Justification by faith : the origin and development of a central Pauline theme /
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This study offers a fresh analysis of the place which "justification by faith" held in Paul's life and thought. In distinction from past attempts to define "justification" in relation to a logical "center", the investigation proceeds by assessing the relationship between this theme and two significant points in Paul's career: his conversion and his letter to Rome. The first chapter surveys a number of interpreters of Paul from William Wrede through E.P. Sanders. In an attempt to overcome the deficiencies of earlier proposals, the work then explores the soteriology of two early Jewish writings proximate to Paul, 1QS and Pss. Sol. Paul's references to his preconversion life reveal a connection between these forms of Judaism and that which Paul knew, making it likely that within a short time after his conversion Paul's soteriology underwent a radical change involving his adoption of ideas inherent to his later arguments on "justification by faith". Paul's aim in writing to Rome discloses that he came to regard "justification" as indispensable to his Gospel and relevant to issues beyond Jew-Gentile relations. This research challenges the "new perspective on Paul" (Dunn) while providing a historical and theological description of Paul's understanding of "justification by faith."
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1 online resource (xiv, 310 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-286) and indexes. :
9789004267015 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christ and the future in New Testament history /
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Christology and eschatology form a double-core conception in the New Testament that enables one to understand other themes radiating out from it. The present volume addresses fifteen topics within this central core, seven on 'the person of Jesus', and eight on 'this age and the age to come'. The essays interact with and further discussion on disputed topics in contemporary New Testament Studies, including the historical Jesus and the Gospels; deity christology in the Synoptics and in the Pauline writings; the meaning of resurrection in the teaching of Jesus, the Sadducees and Qumran; eschatology in Luke's writings and the structure of Pauline eschatology; New Testament teaching on hell; and other christological and eschatological motifs. Three concluding pieces provide the historical and hermeneutical framework from which the theological studies proceed. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource (xvii, 323 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004267473 :
0167-9732 ; :
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.
Das Los Judas : über Entstehung und Ziele der Landbeschreibung in Josua 15 /
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In this book the origin and objects of the land description in Joshua 15 and its context are examined. Town lists and border descriptions are literarily, historiographically and theologically classified against the background of their relationships to Tetrateuch/Pentateuch/Hexateuch and the Deuteronomistic History. The first part deals with the text, context, and literary relationships of Joshua 15. The second part is devoted to the historical-geographical analysis of the area defined by the town list and border description of Joshua 15. In the third part the respective origins and objects of the successive phases in the history of the text are examined. All those who are dealing with Joshua 13-21 and the historiographical and theological meaning of land descriptions should read this thorough and encompassing study
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Revision of the author's thesis--Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2002. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004276222 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The death of Jacob : narrative conventions in Genesis 47.28-50.26 /
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In The Death of Jacob: Narrative Conventions in Genesis 47.28-50.26 Kerry Lee investigates the deathbed story of the patriarch Jacob and uncovers the presence of a variety of conventional structures underlying its composition, especially a conventional deathbed story or type scene also found in numerous other texts in the Hebrew Bible and non-canonical Jewish literature. Finding fault both with traditional diachronic approaches as well as more recent synchronic studies, Lee uses an eclectic but coherent blend of contemporary methods (drawn from narratology, linguistics, ritual theory, legal theory, assyriology, and other disciplines) to show that despite its probably composite pre-history the last three chapters of Genesis have been intentionally and artfully structured by the hand predominately responsible for their final form.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004303034 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reading the Bible across contexts : Luke's gospel, socio-economic marginality, and Latin American biblical hermeneutics /
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In Reading the Bible Across Contexts Esa Autero offers a fresh perspective on Luke's poverty texts. In addition to an historical reading, he conducted an empirical investigation of two Latin American Bible reading groups - one poor and the other affluent - to shed light on Luke's poverty texts. The interaction between historical reading and present-day readings demonstrates the impact of socio-economic status on biblical hermeneutics and sheds new light on Luke's views on wealth and poverty. At the same time Esa Autero critically examines liberation theologian's claim that poor are privileged biblical interpreters.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004323209 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Marriage as a covenant : a study of biblical law and ethics governing marriage, developed from the perspective of Malachi /
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This book focuses on the interpretation of Malachi 2:10-16, which censures the lax marital practice of its contemporaries. In particular, Hugenberger investigates Malachi's identification of marriage as a \'covenant\' in response to recent scholarly challenges to this identification. Taking the issues raised by Malachi as his point of departure, Hugenberger examines the nature of covenant and oath (including verba solemnia and oath-signs), and, in light of these findings, explores the theory of marriage implied elsewhere in the Old Testament. Included in this investigation are an analysis of the concentric literary structure of Malachi and a study of the Old Testament's ethical perspectives on divorce, polygamy, and sexual fidelity. An extensive bibliography and indices complete the book.
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1 online resource (xix, 414 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 344-380) and indexes. :
9789004275768 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Question of God's Perfection : Jewish and Christian Essays on the God of the Bible and Talmud /
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Philosophers have often described theism as the belief in the existence of a "perfect being"-a being that is said to possess all possible perfections, so that it is all-powerful, all-knowing, immutable, perfectly good, perfectly simple, and necessarily existent, among other qualities. But such a theology is difficult to reconcile with the God we find in the Bible and Talmud. The Question of God's Perfection brings together leading scholars from the Jewish and Christian traditions to critically examine the theology of perfect being in light of the Hebrew Bible and classical rabbinic sources. Contributors are James A. Diamond, Lenn E. Goodman, Edward C. Halper, Yoram Hazony, Dru Johnson, Brian Leftow, Berel Dov Lerner, Alan L. Mittleman, Heather C. Ohaneson, Randy Ramal, Eleonore Stump, Alex Sztuden, and Joshua I. Weinstein.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004387980 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Paul's Declaration of Freedom from a Freed Slave's Perspective /
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This project attempts to listen to voices that have seldom been heard. While others have explored Paul's theology of Christian freedom, they have not considered how Paul's declaration of freedom would have been received by those who most desired and valued freedom: the slaves and freedpersons in the Galatian churches. In this study, Robin Thompson explores both Greek and Roman manumission, considers how the ancient Mediterranean world conceived of freedom, and then examines the freedom declared in Galatians from a freed slaves's perspective. She proposes that these freedpersons would likely have perceived this freedom to be not only spiritual freedom, but - at least in the Christian communities - individual freedom as well.
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1 online resource (246 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004532601
9789004532618
Sabbath and synagogue : the question of Sabbbath worship in ancient Judaism /
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Sabbath worship as a communal event does not feature in the Hebrew Bible. In the context of the first century CE, according to Philo and Josephus, the sabbath gatherings took place only for the purpose of studying the law, and not for the liturgical recital of psalms or prayer. Classical authors depict Jews spending the sabbath at home. Jewish inscriptions provide no evidence of sabbath-worship in prayer-houses ( proseuchai ), while the Mishnah prescribes no special communal sabbath activities. The usual picture of Jews going on the sabbath to the synagogue to worship thus appears to be without foundation. It is even doubtful that there were synagogue buildings, for 'synagogue' normally meant 'community'. The conclusion of this study, that there is no evidence that the sabbath was a day of communal Jewish worship before 200 CE, has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of early Jewish-Christian relationships. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource (xi, 279 pages) :
9789004295834 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Paul's glory-christology : tradition and rhetoric /
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In 1927 C.A.A. Scott, while commenting on the apostle Paul's Christology, remarked that the \'history of the word Glory in the Bible has yet to be written.\' By using methodology developed in semantics, semiotics, and, more generally, literary theory, Newman examines the origin and rhetoric of Paul's Glory-Christology. The investigation involves three distinct tasks: (1) to plot the tradition-history of Glory which formed part of Paul's linguistic world, (2) to examine Paul's letter, in light of the reconstructed tradition-history of Glory, in order to discern the rationale of Paul's identification of Christ as Glory and, (3) to map out the implications of such an identification for Paul's theological and rhetorical strategy. On the basis of this study, four conclusions are reached for understanding Paul. First, Paul inherited a symbolic universe with signs already \'full\' of signification. Second, knowing the (diachronically acquired) connotative range of a \'surface\' symbol (e.g. Glory) aids in discerning Paul's precise contingent strategy. Third, knowing the \'surface\' symbol's referential power defines and contributes to the \'deeper structure\' of Paul's theological grammar. Finally, the heuristic power within the construals of the Glory tradition coalesce in Paul's Christophany and thus provide coherence at the \'deepest\' level of Paul's Christology.
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Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Baylor University, 1989. :
1 online resource (xvi, 305 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 248-281) and indexes. :
9789004267022 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech : studies on friendship in the New Testament world /
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This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from the flatterer. The book's eleven essays are divided into three parts. The first part introduces the volume and discusses the three topics in the thought of Philodemus and Plutarch. Part two deals with Paul's use of friendship language in his correspondence with the Church at Philippi. Part three examines the concept of frankness (parrhesia) in Paul, Luke-Acts, Hebrews, and the Johannine corpus. The volume will be particularly useful to NT Scholars, classicists, and modern theologians and ethicists who are interested in the theory and practice of friendship in antiquity.
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1 online resource (xiv, 291 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004267282 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Goochem in mokum, wisdom in Amsterdam : papers on biblical and related wisdom read at the fifteenth joint meeting of the Society of Old Testament study and the Oudtestamentisch Wer...
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This collection of essays is focused on the wisdom traditions of the Hebrew Bible, including the Book of Sira . The Biblical books are read as literary works on their own as well as in an Ancient Near Eastern setting. Some essays scrutinize Greek and Hellenistic wisdom traditions. The authors refrain from a definition of 'wisdom' which would have been a reductionist exercise in view of the great variety of material and the complexity of the perennial problems (wo)mankind is confronted with.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004314771 :
0169-7226 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Demons and the Devil in ancient and medieval Christianity /
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This collection of essays approaches the role of demons and the devil in ancient and medieval Christianity from a variety of scholarly perspectives: historical, philosophical, and theological as well as philological, liturgical, and theoretical. In the opening article Gerd Theissen presents a wide-ranging overview of the role of the devil, spanning the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and patristic literature. The contributions that follow address texts on the devil, demons, and evil, and are drawn from ancient philosophy, the New Testament, early Christian apologetics, hagiography, and history. Covering primarily the patristic period, the volume also contains articles on medieval sources. The introduction discusses the different angles of approach found in the articles in an effort to shed fresh light on this familiar but also uniquely troubling theme.
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Based on a conference held Oct. 6-7, 2006 in Heeze, Netherlands. :
1 online resource (xii, 257 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004208056 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Grace and agency in Paul and second temple judaism : interpreting the transformation of the heart /
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Following recent intertextual studies, Kyle B. Wells examines how descriptions of 'heart-transformation' in Deut 30, Jer 31-32 and Ezek 36 informed Paul and his contemporaries' articulations about grace and agency. Beyond advancing our understanding of how these restoration narratives were interpreted in the LXX, the Dead Sea Literature, Baruch, Jubilees, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and Philo, Wells demonstrates that while most Jews in this period did not set divine and human agency in competition with one another, their constructions differed markedly and this would have contributed to vehement disagreements among them. While not sui generis in every respect, Paul's own convictions about grace and agency appear radical due to the way he reconfigures these concepts in relation to Christ.
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1 online resource (384 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004277328 :
0167-9732 ;
0167-9732 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Gottes Herrlichkeit : Bedeutung und Verwendung des Begriffs kābôd im Alten Testament /
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Die Untersuchung des Begriffs kābôd JHWH im Alten Testament weist drei Profile einer biblischen kābôd-Theologie auf. Während die altorientalischen Quellen die Wurzel kbd / kbt jeweils mit der Bedeutung 'Schwere' oder 'ehren' verwenden, entwickelten es die biblischen Autoren in einem längerem Traditionsprozess zu einem Aspekt göttlicher Gegenwart fort. Die Studie zeigt, dass die Priesterschrift, das Buch Jesaja und das Buch Ezechiel unterschiedliche Motive aus unterschiedlichen Quellen, biblischen und nicht-biblischen aufnahmen und auf diese Weise drei literarische Profile des göttlichen kābôd. Die Untersuchung späterer Pentateuch- und Jesajatexte weist auf Wechselwirkungen hin, während die Vorstellungen des Ezechielbuches nicht weiter aufgenommen wurden. The investigation focusses on the meaning and function of the term kābôd JHWH in the Hebrew Bible and presents three profiles of kābôd-Theology. While Ancient Near Eastern sources contain the root kbd / kbt always with the meaning 'heaviness' or 'to hounour', in biblical texts the authors developed the term towards an aspect representing his presence. The study shows that the Priestly sources of the Pentateuch, the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Ezekiel contain different images deriving from various sources - bilibcal and non-biblical - forming three literary profiles of the divine kābôd. The investigation of later Pentateuchal and Isaian texts shows that these texts interact while the profile of the Ezekialian tradition was not incorprated anymore.
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1 online resource (xvi, 493 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [455]-471) and indexes. :
9789004225237 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Day of Atonement : its interpretations in early Jewish and Christian traditions /
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Established at the center of the Torah, the instructions for the celebration of the "Day of Atonement" hold a prominent position (Leviticus 16). The language of atonement, purification and reconciliation represents the variety of concepts that both explore the complex relationships between God and man, between Yahweh and his chosen people Israel, and that set apart the place of encounter-the sanctuary. Leviticus 16 has served as the point of departure for numerous religious and cultural practices and thoughts that have had a formative influence on Judaism and Christianity up to the present day. The essays in this volume form a representative cross section of the history of the reception of Leviticus 16 and the tradition of the Yom ha-Kippurim.
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Proceedings of a conference held July 8-10, 2010 at Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat. :
1 online resource (xvi, 282 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004216808 :
1388-3909 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Salvation in the New Testament : perspectives on soteriology /
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Salvation in the New Testament offers an analysis of the soteriological perspectives and language of the different books of the New Testament. Special attention is given to the imagery used in expressing soteriological ideas. Salvation deals with becoming part of the people of God. In Salvation in the New Testament special attention is given to the nature and power of the salvific language used in the New Testament to express the dynamics of salvation. Individual articles on the different books of the New Testament highlight the diverse perspectives offered in these documents. The emphasis especially falls on the different images and metaphors which were used to express the event and moment of salvation, rather than on the results (ethics or behaviour) of salvation. An overview of the different perspectives on soteriology in the New Testament offers the opportunity to compare similarities and differences in concepts and expressions. It also illustrates the dynamic interaction between historical situations and salvific language and expression.
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1 online resource (xiii, 529 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047407102 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Der betende Sünder vor Gott : Studien zu Vergebungsvorstellungen in urchristlichen und frühjüdischen Texten /
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This volume provides important new insights into the concept of \'forgiveness\' in early Christian literature. In contrast to much of the existing literature on the notion of forgiveness, which usually focuses on the preconditions for being forgiven, the author sets out to describe the actual meanings and connotations of this concept during the period in which the New Testament was being formed. In early Christian texts the notion of forgiveness is expressed in a variety of ways. On the basis of detailed analysis of a number of early Christian and contemporary Jewish prayers the author uncovers an array of different shades of meaning, which often can be obscured in modern translations. In so doing he demonstrates the importance of this complex of meanings for early Christians, not only as part of their soteriology, but in their overall theological outlook as well.
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1 online resource (xiii, 388 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004332416 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.