What terms did early Christians use for outsiders? How did they refer to non-members? In this book-length investigation of these questions, Paul Trebilco explores the outsider designations that the early Christians used in the New Testament. He examines a range of terms, including unbelievers, 'outsiders', sinners, Gentiles, Jews, among others. Drawing on insights from social identity theory, sociolinguistics, and the sociology of deviance, he investigates the usage and development of these terms across the New Testament, and also examines how these outsider designations function in boundary construction across several texts. Trebilco's analysis leads to new conclusions about the identity and character of the early Christian movement, the range of relations between early Christians and outsiders, and the theology of particular New Testament authors.
Paul as Missionary: Identity, Activity, Theology and Practice takes the view that before anything else Paul must first and foremost be identified as a missionary. Using the entire Pauline corpus the c
This is an interdisciplinary study which constructs a dialogue between biblical interpretation and systematic theology. It examines how far a reading of the Book of Revelation might either support or question the work of leading theologians Wolfhart Pannenberg and Jürgen Moltmann on the theology of history, exploring the way in which the author of Revelation uses the dimensions of space and time to make theological points about the relationship between God and history. The book argues that Revelation sets the present earthly experience of the reader in the context of God's ultimate purposes, by disclosing hidden dimensions of reality, both spatial - embracing heaven and earth - and temporal - extending into the ultimate future. Dr Gilbertson offers a detailed assessment of the theologies of history developed by Pannenberg and Moltmann, including their views on the nature of the historical process, and the use of apocalyptic ideas in eschatology.
This is an interdisciplinary study which constructs a dialogue between biblical interpretation and systematic theology. It examines how far a reading of the Book of Revelation might either support or question the work of leading theologians Wolfhart Pannenberg and Jürgen Moltmann on the theology of history, exploring the way in which the author of Revelation uses the dimensions of space and time to make theological points about the relationship between God and history. The book argues that Revelation sets the present earthly experience of the reader in the context of God's ultimate purposes, by disclosing hidden dimensions of reality, both spatial - embracing heaven and earth - and temporal - extending into the ultimate future. Dr Gilbertson offers a detailed assessment of the theologies of history developed by Pannenberg and Moltmann, including their views on the nature of the historical process, and the use of apocalyptic ideas in eschatology.
Using both ancient and modern rhetoric, linguistics, and argumentation theory, this study offers a fresh approach to 1 Peter and New Testament ethics. It is often claimed that the growing interest in
In this widely-acclaimed study, Dr Esler makes extensive use of sociology and anthropology to examine the author of Luke Acts' theology as a response to social and political pressures upon the Christian community for whom he was writing. As well as interesting those concerned with prevalent developments in New Testament scholarship, Esler's book offers a New Testament paradigm for those interested in generating a theology attuned to the social and political realities affecting the twentieth-century Christian congregations.
J. J. Johnson Leese discusses how the apostle Paul's writing on Christ's relationship to creation, read alongside the interpretations of Irenaeus of Lyon, provide a meaningful contribution to contempo
While there are numerous studies of God in the Old Testament, the concept of God has largely been ignored as a subject of inquiry in contemporary New Testament theology. As this superb work by Mariann
Although typically separated, philosophy and New Testament theology are mutually beneficial for the understanding of the distinctive wisdom that guides Christian thought and life. The Wisdom of the Christian Faith fills a major gap in the literature on the philosophy of religion. It is the first book on the philosophy of religion to be authored entirely by philosophers while directly engaging themes of wisdom in the Christian tradition. The book consists of all new essays, with contributions from John Cottingham, Paul Gooch, Gordon Graham, John Hare, Michael T. McFall, Paul K. Moser, Andrew Pinsent, Robert Roberts, Charles Taliaferro, William Wainwright, Jerry Walls, Sylvia Walsh, Paul Weithman and Merold Westphal.
The first letter of John is commonly understood to contain no reference to Jesus's resurrection. Matthew D. Jensen argues that, far from this being absent from the theology of 1 John, the opening verses contain a key reference to the resurrection which undergirds the rest of the text and is bolstered by other explicit references to the resurrection. The book goes on to suggest that the author and the readers of this epistle understand themselves to be the authentic Israel from which faithless Jews had apostatized when they denied that Jesus was 'the Christ' and left the community. Jensen's interpretation calls for a new understanding of the historical context in which 1 John was written, particularly the question of Jesus' identity from the perspective of his fellow Jews. An innovative and provocative study, of interest to scholars and advanced students of New Testament studies, Johannine theology and Jewish history.
John C. Poirier examines the “theopneustic” nature of the Scripture, as a response to the view that “inspiration” lies at the heart of most contemporary Christian theology. In contrast to the traditio
Although typically separated, philosophy and New Testament theology are mutually beneficial for the understanding of the distinctive wisdom that guides Christian thought and life. The Wisdom of the Christian Faith fills a major gap in the literature on the philosophy of religion. It is the first book on the philosophy of religion to be authored entirely by philosophers while directly engaging themes of wisdom in the Christian tradition. The book consists of all new essays, with contributions from John Cottingham, Paul Gooch, Gordon Graham, John Hare, Michael T. McFall, Paul K. Moser, Andrew Pinsent, Robert Roberts, Charles Taliaferro, William Wainwright, Jerry Walls, Sylvia Walsh, Paul Weithman and Merold Westphal.
The first letter of John is commonly understood to contain no reference to Jesus's resurrection. Matthew D. Jensen argues that, far from this being absent from the theology of 1 John, the opening verses contain a key reference to the resurrection which undergirds the rest of the text and is bolstered by other explicit references to the resurrection. The book goes on to suggest that the author and the readers of this epistle understand themselves to be the authentic Israel from which faithless Jews had apostatized when they denied that Jesus was 'the Christ' and left the community. Jensen's interpretation calls for a new understanding of the historical context in which 1 John was written, particularly the question of Jesus' identity from the perspective of his fellow Jews. An innovative and provocative study, of interest to scholars and advanced students of New Testament studies, Johannine theology and Jewish history.
Even today, says Spense (New Testament and theology, Burleigh College, Adelaide) too many Christians persist in reading New Testament documents as though the Church as it now exists were already a con
This two-volume set by the philosopher and theologian William Paley, published in 1794, was considered so important that it was required reading for Cambridge students (including Charles Darwin) well into the nineteenth century. This classic work of apologetics discusses the primary and secondary historical evidence for Christianity, the miracles of Jesus Christ, the candour of the New Testament writers, the differences between Islam and Christianity, and popular objections to the truth of Christianity. Paley's intellectual defence of Christianity was one of the most popular of his day, and as such was central to the debates on evolution, science and religion of the Victorian period. His work anticipates parts of the contemporary theory of intelligent design, and is of interest to historians of theology, philosophy and science.
A leading New Testament scholar explores an important but generally neglected area of Pauline theology, Paul's teaching about the mind and its implications for contemporary Christian life.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes the community in Rome as 'holy ones'. This study considers Paul's language in relation to the Old Testament, particularly accounts of the events at Mount Sinai that established the nation of Israel and consecrated its people as God's holy people. Sarah Whittle illustrates how Paul reworks citations from Deuteronomy, Hosea, and Isaiah to incorporate the Gentiles into Israel's covenant-renewal texts. Analysing key passages, she further ties the covenant-making narrative to themes of sacrificed bodies and moral transformation, fulfilment of the Torah, the promises of the fathers, and Paul's priestly ministry. This volume argues that the latter has a climactic function in Paul's letter, overseeing the offering of the Gentiles, who are 'made holy by the holy spirit'. This study will be of interest to scholars of New Testament studies, Pauline theology, and early Christianity.
In this book, Will N. Timmins provides a close rereading of Romans 7 within its literary-argumentative context and offers a fresh and compelling solution to the identity of the 'I' in this text. Challenging existing paradigms, which fail to provide both literary coherence and theological plausibility, he develops his own positive theory about the device. Along the way he also re-examines a number of key texts within the letter, which have hitherto not been given due weight within the scholarly discussion. This study offers a fresh and satisfying solution to one of the Bible's most notorious cruxes, and contributes to our understanding of the apostle Paul's thought. It will be of interest to all scholars and students within the fields of biblical studies and Christian theology.
Holmas (New Testament, MR Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo) argues that Luke-Acts offers a profile of prayer that, though complex and flexible, is explicable and substantially coherent if it is thou
