Baptist Traditions And Q

"Clare K. Rothschild offers the first comprehensive examination of why current models of Q feature traditions concerning John the Baptist both prominently and favorably. A close hermeneutical investigation of the NT Gospels, including literary phenomena such as the double attribution of sayings to John and to Jesus, contradictions among sayings of Jesus, and significant thematic continuities between Baptist traditions and Q sayings on topics such as the Son of Man and Kingdom of God, support the argument that at some point in the undoubtedly complex pre-history of its redactions Q existed as a source of Baptist traditions exclusively. This study also includes an important new interpretation of the Markan transfiguration narrative."--BOOK JACKET.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D. - Claremont) under the title: Q, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: a study in Christian origins.

In this inspirational book, preacher and educator Clarence Larkin explains the characteristics of Baptism which motivated him to join his denomination. Larkin offers in this fine work an in-depth guide to baptism, from its origins in the Gospels, to its character, traditions and doctrine in the modern-day. The aim of baptizing, and its symbolism in Christian belief, are also explained with the use of the Biblical Gospels and other sources. Never one to stray from the very core of his subject, Clarence Larkin keenly tells the reader about the origins of the very word 'Baptism'. The ceremonial procedures, from the view of the baptizer and the person to be baptized, are also discussed. Quotes of the Gospel are frequent, with Larkin striking the tone of clarity which was his custom. The assumption that Baptists believe baptizement is essential to salvation is shown to be incorrect, with Larkin careful to cite the Gospels to support this assertion.

In Baptists and the Christian Tradition, editors Matthew Emerson, Christopher Morgan and Lucas Stamps compile a series of essays advocating "Baptist catholicity." This approach presupposes a critical, but charitable, engagement with the whole church, both past and present, along with the desire to move beyond the false polarities of an Enlightenment-based individualism on the one hand and a pastiche of postmodern relativism on the other.

A wide-ranging examination of the key issues in Q studies. After seeking to establish the existence of Q, Tuckett proceeds to analyze the characteristic features of the Q material. He explores not only what we can learn about the possible 'theology' of Q, but also what we can learn about the social situation of the Christians who valued and preserved this material. There are discussions of John the Baptist in Q, the eschatology and Christology of Q, along with the nature of the polemic in Q. Tuckett also attempts to determine how far Q is a wisdom text and how far it reflects Cynic ideas. This work will be of interest to all New Testament scholars and students interested in the Q tradition, the earliest history of Jesus traditions and early Christianity in general.

An analysis that challenges the conventional Christian hierarchy of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth While the Christian tradition has subordinated John the Baptist to Jesus of Nazareth, John himself would likely have disagreed with that ranking. In this eye-opening new book, John the Baptist in History and Theology, Joel Marcus makes a powerful case that John saw himself, not Jesus, as the proclaimer and initiator of the kingdom of God and his own ministry as the center of God's saving action in history. Although the Fourth Gospel has the Baptist saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease," Marcus contends that this and other biblical and extrabiblical evidence reveal a continuing competition between the two men that early Christians sought to muffle. Like Jesus, John was an apocalyptic prophet who looked forward to the imminent end of the world and the establishment of God's rule on earth. Originally a member of the Dead Sea Sect, an apocalyptic community within Judaism, John broke with the group over his growing conviction that he himself was Elijah, the end-time prophet who would inaugurate God's kingdom on earth. Through his ministry of baptism, he ushered all who came to him—Jews and non-Jews alike—into this dawning new age. Jesus began his career as a follower of the Baptist, but, like other successor figures in religious history, he parted ways from his predecessor as he became convinced of his own centrality in God's purposes. Meanwhile John's mass following and apocalyptic message became political threats to Herod Antipas, who had John executed to abort any revolutionary movement. Based on close critical-historical readings of early texts—including the accounts of John in the Gospels and in Josephus's Antiquities—as well as parallels from later religious movements, John the Baptist in History and Theology situates the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism and compares him to other apocalyptic thinkers from ancient and modern times. It concludes with thoughtful reflections on how its revisionist interpretations might be incorporated into the Christian faith.

Coinciding with the four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Baptist movement, this book explores and assesses the cultural sources of Baptist beliefs and practices. Although the movement has been embraced, enriched, and revised by numerous cultural heritages, the Baptist movement has focused on a small group of Anglo exiles in Amsterdam in constructing its history and identity. Robert E. Johnson seeks to recapture the varied cultural and theological sources of Baptist tradition and to give voice to the diverse global elements of the movement that have previously been excluded or marginalized. With an international communion of over 110 million persons in more than 225,000 congregations, Baptists constitute the world's largest aggregate of evangelical Protestants. This work offers insight into the diversity, breadth, and complexity of the cultural influences that continue to shape Baptist identity today.