Bøger i Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement S. serien

The Gospel of Mary, the only known Gospel that is named after a woman, has aroused new interest in the figure of Mary Magdalene and the beginnings of Christianity.

This book re-examines exegetical devices commonly employed by all parties in the debate on 1 Tim.2.9-15. In the light of contextual and linguistic markers including verbal aspect, it concludes that the immediate context is general, not ecclesial.

This study considers the New Testament as a "reception" of various antecedents, such as the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism and Graeco-Roman culture. It explores the reception of Jesus, Paul's reception in Acts, feminist reception, reception history within the New Testament and translation.

Slater presents a study of the three major christological images of Revelation and their meanings for the original audience. Employing both historical criticism and elements of sociology of knowledge, Christ and Community explores the social functions of ''one like a son of man'', the Lamb, and the Divine Warrior, identifying both similarities and dissimilarities. The study argues, on the one hand, that the religious laxity found in Revelation 2-3 reflects attempts by some Christians to accommodate to provincial social pressures, while, on the other hand, Revelation 4-19 reflect the low status of Christians in the cities of Asia Minor.

Pickett explores how Paul appealed to the death of Jesus in the Corinthian correspondence in order to promote a community ethos and ethic consistent with the ideals and values it symbolized. In so doing, Paul was responding to interpersonal conflicts within the community and criticisms of his ministry-criticisms he saw as founded on Graeco-Roman cultural values of the cultivated elite. His consistent emphasis on the weakness of the cross served to critique social expressions of power in Corinth. More constructively, Paul attempted to secure conduct befitting the gospel by invoking the death of Jesus as a symbol of other-regarding behaviour.

This collection of essays attempts to display through theoretical discussion and practical application a number of the most prominent approaches to New Testament study being practised in the guild today. The contributors and their topics include: C.A. Evans on source, form and redation criticism, T.R. Hatina on Jewish religious backgrounds, S.E. Porter on literary approaches, D.L. Stamps on rhetorical criticism, K.D. Clarke on canonical scientific criticism, D. Tombs on the hermeneutics of liberation, and B. Clack on feminist hermeneutics. The goal of the volume is to provide workable models for those interested in expanding or deepening their knowledge of the various approaches to New Testament study.

This large-scale work is the application of modern theories of discourse analysis to questions of Greek grammar, especially with respect to the debate over the literary integrity of Philippians. Chapter 1 introduces the linguistic theory of discourse analysis, defining key terms, sketching its historical evolution and outlining its major tenets. Chapter 2 sets forth a model of discourse analysis primarily based on the systemic functional theories of M.A.K. Halliday. Chapter 3 outlines the historical-critical debate over the literary integrity of Philippians. Chapter 4 inspects the genre of Philippians, challenging rhetorical approaches to the text and proposing instead an epistolary classification, viz. ''personal, hortatory letter''. Chapter 5 focuses on the discourse structure of the letter, investigating its use of ideational, interpersonal and textual functions of Hellenistic Greek. In chapter 6, relevant issues of biblical hermeneutics are addressed.

For Paul, who imprisoned Christians, his own incarceration ironically became a way in which he understood his mission. Paul's convictions and his rhetoric were often shaped during those times when chains constrained him from travelling. By examining a wide variety of sources-such as ancient novels, dream interpretations and moral tractates-Wansink first describes prison conditions and the daily life of prisoners, in the Graeco-Roman world. Subsequent exegetical chapters focus on two epistles Paul wrote from prison: Philippians and Philemon. This book replaces a 'docetic' view of Paul's incarceration with an original insight into how prison would have shaped his interaction with the Philippians and Philemon.

The author of Hebrews is not preoccupied with the concepts of the Hellenistic philosophers but with the ideas of the ancient world is frequently conveyed by the notion of ''sacred space'', which the worshipper wishes to approach in order to gain access to the deity. Standing as he does within the religious tradition of Judaism, the author of Hebrews inherited notions of sacred space whereby it was identified with the land, Jerusalem, Zion and the sanctuary. He shares priestly concern, so Isaacs argues, to guard the sacred, to protect it from the profane, and to regulate the means whereby the worshipper can approach the holy.

This historical and exegetical strongly challenges the widely held view that Paul regarded idol food as a matter of indifference. Instead, it proposes that Paul considers conscious consumption of idol food a denial of one's allegiance to Christ.

Scholarly literature on Jesus has often attempted to relate his miracles to their Jewish context. The present study surveys that context in its own right, examining both the ideas on miracle in Second Temple literature and the evidence for contemporary Jewish miracle workers.

In the Revelation of John, the Hebrew Bible echoes and is re-invented, just as in James Hogg's "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" (1824). Here, these readings of the Bible are considered from two postmodern perspectives.

Thus the autographic marker (Galatians 6.11) directs the attention of the audience not only to the conceptual content but to the presence of the founding apostle that the letter replaces.

This is a literary study of the "I" passages in Paul, and his explicit and implicit use of his personal example in the argument of his undisputed letters.

The "conversations" in this text challenge ideas that have become standard and subject them to critical re-examination. Their central thread is a reflection on the processes of reading and theologizing. Many focus on the relation of Paul to the energetic and complex Judaism of the 1st century.

This is a study of biblical reading from a woman-centred perspective. Its specific focus is the prologue of John's Gospel and its interpretation in Christian tradition. In this book, Jasper takes the prologue of John's Gospel as a case-study in feminist biblical analysis.