New Meanings For Ancient Texts

"As . . . newer approaches [to biblical criticism] become more established and influential, it is essential that students and other serious readers of the Bible be exposed to them and become familiar with them. That is the main impetus behind the present volume, which is offered as a textbook for those who wish to go further than the approaches covered in To Each Its Own Meaning by exploring more recent or experimental ways of reading." „from the introduction This book is a supplement and sequel to To Each Its Own Meaning, edited by Steven L. McKenzie and Stephen R. Haynes, which introduced the reader to the most important methods of biblical criticism and remains a widely used classroom textbook. This new volume explores recent developments in, and approaches to, biblical criticism since 1999. Leading contributors define and describe their approach for non-specialist readers, using examples from the Old and New Testament to help illustrate their discussion. Topics include cultural criticism, disability studies, queer criticism, postmodernism, ecological criticism, new historicism, popular culture, postcolonial criticism, and psychological criticism. Each section includes a list of key terms and definitions and suggestions for further reading.

This single volume introduces the reader to the most important methods of Biblical criticism by covering both traditional and more current methods, giving special attention to the way in which methods of criticism are applied to specific texts. The contributors, from a diverse background, demonstrate how their own method is applied.

This work is a commentary on the passages in the Gospel of Luke in which women figure as characters and in the sayings of Jesus. These include the women of vision and spirit in the Infancy Narratives, the Galilean women who encounter Jesus, and the women empowered to serve. The method makes use of historical-critical, narrative, and feminist-liberationist approaches. This commentary is intended as a resource for students of the New Testament, pastors, seminarians, preachers, retreat directors, and Bible study groups.

This book is based on the author’s Forwood Lectures for 1995 in the University of Liverpool. The first two chapters incorporate the full text of these and study early Christian conceptions of signs and signification, and investigate the ways in which Christian authors, especially Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great, made use of theories of meaning in their ways of interpreting scriptures. Their interest in the notions of communities based on shared traditions of reading, understanding and interpretation is given special attention. Markus also considers the question of the ways in which different approaches to the Bible have had more far-reaching implications for their authors’ world-views: to what extent biblical hermeneutics helped to shape their hermeneutics of experience. Their differing ways of approaching the Bible is related to the huge change in Christian self-understanding between Augustine (c. AD 400) and Gregory the Great (c. 600): ascetic habits of reading come to shape a general response to the world as well as to the biblical text. The lecture texts are complemented by further chapters devoted specifically to the theory of signs and meaning, and to some of its applications in special contexts, such as magic and ritual.

This volume examines new developments in the fields of premodern Jewish studies over the last thirty years. The essays in this volume, written by leading experts, are grouped into four overarching temporal areas: the First Temple, Second Temple, Rabbinic, and Medieval periods. These time periods are analyzed through four thematic methodological lenses: the social scientific (history and society), the textual (texts and literature), the material (art, architecture, and archaeology), and the philosophical (religion and thought). Some essays offer a comprehensive look at the state of the field, while others look at specific examples illustrative of their temporal and thematic areas of inquiry. The volume presents a snapshot of the state of the field, encompassing new perspectives, directions, and methodologies, as well as the questions that will animate the field as it develops further. It will be of interest to scholars and students in the field, as well as to educated readers looking to understand the changing face of Jewish studies as a discipline advancing human knowledge

A new translation for the 21st century. The Art of War by Sun Tzu is one of the most influential political and business books of our era. This gateway edition for the 21st century reader rediscovers the essential clarity of the ancient masterpiece, cited by generals from a dozen Chinese dynasties, international business leaders, and modern military field manuals. This edition also contains a full commentary on Sun Tzu, the man and his ideas, contemporary of Confucius and Buddha; and a critical guide to further reading. This is the perfect introduction to one of the world's best-known classics.

Reading Heikki Räisänen’s hermeneutics in context, Timo Eskola explores the development of Western New Testament interpretation. Proposing sociology as the link between standard historicism and poststructuralism, Räisänen reinterprets the sociology of knowledge. He substitutes sacralized culturalism for biblical theology.

The international conference held in Limerick, Ireland, in May 2005 produced far more than the usual collection of loosely related papers. Rather, this volume from the 17 contributors demarcates and organizes a whole field, serving as an indispensable introduction to intertextuality in general, and as an original examination of the topic in relation to the New Testament epistles. CONTENTS Thomas L. Brodie, Dennis R. MacDonald and Stanley E. Porter Introduction: Tracing the Development of the Epistles: The Potential and the Problem PART I. ASPECTS OF THEORY, PRACTICE AND RELATED RESEARCH Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher Intertextuality: Between Literary Theory and Text Analysis Steve Moyise Intertextuality, Historical Criticism and Deconstruction Peter Phillips Biblical Studies and Intertextuality: Should the Work of Genette and Eco Broaden our Horizons? Erkki Koskenniemi Josephus and Greek Poets Jon Paulien Elusive Allusions in the Apocalypse: Two Decades of Research into John's Use of the Old Testament PART II. FROM THE OT TO THE EPISTLES Thomas L. Brodie The Triple Intertextuality of the Epistles. Introduction Lukas Bormann Triple Intertextuality in Philippians Stanley E. Porter Further Comments on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament PART III. FROM EPISTLE TO EPISTLE Annette Merz The Fictitious Self-Exposition of Paul: How Might Intertextual Theory Suggest a Reformulation of the Hermeneutics of Pseudepigraphy? Hanna Roose 2 Thessalonians as Pseudepigraphic Reading Instruction for 1 Thessalonians: Methodological Implications and Exemplary Illustration of an Intertextual Concept J. Michael Gilchrist Intertextuality and the Pseudonymity of 2 Thessalonians Outi Lepp 2 Thessalonians among the Pauline Letters: Tracing the Literary Links between 2 Thessalonians and Other Pauline Epistles David J. Clark Structural Similarities in 1 and 2 Thessalonians: Comparative Discourse Anatomy IV. FROM EPISTLE TO NARRATIVE (GOSPEL/ACTS) Dennis R. MacDonald A Categorization of Antetextuality in the Gospels and Acts: A Case For Luke's Imitation of Plato and Xenophon to Depict Paul as a Christian Socrates Paul Elbert Possible Literary Links between Luke-Acts and Pauline Letters Regarding Spirit-Language Heikki Lepp Reading Galatians with and without the Book of Acts Mike Sommer A Better Class of Enemy: Opposition and Dependence in the Johannine Writings Thomas L. Brodie, Dennis R. MacDonald, Stanley E. Porter Problems Of Method: Suggested Guidelines