Books in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement S. series

This collection of essays attempts to display through theoretical discussion and practical application a number of the most prominent approaches to New Testament study being practised in the guild today. The contributors and their topics include: C.A. Evans on source, form and redation criticism, T.R. Hatina on Jewish religious backgrounds, S.E. Porter on literary approaches, D.L. Stamps on rhetorical criticism, K.D. Clarke on canonical scientific criticism, D. Tombs on the hermeneutics of liberation, and B. Clack on feminist hermeneutics. The goal of the volume is to provide workable models for those interested in expanding or deepening their knowledge of the various approaches to New Testament study.

Provides a study to Paul's use of enthymemes as a rhetorical and argumentative tool and evaluates what this reveals about his thought, his teaching, and his social world. This study begins with a discussion of the problem of enthymeme definition, followed by a clarification of criteria for identifying enthymemes in texts.

Acts 1-2 shows the apostles' change of status from followers to leaders. This book uses the model of a modern day ritual in examining the stages of this transformation.

Presents an investigation, which builds upon developments in the study of Paul's use of Scripture that centre around the concept of 'intertextuality.' This book also finds that many of the themes Paul deals with in "Romans 9-11" are also present in ancient Jewish and Christian interpretive traditions surrounding the passages he invokes.

In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus overrides the Old Testament teaching of ''an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth'' - the Lex Talionis law - and commands his disciples to turn the other cheek. James Davis asks how Jesus'' teaching in this instance relates to the Old Testament talionic commands, how it relates to New Testament era Judaism and what Jesus required from his disciples and the church.Based on the Old Testament texts such as Leviticus 24, Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 19, a strong case can be made that the Lex Talionis law was understood to have a literal application there are several texts that text of Leviticus 24 provides the strongest case that a literal and judicial application. However, by the second century AD and later, Jewish rabbinic leadership was essentially unified that the OT did not require a literal talion, but that financial penalties could be substituted in court matters. Yet there is evidence from Philo, Rabbi Eliezer and Josephus that in the first century AD the application of literal talion in judicial matters was a major and viable Jewish viewpoint at the time of Jesus. Jesus instruction represents a different perspective from the OT lex talionis texts and also, possibly, from the Judaism of his time. Jesus commands the general principle of not retaliation against the evil person and intended this teaching to be concretely applied, as borne out in his own life. JSNTS

This study covers the Johannine Christian response to the fall of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. A crucial text is John 2.13-22 and its context, which provide a lens through which other texts in John are viewed. The book also examines the Temple festivals of Passover, Tabernacles and Dedication.

Virtually all scholars agree that apocalyptic and millenarianism formed at least part of the matrix of the culture in first-century Jewish Palestine, but there is a sharp disagreement concerning the extent to which Jesus shared apocalyptic and millenarian beliefs. Although there has been a great deal written defending or opposing an ''apocalyptic Jesus'', almost nothing has been said on the questions of what, from the standpoint of modern historiography of Jesus, is at stake in the issue of whether or not he was an apocalypticist or a millenarian prophet, and what is at stake in arguing that his alleged apocalypticism is a central and defining characteristic, rather than an incidental feature. Much has been said on the kind of Jew Jesus was, but almost nothing is said on why the category of Judaism has become so central to historical Jesus debates. These questions have less to do with the quantity and character of the available ancient evidence than they do with the ways in which the modern critic assembles evidence into a coherent picture, and the ideological and theological subtexts of historical Jesus scholarship. Scholars of Christian origins have been rather slow to inquire into the ideological location of their own work as scholars, but it is this question that is crucial in achieving a critical self-awareness of the larger entailments of historical scholarship on Jesus and the early Jesus movement. This volume begins the inquiry into the ideological location of modern historical Jesus scholarship.JSHJ, JSNTS275

The Gospel of Mary, the only known Gospel that is named after a woman, has aroused new interest in the figure of Mary Magdalene and the beginnings of Christianity.

In The Unity of the Corinthian Correspondence, David Hall argues that 1 and 2 Corinthians are closely related. In both letters, Paul faces the same opponents, referring to them in the same disguised, indirect way in both 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians 1-9 before confronting them directly in 2 Corinthians 10-13.

Creates a set of definitions, which are applied to the examination of the relevant Diaspora Jewish literature, inscriptions and papyri, and the NT passage. This examination reveals different attitudes adopted by different Jews towards idolatry, serving as parallels to the three positions in 1 Cor 8.1-11.1, 'the strong', 'the weak', and Paul.

The seventh volume of this companion series is devoted to the writings ascribed to Paul but widely thought not to be genuinely from the Apostle. These are of particular importance in showing how Paul's authority was exploited in the early Church.