A Modest Apostle

'A Modest Apostle' studies women's leadership in the early church. Susan Hylen argues that complex cultural norms for women's behaviour encouraged both the modesty and leadership of women, as exemplified by Thecla. Hylen's approach points to a new way of understanding women in the early church that insists upon the historical reality of women's leadership without neglecting the effects of the culture's gender biases.

Immigration and Faith is a comprehensive textbook for theology and religious studies courses that addresses migration to and within the United States and beyond.

Least of the Apostles is a study of Paul’s relation, both in his ministry and through his epistles, to the rest of apostolic Christianity. Studies relating Paul to Judaism, the Roman empire, or Greco-Roman philosophy abound; we adopt the comparatively neglected approach of relating Paul specifically to his fellow apostles. The first three chapters explore the influence on Paul of sources from the earliest church (James and his circle, the “apostolic decree,” and proto-Synoptic traditions), while the final three explore Paul’s influence on Hebrews, Luke and John, and the Petrine Epistles. We conclude by considering the implications of these findings for New Testament theology.

OUR DEAR YOUNG MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN, we have great confidence in you. You are beloved sons and daughters of God and He is mindful of you. You have come to earth at a time of great opportunities and also of great challenges. The standards in this booklet will help you with the important choices you are making now and will yet make in the future. We promise that as you keep the covenants you have made and these standards, you will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, your faith and testimony will grow stronger, and you will enjoy increasing happiness.

The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies brings together a diverse international group of experts on the apostle Paul. It examines the authentic texts from his own hand, other ancient texts falsely attributed to him, the numerous early Christian legends about him, and the many meanings that have been and still are made of these texts to give a twenty-first century snapshot of Pauline Studies. Divided into five key sections, the Handbook begins by examining Paul the person - a largely biographical sketching of the life of Paul himself to the limited extent that it is possible to do so. It moves on to explore Paul in context and Pauline Literature, looking in detail at the letters, manuscripts, and canons that constitute most of our extant evidence for the apostle. Part Four uses a number of classic motifs to describe what modern experts describe as 'Pauline Theology', and Part Five considers the many productive reading strategies with which recent interpreters have made meaning of the letters of Paul. It is demonstrated that 'reading Paul' is not, and never has been, just one thing. It has always been a matter of the particular questions and interests that the reader brings to these very generative texts. The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies thoroughly surveys the state of Pauline studies today, paying particular attention to theory and method in interpretation. It considers traditional approaches alongside recent approaches to Paul, including gender, race and ethnicity, and material culture. Brought together, the chapters are an ideal resource for teachers and students of Paul and his letters.

The third volume of research on ancient fiction This volume includes essays presented in the Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative section of the Society of Biblical Literature. Contributors explore facets of ongoing research into the interplay of history, fiction, and narrative in ancient Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian texts. The essays examine the ways in which ancient authors in a variety of genre and cultural settings employed a range of narrative strategies to reflect on pressing contemporary issues, to shape community identity, or to provide moral and educational guidance for their readers. Not content merely to offer new insights, this volume also highlights strategies for integrating the fruits of this research into the university classroom and beyond. Features Insight into the latest developments in ancient Mediterranean narrative Exploration of how to use ancient texts to encourage students to examine assumptions about ancient gender and sexuality or to view familiar texts from a new perspective Close readings of classical authors as well as canonical and noncanonical Jewish and Christian texts