Contested Issues In Christian Origins And The New Testament

In Contested Issues in Christian Origins and the New Testament, Luke Timothy Johnson offers a series of independent studies on a range of critical questions from the historical Jesus to sexuality and law.

In Contested Issues in Christian Origins and the New Testament, Luke Timothy Johnson offers a series of independent studies on a range of critical questions from the historical Jesus to sexuality and law.

Volume 1: This first volume in the series Christian Origins and the Question of God provides a historical, theological, and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity. Wright offers a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word god within those cultures, as he explores the ways in which developing an understanding of those first-century cultures are of relevance for the modern world. Volume 2: In this highly anticipated volume, N.T. Wright focuses directly on the historical Jesus: Who was he? What did he say? And what did he mean by it? Wright begins by showing how the questions posed by Albert Schweitzer a century ago remain central today. Then he sketches a profile of Jesus in terms of his prophetic praxis, his subversive stories, the symbols by which he reordered his world, and the answers he gave to the key questions that any world view must address. The examination of Jesus' aims and beliefs, argued on the basis of Jesus' actions and their accompanying riddles, is sure to stimulate heated response. Wright offers a provocative portrait of Jesus as Israel's Messiah who would share and bear the fate of the nation and would embody the long-promised return of Israel's God to Zion. Volume 3: Why did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did? To answer this question, which any historian must face, renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright focuses on the key question: what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about this belief? This book ... sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians' belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his 'appearances.' How do we explain these phenomena? The early Christians' answer was that Jesus had indeed been bodily raised from the dead; that was why they hailed him as the messianic 'son of God.' No modern historian has come up with a more convincing explanation. Facing this question, we are confronted to this day with the most central issues of worldview and theology. Volume 4: This highly anticipated two-book ... volume in N.T. Wright's magisterial series ... is destined to become the standard reference point on the subject for all serious students of the Bible and theology. The mature summation of a lifetime's study, this landmark book pays a rich tribute to the breadth and depth of the apostle's vision, and offers an unparalleled wealth of detailed insights into his life, times, and enduring impact. Wright carefully explores the whole context of Paul's thought and activity Jewish, Greek and Roman, cultural, philosophical, religious, and imperial and shows how the apostle's worldview and theology enabled him to engage with the many-sided complexities of first-century life that his churches were facing. Wright also provides close and illuminating readings of the letters and other primary sources, along with critical insights into the major twists and turns of exegetical and theological debate in the vast secondary literature. The result is a rounded and profoundly compelling account of the man who became the world's first, and greatest, Christian theologian."--Publisher descriptions.

In recent years, a number of New Testament scholars engaged in academic historical Jesus studies have concluded that such scholarship cannot yield secure and illuminating conclusions about its subject, arguing that the search for a historically "authentic" Jesus has run aground. Jesus, Skepticism, and the Problem of History brings together a stellar lineup of New Testament scholars who contend that historical Jesus scholarship is far from dead. These scholars all find value in using the tools of contemporary historical methods in the study of Jesus and Christian origins. While the skeptical use of criteria to fashion a Jesus contrary to the one portrayed in the Gospels is methodologically unsound and theologically unacceptable, these criteria, properly formulated and applied, yield positive results that support the Gospel accounts and the historical narrative in Acts. This book presents a nuanced and vitally needed alternative to the skeptical extremes of revisionist Jesus scholarship that, on the one hand, uses historical methods to call into question the Jesus of the Gospels and, on the other, denies the possibility of using historical methods to learn about Jesus.

Provides a historical, theological and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity, offering a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word god within those cultures and explores the ways in which developing an understanding of those first-century cultures are of relevance for the modern world. Original.

Paul is known as a theologian, and indeed his writings yield rich theological insights. But Paul was foremost a missionary and a pastor who wrote to real people and churches. In this fresh approach to Pauline theology, respected scholar Joshua Jipp brings Paul's pastoral concerns to the fore, specifically his concern for human flourishing in his congregations. Jipp argues that Paul's writings are best understood as invitations to a particular way of life, one that is oriented toward the supreme good of experiencing life in God through participation in Christ. For Paul, Christ epitomizes the good life and enables others to live it. While analyzing Paul's thought through this lens of well-being and flourishing, Jipp introduces conversation partners as points of comparison and contrast. He interacts with ancient philosophy and modern positive psychology, both of which also address "the good life." This important and substantial contribution to Pauline studies covers issues such as transcendence, suffering and death, relationships, pursuit of Christian virtue, and moral agency. It will be a valuable resource for all students of Paul.

Hyun Ho Park employs social identity to create the first thorough analysis via such methodology of Acts 21:17-23:35, which contains one of the fiercest intergroup conflicts in Acts. Park's assessment allows his readers to rethink, reevaluate, and reimagine Jewish-Christian relations; teaches them how to respond to the vicious cycle of slander, labeling, and violence permeating contemporary public and private spheres; and presents a new hermeneutical cycle and describes how readers may apply it to their own sociopolitical contexts. After surveying previous studies of the text, Park first analyses Paul's welcome, questioning, and arrest, and how slandering and labeling make Paul an outsider. Park then describes how, through defending his Jewish identity and the Way, Paul nuances his public image and re-categorizes himself and the Way as part of the people of God. When Paul identifies himself as a Roman and later a Pharisee, Park examines Luke's ambivalent attitude toward Rome and the Pharisees, and assesses how Paul escapes dangerous situations by claiming different social identities at different times. Finally, he discloses the vicious cycle of slander, labeling, and violence not only against the Way but also against the Jews and challenges the discursive process of identity construction through intergroup conflict with an out-group, especially the proximate “Other.” Furthermore, he demonstrates how the relevance of such scholarship is not limited to Lukan studies or even biblical studies in general; the frequent use of slander, labeling, and violence in the politics of the United States and other polarized countries around the globe demands new ways of looking at intergroup relations, and Park's argument meets the needs of those seeking a new perspective on contemporary political discord.