Search results for ""Author Thomas R. Blanton IV""

Thomas R. Blanton, IV seeks to reconstruct the social contexts in which two discourses that involve the "new covenant" were written, and to which they responded. He first examines the Damascus Document from among the Dead Sea scrolls, arguing that this discourse was crafted in order to delegitimate Hasmonean claims to the high priesthood and Pharisaic claims to authority in legal interpretation. In response to the claims and practices advocated by these rival groups, the Essene sect crafted a discourse which construed the new covenant as one that supported Essene claims that they were the legitimate bearers of high priestly authority and the divinely authorized interpreters of the Torah. In the second half of the book, the author argues that Paul crafted his discourse on the new covenant in opposition to an ideology that was espoused by a rival group of missionaries, according to which, under the conditions of the new covenant, the spirit of God was thought to empower individuals to follow the Torah with perfect obedience. Paul crafted his own discourse in opposition to this view, positing that law and spirit were antithetical terms. By arguing in this way, he attempted to bolster the credibility of his own law-free message.

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The present volume offers a glimpse at one currently thriving expression of the distinguished history of religions school approach to the New Testament and early Christian literature. Begun circa 1884 at the University of Göttingen and pioneered by scholars such as Albert Eichhorn, Wilhelm Bousset, Johannes Weiss, and William Wrede, today applications of this approach are diverse. Scholars adapt the method, incorporating the latest technologies and insights, to optimize the school's original goal of accurate biblical interpretation. In North America, the University of Chicago has long been a hub of this type of investigation. Over the last century, many of these Chicago studies have produced groundbreaking results. Still, the approach has never been without its critics. Applying the history of religions school approach to a range of interesting topics and themes, the essays in this collection demonstrate against current opposition how the history of religions school continues to steer scholarly innovation in the field of New Testament studies by offering constructive new interpretations of early Christian and other writings and advancing discussion in key areas of research.

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