Herald Of Good Tidings

This volume is dedicated to the prominent biblical scholar, Antti Laato, of Åbo Akademi University, Finland, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. In his extensive and many-faceted scholarly work spanning more than 35 years, there have been some focal points. One has been the Book of Isaiah, and, more broadly, the prophetic books and the messianic hopes they contain. From the 2010s onwards, another aspect has gained more visibility in Antti Laato's work: the reception history of the Bible-the Hebrew Bible in particular-in both Judaism and Christianity. Herald of Good Tidings is a collection of papers, by nineteen scholars mainly from the Nordic countries, on the heralds of redemption and hope, the prophets-their voice, words and deeds, and on the status and role of these prophets. The first part of the volume concerns the world of the Hebrew Bible: biblical prophetism, the prophets themselves and their books. The second part is devoted to the continuing message of the prophets in its post-biblical Jewish and Christian reception. A key aspect is their message of a bright future, whether about hope in general or about the Messiah. Their words are constantly being interpreted, sometimes personalities of the post-biblical era also being seen as prophetic figures. The brief third part of the book illustrates the ongoing influence of the prophets in times yet more distant than the post-biblical age from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

This collection of studies is published in honor of Professor James A. Sanders, a leading scholar in the fields of the canon of Scripture, textual criticism, and the relationship of the two Testaments. Contributors include leading scholars in these and related fields of study. The studies investigate in what ways the early sacred tradition was interpreted and how this tradition takes new shape in the Jewish and Christian communities of faith. Included are studies of Jesus' understanding of Scripture, Paul's interpretation of Scripture, and the ways in which Scripture was interpreted by the Rabbis. In many instances novel interpretations and new approaches to old problems are offered. Advanced students and veteran scholars will enjoy the many insights and provocative new ideas.

In The Role of Zion/Jerusalem in Isaiah 40–55 Reinoud Oosting offers a linguistic and literary analysis of the Biblical Hebrew text of Isaiah 40-55, focusing on the depiction of Zion/Jerusalem in these chapters.

In Good News Darrin Snyder Belousek explores the meaning of salvation in the Gospel of Luke. Through biblical reflections on the stories and songs of Luke's telling of the coming of Jesus the Messiah, this book explains the manifold message of "good news." Fully accessible to lay persons yet substantially informed by biblical scholarship, keenly aware of spiritual concerns and passionately engaged with social issues, this book offers a vision of salvation that is grounded in grace and nurtured by prayer, relevant to both the spiritual and the social, and inseparable from doing justice and seeking peace.

A timely and fascinating study of an early modern movement that transcended traditional Jewish gender paradigms and allowed women to express their spirituality freely in the public arena.

This book traces the history of the idea that the king and later the messiah is Son of God, from its origins in ancient Near Eastern royal ideology to its Christian appropriation in the New Testament. Both highly regarded scholars, Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins argue that Jesus was called "the Son of God" precisely because he was believed to be the messianic king. This belief and tradition, they contend, led to the identification of Jesus as preexistent, personified Wisdom, or a heavenly being in the New Testament canon. However, the titles Jesus is given are historical titles tracing back to Egyptian New Kingdom ideology. Therefore the title "Son of God" is likely solely messianic and not literal. King and Messiah as Son of God is distinctive in its range, spanning both Testaments and informed by ancient Near Eastern literature and Jewish noncanonical literature.

Modern readers have many choices when selecting a translation of the Bible for personal use. Translators seek to convey to today's readers the message the biblical writers tried to communicate to their original readers. At times, however, what the original authors tried to convey to their audience was not clear. Claude Mariottini has selected several difficult passages from the Old Testament and compared how different translations have dealt with these difficult texts. --from publisher description

Did Jesus intend to found a church separate from Judaism? Who were the very first followers of Jesus? And how did a clash between two families--the family of Jesus on one hand and the family of high priest Annas and their aristocratic allies on the other--eventually lead to the formation of Christianity? In this study, best-selling author Craig A. Evans looks at how a tumultuous chain of events from 30-70 CE--beginning with Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and subsequent crucifixion and ending with the destruction of the temple--led to the separation between the followers of Jesus and other Jews. Topics include the following: 1) whether Jesus actually intended to found the Christian Church; 2) the ways in which Jesus's proclamation of the “Kingdom of God†relate to the Christian Church; 3) the role of James, brother of Jesus, in the new movement in Jerusalem; 4) the tension between James and Paul in the matter of law and works; 5) the conflict between the families and followers of Jesus and those of the high priest Annas before the destruction of the temple; and 6) the aftermath of the Jewish rebellion, whereby the Church moved away from its Jewish roots. An appendix further explores the reasons behind the rift between the Jesus movement and the synagogue. This fascinating volume is suitable for historical Jesus and early church studies, along with anyone else interested in learning about the very first followers of Jesus.