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

The collection of essays highlights a dimension of Paul's theology of justification which has been rather neglected in earlier decades: that his teaching emerged as an integral part of his understanding of his commission to preach the gospel to non-Jews; and that his dismissal of justification 'by works of the law' was directed not so much against Jewish 'legalism' but rather against his fellow Jews' assumption that the law remained a dividing wall separating Christian Jews from Christian Gentiles. The long opening essay interacts with critiques of this 'new perspective on Paul' and seeks to carry forward the debate on Jewish soteriology ('covenantal nomism'), on the relation of justification by faith to judgment 'according to works', on Christian 'fulfilment' of the law, and on the crucial role of Christ, his death and resurrection."This book is a wonderful resource for anyone wishing to become acquainted in particular with the work of James Dunn, and in general with the so-called 'new perspective' on Paul."Preston Sprinkle in Europäische Theologische Zeitschrift 15. Jg. (2006), S. 171"Es ist zu wünschen, dass die über die kontroverstheologischen Fixierungen des 20. Jh.s weit hinausführenden Anregungen von den Vertretern der anderen theologischen Disziplinen aufgegriffen und produktiv rezipiert werden."Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr in Theologische Literaturzeitung 132. Jg. (2007), S. 168

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Many regard Rom 1:17, which contains Paul's own declarative statement and its scriptural proof from Hab 2:4, as the thesis of Romans. How the passage is read therefore determines how the whole letter is interpreted. The traditional Lutheran understanding is that the passage introduces and provides a framework for the doctrine of justification by faith, where the 'righteous one' in the Habakkuk citation (Rom 1:17b) represents a person who was ungodly but is now justified or declared righteous through his or her own faith. This understanding has been challenged by some who have offered a christological reading where the person of the citation is taken to be Christ, hence one's justification depends chiefly on Christ's faithfulness. The study in this book adjudicates mainly between these two interpretative categories through thorough and comprehensive exegetical considerations of internal texts and comparative analyses of scriptural and Second Temple Jewish backgrounds. The result shows the internal coherence and cogency of the christological interpretation while acknowledging the validity of the traditional-Lutheran understanding of the passage.

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E.A. Judge's collection of Augustan and New Testament essays explores the intersection of the social practices of the first Christians in the eastern Mediterranean basin with the Roman world. In the first part of the collection, Judge examines the Augustan principate against the competitive culture of the republican noble houses. Because of the unparalleled ascendancy of the Julian house, Augustus progressively acquired an eschatological aura as a ruler. The imperial propaganda emphasized more his status than his official rank and presented him as the culmination of the famous republican houses, replenishing their leadership with new blood. These historical studies on Augustus and his times are invaluable not only for ancient historians but also for New Testament scholars wishing to situate Paul's letters in their Julio-Claudian context. The remainder of the collection is devoted to the collisions and social perceptions that emerged as the first Christians encountered their Jewish, Roman and Greek neighbours in various situations. Tensions and misunderstandings were inevitable because of the distinctive ethos of the first believers, the 'novelty' of their beliefs and practices, and the transformative impact of the house churches upon contemporary educational ideals and social relations.

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Die antike Schulbildung galt den frühchristlichen Theologen als 'heidnisch' und wurde daher vielfach abgelehnt. Doch neben dieser theologischen Kritik zeigt sich bei näherem Hinsehen eine lebhafte Rezeption der antiken Bildung. Auf Grabinschriften, in Briefen und in Heiligenviten erscheint Bildung als Bestandteil christlicher Identität; und trotz aller Kritik entwickelten Theologen hermeneutische Verfahren zur Aneignung, ja zur 'Konversion' der antiken Bildung in christlichem Sinne. Die Grenzen zwischen Christen und Heiden waren daher noch in der Spätantike keineswegs so strikt gezogen, wie es in der antiken Polemik und vielfach auch noch in der modernen Forschung erscheint. Am Beispiel der Bildung arbeitet Peter Gemeinhardt heraus, wie eng das Christentum trotz aller Distanznahme in seine 'heidnische' Umwelt verwoben war. Dabei erweist sich das 4. Jahrhundert als Phase theologischer Verunsicherung, in der die Kirche verstärkten Zulauf auch von Gebildeten erfuhr, die keinen Widerspruch zwischen Glaube und Bildung empfanden. Die Kritik eines Hieronymus und Augustin verklingt im 5. Jahrhundert, als sich die Christen gegenüber den 'Barbaren' als 'Römer' wahrnehmen und die Institutionen der klassischen Schulbildung in den Wirren der Völkerwanderung zu bewahren versuchen. Erst im 6. Jahrhundert beobachten und beklagen Christen das Ende der antiken Bildung.

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David Rudolph's primary aim is to demonstrate that scholars overstate their case when they maintain that 1 Cor 9:19-23 is incompatible with a Torah-observant Paul. A secondary aim is to show how one might understand 1 Cor 9:19-23 as the discourse of a Jew who remained within the bounds of pluriform Second Temple Judaism. Part I addresses the intertextual, contextual and textual case for the traditional reading of 1 Cor 9:19-23. Weaknesses are pointed out and alternative approaches are considered. The exegetical case in Part II centres on interpreting 1 Cor 9:19-23 in light of Paul's recapitulation in 1 Cor 10:32-11:1, which concludes with the statement, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ". Given the food-related and hospitality context of 1 Cor 8-10, and Paul's reference to dominical sayings that point back to Jesus' example and rule of adaptation, it is argued that 1 Cor 9:19-23 reflects Paul's imitation of Jesus' accommodation-oriented table-fellowship with all. As Jesus became all things to all people through eating with ordinary Jews, Pharisees and sinners, Paul became "all things to all people" through eating with ordinary Jews, strict Jews (those "under the law") and Gentile sinners. This Cambridge University dissertation won the 2007 Franz Delitzsch Prize from the Freie Theologische Akademie.

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Polydore Vergil of Urbino (ca.1470-1555) fired his readers' imagination with his encyclopaedic book "On the inventors of all things" ( De inventoribus rerum 1499). His account of the manifold origins of sciences, crafts and social institutions is a praise of man's inventive genius and a prototypical cultural history. "Polydorus" was a household name for several centuries. Erasmus envied his friend the book's success, Rabelais heaped scorn on it, Catholic censors put it on the index, while Protestants were fascinated with "that papist" work. In this first in-depth study of the Renaissance 'bestseller', Catherine Atkinson examines not only the Italian humanist's bona fide (mostly ancient) inventors, in books I-III, she enquires into the neglected and misunderstood, yet equally important, books IV-VIII (1521). This early modern text, written on the eve of the Reformation, is devoted to the highly controversial topic of the 'invention' of ecclesiastical institutions. The priest and humanist Vergil, who during his 50 years in England rose in the church hierarchy, is shown to be an acute observer of contemporary religious practice. He employs the inventor question ("who was the first to do this?") as an instrument of historiography and by comparing medieval church rites and institutions with religious practice of antiquity, implicitly questions the singularity of the Christian church.

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Samuel Ibn Tibbon (c. 1165-1232) - the eminent translator, philosopher, and exegete - is most famous for his Hebrew translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. However, he wrote original works as well, and laid the foundations for a distinctive philosophical-exegetical movement, what is today called 'Maimonideanism'. James T. Robinson's book includes a first English translation of Ibn Tibbon's commentary on Ecclesiastes, which was the foundational work of the Maimonidean tradition. The translation, with full annotation, is accompanied by an introduction, which provides relevant historical, philosophical and exegetical background, explains difficult passages, and identifies Ibn Tibbon's important contributions to the emergence of Maimonideanism. The author analyzes Ibn Tibbon's sources and influences (in Jewish philosophy and exegesis and in Graeco-Arabic philosophy, especially al-Farabi and Averroes), discusses his theory and method of exegesis, and explains the main arguments and allegories of the work which relate to the problem of human perfection. Responding to and developing the various positions of his time - especially the infamous view of al-Farabi that immortality of the soul "is nothing but an old wife's tale" - Ibn Tibbon argues that conjunction with the active intellect is possible but rare: only "one man in a thousand" can attain it. Thus, while the elite few should pursue it - through a life of study and contemplation - the many should focus on perfection in this world: they should "eat, drink, and show the soul good".

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This book contains a collection of twenty of David E. Aune's essays on the subjects of apocalypticism, the Apocalypse of John, early Christian prophecy and early Christian magic. Several essays on the Apocalypse of John explore contextual relationships of the Apocalypse to apocalyptic literature from Qumran, Palestinian Jewish apocalyptic, Roman imperial court ceremonial, Greco-Roman revelatory magic and the social setting of the book. Other essays center on aspects of the content and interpretation of the Apocalypse itself by investigating such issues as discipleship, narrative Christology, genre, the problem of God and time, an intertextual reading of the book, the form and function of the proclamations to the seven churches (Rev 2-3), and interpretations of Rev 5 and 17. Essays on early Christian prophecy deal with charismatic exegesis in early Judaism and early Christianity, the relationship between Christian prophecy and the messianic status of Jesus, and the prophetic features found in the Odes of Solomon.

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John S. Kloppenborg gives a detailed analysis of one of the most difficult of Jesus' parables, the parable of the Tenants (Mark 12:1-12; Gospel of Thomas 65). He examines the ways in which Christians have typically read and mis-read the parable, and places the parable firmly in the context of the practices of ancient viticulture. The author models a new approach to the interpretation of the parables of Jesus. First, he critically engages the history of interpretation of the text, inquiring into the ideological interests that the parable has engaged during the history of its use in Christian churches and in political discourse. Second, he reconstructs the social world in which the parable was first told, in particular the economic, social, and legal aspects of ancient viticulture. He demonstrates that the parable of the Tenants has mostly been interpreted from the standpoint of those who wield social and political power, a strange irony considering the social status of the Jesus of history and the literary uses of the parable. All of the features common to the parable as it is told by Mark and the Gospel of Thomas make it a perfectly realistic story. It is only Mark's editing of the story that takes it beyond the realistic idiom characteristic of Jesus' other parables. The book concludes with a dossier of 58 papyrus documents relating to various aspects of viticulture and agrarian conflict.It was awarded the 2007 Francis W. Beare Book Award by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

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Markus McDowell examines how the literature of the Second Temple period portrays women at prayer through an examination of the literary context and character of those prayers. The goal of this work is a greater understanding of how women were portrayed in literary sources and an offering of some fresh insights for the study of women's religious and social roles in the ancient world. The texts are analyzed and categorized within five areas: social location, content, form, occasion, and gender perspective. The prayers are also compared and contrasted with men's prayers in the same sources. The analysis includes locating (as much as possible) the historical, literary, and cultic context of each document in which these prayers appear. By examining all prayers in these texts uttered by women (not just prayers of named or prominent women), and then comparing them with all the prayers of men in those same texts, certain patterns appear. This study adds to our knowledge of women and religion in Second Temple Judaism by primarily exploring patterns that appear among the prayers in the literature of the Second Temple period. While there are fewer prayers by women than men in this literature, the prayers of women are not portrayed as significantly different from those of men in terms of social location, content, form, or occasion. At the same time, the prayers of women exhibit other patterns of language - and in a minor way, form and occasion - that differ from the prayers of men.

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Marko Marttila reevaluates the extent and nature of the collective passages in the Psalter. Many of the complaint psalms written by an individual were reread at a later stage from a national point of view. In the altered religious, political and social circumstances, the earlier texts were reworked and reinterpreted so that they would comply more closely with the prevailing conditions. This collectivizing tendency probably began during the exile and continued until the final redaction of the Psalter (about 200-180 BCE). Collective features increased in late exilic and post-exilic theology even outside the Psalter. This can be seen in the national emphases in Lamentations, the nomistic theology of the Deuteronomistic history and the servant songs of Deutero-Isaiah. It even seems likely that the term mashiach ("the anointed") has a collective reference in some passages. When the Davidic monarchy no longer existed, it was the people of Israel that became the recipient of the divine promises once given to David and his dynasty. Most of these ancient contributors are unknown to us, but the Hasideans at least may have played an important role in this process in its final stage, since there are some obvious passages where the Hasideans seem to represent the people of Israel exclusively.

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The letters of Ignatius of Antioch, whether considered genuine or pseudonymous, have been generally understood as addressing concerns and issues within the Church. Consequently, his language has been read as an expression of second century Judaeo Christianity or as a reply to Valentinianism, with little direct contact or concern with the surrounding pagan culture. Allen Brent submits Ignatius' language to a comprehensive analysis and seeks to show that both conceptually, and in terms of the form of his arguments, his language game is clearly that of the pagan, Greek city-states of Asia Minor in the Second Sophistic. The author shows from a variety of evidence, both literary, epigraphic and iconographic, that Ignatius' cultural background is in the world of the discourse of Hellenic autonomy against Roman imperial power, in the image-bearing mystery cults of the cities to whom he writes, in their embassies and Homonia treaties, and in their ideal of unity in a common culture expressed by their constitutions and cultural practices. Ignatius emerges as a brilliant missionary strategist, able to reshape ecclesial order in terms of secular social order and its conventions, whose work was scarcely comprehended by his more conservative Christian contemporaries and only later canonized by means of a gross distortion that obscured his original meaning.

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Brian Gregg's study establishes the authenticity of ten of the twelve final judgment sayings in Q, thereby demonstrating that the final judgment was an important component of the message of the historical Jesus. He proceeds to identify the characteristics of the final judgment as propounded by the historical Jesus, comparing them to the characteristics of the final judgment texts of the late Second Temple period. The study not only contributes to our understanding of the historical Jesus, but it also demands that the potential historicity of all of Q's source material be taken seriously, including those elements often assigned to a secondary redactional layer.

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Ra'anan S. Boustan traces the historical emergence of the specific form of 'mystical' discourse found in Heikhalot Rabbati. He argues that the creators of Heikhalot Rabbati sought to fashion a myth of origins for their distinctive brand of heavenly ascent practice by radically reworking the narrative framework of the widely disseminated post-talmudic martyrology The Story of the Ten Martyrs. Heikhalot Rabbati not only renders redundant the notion of atoning self-sacrifice that is central to the martyrology, but also ascribes to the Heikhalot visionary the intercessory function of the martyr - here achieved bloodlessly through heavenly ascent and liturgical performance. Heikhalot Rabbati emerged as a part of a broader effort to fashion a distinct social identity for the Heikhalot visionary. In parsing the complex relationship between rabbinic martyrology and Heikhalot literature, the author illuminates how the figures of the rabbinic martyr and the Merkavah mystic came to play parallel, yet competing, roles within the highly influential conceptions of history that were bequeathed to medieval Jewish communities by late antique Judaism.

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How did the use of biblical traditions shape theology? Benjamin Wold focuses on allusions to traditions from Genesis in Musar leMevin from the Dead Sea Scrolls and explores implications for the document's understanding of women, men and angels. Cosmology and anthropology are conceived of in light of creation and ethical instruction provided on this basis. The nature of creation is reflected upon and alluded to in the document to educate and exhort the addressees about who they are and how they should live. The behaviour between the addressee and members of the family, society and angelic beings are formulated on the basis of interpretations of creation stories. Creation is also related to the esoteric 'mystery of being', angels and the apocalyptic worldview of the author(s). This is a sustained study on both explicit and non-explicit uses of Genesis creation traditions in the Hebrew Wisdom document Musar leMevin.

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In this volume Arie Zwiep examines the character and purpose of the Judas-Matthias pericope in Acts 1:15-26 in the wider context of Jewish, Graeco-Roman and early Christian traditions on the death of the wicked in terms of divine retribution. Through a comprehensive analysis of form and function of the pericope in its historical and literary context, this study seeks to discern the distinctly Lukan perspective in the light of first-century reflection on the figure of Judas Iscariot, the role of the Twelve in the earliest Christian communities, and current eschatological expectations that have coloured Luke's narrative presentation. Special consideration is given to the concurrent versions of Judas' death in Matthew 27:3-10 and the writings of Papias.

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The normal approach to the rhetorical analysis of the Letter to the Galatians is to choose a specific rhetorical model (usually an ancient one) whereby the letter is then analysed. D. Francois Tolmie's study represents an alternative in that the author does not choose a particular rhetorical model to "apply" to the text. Instead, he follows a text-centred approach in that Paul's rhetorical strategy is carefully reconstructed from the letter itself. The letter is divided into 18 rhetorical phases; the dominant rhetorical strategy in each phase is then identified and described, in conjunction with all the supportive strategies and rhetorical techniques used in the particular phase. Finally, the results of the analysis are integrated in two ways: Firstly, Paul's overall argument in the letter is outlined in terms of six broad objectives that he wishes to achieve by means of the letter. Secondly, the wide variety of arguments that Paul uses in the letter is discussed.

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Willis Salier investigates the use of the term semeia and the narratives this term refers to in the rhetorical strategy of John's Gospel. The three poles of author, text and reader are considered. The study is more literary and socio-historical in flavour and bypasses previous discussions regarding sources, which have tended to dominate research on the semeia in the Fourth Gospel.First, he investigates the resonances that the term might have with an audience in the late first century. This part of the investigation concludes that the term helps to build a bridge between the conceptual background of the Gospel and the broader cultural foreground of its audience. It is also suggested that the term both draws on, and contributes to the prominent trial motif in the Gospel itself.Second, the semeia narratives are investigated for their place in the rhetorical strategy of the Gospel. It is concluded that they point to the identity of Jesus as the divine Messiah of God, illustrate the life that his ministry brings, and provide a subtle critique of other 'would be' lifegivers in the surrounding cultural milieu.

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This book is a literary-historical enquiry into the relationship between John and Mark, with special emphasis on the feeding saga in each. Because of the differences between these key canonised texts the question of how their differences are to be understood is important in regard to our understanding of Biblical authority and interpretation, and in particular of the meaning and importance of the Eucharist.The research finds that the writers of John's Gospel knew Mark and that John shows a certain degree of influence from it, both positive and negative. Ian D. Mackay surveys the debate to date, looks at general literary and strategic similarities and differences between John and Mark, and then analyses John 6 in comparison with Mark 6-8 and certain other related texts in Mark. The detailed analysis of the debate, the points of literary similarity between the two Gospels as a whole, and the emergence of Markan strategies lifted from Mark and applied in John to supporting a literary agenda virtually contrary to that of Mark - especially in regard to the roles of the disciples and the crowds in the plot of each as a whole - may well be useful for those interested in the question of how the four Gospels relate to one another.

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This volume is the second part of a comprehensive evaluation of the "new perspective" that has dominated much Anglo-American thought, amongst biblical specialists, for a quarter of a century. The first volume grappled with and evaluated the new perspective's understanding of Palestinian Judaism; this volume evaluates the appropriateness of new perspective categories to the principal writings of Paul, including technical discussion of justification and other crucial words and expressions - all set within the context of the current debates.

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The Epistle of Barnabas, an anonymous Christian writing of the late first or early second century C.E., makes a provocative claim: because of its worship of the golden-calf, Israel lost its covenant status forever at Sinai. As a result of this bold assertion, many recent scholars have concluded that Barnabas disinherits the Jews at Sinai and has no notion of "salvation history."In this work James N. Rhodes reassesses the theology of the Epistle of Barnabas, seeking to reopen the question of the author's view of Israel. He claims that recent scholarship has focused too narrowly on Barnabas's treatment of the golden-calf incident, overlooking the author's equally strong interest in the death of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem.The author suggests that the apostasy at Sinai serves Barnabas as a dramatic illustration of Israel's failures. It does not, however, mark the end of Israel's story. He identifies several indications that Barnabas believed Israel's covenant remained intact long after the golden-calf incident. He further shows how Barnabas subtly but repeatedly links the rejection of Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem, concluding that this connection is of the highest importance for understanding the author's view of Israel's legacy.James N. Rhodes situates the author's thought within the ongoing Deuteronomistic tradition by comparing the epistle to several Jewish and Christian writings that evince similar interest in the destruction of Jerusalem and the status of Israel's covenant. He concludes that the Epistle of Barnabas was written in the early second century to warn Gentile Christians of the danger of failing to live up to God's covenant. The fate of Israel is viewed as a cautionary tale that the privileges of the covenant can indeed be lost.

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In the majority of western pre-modern and modern handbooks and surveys of the history of biblical scholarship, Eastern Orthodoxy is mostly and habitually dismissed. A clear orientation towards the western branch of the Christian church is maintained throughout. However, as the Russian Orthodox church is an organic part of the universal church this book attempts to assist in the Orthodox-Protestant interactions and serves as an introduction to Russian Orthodox hermeneutics. Alexander Negrov surveys the development of biblical interpretation within the history of the Russian Orthodox church from the Kiev period of its history (tenth to thirteenth centuries) until the Synodal period (1721-1917). The purpose of his study is to present a coherent analysis of the essential elements of Orthodox biblical hermeneutics as it developed over a period of several centuries which were critical to the defining of the Orthodox church and to present a case study of hermeneutical approach to the New Testament of D. I. Bogdashevskii (1861-1933).The main hermeneutical features of the Russian Orthodox church show that the church and tradition are the indispensable guides to the understanding of Scripture. Christ is considered as the beginning, centre, and end of biblical interpretation and exegesis is based upon cooperation between the Holy Spirit and the human interpreter. The church demands reading of the Scriptures guided by church dogmatics as well as a multi-discipline approach to the text.

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The present volume is the latest in a distinguished series, published under the auspices of the London Leo Baeck Institute, that addresses the issues of emancipation, assimilation and acculturation. It presents the work of an international group of scholars who approach these topics from a variety of innovative perspectives. The thread running through the diverse contributions, as indicated by the volume's title, is that of normality, clearly a close relation of emancipation and acculturation. Throughout the period from the Enlightenment to the 1930s, it can be argued that German-speaking Jews endeavoured to be like those around them, to become - in a (loaded) word - normal. While the term has not generally been employed by historians of European Jewry, the search for the normal can provide an interesting perspective from which to examine the diverse modes of German Jewish acculturation and integration, or lack thereof. Survey of contents: Peter Pulzer: Obituary for Werner E. Mosse - Rainer Liedtke / David Rechter: Introduction: German Jewry and the Search for Normality - Michael A. Meyer: German Jewry's Path to Normality and Assimilation: Complexities, Ironies, Paradoxes - Christhard Hoffmann: Constructing Jewish Modernity: Mendelssohn Jubilee Celebrations within German Jewry, 1829-1929 - Johannes Hei: "... durch Fluten und Scheiterhaufen": Persecution as a Topic in Jewish Historiography on the Way to Modernity - Christian Wiese: Struggling for Normality: The Apologetics of Wissenschaft des Judentums in Wilhelmine Germany as an Anti-colonial Intellectual Revolt against the Protestant Construction of Judaism - Deborah Hertz: The Troubling Dialectic Between Reform and Conversion in Biedermeier Berlin - Simone Lässig: The Emergence of a Middle-Class Religiosity: Social and Cultural Aspects of the German-Jewish Reform Movement During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century - Gregory A. Caplan: Germanising the Jewish Male: Military Masculinity as the Last Stage of Acculturation - Lisa Swartout: Segregation or Integration? Honour and Manliness in Jewish Duelling Fraternities - Ulrich Sieg: "Nothing more German than the German Jews"? On the Integration of a Minority in a Society at War - Elisabeth Albanis: A "West-östlicher Divan" from the Front: Moritz Goldstein Beyond the Kunstwart Debate - Keith H. Pickus: Divergent Paths of National Integration and Acculturation: Jewish and Catholic Educational Strategies in Nineteenth Century Hesse-Darmstadt - Robin Judd: Jewish Political Behaviour and the Schächtfrage, 1880-1914 - Silvia Cresti: German and Austrian Jews Concept of Culture, Nation and Volk - Helga Embacher: Jewish Identities and Acculturation in the Province of Salzburg in the Shadow of Antisemitism - Tobias Brinkmann: Exceptionalism and Normality: "German Jews" in the United States 1840-1880 - Mitchell B. Hart: Towards Abnormality: Assimilation and Degenerationin German-Jewish Social Thought

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A group of distinguished historians makes the first systematic attempt to compare the experiences of French and German Jews in the modern era. The cases of France and Germany have often been depicted as the dominant paradigms for understanding the processes of Jewish emancipation and acculturation in Western and Central Europe. In the French case, emancipation was achieved during the French Revolution, and it remained in place until 1940, when the Vichy regime came to power. In Germany, emancipation was a far more gradual and piecemeal process, and even after it was achieved in 1871, popular and governmental antisemitism persisted. The essays in this volume, while buttressing many traditional assumptions regarding these two paths of emancipation, simultaneously challenge many others, and thus force us to reconsider the larger processes of Jewish integration and acculturation.

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The authors of these English and German essays focus on the analysis of the hermeneutical process, which is what occurs when texts are interpreted successfully. They are based on talks given at a symposium on 'Philosophical Hermeneutics' held at the Center for Biblical Studies in Prague in November 2001. In addition to an introductory essay by Paul Ricoeur about the basic problems of philosophical hermeneutics, the volume contains contributions from prominent researchers from all religious denominations on the subjects of philosophical hermeneutics, exegesis, and theology.

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The concept of irony is difficult to pin down, difficult to capture. This book is a critical examination of how Søren Kierkegaard and the pragmatist Richard Rorty approach the complex subject of irony. Gregory L. Reece traces the development of the philosophical concept of irony from Socrates to Hegel, Schlegel, Kierkegaard and Rorty, while addressing the very question that is central for both Kierkegaard and Rorty, the question of the relationship of ironic philosophy to an ironic life.Must ironic philosophy result in what Kierkegaard calls infinite, absolute negativity or in what Rorty describes as doubt and meta-stability? Gregory L. Reece argues that the answer is no, and that the belief that it must is based on an important philosophical mistake which in different forms is committed by both the early Kierkegaard and by Rorty. The insights of these philosophers, as well as those developed by Wittgenstein, are used to develop the beginning of an ironic philosophy of religion. Specifically, this work follows Kierkegaard and pursues these questions with special concern for the relation of ironic philosophy to religious belief.

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Alexei Sivertsev examines the nature of the Jewish aristocratic households and their public functions during the later Roman and Byzantine periods (third to fifth centuries C.E.). The author first discusses the nature of the Jewish patriarchate during the third century C.E. He argues that the family of patriarchs ( nesi'im) is best understood as a local city-based aristocratic clan. It emerged, along with other contemporary clans, as a result of the gradual conversion of the national aristocracy of the once independent Judean state into the municipal aristocracy of the Roman province of Palaestina in the course of the first to second centuries C.E.In the second part of this book Alexei Sivertsev addresses the specific public functions performed by Jewish aristocratic clans, such as judicial, religious, administrative and legislative. He also demonstrates the continuity that existed in this respect between the Second Commonwealth aristocratic clans and those of the rabbinic period. Finally, the third part of this study deals with the process leading to the integration of the local native aristocracies of the Roman Near East into the centralized administrative system created by the Emperors, starting with Constantine the Great. This process is analyzed specifically regarding the example of the Jewish ruling elite. The main question in this section is the degree to which the local administrative apparatus of the newly created Byzantine bureaucracy developed out of the traditional and clan-based public institutions which had existed locally throughout the Roman period.

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Scholarly interest in the apocryphal Book of Wisdom has grown over the last fifty years. In addition to the main commentaries, several literary studies have been produced on sections of the text, giving new and richer insights. Moyna McGlynn examines the interwoven themes of divine judgement and divine benevolence as they are presented in the text of Wisdom. The full extent and interplay between these themes is only revealed by a literary reading of the whole text. This reading examines the poetic techniques, structures, vocabulary, verbal repetitions, and the questions the author has employed to provide a framework for a theology of justice and mercy.Further study of these themes leads to reflections upon God as creator and humans as creatures, the kindness of God in the gift of divine wisdom, and the formation and protection of Israel as the paradigm community with responsibility for teaching and demonstrating the knowledge of God to the world. These twin themes, then, provide us with an integrated and coherent reading of the text of Wisdom, and offer a new insight into the role of Israel and Jewish self-awareness just prior to the formation of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.The Book of Wisdom falls naturally into four, major sub-divisions, with a fifth central section providing the theodicy which underpins the action and reflection of the other four. Moyna McGlynn has retained this five-fold division for her analysis.A brief Appendix, at the close of the book, outlines Wisdom's history and reception in the Jewish and Christian communities.

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Odd Magne Bakke presents the first in-depth study of 1 Clement from the standpoint of the letter's rhetoric. He bases his methodological analysis on tools from the Graeco-Roman rhetorical tradition, using both the handbooks as well as actual speeches and letters. These are supplemented by tools from modern text linguistics, which the author uses to do a compositional analysis of the letter, and by the tools of modern semantics, used to establish the language of concord in 1 Clement which it has in common with other relevant ancient literature. The author's approach constitutes a fresh reading of 1 Clement and provides new suggestions on several important issues in the immense research on the letter. He demonstrates both the thematic and argumentative unity of the letter. Its macro-structure reflects the conventional parts of the dispositio of ancient rhetoric ( exordium, narratio, probatio, peroratio). Also, the sub-texts on different levels of these parts are shown to be integrated into and to serve Clement's overall argument for re-establishing concord and peace in the Corinthian church. Odd Magne Bakke questions the traditional views that the conflict in this church was between 'spirit' and 'office' or was a matter of 'doctrine'. He argues that Clement primarily regarded it as a conflict between people of different socio-economic statuses in which a struggle for honor appeared to be an important aspect.

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Timothy Wiarda examines the way Peter is portrayed in the narratives of the canonical gospels and reflects on the implications of that portrayal. He gives attention to aspects of Peter's individual characterization and his relationship with Jesus as well as to a recurring motif in which Peter makes a well intentioned move only to meet with rebuke, correction or failure. Timothy Wiarda draws several conclusions: a consistent and distinctive cluster of traits is associated with Peter in the gospel narratives; each of the evangelists displays specific interest in Peter as a character; and a model of conservative redaction rooted in the memory of the earliest Christians best explains the gospel presentation.In addition the author pays attention to methodology in his study. He offers fresh exegetical analysis of fifteen gospel episodes, seeking to demonstrate the importance of sensitivity to the immediate narrative scene and to details of characterization. He argues that such sensitivity can serve as corrective to approaches which move too quickly toward symbolic/theological interpretation while bypassing an episode's realistic portrayal of human responses and interactions. He further explores the interplay between story, rhetoric, and history. The author concludes that all three of these interests come together in the narrative material of the gospels and that there is no inherent obstacle to an integrating approach to interpretation.

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"This book aims to provide the critical tools to help scholars in their use of Samaritan manuscripts. The basic codicological tools is a series of complementary data-bases compiled from typological studies of the physical properties of manuscripts. Each typology is in effect a diachronic profile created by painstaking comparison and analysis of the physical properties of manuscripts of known provenance and/or date. Using these typologies or diachronic profiles it is possible to evaluate the chronology of the physical characteristics of any manuscript - the quire or gathering structure, ink, ruling, spacing of the text on the folio, sewing of the sections ... Naturally, the more information available about the physical properties of any manuscript the better the chance of making correlations between the typologies of different properties.The basic rule in palaeography and codicology is that the researcher works on an inductive basis from as wide a sample as possible of dated manuscripts. It is hoped that in the studies in this volume, evidence has been provided which will serve as a guide both to the appearance and the nature of Samaritan manuscripts and to the evaluative process that one would employ in examining them for codicological purposes. The reader should be able to apply the criteria provided here to the evaluation of whatever data can be retrieved from any undated Samaritan manuscripts with which he is confronted." Alan D. Crown in the preface

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Anders E. Nielsen presents a fresh look on New Testament eschatology by analysing the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. He first of all considers whether ancient literary expressions of farewell motif may or may not lead to an outlook of some sort of transcendental nature, which could play an active role in the composition of the text as read text. He concludes that in a fairly representative number of non-biblical as well as biblical farewell-addresses we do find transcendental outlooks with eschatological implications. Furthermore, these particular outlooks seem to be at work in close relation to the approaching death of the intended speaker of the addresses. Against this background the two major farewell addresses, the one of Jesus in Luke 22 and the one of Paul in Acts 20, are at great length analysed by means of a rhetorical and text-linguistic approach.Anders E. Nielsen divides his exegetical-theological findings into three main-points. First of all the traditional hypothesis of an imminent expectation of the parousia is seen as problematic, because the eschatology in Luke seems to be less a matter of chronology and more a question of quality. Secondly, some of the sayings in a hellenistic work like Luke-Acts may sometimes be free to express a vertical-transcendent aspect with individual-eschatological associations, while other phases are sufficiently vague to call up in the audience both individual and/or collective-eschatological connotations. Thirdly, all this put together suggests that Luke's religious language does in fact not play down eschatology. On the contrary, Anders E. Nielsen suggests that one can speak of some sort of applied eschatology in the sense that all the relevant expressions in the compositions examined suggest a far more parenetic or prescriptive semantic function than an informative one.

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More than one hundred years after the introduction of the Reformation, the clergy in Rostock set out to reform the spiritual and moral life of the city and fashion it into a new Zion. Disappointed with the results of the Lutheran Reformation, their reform efforts were less concerned with confessional purity than with the practice of Christian piety. The resulting reform movement in Rostock became one of the most vigorous in 17th century Germany.Jonathan Strom examines the consequences of the Reformation, the clergy's social and economic status, the career path of a typical pastor, and the theological basis of the office of ministry. He recounts the practical reforms sought by the clergy in Rostock after the Thirty Years War. He further analyzes the theological proposals of the four principal reformers in Rostock, Joachim Schröder, Johannes Quistorp the Younger, Theophil Großgebauer, and Heinrich Müller.Against many of the major trends of the confessional age in which the state assumed ever greater control over the ecclesiastical apparatus and a bureaucratization of the clergy occurred, the Rostock clergy sought to widen the scope of their authority within the city and assert their independence. They had, however, only limited success in implementing their reforms. The ideas of the Rostock reformers would decisively influence Pietist leaders such as Philipp Jakob Spener and August Hermann Francke. Their history extends our understanding of the function of the Protestant clergy in the post-Reformation era and offers a new estimation of Lutheran orthodoxy on the eve of the Pietist movement.

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Christoph W. Stenschke examines Luke's portrait of the Gentiles' state prior to their coming to Christian faith. Following the history of research, he commences with Luke's direct references to the Gentiles prior to faith and then draws conclusions concerning their state from the Gentile encounter with Jesus and Christian salvation. This includes Luke's notes on the condition of Gentiles and on their appropriation of salvation. Finally conclusions from Luke's portrayal of Gentile Christians are drawn.With his approach Christoph W. Stenschke challenges some previous contributions to Lukan anthropology. He argues that the main study in the field (J.-W. Taeger, Der Mensch und sein Heil) does not sufficiently consider all the evidence. By concentrating on the Gentiles in Luke-Act (including Samaritans and God-fearers) the author's thesis covers all the relevant material. Contrary to Taeger, who suggests that Gentiles do not need 'salvation' as much as 'correction', he discovers that Luke portrays Gentiles prior to faith in a condition requiring God's saving intervention. Thorough correction has to accompany and follow this salvation. Though allowing for distinct Lukan emphases, this portrait is not essentially at odds with that of other NT authors.These results further show that the Areopagus speech needs to and can be satisfactorily interpreted in its context and in conjunction with similar statements. The author further argues that Luke's narrative sections and the characterization they present should no longer be neglected in favour of the speeches. Luke's portrayal of Gentiles prior to faith also bears on his understanding of sin and provides additional justification for the Gentile mission. Christoph W. Stenschke challenges proposals of Luke's alleged anti-Judaism and provides some hitherto little-noticed correctives.

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In his study Peter Frick starts with the examination of the theocentric structure of Philo's thought as outlined in the important passage De Opificio Mundi 171-2 where Philo correlates the idea of providence with his concept of God and the theory of creation. On this basis, any adequate understanding of providence in Philo must begin with the correlation between the formal aspects of the Philonic concept of God, especially the idea of God's transcendence, and Philo's conceptualization of the idea of providence in light of these formal aspects. In particular, the issue is how Philo can predicate that God is provident in nature, although God cannot be apprehended in his essence. Moreover, Philo explains the immanence of God in the cosmos in terms of the Logos and the divine powers, one of which he specifically characterizes as the providential power. Both the aspects of divine transcendence and immanence cohere in Philo's theory of creation. He conceives of the role of providence in cosmological matters as being responsible for the design, administration and continuous existence of the created universe.Two further issues, the questions of astral fatalism and theodicy, are critically important for a thorough understanding of Philo's conception of divine providence. Philo rejects the assumption implied in astral fatalism that the stars are transcendent divinities and thus have causal powers over human affairs. And he rejects astral fatalism because it renders absurd the notion of moral responsibility. Concerning the question of theodicy, Philo proceeds from the Platonic premise that God is not the cause for evil in any way. For him, the existence of moral evil exonerates God and his providence as the cause for evil and anchors the blame in the person.

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Martin Sallmann untersucht den theologischen Grundansatz des Zürcher Reformators Huldrych Zwingli in dessen lateinischem Hauptwerk De vera et falsa religione commentarius. Er analysiert Aufbau und Gefüge der Schrift, erörtert Argumentation und Gedankengang der einzelnen Kapitel und erläutert schließlich beide Komponenten in ihrem Zusammenhang. Besonderes Augenmerk legt er dabei auf Denkwege, die wiederholt an verschiedenen Stellen in variierender Form beschritten werden. Sie geben Aufschluß über prägende Elemente in Zwinglis theologischem Denken.Martin Sallmann arbeitet einen charakteristischen Gedankengang heraus, der im wesentlichen drei Elemente enthält: Gott - Mensch - Heilsgeschehen. Die zwei ersten Glieder bauen jeweils den spannungsvollen Konflikt zwischen Gott und Mensch auf. Gott fordert vom Menschen Gerechtigkeit, doch der Mensch kann wegen seiner Sündhaftigkeit niemals der Gerechtigkeit Gottes entsprechen. Das Heilsgeschehen als drittes Glied löst diesen Konflikt, schafft dem Menschen einen Ausweg aus Ohnmacht und Verzweiflung und eröffnet ihm einen neuen Zugang zu Gott. Diese fundamentale Grundkonstellation prägt Begriff und Funktion der religio. Einerseits ordnet diese Gott und Mensch in ihrer Polarität einander zu, umfaßt sie zugleich und hält sie zusammen. Andererseits enthält sie das Heilsgeschehen Gottes, den barmherzigen Rückruf an Adam sowie Rechtfertigung und Heimholung des Menschengeschlechts in Christus. Religio ist deshalb immer schon wesentlich religio Christiana, auch wenn sie ante Christum natum noch nicht als solche bezeichnet werden kann.Mit dem 'heilsgeschichtlichen' Gedankengang entwickelt Zwingli in unterschiedlichen Argumentationszusammenhängen das Heilsgeschehen Gottes für den Menschen, wobei Reihenfolge und Akzentuierung der Glieder variieren können. Der Aufbau der gesamten Schrift ist wesentlich von diesem Gedankengang geprägt.

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This collection of essays reflects the two poles of interest on which Francois Bovon has concentrated during the last years: the New Testament (especially the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts) as well as the ancient church and the Christian Apocrypha. Eight articles in this volume deal with Luke and Acts, and their coverage of this subject ranges from a research report to detailed studies such as an analysis of Luke's practice of quotation. Nine of the essays focus on early Christian Apocrypha and the ancient church; five essays deal with theological topics at the crossroads between the New Testament and the Apocrypha. The essays are written in German and English or have been translated from French into English for this collection.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls represent the remains of an ancient Jewish library which antedates 68 C.E. It is the most significant discovery of biblically related ancient manuscripts, and represents more than 600 ancient Jewish documents. The series presents an introduction, critical text, and literal English translation of all the Dead Sea Scrolls which are not copies of books in the Hebrew Bible. It is the definitive collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Fifty scholars from Canada, Germany, Isreal, the United States, and other countrys serve as subeditors in the series.Volume four, the third to appear in the series, contains improved Hebrew texts and literal translations of the Angelic Liturgy, for the first time with a critical apparatus and a composite text; also included are numerous prayers and non-canonical psalms. The series is prepared with the text on the left page and the translation on the right. Critical notes help the scholar to understand the text, variants, philological subtleties, and translation. An introduction with bibliography precedes each document.

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The authors of the papers presented in this conference volume aim to engage in as complete as possible a study of the key passages in the letters of Paul which deal with or have a bearing on his understanding of and attitude to the Mosaic Law. They draw together a representative sample of the range of current scholarly opinion on these passages. The conference participants searched as far as possible for common ground on a wide range of exegetical and theological disputes and wanted to encourage and help facilitate disputants to take fuller account of the strength of the positions they disagree with."As this volume illustrates so well, the historical and theological issues surrounding Paul's view of the Law are notoriously complex. But it also demonstrates that the 'assured conclusions' of a previous generation have been destroyed without any new 'scholarly consensus' in sight. In doing so, this volume raises afresh the fundamental question of what, for Paul, the significance of the death and resurrection of the Messiah 'under the Law' actually was for the role of the Law itself, not only in the justification and reconciliation of Jews and Gentile in Christ, but also in their continuing life 'in Christ' as believers. May [...] such a volume [...] lead [...] to a renewed dedication to resolve this all-important issue for the meaning of Paul's thought and for the history of Jewish-Christian dialogue." Scott Hafemann in Shofar 16 (1998), p. 125.

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From reviews: "Scott offers us a new way to resolve an old problem. Instead of viewing Paul's geographical understanding of the world from a merely Greco-Roman perspective, he suggests that we begin with Paul's distinctly Jewish perspective of the world's geography: the table of the nations. Here Scott makes a compelling case and opens new vistas for understanding Paul as the apostle of the nations."Frank J. Matera in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly No. 59 (1997) 398-399.

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