Search results for ""Author James A. Kelhoffer""

James A. Kelhoffer offers a comprehensive analysis of Mark 1:6c par. Matt 3:4c in its socio-historical context, the Synoptic gospels and subsequent Christian interpretation. The first chapter surveys various anecdotes about John's food in the Synoptic gospels and notes that there has never been a consensus in scholarship concerning John's "locusts and wild honey." Chapters 2 and 3 address locusts as human food and assorted kinds of "wild honey" in antiquity. Chapter 4 considers the different meanings of this diet for the historical Baptist, Mark, and Matthew. Contemporary anthropological and nutritional data shed new light on John's experience as a locust gatherer and assess whether these foods could have actually sustained him in the wilderness. The last chapter demonstrates that the most prevalent interpretation of the Baptist's diet, from the third through the sixteenth centuries, hails John's simple wilderness provisions as a model for believers to emulate.

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The Longer Ending of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) was appended to the Gospel of Mark in the first half of the second century. James A. Kelhoffer explores this passage's distinct witness to the use of gospel traditions and the development of Christian thought. Concerning the origin of this passage, he argues that a single author made use of the New Testament Gospels in forging a more satisfactory ending to Mark. He studies the passage's sometimes innovative literary forms as well. Also of interest is the passage's claim that the ascended Lord will help "those who believe" to perform miraculous signs - casting out demons, speaking in new languages, picking up snakes, drinking poison with impunity and healing the sick - when they preach the gospel (verses 17-18, 20). This expectation is compared with portraits of miracles, especially in the context of mission, in the New Testament, various apocryphal acts and Christian apologists of the second and third centuries. In the two final chapters the author interprets the signs of picking up snakes (verse 18a) and drinking a deadly substance with impunity (verse 18b) in their history of religions contexts. An Epilogue summarizes the findings of this study and explores what can be ascertained about the otherwise unknown Christian author of Mark 16:9-20.

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The struggles to define what "gospel" was and to bolster a leader's or a group's legitimacy amidst inter-ecclesial competitors are hallmarks of much early Christian literature. Commencing with James A. Kelhoffer's inaugural lecture at Uppsala University, this volume makes available sixteen revised and updated articles, originally published between 1998 and 2013, focusing on method, "gospel" and legitimacy. In regard to method, it is argued that the so-called "historical-critical method" should not be construed as just one method in contrast to (or, as an alternative to) newer methods and approaches to biblical studies. Kelhoffer's investigations of "gospel" in early Christian literature include when εὐαγγέλιον came to designate a written "Gospel," whether Basilides of Alexandria wrote a Gospel, Paul's concept of Heilsgeschichte, and patristic debates about the original conclusion to Mark. Examinations of struggles for legitimacy survey a range of topics and literature - the prayers attributed to the Maccabees, miracles as a confirmation of Paul's legitimacy as an apostle, Luke's apologetic portrayal of Paul as a former persecutor of the church, a readiness to withstand persecution as a source of authentication according to Paul and the Revelation of John, Hippolytus of Rome's attacks against miracle-working 'heretics,' and the allegedly higher status of maimed "confessors" at the Council of Nicaea. Those already familiar with Kelhoffer's Miracle and Mission (2000), Diet of John the Baptist (2005) and Persecution, Persuasion and Power (2010) will find in this volume refreshing insights suggested but not developed in his other books.

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James A. Kelhoffer examines an often overlooked aspect of New Testament constructions of legitimacy, namely the "value" of Christians' withstanding persecution as a means of corroborating their religious identity as Christ's followers. The introductory chapter defines the problem in interaction with sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "cultural capital." Chapters 2-10 examine the depictions of persecuted Christians in the Pauline letters, First Peter, Hebrews, Revelation, the NT Gospels, and Acts. These exegetical analyses support the conclusion that assertions of standing, authority, and power claimed on the basis of persecution play a significant and heretofore under-appreciated role in much of the NT. It is also argued that depictions of persecution can have both positive implications for the persecuted and negative implications for the depicted persecutors in constructions of legitimation.An epilogue considers later examples of early Christian martyrs and confessors, as well as John Foxe's " Book of Martyrs." The epilogue also addresses the ethical and hermeneutical problem of asserting the withstanding of persecution as a basis of legitimacy in ancient and modern contexts. This problem stems from the observation that, although the NT authors present their construals of withstanding persecution as a basis of legitimation as if they were self-evident, such assertions are actually the culmination of numerous presuppositions and are therefore open to dissenting viewpoints. Yet the NT authors do not acknowledge the possibility of competing interpretations, or that oppressed Christians could someday become oppressors. Accordingly, this exegetical study calls attention to an ethical and hermeneutical problem that the NT bequeaths to the modern interpreter, a problem inviting input from ethicists and other theologians.

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Die Johannesapokalypse ist zu einem Schwerpunkt der gegenwärtigen neutestamentlichen Forschung avanciert. Ihre historische Einordnung und Datierung sowie ihre traditions- und religionsgeschichtlichen Hintergründe werden ebenso intensiv diskutiert wie ihre literarische Rhetorik und ihre theologische Konzeption. Der Band vereint Vorträge eines Münchener Symposiums mit zusätzlich angefragten Beiträgen. Im ersten Teil "Kontexte" werden Fragen der Textgestalt und der Traditionsbezüge, der historischen Einordnung und der Datierung erörtert. Ein zweiter Teil thematisiert "Konzepte" der Apokalypse; darin wird u.a. Fragen nach der Christologie und Eschatologie nachgegangen, ferner stehen die Rede vom Martyrium und Untersuchungen zur Redaktion und theologischen Intention des Werkes im Mittelpunkt. Der abschließende dritte Teil "Wirkungen" fokussiert Schwerpunkte der Rezeption vom Montanismus und der Thomasapokalypse über Laktanz und Andreas von Caesarea bis zur orthodoxen Liturgie und zur Kunst William Blakes. Die Beiträge bieten einen repräsentativen Einblick in die wesentlichen Diskurse zur gegenwärtigen Apokalypseforschung.

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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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Arthur Darby Nock (1902-1963) made lasting contributions to classical scholarship and the history of religion, including the study of ancient religion, magic, and the relationship of paganism to ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Almost ninety years after its publication, his work, Conversion: The Old and New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo , serves as an introduction to what is today an entire area of research encompassing history, literature (i.e., "conversion" as a literary genre), philosophy, psychology, and theology. The present volume features essays exploring the circumstances of religious transformation not only in early Christianity but also in other ancient religions and in philosophical schools - the various converts, the means by which followers attracted adherents, and the factors influencing and limiting their success.

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