to have taken shape against its own specific historical background and to accurately reflect a distinct stage in the development of Israel's cultic and social institutions. Classical hypotheses used them to distinguish the different legal codes in the Pentateuch from each other, to define the original compositions, and to arrange them relative to each other in an historical, chronological sequence. Shimon Gesundheit challenges the classical historical reconstructions and the methodology driving them. He presents an alternate point of view, according to which the festival laws do not simplistically reflect the specific cultic or social realities of actual historical periods. Rather, through their legal discourse, they shape and promote new ideas by textual revision and redaction, in the lemmatic style of midrash, and they represent a process of progressive literary development.

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Early in Romans, Paul gives two definitions of 'gospel.' The ancient philosophical and rhetorical theory on definition instructs that it should concisely state the essence and function of the definiendum. Robert Matthew Calhoun shows that Paul's definitions conform closely to this instruction. In 1:2-4, the apostle declares the essence of the gospel as Christ's fulfillment of God's promises in the scriptures. In 1:16-17, he specifies its function as God's power for salvation, and as the agent of the revelation of divine justice. Paul utilizes sophisticated tactics of brevity, and he exploits ambiguities in the terminology and syntax. These strategies enable him to return to his definitions in his subsequent arguments in order to recombine their component terms, bringing forward latent meanings and implications.

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Miriam Goldstein's book is an ambitious study of a significant work composed by two leaders of the community of Karaite scholars living in Jerusalem (10th/11th c. C.E.). Yūsuf ibn Nūh, a grammarian and revered teacher of this scholarly community, authored a lengthy commentary on the Pentateuch, which was revised and updated by his student Abu al-Faraj Harun. Goldstein examines the historical background of the composition and its reception, as well as major principles of its exegetical method, an amalgamation of traditional Jewish techniques with methods and concepts inspired by or absorbed from the Arabic-Islamic environment. The book includes extensive citation from the commentary in English translation and an appendix of all cited texts in the original Judeo-Arabic. Yet this book is more than a study of one specific composition. Goldstein's analysis provides a basis for the recognition and understanding of the exegetical methods employed extensively, consistently and conservatively during two centuries of Karaite exegesis in Jerusalem. Furthermore, it serves as an introduction to a school of exegesis that was one of the crucial links between traditional rabbinic literature and the Jewish Bible commentaries composed in Europe. This book is intended for students of the Bible and biblical exegesis and of medieval Jewish and Middle Eastern history, as well as those simply curious to learn more about this vibrant period of creative composition in Judeo-Arabic.

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In this book, Charles Cosgrove undertakes a comprehensive examination of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786, an ancient Greek Christian hymn dating to the late third century that offers the most ancient surviving example of a notated Christian melody. The author analyzes the text and music of the hymn, situating it in the context of the Greek literary and hymnic tradition, ancient Greek music, early Christian liturgy and devotion, and the social setting of Oxyrhynchus circa 300 C.E. The broad sweep of the commentary touches the interests of classical philologists, specialists in ancient Greek music, church historians, and students of church music history.

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This book provides the first comprehensive study of Jewish travel and mobility in Hellenistic and Roman times, based on a critical analysis of Jewish, Graeco-Roman, and early Christian literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources and a social-historical evaluation of the material. Catherine Hezser shows that certain segments of ancient Jewish society were quite mobile. Mobility seems to have increased in the later Roman period, when an extensive road system facilitated travel within the province of Syria-Palestine and the neighbouring Middle Eastern regions. Second Temple Judaism was centralized, with Jerusalem as its central space and seat of priestly authority. In post-70 rabbinic Judaism, on the other hand, connections between rabbis could be established through mutual visits and second- and third-degree contacts only. Mobility formed the basis of the establishment of a decentralized rabbinic network in Palestine and Babylonia in late antiquity. Numerous narrative and halakhic traditions indicate the importance of mobility for communication and the exchange of knowledge amongst rabbis. It is argued that the rabbis who were most mobile sat at the nodal points of the rabbinic network and elicited the largest amount of influence. They would have combined business travel with scholarly exchange. Scholars' journeys between Palestine and Babylonia are viewed within the wider context of Rome and Persia's economic and cultural exchange in which Jews, just like Christians, may have played the role of intermediaries.

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Norwegian civil procedure used to be heavily influenced by German and Austrian law. Even the new Civil Procedure Act of 2005 does not represent a full break with the German roots of Norwegian civil procedure. Further, although not a member of the European Union, the Norwegian participation in the European Economic Area leaves the approximation of the laws of civil procedure in the EU relevant also in the Norwegian context. Considering the common heritage and acknowledging the common challenges on the national and European level, the stage should be set for a fruitful comparison of German and Norwegian civil procedure.A major obstacle for genuine interaction of German and Norwegian law on civil procedure has always been the language barrier. Thus, a very first German translation of the 2005 Act has been prepared and annexed to this book together with an English translation. With contributions by:Christoph Althammer, Inge Lorange Backer, Halvard H. Fredriksen, Ulrich Haas, Wolfgang Hau, Burkhard Hess, Volker Lipp, Henry J. Mæland, Anna Nylund, Jørn Ø. Sunde

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1 Peter 3:18-22 records Christ's proclamation to "imprisoned spirits." Scholars from the beginning of the twentieth century through the present have read these verses through the lens of the fall of the watchers tradition first recorded in the Book of Watchers, thus reckoning these spirits as imprisoned angels. Yet contemporary scholarship has failed to acknowledge the conflation and multiplicity of the fallen angel sin and punishment myths that are found throughout early Jewish and Christian literature. Chad Pierce traces the major developments concerning the fallen angel, giant, evil spirit, and human sin and punishment traditions throughout 1 Enoch and other relevant works and attempts to ascertain the identity of imprisoned spirits, what Jesus' message would have entailed, the relevance of these questions to the original readers of 1 Peter, and the relationship between baptism and the warding off of evil spirits.

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Law is not only conveyed in codified clauses; it is often featured as a pivotal topic in literary texts. Existing legal relationships can determine the historical or the fictive setting of a drama or a plot, narratives can propagate laws or demonstrate their inherent problems. Literature can be used as an integral part of a strategy to implement legally justified demands, it can aim at correcting or even at denouncing legal rules. The authors of this volume examine literary and functional texts from the bible, the Ancient Near East, early Judaism and classical antiquity. They choose from the fields of constitutional law, litigation, family law, property and inheritance law, damages, punishment, privilege and maintenance.

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The study of Mark and Matthew from a comparative perspective has a long history. Ever since the theory of Markan priority became firmly established in the 19th century however, many studies, especially commentaries on either Mark or Matthew, make observations related primarily to one of the Gospels only. Thus the most frequent result of studying Mark and Matthew is that one Gospel is overshadowed by the other. This collection of papers employs a sustained multiperspectival comparative approach which contributes simultaneously to the synoptic problem discourse and sheds light on the individual Gospels in their first century setting(s), a procedure that reveals new questions and discoveries. This highlights new aspects of the Gospels which are critical for our understanding of the rise and development of Gospel literature in the first century C.E. Contributors: Barbara Aland, David E. Aune, Wayne Baxter, Eve-Marie Becker, Cilliers Breytenbach, Warren Carter, Sean Freyne, Morten Hørning Jensen, John S. Kloppenborg, Stanley E. Porter, Anders Runesson, David C. Sim, Lorenzo Scornaienchi, Tommy Wasserman, Oda Wischmeyer, Adela Yarbro Collins, Linden Youngquist

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Mark B. Stephens investigates the cosmic eschatology of Revelation, with a particular focus on the question of continuity and discontinuity between the present and future world. Key background texts are examined for their influence, including selected traditions from the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple apocalyptic texts, and the literature of early Christianity. The centrepiece of the analysis is an integrated exploration of the topic throughout the entirety of Revelation. Drawing upon a range of methodologies, the author shows that the imagery and auditions of Revelation work together to communicate both judgement upon the present order of creation, and yet at the same time the eschatological renewal of all things. In particular, the eschaton is depicted in terms of a transfer of sovereignty over the earth, with the eschatological arrival of God's throne bringing about the displacement of the present "destroyers of the earth" (Rev 11:18).

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This book is a feminist commentary on Tractate Betsah, which deals with the laws specific to festivals. Tamara Or reveals surprising insights into the role of women in the development of halakhah. Thus, the commentary shows women's oppression as well as their actual power and influence even on halakhic decisions. The power women possess in this tractate can be explained as emanating from the fact that most of it is based on labors usually performed by women. In nearly all the cases where the rabbis discuss the sphere of action of women, the latter's behavior was considered halakhically correct or at least not in need of change. The power and influence gained by women through their various activities and endeavors were passed over in silence and thus hidden from the view of their descendants. The following commentary will strive to put these women back into Jewish history and into the history of the development of halakhah.

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This volume offers an in-depth analysis of the current status of the law and legal practice of personal security rights in the EU. The impact of the financial crisis is specifically considered and the treatment of personal security rights in the Basel II Accord is critically addressed. While focusing on Italian and Spanish legal systems, this comparative study includes extensive references to other EU Member States. The influence of EU private law on this area is also explored. The implications of a harmonised regime for personal security rights in the EU are analysed both from an economic and a legal perspective. In this context, specific reference is made to the latest academic works and policy proposals for EU legal unification ( Principles of European Contract Law / Draft Common Frame of Reference).

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Philo of Alexandria fuses biblical interpretation and Greco-Roman cosmology in seemingly contradictory fashion: the physical world is sometimes God's enemy, but elsewhere his son and greatest work. Charles A. Anderson examines six key cosmological terms for Philo, including kosmos, physis (and natural law), and argues that his ambivalence is best understood perspectivally. The 'lower' perspective views the world positively, as a means of knowing and becoming like God, while the 'higher' perspective sees it negatively, as an obstacle to true communion with God. Philo is ultimately a cosmological pessimist and thus diverges surprisingly from the main lines of both Scripture and Platonism. This book will be of interest to students of ancient Judaism, ancient philosophy, biblical cosmology, and all who reflect on how Jewish-Christian sacred texts can influence contemporary environmental discourse.

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This volume stems from a conference held at Princeton University, which brought together leading scholars in the study of ancient religions. Claims to divine revelation are not simply a common trope in ancient religious texts: they often determine the structure of these texts and of the communities that produce them. The authors of the studies collected here examine the literary and social functions of revelation in late antiquity from early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism to early Islam, contributing both to our understanding of the phenomenon of revelation as well as to the study of the great transformations, interactions, and tensions typical of this important period. Table of contents:Philippa Townsend and Moulie Vidas: Introduction: Revelation, Literature, Community, and Late Antiquity Annette Yoshiko Reed: Pseudepigraphy and/as Prophecy: Continuity and Transformation in the Formation and Reception of Early Enochic Writings Christine Trevett: Prophets, Economics, and the Rites of Man Pavlos Avlamis: Isis and the People in theLife of Aesop John D. Turner: Revelation as the Path to Ignorance: The Sethian Platonizing ApocalypseAllogenes Gregory Shaw: T he Soul's Innate Gnosis of the Gods: Revelation in Iamblichean Theurgy Daniel L. Schwartz: Keeping Secrets and Making Christians: Catechesis and the Revelation of the Christian Mysteries Eduard Iricinschi: Tam pretiosi codices vestri: Hebrew Scriptures and Persian Books in Augustine's Anti-Manichaean Writings Azzan Yadin-Israel: Rabbi Aqiva: Midrash and the Site of Revelation Martha Himmelfarb: Revelation and Rabbinization inSefer ZerubbabelandSefer Eliyyahu Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina: Miscegenation, 'Mixture,' and 'Mixed Iron': The Hermeneutics, Historiography, and Cultural Poesis of the 'Four Ages' in Zoroastrianism Michael E. Pregill: Ahab, Bar Kokhba, Muhammad, and the Lying Spirit: Prophetic Discourse before and after the Rise of Islam Patricia Crone: Angels versus Humans as Messengers of God: The View of the Qurʾānic Pagans

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In what sense is trust basic for human (co-)existence, and in what sense can trust also show the limits of the social character of the self? How should the loss of trust figure in an account of trust? And how are freedom and transcendence implied in trust as relation, response, and openness? In addressing such questions, this book discusses how to understand trust, arguing for a multifaceted approach, which brings together perspectives from various philosophical traditions, from developmental psychology, sociology, ethics, and from theology. The authors of the essays collected here deal with the question of why and in what sense trust is basic for becoming oneself and for living together with others, with trust as a personal attitude, the connection between one's trust and the other's trustworthiness, and the relation between trust in the world and trust in persons. The authors investigate the distinction between trust and dis- or mistrust by describing the judgment inherent in these modes of orientation, and by comparing trust in humans with trust in God. Finally, the transformative potential inherent in trust is explored against the background of violations of trust. With contributions by:Gry Ardal, Ingolf U. Dalferth, Günter Figal, Arne Grøn, Lars Hertzberg, Karen Jones, Burkhard Liebsch, Anne Marie Pahuus, Philippe Rochat, Anthony J. Steinbock, Philipp Stoellger, Claudia Welz

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How do the truth claims of the gospel of Christ square with the biblical testimony to God's abiding election of the Jewish people? In Romans 9-11, the apostle Paul reflects deeply on this fundamental theological question. The interpretation of these chapters has long been contested, however. The present volume assesses the current state of research and opens up fresh lines of inquiry, taking into account insights generated both by the "New Perspective on Paul" and by ongoing Jewish-Christian dialogue. Twenty-six essays in English and German - representing the fields of Biblical Studies, Judaic Studies, Systematic Theology and Practical Theology - examine the theological horizons, history of interpretation, literary contexts, argumentative structure, theological themes and contemporary significance of Paul's arguments. With contributions by:Friedrich Avemarie, John M. G. Barclay, William S. Campbell, Susan Eastman, Reinhard Feldmeier, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, A. Katherine Grieb, Klaus Haacker, Wolfgang Kraus, Mark D. Nanos, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Enno Edzard Popkes, Mark Reasoner, Wolfgang Reinbold, Martin Rothgangel, Dieter Sänger, Berndt Schaller, Frank Schleritt, Notger Slenczka, Katherine Sonderegger, R. Kendall Soulen, Christoph Stenschke, Annette Steudel, J. Ross Wagner, Florian Wilk, N. Thomas Wright

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Following a scholarly conference given in honor of Adela Yarbro Collins, this collection of essays offers focused studies on the wide range of ways that women and gender contribute to the religious landscape of the ancient world. Experts in Greek and Roman religions, Early Christianity, Ancient Judaism, and Ancient Christianity engage in literary, social, historical, and cultural analysis of various ancient texts, inscriptions, social phenomena, and cultic activity. These studies continue the welcomed trend in scholarship that expands the social location of women in ancient Mediterranean religion to include the public sphere and consciousness. The result is an important and lively book that deepens the understanding of ancient religion as a whole. With contributions by:Patricia D. Ahearne-Kroll, Loveday Alexander, Mary Rose D'Angelo, Stephen J. Davis, Robert Doran, Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Carin M. C. Green, Fritz Graf, Jan Willem van Henten, Paul A. Holloway, Annette B. Huizenga, Jeremy F. Hultin, Sarah Iles Johnston, James A. Kelhoffer, Judith L. Kovacs, Outi Lehtipuu, Matt Jackson-McCabe, Candida R. Moss, Christopher N. Mount, Susan E. Myers, Clare K. Rothschild, Turid Karlsen Seim

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Although Simon Peter was evidently a central figure in both the ministry of Jesus and the mission of the earliest church, his life and thought are shrouded in historical uncertainty. Markus Bockmuehl approaches this problem through focused studies of Peter's highly diverse profile and reception in subsequent Christian sources from Rome and Syria. In Part I of this book, Bockmuehl documents the persistent presence of Peter in personal and collective memory - a phenomenon that usefully illustrates his importance as a "centrist" figure in the early church. The author goes on to examine the apostle's place in recent historical Jesus research as well as in ongoing debates concerning the so-called "New Perspective on Paul" and the problem of Peter's relationship with Paul. Part II discusses the complexity of that Petrine memory in Syria and Rome in particular, paying specific attention to Ignatius, Justin and Serapion in the East, as well as to the significance of Roman memory for the long-standing debate about the place of Peter's death. Finally, in Part III of the book Bockmuehl reconnects this investigation of the apostle's "aftermath" to more conventional historical and exegetical problems, seeking to shed light on their generative function for his subsequent prosopographical profile. In this vein the author examines Jewish meanings and implications of Peter's names, the cultural and religious significance of his origin in the newly excavated village of Bethsaida, and the puzzling Lucan theme of Peter's "conversion" as this came to feature in early Christian faith and praxis.

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Recent scholarship on Second Temple Judaism and Paul has maintained that both held salvation to be through God's grace alone, not human obedience. In this study, Jason Maston argues against this trend by demonstrating the spectrum of perspectives available during the Second Temple period regarding the interaction of divine and human actions. Using Josephus' depiction of the Jewish schools as the starting point, he argues that ancient Jews were discussing the issue of divine and human agency and that they were putting forward alternative and even contradictory perspectives. These different viewpoints are shown in Sirach and the Hodayot. Into this spectrum of opinions, the Apostle Paul is situated through an analysis of Romans 7-8. The author challenges the idea that all of Judaism can be explained under a single view of salvation. Recognising the diversity allows one to situate Paul firmly within a Jewish context without distorting either the Jewish texts or Paul.

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Meira Z. Kensky examines scenes of the divine courtroom in Jewish and Christian literature from antiquity. Her central argument is that these courtroom scenes, though fanciful in nature and often remarkably entertaining, are part of a serious inquiry taking place throughout the Mediterranean as to the nature of divine justice. These scenes can contain explicit criticism about the adequacy and equity of God's justice, or can be used to attempt to vindicate God from charges of injustice and inequity. What is important is that this amounts to a rotation of the courtroom scene: the courtroom, rather than simply functioning on the narrative level with the reader as an additional spectator, is rotated so that the reader is in the judicial position, and it is the judge and the process itself which are being adjudicated. When man is tried, it is truly God who is on trial.

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The International Academy of Comparative Law will hold its 18th International Congress of Comparative Law in Washington DC from 25 to 31 July 2010. About 30 different sections will discuss legal topics from all areas ranging from the interpretation of complex sources of law to foreign voters, issues of corporate governance and financial leases to surrogate motherhood, internet crimes, public private partnerships, climate change and the law and the balance of intellectual property. The numerous national reports on every single subject are based on questionnaires drafted by renowned experts acting as general reporters for the subject concerned. Most of the German national reports have been consolidated in this book and are made available to the public.

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Amy Marga studies Karl Barth's early encounter with Roman Catholic theology during the 1920s, especially seen in his seminal set of dogmatic lectures given in Göttingen, and his second set of dogmatic lectures, given in Münster and which remain unpublished. Her analysis demonstrates his search for a concept of God's objectivity - Gegenständlichkeit - which would not be dependent upon philosophically-laden concepts such as the analogia entis, but which would rather be anchored in God's being alone. The author shows that Roman Catholicism, especially the thought of Erich Przywara, became the key interlocutor that helped Barth bring this clarity to his doctrine of revelation and the triune God.

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Judit M. Blair challenges the common view that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are names of 'demons' in the Hebrew Bible, claiming that major works on the subject proceed from the assumption that these terms were demons in the ancient Near East and /or later, or that they were deities who became 'demonised' by the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Without questioning the validity of traditional methods she supplements the existing works by making an exegesis based on a close reading of all the relevant texts of the Hebrew Bible in which these five terms occur. Close attention is paid to the linguistic, semantic, and structural levels of the texts. The emphasis is on a close examination of the immediate context in order to determine the function of each term. The author notes different signals within the texts, especially the use of the various poetical/rhetorical devices: personification, parallelism, similes, irony, and mythological elements.

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This book deals with issues relating to the formation of early Christian identity in the city of Ephesus, one of the major centres of the early Christian movement towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century CE. How diverse was the early Christian movement in Ephesus? What were its main characteristics? What held this movement together? Taking these questions as a starting point, Mikael Tellbe focuses on the social and theological diversity of this early Christian movement, the process of "the parting of the ways" - i.e. issues of ethnicity - , the influence of "deviating" groups and the quest for authority and legitimacy, as well as issues of commonality and theological unity. The author argues for a textual approach and the impact of various textual "prototypes" in the task of analyzing the process of early Christian identity formation in Ephesus.

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As in the modern era, in Roman antiquity too the so-called "Jewish question" was essentially that of the integration of diaspora Jews into their host societies. Social integration varies, however, in accordance with the organizational principles upon which various societies are established. The thrust of the present study is that in order to understand the marginal position of the Jews within the Roman empire, the mechanisms governing the integration of Roman imperial society at large need first be fleshed out. A general model of social integration of multi-cultural societies is, accordingly, first presented and thereafter serves as the point of departure for an enquiry into the causes of the mal-integration of the Jews in the Roman empire.

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Revelation 7:1-17 occurs between the opening of the sixth and seventh seal and Rev 10:1-11:13 between the sixth and seventh trumpet blasts. Interpreters often explain these passages as "interludes," "parentheses," or "expansions," but not in terms of ancient communication. Peter S. Perry analyzes these interruptions in the seals and trumpets in light of digressions in ancient rhetorical theory and practice. Digressions are described by Hermagoras, Cicero, and Quintilian and widely used, including in Josephus' works, Jubilees, Sibylline Oracles I/II, Zechariah, and Exodus. As with other ancient digressions, Rev 7:1-17 and 10:1-11:13 are unessential to the logical flow but essential to the book's impact. These passages excite the emotions, shape character, and give insight into John's rhetorical strategy and goals.

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Die Liberalisierung von Dienstleistungen der Daseinsvorsorge ist Gegenstand einer kontroversen politischen Debatte. Sven Simon analysiert die Liberalisierungsstruktur der beiden maßgeblichen Verträge und geht der Frage nach, ob Dienstleistungen der Daseinsvorsorge im WTO- oder EU-Recht einem Liberalisierungszwang unterworfen sind. Er setzt sich mit der komplexen Struktur des GATS auseinander, erörtert den Anwendungsbereich sowie die Rechtfertigungsmöglichkeit binnenmarktrechtlicher Beschränkungen des EG-Vertrages und bewertet die Auswirkungen des Protokolls zur Daseinsvorsorge im Vertrag von Lissabon. Das Untersuchungsergebnis stellt er in einen breiteren sozioökonomischen und politischen Kontext. Dabei skizziert er auch, wie der europäische und der internationale Rechtsrahmen zur gemeinwohlorientierten Gestaltung der Globalisierung beitragen können.

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How does a certain place influence the self? Could one argue that Paul's territoriality and mission strategies are Jerusalem-centered? Does the letter to the Romans, as an insight into Paul's mission strategy, reveal the apostle's central territorial paradigm and offer explanations for the creation of Paul's theology as it affects his mission? In dealing with these questions, Ksenija Magda analyzes if and how spatial theories developed by the geographer Robert D. Sack can be utilized for the clarification of long-standing questions in Pauline theology, for example his motivation to evangelize the Gentiles, the center of Paul's theology, the relationship to his own people and the origin of his doctrines on justification. In doing so, the author also shows how conflicting issues can be resolved.

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"This publication is recommended to everyone interested in the notion of canon and every scholar who wrestles with the history of canon formation. Chapman's theory will have to be reckoned with in all future research of the Old Testament canon."P.M. Venter in Hervormde Theologise Studies 58/4 (2002), pgs. 1874-1875"This is a fine study on the intriguing question of the biblical canon. Chapman offers an alternative model of the origin of Law and prophets […] The book contains a lot of food for thought; maybe the interpretative model of a "theological grammar" will allow us to view the plurality of biblical texts in a different light. No serious future study can afford to overlook Chapman's insights."Anselm C. Hagedorn in The Journal of Religion vol. 83/1, pgs. 617-618"This is an important, and readable book. It shows that both the law and the prophets are authoritative Scripture which are aware of and play off each other. It is not a case of Torah priority or of the prophets being before and the source of the law, as some critics hold. This book should be in all academic theological libraries."David W. Baker in Ashland Theological Journal 34 (2002), pgs. 99-100

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Wayne Coppins investigates the interpretation of freedom in Paul's letters with special reference to Martin Luther and twentieth-century "German" New Testament scholarship. He focuses on three key issues, namely the importance of freedom in Paul's letters and theology, the centrality and meaning of "freedom from the law," and the relationship between freedom and service. In addition to providing a detailed exegesis of the key Pauline texts, the monograph also offers a synthesis of the aforementioned issues and concludes with a retrospective assessment of the promise and pitfalls of 'German' scholarship on freedom in Paul. While critical of the assumption that Paul himself had already developed a unified concept of freedom, the author suggests that it may nevertheless be appropriate to employ freedom as a category for depicting Paul's thought.

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Erik Waaler takes a somewhat modified intertextual approach to the relationship between Jewish monotheism and Pauline Christology. His focus is on Paul's Christological reuse of Shema in 1Cor 8:1-6. He argues that the statement "there is no God but one" (8:4a) is a combined echo of Shema and the First Commandment, and that v. 4a might be associated with the Second Commandment. This fits with Paul's constant use of Deuteronomy in 1Cor 5-10. Admittedly first century non-Christian Jews did not use the term one about other beings together with the one God, thus combined phrases such as 'one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ' are without Jewish parallels. Apart from this Christological twist, Paul's reuse of such phrases is in line with Jewish custom. He uses phrases like one God and one Lord as arguments for unity, although he speaks of unity in the Church. In the Old Testament, themes like God's fatherhood and His oneness are associated with creation and salvation. Paul echoes this, but when Shema let the phrase 'one Lord' signify Yahweh, Paul let it signify Jesus, who like Yahweh is contrasted to the idols. Additionally, both Shema and 1Cor 8:1-3 speak of love directed at God. The Christological twist is supported by Paul's Christological re-interpretation of the divine epithet the Rock (Deut 32). In the context, Paul makes membership in the Christian in-group dependent on the confession: "Jesus is Lord." Erik Waaler concludes that Paul in 1Cor 8:1-6 sustains a relatively high Christology. Paul achieves this effect by a contextual and binitarian re-reading of Shema.

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Christology in the Gospel of Matthew is multifaceted and variegated, which has spawned a diverse and voluminous amount of research. One component of Matthew's christology is the use of Israel's history in the story of Jesus as narrated by the Evangelist. Both the christology of Matthew and the use of the Old Testament in Matthew are essential ingredients toward unfolding the recapitulation of Israel in Matthew 1:1-4:11. It is the argument of Joel Kennedy that the recapitulation of Israel is a formative element of Matthew's presentation of Jesus Christ that has warranted further consideration using a variety of critical approaches. Discovering and describing the recapitulation of Israel in Matthew 1:1-4:11 is the cohesive and distinctive viewpoint throughout this work. In the first chapter, he argues that the genealogy recapitulates Israel's history in a narratological and teleological manner to focus upon Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Israel's history. In the second chapter, it is argued that in Matthew 2:1-23, Jesus passively recapitulates Israel's history, reliving primarily the exodus experience of Israel. In the third chapter, the author demonstrates that in Matthew 3:1-4:11, Jesus actively recapitulates Israel's history as the representative embodiment of Israel.

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John W. Yates explores the meaning and significance of the Apostle Paul's description of the divine Spirit as "life-giving". He argues that with this designation Paul develops a tradition present in the literature of Ancient Judaism and identifies the Spirit as the divine agent who brings about a new creation through resurrection of the dead. In the first half of his work, the author assesses the origin and development of the "breath of life" tradition in Ancient Judaism, with particular focus on the use of Genesis 2:7 and Ezekiel 36-37. In the second half, he demonstrates how Paul develops this strand of tradition and elevates it to a place of prominence in his description of the divine Spirit. This begins with an analysis of Paul's citation of Genesis 2:7 at 1 Corinthians 15:45, is followed by an examination of the letter/Spirit contrast in 2 Corinthians 3 and concludes with a careful reading of Paul's most thorough description of the life-giving Spirit in Romans 8. Yates offers final reflections on the significance of this study for understanding divine identity in Paul's letters and on the possible implications of this study for Pauline scholarship more widely.

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The thrust of this book is encapsulated in the title - Paul, Jerusalem and the Judaisers: The Galatian Crisis in Its Broader Historical Context - which reflects Ian J. Elmer's insistence that reconstructing all the events surrounding the crisis that impelled Paul to compose his letter to the Galatians is essential to understanding this letter. The position taken by the author is that the Galatian crisis was initiated by a group of Judaising opponents acting under the direct authority of the Jerusalem church. The origins of this controversy can be traced back to the early dispute between the Hellenists and the Hebrews described in the Acts of the Apostles, which led to the expulsion of the Hellenists from Jerusalem and the establishment of the community in Antioch. Paul's opponents apparently cited Jerusalem as the source of and the warrant for their Law-observant gospel. In Galatians, Paul alludes to events involving Judaising opponents that transpired in Jerusalem and Antioch prior to the outbreak of the crisis at Galatia. Thus, the immediate background of the crisis is found in the Jerusalem Council (Gal 2:1-10; Acts 15:1-35) and the Incident at Antioch (Gal 2:11-14); and its aftermath is played out in Corinth and Philippi.

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Hanne Løland studies gendered god-language in the Hebrew Bible. She offers a theoretical framework that is helpful for the interpretation of biblical language used in reference to God and for the broader theological and scholarly debate on God and gender. One of the main questions Løland discusses is whether and how gende r is salient - that is, of significance - when gendered god-language occurs in a text. This is a new line of questioning in Hebrew Bible research, which so far has been mostly concerned with mapping the occurrences of feminine god-language. The question of gender significance is debated both in theoretical discussions on God, gender and language, and in three case studies (Isa 42:13-14, 46:3-4, and 49:14-15). These texts are chosen primarily because of today's research situation, where there has been a claim that Isa 40-55 (or 40-66) differs from the rest of the Hebrew Bible in its use of feminine god-language. Løland argues that there is in principle no difference between god-language formulated in similes or metaphors. Further, there is no significant difference between male and female god-language in the Hebrew Bible. These findings are also relevant for the contemporary debate concerning god-language in academia, church, and synagogue.This volume was recognized with the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise in 2008.

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This conference volume focuses on showing that investigating various aspects of the Christian movement's identity helps us to understand its historical reality. Whatever is known about identity from ancient times reaches us mostly through ancient texts. Thus many of the essays in this volume are devoted to analyzing New Testament texts and showing how they reveal the processes of identity formation. One type of evidence here is how New Testament texts compare with or treat older texts which are in the same normative tradition, in other words biblical and Jewish texts. Another group of essays deals with specific literary techniques used in the service of creating identity, such as personification, stereotyping or marginalizing others as well as looking at the relationship between different kinds of social identity. A third group of essays directs attention to the light that gender analysis casts on the shaping of Christian identity, pointing both to surprising similarities and differences from the surrounding culture. The final group of essays applies the insights of postcolonial theory and its sensitivity to power relationships and the political dimension of human reality.

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Robert Phenix investigates the collection of twelve Syriac poetic sermons recounting the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 and 39-50. The authorship of these poems has been disputed, but this is the first study to attempt to argue from all aspects of the evidence that Balai of Qenneshrin is the author. The study then examines all of the data that can be associated with Balai: the religious environment of Qenneshrin and nearby Aleppo, Balai's connections with the "monk-bishops" of central Syria in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, particularly Acacius of Beroea/Aleppo and Rabbula of Edessa, the status of chorbishops, and the presence of Syriac speakers. Since it is argued in this study that Balai's source for the Sermons on Joseph was a Jewish text, this section also carefully examines the evidence for the Jewish community in Qenneshrin. As part of the background of the author, links between characters and the physical setting of the Sermons on Joseph and Qenneshrin are investigated. The relationship of the Sermons on Joseph to other Syriac Joseph sources and Joseph material in the Pseudepigrapha and at Qumran is discussed, followed by the question of the origin of the story, which is located in a lost Greek Jewish composition. The last section of the work examines the author's use of Hellenistic rhetoric and literary themes. The many speeches in the Sermons on Joseph reveal rhetorical arrangements that are strikingly close to the models of arrangement found in Late Antique handbooks, such as the Hermogenic Corpus. Several of these arguments are examined, as are the elaborate prefaces that introduce some of the individual Sermons on Joseph. The literary themes and motifs of the Sermons on Joseph are explored. It can be shown that some motifs known only in Syriac religious literature are employed in the Sermons on Joseph in non-religious literary contexts.

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Samuel Krauss (1866-1948), formerly Rector of the Israelitisch-theologische Lehranstalt in Vienna, was one of the last great representatives of the Wissenschaft des Judentums. His substantial studies of the Jews in the Graeco-Roman world continue to be used as reference books.This volume forms a handbook to the history of Jewish-Christian controversy, from Christian origins to the eighteenth century. It seeks to introduce both Christian and Jewish apologetic and polemic. Substantial chapters deal with the ancient world, including the Byzantine empire, and with the mediaeval and early modern periods. The still relatively inaccessible literature of mediaeval and later Jewish polemic is catalogued and discussed. The unpublished original work by Samuel Krauss has been edited, revised and updated. The supplementary material which is incorporated throughout introduces newer work and areas of study, with special attention to bibliography.This volume, complete in itself, offers full and detailed guidance to the subject and to its study in modern times."This is a rich, highly useful guide to the documentary sources and scholarly literature bearing on the Jewish-Christian controversy form ancient to early modern times ... one can heartily recommend this book to specialist and generalist alike ... Historians of the Jewish-Chrsitian debate would do well to keep it within close reach of their desks and to emphasize its importance to their students."Jeremy Cohen in The Jewish Quarterly Review (1999), pages 409-410"The Krauss/Horbury volume under review with its updated bibliography and many supplementary remarks is ... an extremely valuable reference book and main research tool ... "Hanne Trautner-Kromann in Frankfurter Judaistische Beiträge (1999), S. 174-175

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In this book, Adam Winn addresses the long debated question of the purpose of Mark's gospel. After placing the composition of Mark in Rome at a time shortly after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, he seeks to reconstruct the historical situation facing both the Markan evangelist and his community. This reconstruction focuses on the rise of the new Roman Emperor Vespasian and the aftermath of the Jewish Revolt in Rome. A significant feature of this reconstruction is the propaganda used to gain and secure Vespasian's power-propaganda that included oracles and portents, divine healings, and grand triumphs. Of particular interest is the propagandistic claim that Vespasian was the true fulfillment of Jewish messianic prophecies. Winn argues that such a claim would have created a christological crisis for the fledgling church in Rome-a crisis that called for a compelling Christian response. Winn seeks to demonstrate that Mark's gospel could be read as just such a response. He demonstrates how the major features of Mark's gospel-his incipit, Christology, teaching on discipleship, and eschatology-can be read as a counter résumé to the impressive résumé of Vespasian. In the end, this project concludes that Mark was composed for the purpose of countering Roman imperial propaganda that had created a crisis for its author and community.

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David W. Chapman examines Second Temple and early rabbinic literature and material remains in order to demonstrate the range of ancient Jewish perceptions about crucifixion. Early Christian literature is then shown to reflect awareness of, and interaction with, these Jewish perceptions.Ancient Jewish historical accounts of crucifixion are examined, magical literature is analyzed, and the proverbial use of crucifixion imagery is studied. He pays special attention to Jewish interpretations of key Old Testament texts that mention human bodily suspension in association with execution.Previous studies have demonstrated how pervasive in antiquity was the view of the cross as a terrible and shameful death. In this volume, the author provides further evidence of such views in ancient Jewish communities. More positive perceptions could also be attached to crucifixion insofar as the death could be associated with the innocent sufferer or martyr as well as with latent sacrificial images.Christian literature, proclaiming a crucified Messiah, betrays awareness of these various perceptions by seeking to reject or transform negative stereotypes, or by embracing some of these more positive associations. Thus early Christian literature on the cross exhibits, to a greater degree than is commonly recognized, a reflection upon the various Jewish perceptions of the cross in antiquity.

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Stephen E. Witmer investigates one aspect of early Christian self-understanding: the conviction of some early followers of Jesus that they had been, and were being, taught by God, in fulfillment of OT prophetic promises (especially Isa 54:13 and Jer 31:33-34). In this study, he contextualizes the Christian understanding of divine instruction through analysis of divine instruction in the Old Testament and early Jewish literature. Of particular interest is the development of the idea of an eschatological teaching of God in some prophetic literature and early Jewish literature. With this context in place, the author focuses on the idea of divine instruction in the Johannine corpus. He argues that the Fourth Gospel re-interprets the prophetic promise of divine instruction in light of the teaching of Jesus and the Spirit, and that the concept functions in the Fourth Gospel polemically and as a means of self-legitimation. The consequences for human teaching are addressed through an examination of the Johannine letters, focusing particularly on 1 John 2.20, 27. The final chapters then extend the study beyond the Johannine corpus by investigating the key Pauline references to divine instruction and by providing a close reading of Matt 23.8-10.

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The volume is based on a symposium that took place in the Hamburg Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. It has to be seen in the context of the international renaissance of the concept of codification. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, it was essentially a common law jurisdiction. Since then, Israeli private law has continuously moved closer towards the model of the civilian systems of Continental Europe. It has now, for the first time, been laid down in a comprehensive and systematic Draft Civil Code. In an introductory article, Aharon Barak, the former President of the Supreme Court of Israel and Chairman of the Codification Commission, presents that Draft in the context of the development of private law in Israel. Israeli Professors from the Universities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem then analyze key areas within the law of obligations and property law of the envisaged codification, while a German or Austrian author, respectively, provide commentaries from a comparative perspective. The subjects dealt with are the integration of consumer protection, liability for breach of contract, unjustified enrichment, the law of delict, priority conflicts in property law, and the law of prescription (limitation). Central themes that come out in many of the contributions are the tension between continuity and change as well as the issue of coherence. The volume is rounded off by comments on the subject of codification, by a speech on the occasion of Amos Shapira's 70th birthday that was celebrated in the course of the conference, and by an English translation of the Draft Civil Code.

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Written by an international group of expert scholars, the essays in this volume are devoted to the topic of biblical apocrypha, particularly the "Old Testament Pseudepigrapha," within the compass of the Slavonic tradition. The authors examine ancient texts, such as 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham, which have been preserved (sometimes uniquely) in Slavonic witnesses and versions, as well as apocryphal literature that was composed within the rich Slavonic tradition from the early Byzantine period onwards. The volume's focus is textual, historical, and literary. Many of its contributions present editions and commentaries of important texts, or discuss aspects pertaining to the manuscript evidence.

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