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This book concentrates on major Pauline themes and on I Thessalonians in its cultural and religious context, as well as exploring other major issues, especially with reference to chronology and Judaism. The question of Paul's Jewishness is therefore raised with a new urgency. What kind of a Jew was Paul? Why do we find so many coherences between his language and thought with that of the Community of the Renewed Covenant (i.e. the Essenes)? One of the essays, 'Paul and Qumran', suggests that the Dead Sea Scrolls offer valuable clues to understanding Pauline language and thought. If, in fact, there was contact between Paul and the Essenes, where would it have taken place? If such meetings were held, possibly, in the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem, is there a connection between that area and the location of the earliest Christians in Jerusalem? And what kind of Christians were they and how did they impact on the Apostle's missionary activity? In connection with this discussion of Paul and Judaism, a number of challenges are offered to the so-called 'New Perspective on Paul', especially in the work of E.P. Sanders and James D. G. Dunn, to suggest that a closer study of the Dead Sea Scrolls raises serious questions about the appropriateness of their interpretation of both Judaism and Paul, as well as opening new perspectives that will necessitate not only the rethinking of second temple Judaism, but also the origins of earliest Christianity and the relationship between them.
This significant book contains essays on Pauline thought and theology which span some twenty-five years, placing themes and issues in a broad chronological context of academic discussion. In addition to discussing major Pauline themes, and 1 Thessalonians in its religious and cultural context in particular, Karl Donfried raises the question of Paul's Jewishness with a fresh urgency, as well as opening new perspectives on the origins of earliest Christianity and its relationship with second temple Judaism.
In this commentary Gene Green reads Paul's two letters to the Thessalonians in light of the canon of Scripture and of new knowledge about the first-century world of Thessalonica. This fruitful approach helps illuminate the impact of the gospel on its original readers and, in turn, shows how potent a force it can be for the church and society today. The book begins with an in-depth study of the Thessalonians themselves -- their history, land, socioeconomic conditions, and religious environment. This fascinating discussion gives the necessary context for fully appreciating the circumstances surrounding the founding of the city's first church and the subsequent struggles of the Thessalonian believers to live out their Christian faith. The main body of the book provides informed verse-by-verse commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians that extracts the fullest possible meaning from these important New Testament texts. As Green's exposition shows, the Thessalonian scriptures are especially valuable as letters of friendship and for showing Paul's pastoral concern for the many areas in which the Thessalonians needed guidance. Some of Paul's purposes are to thank the new believers for their steadfastness amid suffering, to encourage them in their trials, to urge them not to neglect their daily work, and, no less important, to teach them about the future of believers who die before Christ returns. Indeed, the matter of the last things and the second coming of Christ so permeates these texts that they are often called Paul's eschatological letters. Filled with new information about ancient society, this commentary will fast become a standard reference work for Bible study. By carefully bridging the biblical and modern worlds, Green shows with clarity and warmth the continuing relevance of 1 & 2 Thessalonians for contemporary readers.
In the dominant interpretation of the Antioch incident Paul is viewed as separating from Peter and Jewish Christianity to lead his own independent mission which was eventually to triumph in the creation of a church with a gentile identity. Paul's gentile mission, however, represented only one strand of the Christ movement but has been universalized to signify the whole. The consequence of this view of Paul is that the earliest diversity in which he operated and which he affirmed has been anachronistically diminished almost to the point of obliteration. There is little recognition of the Jewish form of Christianity and that Paul by and large related positively to it as evidenced in Romans 14-15. Here Paul acknowledges Jewish identity as an abiding reality rather than as a temporary and weak form of faith in Christ. This book argues that diversity in Christ was fundamental to Paul and that particularly in his ethical guidance this received recognition. Paul's relation to Judaism is best understood not as a reaction to his former faith but as a transformation resulting from his vision of Christ. In this the past is not obliterated but transformed and thus continuity is maintained so that the identity of Christianity is neither that of a new religion nor of a Jesus cult. In Christ the past is reconfigured and thus the diversity of humanity continues within the church, which can celebrate the richness of differing identities under the Lordship of Christ.
Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James
This work gives a detailed survey of the rise and expansion of Christianity in ancient Lycaonia and adjacent areas, from Paul the apostle until the late 4th-century bishop of Iconium, Amphilochius. It is essentially based on hundreds of funerary inscriptions from Lycaonia, but takes into account all available literary evidence. It maps the expansion of Christianity in the region and describes the practice of name-giving among Christians, their household and family structures, occupations, and use of verse inscriptions. It gives special attention to forms of charity, the reception of biblical tradition, the authority and leadership of the clergy, popular theology and forms of ascetic Christianity in Lycaonia.
Riesner recognizes a problem in the chronologies proposed in the literature he surveys: often one or two 'absolute dates' are given, and the rest of the chronological details follow from those few established dates. In the next section Riesner seeks to go point-by-point through a chronology of the early ministry of Paul, discussion the evidence at each point for particular events in Paul's life and ministry. He is wary not to merely fit a date into a chronological scheme without providing good support for that date independent of other chronological markers (if possible). Riesner interacts with both conservative and non-conservative literature. The bibliography is massive (80 pages, with approximately 30 sources per page!), and footnotes in the volume indicate that Riesner is, indeed, familiar with the literature.
This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.
Walk from creation to eternity in a way guaranteed to change your view of the world. You'll finally understand the war Satan is waging against God and how that conflict has affected history, including the persecution of Jewish people and Christians.