Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries.
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This volume discusses crucial aspects of the period between the two revolts against Rome in Judaea that saw the rise of rabbinic Judaism and of the separation between Judaism and Christianity. Most contributors no longer support the 'maximalist' claim that around 100 CE, a powerful rabbinic regime was already in place. Rather, the evidence points to the appearance of the rabbinic movement as a group with a regional power base and with limited influence. The period is best seen as one of transition from the multiform Judaism revolving around the Second Temple in Jerusalem to a Judaism that was organized around synagogue, Tora, and sages and that parted ways with Christianity.
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Description based upon print version of record. :
1 online resource (560 pages) :
9789004352971 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Pneumatology and the Christian-Buddhist dialogue : does the Spirit blow through the middle way? /
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Recent thinking in Christian theology of religions has taken a "pneumatological turn" which asks how the doctrine of the Holy Spirit can contribute to the interreligious dialogue and to the emerging discourse of comparative theology. Pneumatology and the Christian-Buddhist Dialogue. Does the Spirit Blow through the Middle Way? tests the viability of this approach as applied to the Christian-Buddhist dialogue. Various Christian and Buddhist traditions are compared and contrasted within a pneumatological framework. Is the Holy Spirit to be found along the Buddha's middle way? Some Christians say yes, while others demur. The thesis of this volume is that such a pneumatological perspective opens up possibilities for the deepening and transformation of Christian theology in the religiously plural world of the twenty-first century.
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1 online resource (xx, 301 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004231245 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Earliest Christianity within the boundaries of Judaism : essays in honor of Bruce Chilton /
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Twenty-two essays, written by top scholars in the fields of early Christianity and Judaism, focus on methodological issues, earliest Christianity in its Judaic setting, Gospel studies, and history and meaning in later Christianity. These essays honor Bruce Chilton, recognizing his seminal contribution to the study of earliest Christianity in its Judaic setting. Chilton's scholarship has established innovative approaches to reconstructing the life of Jesus, a Jew whose religious ideology developed and therefore must be understood within the Judaism of the first centuries. Following upon Chilton's approaches and insights, the essays collected here illustrate the centrality of the literatures of early Judaism to the critical exegesis of the New Testament and other writings of early Christianity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004310339 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
'Justification by grace alone' facing Confucian self-cultivation : the Christian doctrine of justification contextualized to new Confucianism /
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Chinese contexts as influenced by the religious moral philosophy of New Confucianism are characterized by the idea of becoming a sage through self-cultivation. For Christian theology - with its emphasis on God's grace rather than on self-cultivation - Confucian teaching in this matter may appear as a problem. Chinese Christian theology may ask: How can the Christian doctrine of justification by grace alone be contextualized in Chinese contexts which are characterized by the contradicting idea of self-cultivation? Another question may be equally interesting for Christian theology in all contexts: Which insights can be attained from an attempt at contextualizing the Christian doctrine of justification to contexts influenced by New Confucianism? In this book professor Arne Redse contributes to answering these questions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004302587 :
1876-1518 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Exegeting the Jews : the early reception of the Johannine Jews /
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In Exegeting the Jews: The Early Reception of the Johannine \'Jews\' , Michael G. Azar analyzes the rhetorical function of the Gospel of John's \'Jews\' in the earliest surviving full-length expositions of John in Greek: Origen's Commentary on John (3rd century), John Chrysostom's Homilies on John (4th century), and Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on John (5th century). While scholarship often has portrayed the reception history ( Wirkungsgeschichte ) of the Gospel's "Jews" as simply and uniformly anti-Jewish or antisemitic, Azar demonstrates that these three writers primarily read John's narrative typologically, employing the situation and characters in the Gospel not against contemporary Jews with whom they regularly interacted, but as types of each patristic writer's own intra-Christian struggle and opponents.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004316164 :
1542-1295 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Defending the "people of truth" in the early Islamic period : the Christian apologies of Abū Rā̕̕iṭah /
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The apologetical writings of the Jacobite Christian, Abū Rā'iṭah al-Takrītī († c. 835) have remained relatively unknown in Western scholarship. Yet his engagement with Muslim questions about Christianity provides a significant insight into the theological debate between the two communities in the early ʿAbbāsid period. Abū Rā'iṭah's treatises take up many of the topics that become standard for Christian-Muslim apologetics: proofs of the true religion, the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Christian practices. In each case, he provides his reader with complex arguments in defense of Christian doctrines that can be used to convince both Muslims and wavering Christians of the truth of Christianity. This new Arabic edition and English translation seeks to contextualize Abū Rā'iṭah's important writings and to make the original texts available to modern scholars interested in all aspects of the early development of Muslim-Christian relations.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-365) and index. :
9789047408550 :
1570-7350 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Establishing boundaries : Christian-Jewish relations in early council texts and the writings of Church Fathers /
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This book addresses the ongoing close relations between ordinary Christians and Jews on a daily basis at a time when church leaders were increasingly trying to establish boundaries between Christians and other religious groupings, especially Jews. Until recently, most historical studies of late antique Christian-Jewish relations had been primarily based on the writings of the church fathers.This new study makes use of a new type of source material: fourth to late sixth century council documents in which clear indications are given of the daily relationships between Christians and Jews. The texts from the eastern and western Mediterranean describe contacts between Christianity and Judaism at the level of ordinary people. These contacts remained close for a much longer period than the church leaders would have liked.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-198) and index. :
9789004190658 :
1388-2074 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian identity amid Islam in medieval Spain /
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In Christian Identity amid Islam in Medieval Spain Charles L. Tieszen explores a small corpus of texts from medieval Spain in an effort to deduce how their authors defined their religious identity in light of Islam, and in turn, how they hoped their readers would distinguish themselves from the Muslims in their midst. It is argued that the use of reflected self-image as a tool for interpreting Christian anti-Muslim polemic allows such texts to be read for the self-image of their authors instead of the image of just those they attacked. As such, polemic becomes a set of borders authors offered to their communities, helping them to successfully navigate inter-religious living.
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1 online resource (x, 296 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004192294 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The doctrine of God in African Christian thought : the Holy Trinity, theological hermeneutics, and the African intellectual culture /
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The Christian faith knows and worships one God, who is revealed in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity in Christian thought. Although Christian orthodoxy defines the doctrine of the Trinity, the intellectual tools used to capture it significantly vary. At different times and in different places, Western Christianity has, for instance, used neo-Platonism, German Idealism, and the conceptual tools of the second-century Greeks. Taking elements from the known African intellectual framework, this book argues that for African Christians, the respective pre-Christian African understanding of God and the Ntu -metaphysics, in particular, function as conceptual gates for an attempt towards articulating the Trinity for African Christian audiences.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (D. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [279]-292) and indexes. :
9789047420224 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Interpreting Proverbs 11:18-31, Psalm 73, and Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 in light of, and as a response to, Thai Buddhist interpretations : a contribution to Christian-Buddhist dialogue /
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This book discusses how three Old Testament wisdom texts can be interpreted in light of, and as a response to Thai Buddhist interpretations. Its central aim is to explore a new method in Buddhist-Christian dialogue that has three steps. First, Buddhists are asked to reflect on biblical texts, second, the texts are analyzed by placing Christian and Buddhist perspectives side by side, and finally points of convergence and difference are established in order to provide a platform for further dialogue. The study succeeds in demonstrating that the method explored is a fruitful approach to interreligious dialogue which takes interpretations of biblical texts by the religious 'other' seriously, and manages to both affirm commonalities and face religious difference.
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1 online resource (vii, 345 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004227125 :
1876-1518 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Myotei dialogues : a Japanese Christian critique of native traditions /
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The Myōtei Dialogues is the first complete English translation one of the most important works of early Japanese Christianity. Fukansai Habian's Myōtei mondō (1605) presents a sharp critique of the three main Japanese traditions, Buddhism, Shintō, and Confucianism, followed by an explanation of the main tenets of Christianity specifically aimed at a Japanese audience. Written by a convert, it is of importance not merely because it shows us how the Christian message was presented by a Japanese to other Japanese, but also for what it reveals about the state of the three native traditions at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004307292 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mapping the New Testament : early Christian writings as a witness for Jewish biblical exegesis /
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This volume discusses links between the exegetical trends current in various Second Temple Jewish circles and patterns of New Testament conversation with Jewish Scripture. The standard focus on Jewish background of Christianity is complemented here by an alternative direction: the "mapping" of New Testament evidence as the early witness to more general trends attested in their fully developed form only later, in rabbinic literature. The question that dominates much of the discussion is: How can the New Testament be used for creating a fuller picture of Second Temple Jewish exegesis? The book deals with a representative variety of samples from different layers of the New Testament tradition: Synoptic Gospels, Pauline Epistles and Acts.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047420958 :
1388-2074 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jesus for Zanzibar : narratives of Pentecostal (non-)belonging, Islam, and nation /
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In Jesus for Zanzibar: Narratives of Pentecostal (Non-)Belonging, Islam, and Nation Hans Olsson offers an ethnographic account of the lived experience and socio-political significance of newly arriving Pentecostal Christians in the Muslim majority setting of Zanzibar. This work analyzes how a disputed political partnership between Zanzibar and Mainland Tanzania intersects with the construction of religious identities. Undertaken at a time of political tensions, the case study of Zanzibar's largest Pentecostal church, the City Christian Center, outlines religious belonging as relationally filtered in-between experiences of social insecurity, altered minority / majority positions, and spiritual powers. Hans Olsson shows that Pentecostal Christianity, as a signifier of (un)wanted social change, exemplifies contested processes of becoming in Zanzibar that capitalizes on, and creates meaning out of, religious difference and ambient political tensions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004410367
Scripture and traditions : essays on early Judaism and Christianity in honor of Carl R. Holladay /
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This volume contains twenty-two essays in honor of Carl R. Holladay, whose work on the interaction between early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism has had a considerable impact on the study of the New Testament. The essays are grouped into three sections: Hellenistic Judaism; the New Testament in Context; and the History of Interpretation. Among the contributions are essays dealing with conversion in Greek-speaking Judaism and Christianity; 3 Maccabees as a narrative satire; retribution theology in Luke-Acts; church discipline in Matthew; the Exodus and comparative chronology in Jewish and patristic writings; corporal punishment in ancient Israel and early Christianity; and Die Judenfrage and the construction of ancient Judaism.
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1 online resource. :
"Publications of Carl R. Holladay": pages ([457]-459).
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047442011 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Common words in Muslim-Christian dialogue : a study of texts from the common word dialogue process /
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In Common Words in Muslim-Christian Dialogue Vebjørn L. Horsfjord offers an analysis of texts from an international dialogue process between Christian and Muslim leaders. Through detailed engagement with the Muslim dialogue letter A Common Word between Us and You (2007) and a large number of Christian responses to it, the study analyses the dialogue process in the wake of the Muslim initiative and shows how the various texts gain meaning through their interaction. The author uses tools from critical discourse analysis and speech act analysis and claims that the Islamic dialogue initiative became more important as an invitation to Muslim-Christian dialogue than as theological reflection. He shows how Christian leaders systematically chose to steer the dialogue process towards practical questions about peaceful coexistence and away from theological issues.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004358232 :
0923-6201 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tensions within and between religions and human rights /
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This volume contains theoretical and empirical articles on tensions within and between religion and human rights. There are conflicts in the past histories of Christianity and Islam in regard to human rights, but also in contemporary history. There are also tensions in the sphere of human rights, like the relation between natural law and human rights, morality and law, liberty and equality, civil rights and socio-economic rights, and more specific ones, like the rights of humans and citizens, religious freedom and the separation of church and state, religious freedom and freedom of speech, and the state and religion on social welfare provisions. The volume aims at theoretical clarification and empirical exploration on data from 14 countries. Contributors include: Jean-Pierre Wils, Piet Hein van Kempen, Mathias Rohe, Johannes (Hans) van der Ven, Anders Sjöborg, Raymond J. Webb, Jack Curran, Marion Reindl, Leo W.J.M. van der Tuin, Clement D. Fumbo, and Hans-Georg Ziebertz.
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Proceedings of the 1st and 2nd conferences of the Empirical Research Program Religion and Human Rights, held in 2008 and 2010 at the Radboud University Nijmegen. :
1 online resource (255 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004218697 :
1877-881X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christianity and the notion of nothingness : contributions to Buddhist-Christian dialogue from the Kyoto school /
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This publication by Muto Kazuo is a significant Christian contribution to the predominantly Buddhist "Kyoto School of Philosophy." Muto proposes a philosophy of religion in order to overcome the claim for Christian exclusivity, as proposed by Karl Barth and others. On such a foundation, he investigates the possibilities for mutual understanding between Buddhism and Christianity. Thereby he engages in a critical exchange with the Kyoto School philosophers Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani. Throughout his discourse, Muto applies their method of logical argument (the "dialectic" of soku ) to the dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism. He thus opens up new perceptions of Christian faith in the Asian context and, together with his Buddhist teachers, challenges the modern Western dialectical method of reasoning.
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1 online resource (244 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004228429 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Biblical interpretation and African traditional religion : cross-cultural and community readings in Owamboland, Namibia /
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In Biblical Interpretation and African Traditional Religion , Helen C. John juxtaposes grassroots biblical interpretations from Owamboland, Namibia, with professional interpretations of selected New Testament texts, effectively demonstrating the capacity of grassroots interpretations to destabilise, challenge and nuance dominant professional interpretations. John uses a cross-cultural and dialogical approach - 'Cross-Cultural Biblical Interpretation Groups' - to explore the relationship between African Traditional Religion (ATR), Christianity and biblical interpretation in Owamboland, Namibia. She contextualises the grassroots Owambo interpretations using fieldwork experiences and ethnographic literature, thus heightening the cross-cultural encounter. In particular, John reflects on Western epistemologies and the Eurocentric interpretative trends that are brought into relief by the African interpretations gathered in Owamboland.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004399310 :
0928-0731 ;
Judaism and Christianity : new directions for dialogue and understanding /
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This volume treats the interrelationship between Judaism and Christianity from the first centuries and into modern times, paying particular attention to these faiths' social, cultural, and theological interactions. The issues covered range from the formation of Jewish and Christian ideology in the context of Roman paganism to the ways in which Christian culture and theology of the medieval and modern periods form a backdrop to the creation of Jewish identity. While the historical periods and issues discussed are diverse, the result is to suggest the importance of our recognizing the close development of Judaism and Christianity. Written by top scholars in Judaic and Christian studies, these essays reflect on how the two faiths related to and were shaped by each other as they evolved in shared historical and cultural contexts, even as each maintained its own distinctive ideologies and beliefs.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047441731 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The mission of the church in Paul's letter to the Philippians in the context of ancient Judaism /
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Paul seemingly nowhere in his letters commands his congregations to preach the gospel. Therefore many scholars have concluded that Paul's thinking had little or no place for a mission of the church. This study undertakes a fresh investigation of the question by devoting close attention to a text hitherto overlooked in discussion of early Christian mission, Paul's letter to the Philippians. The Jewish context of Paul's thought in Philippians is the key to unlocking his understanding of church and mission in the letter. The study accordingly begins in Part One with an investigation of conversion of gentiles in ancient Judaism. Part Two, drawing upon this Jewish context, focuses on close exegesis of Philippians, revealing the crucial place of the mission of the church in Paul's thought. The questions addressed by this study go to the heart of our understanding of Paul and of mission in earliest Christianity.
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1 online resource (xv, 380 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047415831 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.