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Parable research has to a large degree ignored the Sermon on the Mount (SM) and for its part, research into the SM has likewise left the parables by the wayside. However, the use of parabolic language in more than one third of the SM influences its interpretation and indeed opens up a new approach to it. In the current volume, Ernst Baasland focuses on this important factor, whilst also taking the rhetoric of Jesus' teaching into consideration. The author maintains that rhetorical features have a great bearing on the interpretation of the text with the overall structure illuminating the entire composition of the sermon. Fresh insights into its oration therefore serve to challenge the source problem in a new way. The religious and philosophical settings of this most well-known of Christ's preachings are clarified by its parables and rhetoric; and the sermon's Jewish background has often been investigated. While the author continues with that particular task, he simultaneously affords more emphasis to the parallels in (Greek) Hellenistic literature. The combining of all these factors leads to a clearer comprehension of the Sermon on the Mount's philosophy of life and provides a better understanding of this classical text.

The early Christian texts discussed in this book are often treated as "gnostic" ones. The studies by Ismo Dunderberg collected here, however, approach them as witnesses to the views of educated second-century Christians engaged in dialogue with philosophical traditions. Following the idea that ancient philosophical schools first and foremost provided their adherents with a way of life, the author explores issues related to morality and lifestyle in non-canonical gospels and among groups that were gradually denounced as heretical in the church. Prominent themes he deals with in this book include the soul's progress from material concerns to a life dominated by spirit, the control of emotions (such as desire, anger and grief), the avoidance of luxury, the ideal "perfect human" as a tool in moral instruction, classifications of humankind into distinct groups based upon their moral advancement, and Christian debates about the value of martyrdom. In addition Dunderberg offers a critical review of some recent trends and attitudes towards New Testament scholarship, especially those in which the non-canonical texts discussed in this book are either ignored or deemed as irrelevant, irrational, and sometimes even dangerous.

Ethnic values changed as Imperial Rome expanded, challenging ethnocentric values in Rome itself, as well as in Greece and Judea. Rhetorically, Roman, Greek, and Judean writers who eulogized their cities all claimed they would receive foreigners. Further, Greco-Roman narratives of urban tensions between rich and poor, proud and humble, promoted reconciliation and fellowship between social classes. Luke wrote Acts in this ethnic, economic, political context, narrating Jesus as a founder who changed laws to encourage receiving foreigners, which promoted civic, missionary growth and legitimated interests of the poor and humble. David L. Balch relates Roman art to early Christianity and introduces famous, pre-Roman Corinthian artists. He shows women visually represented as priests, compares Dionysian and Corinthian charismatic speech and argues that larger assemblies of the earliest, Pauline believers "sat" (1 Cor 14.30) in taverns. Also, the author demonstrates that the image of a pregnant woman in Revelation 12 subverts imperial claims to the divine origin of the emperor, before finally suggesting that visual representations by Roman domestic artists of "a category of women who upset expected forms of conduct" (Bergmann) encouraged early Christian women like Thecla, Perpetua and Felicitas to move beyond gender stereotypes of being victims. Balch concludes with two book reviews, one of Nicolas Wiater's book on the Greek biographer and historian Dionysius, who was a model for both Josephus and Luke-Acts, the second of a book by Frederick Brenk on Hellenistic philosophy and mystery religion in relation to earliest Christianity.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include many texts that were produced by a sectarian movement (and also many that were not). The movement had its origin in disputes about the interpretation of the Scriptures, especially the Torah, not in disputes about the priesthood as had earlier been assumed. The definitive break with the rest of Judean society should be dated to the first century BCE rather than to the second. While the Scrolls include few texts that are explicitly historical, they remain a valuable resource for historical reconstruction. John J. Collins illustrates how the worldview of the sect involved a heightened sense of involvement in the heavenly, angelic world, and the hope for an afterlife in communion with the angels. While the ideology of the sect known from the Scrolls is very different from that of early Christianity, the two movements drew on common traditions, especially those found in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Charles E. Carlston and Craig A. Evans examine in detail five major motifs in the theology of Matthew: Christology, Law, Church, Scripture and Tradition, as well as History and Eschatology.In this study they reveal a Jewish-Christian author who attempts to mediate the traditions of Judaism and early Christianity to Christian churches in his area that are becoming increasingly composed of former Gentiles. Diversity then, as now, offers both a challenge and an opportunity. The evangelist, moreover, was faced with rejection by the synagogue and strongly voiced skepticism with regard to the proclamation of Jesus as Israel's Messiah. To encourage believers and defend the story of Jesus, the evangelist shows how prophetic Scripture and the demands of Torah have been fulfilled.While not all of the specifics of Matthew's program are immediately usable today, the evangelist offers valuable guidance for the contemporary church in our vastly different historical situation.

This collection of essays contains the papers given at the Fifth International East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars in Minsk (Belarus). The authors deal with the parables of Jesus, with his Galilean ministry, with the passion narrative in Mark, and with the death of Christ according to Paul's letters. All topics are discussed from a "Western" (Protestant and Roman-Catholic) exegetical perspective as well as from an Orthodox point of view. A concluding report recapitulates the group discussions and seminar sessions of the symposium. Contributors: Charalampos Atmatzidis, Reimund Bieringer, Predrag Dragutinovic, Carl R. Holladay, Christos Karakolis, Dominika A. Kurek-Chomycz, Ulrich Luz, Joel Marcus, Vasile Mihoc, Tobias Nicklas, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Marius Reiser, Armand Puig i Tàrrech, Sviatoslav Rogalsky, Ekaterini G. Tsalampouni, Konstantinos Th. Zarras

Nähere Informationen zu diesem Buch erhalten Sie direkt vom Verlag / For further information about this title please contact Mohr Siebeck

Following a scholarly conference given in honor of Adela Yarbro Collins, this collection of essays offers focused studies on the wide range of ways that women and gender contribute to the religious landscape of the ancient world. Experts in Greek and Roman religions, Early Christianity, Ancient Judaism, and Ancient Christianity engage in literary, social, historical, and cultural analysis of various ancient texts, inscriptions, social phenomena, and cultic activity. These studies continue the welcomed trend in scholarship that expands the social location of women in ancient Mediterranean religion to include the public sphere and consciousness. The result is an important and lively book that deepens the understanding of ancient religion as a whole. With contributions by:Patricia D. Ahearne-Kroll, Loveday Alexander, Mary Rose D'Angelo, Stephen J. Davis, Robert Doran, Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Carin M. C. Green, Fritz Graf, Jan Willem van Henten, Paul A. Holloway, Annette B. Huizenga, Jeremy F. Hultin, Sarah Iles Johnston, James A. Kelhoffer, Judith L. Kovacs, Outi Lehtipuu, Matt Jackson-McCabe, Candida R. Moss, Christopher N. Mount, Susan E. Myers, Clare K. Rothschild, Turid Karlsen Seim

Despite its importance, the parable of the wicked tenants has been an enigma to modern interpretation. The approaches to the parable have been quite varied. Some interpreters place this parable at the apex of the ministry of Jesus, while others assign little importance to it or virtually ignore it. In some cases the conclusions drawn have been unsatisfactory either because of presuppositions that are too rigid or that have been shown to be erroneous by recent developments. Any discussion of the parable is necessarily a complex one in that it involves the relation of the three Synoptic accounts, an assessment of the account in the Gospel of Thomas, the religious and economic background in Palestine, the self-designation of Jesus, and the theological shaping of the parable by the tradition and by evangelists. Because of the importance of this parable as a possible key to understanding the ministry of Jesus, particularly since its relevance has often been minimized, this parable deserves closer analysis.

How did the earliest Christians come to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being alongside God? Aquila Lee proposes that the root of preexistent Son Christology is to be found in early Christian exegesis of the two messianic psalms (the catalyst) in the light of Jesus''s self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission (the foundation).Dr Lee has made a significant contribution to research on one of the central topics of New Testament study, the origin of the early church''s understanding of the divinity and pre-existence of Jesus Christ. Its great merit is to show how christology may have developed under the twofold influences of the self-consciousness of Jesus and the early church''s understanding of its Scriptures, and it deserves to be placed alongside the works of R. Bauckham and L. Hurtado in helping to establish a case for the early development of a high christology. The publishers deserve our gratitude for making Dr. Lee''s work more widely accessible to New Testament students. -- I. Howard Marshall, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen In From Messiah to Preexistent Son Aquila Lee asks how early Christians came to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being, alongside God. This important question goes right to the heart of Christology and the historic Christian faith. Lee convincingly shows that the belief in the divinity of Jesus originates in the teaching and ministry of Jesus himself. This is a provocative and engaging study that repays careful reading. It is a pleasure for me to recommend it.-- Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada  Dr. Lee presents an impressive Christological thesis concisely and with many important exegetical insights. Its carefully developed argument deserves to be listened to attentively. -- Martin Karrer, Professor für Neues Testament und seine Umwelt, Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel  Dr. Lee''s contribution may be compared to that of Seyoon Kim''s The Origin of Paul''s Gospel on Pauline studies. If Lee''s work fails to exert the influence it deserves, I believe it is not because his thesis lacks compelling force, but because paradigm shifts in scholarship such as the one necessitated by Lee''s work (if accurate) are not always a function of superior evidence but can be expected to be resisted by those who have invested a significant amount of scholarly capital in the currently-reigning paradigm. In any case, this is highly recommended reading on an extremely important subject.-- Andreas J. Köstenberger, Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology and Director of PhD Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological SeminaryAquila Hyung Il Lee (PhD, University of Aberdeen) was born in Seoul, Korea. He is Lecturer in New Testament and Greek at Biblical Graduate School of Theology in Singapore.