https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/sb3978970

Reconstructing Israel: Restoration Eschatology in Early Judaism and Paul's Gentile Mission

........................................................................................................................................................ ii Declaration .................................................................................................................................................. iii Table of

Triune God and the hermeneutics of community: church, gender and mission in Stanley J. Grenz with reference to Paul Ricoeur

The Problem. The problem this dissertation seeks to address is the origins of the wedding banquet imagery in the teaching of Jesus. Frequently, scholars will state that the image of a wedding banquet was a common messianic image in the first century. However, other than Isa 25:6-8, sources for the image of a banquet for the messianic age in the Hebrew Bible are sparse. Yet the image of a banquet clearly appears in the Synoptic Gospels in both the actions of Jesus as well as his teaching. Because the metaphor of a wedding banquet is not found in the literature of the Second Temple Period, scholars frequently assume that this sort of language was created by the Gospel writers and that Jesus himself did not claim to be a bridegroom. Method. In this study I propose an intertextuality method which seeks to give full weight to the rhetorical value of anauthor's use of earlier texts or traditions. First, the reader must first "hear an echo" within the text. By this I mean one recognizes something in the words or deeds of Jesus that sounds like a text or tradition from the Hebrew Bible. Second, having heard the echo of an earlier text or tradition, one must then determine which texts and traditions may have been used by the author. Since allusions to tradition are not direct citations, a wide range of texts must be gathered with linguistic and thematic links to the later text. Third, these observations drawn from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Period literature must be applied to the texts in the Synoptic Gospels which contain banquet or wedding imagery. This third step can be used as a test of the authenticity of the sayings of Jesus. I propose a "criterion of tradition congruence": If it is shown that a saying of Jesus stands within well-known traditions from the Hebrew Bible, then that saying is more likely to be authentic. Conclusion. Jesus did indeed claim to be a bridegroom and his ministry was an anticipation of the eschatological banquet. While there is no single text in the Hebrew Bible or the literature of the Second Temple Period which states the "messiah is like a bridegroom," the elements for such a claim are present in several traditions found in this literature. Jesus created this unique image by clustering three traditions drawn from the Hebrew Bible and applying them to his ministry. First, the eschatological age is inaugurated by a banquet eaten in the presence of God (Isa 25:6-8). Second, the end of the exile is often described as a new Exodus and a new journey through the wilderness (Isa 40-55). Third, the relationship of God and his people is often described as a marriage (Hosea, Jer 2-4). Jesus claimed that his ministry was an on-going wedding celebration which signals the end of the Exile and the restoration of Israel to her position as the Lord's beloved wife. Jesus himself combined the tradition of an eschatological banquet with a marriage metaphor in order to describe the end of the Exile as a wedding banquet.

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The Origin of the Eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet in the Synoptic Gospels: an Intertextual Study

PERSECUTION AND COSMIC CONFLICT IN GALATIANS Joshua Caleb Hutchens, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner This dissertation argues that persecution in Galatians manifests the cosmic conflict between God and the present evil age. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of persecution in Galatians and the history of research. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Paul uses the theme of cosmic conflict to place the crisis in Galatia within a broader context of a conflict between God who has inaugurated the new creation within the present time and this present evil age. Chapters 3–4 examine Paul’s theological context. Chapter 3 investigates a theme of cosmic conflict in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. Chapter 4 examines the theme in other early Jewish texts (Daniel; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Jubilees; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees; 4 Maccabees; 1QS; CD; 1QM). This survey reveals that Paul’s iteration of the theme possesses continuity and discontinuity with other authors. Chapter 5 offers a historical reconstruction of the instances of persecution mentioned in Galatians. Four instances of persecution in Galatians are examined: (1) Paul the Persecutor (1:13, 23). (2) Paul the Persecuted (3:1; 4:13, 19; 5:11; 6:17) (3) The Opponents as Potential Targets (6:12) (4) The Persecution of the Galatians (3:4; 4:17–18, 29). Paul uses the theme of persecution to reshape the perception of the Galatian believers and to reveal the danger of the false gospel preached by his opponents. Chapter 6 identifies persecution as a specific manifestation of the cosmic conflict between God and this present evil age. Galatians 4:29 directly connects the phenomenon of persecution with the broader cosmic conflict. Paul does so by identifying typology in Genesis 21:9. In light of this understanding of Paul’s use of Genesis, other significant passages on persecution in Galatians are reexamined to see how they fit within a cosmic conflict reading: 1:13, 23; 3:4; 5:11; 6:12, 17. In conclusion, chapter 7 offers three possible results of Paul’s understanding of persecution as cosmic conflict. It then examines the significance of the thesis for global Christianity today.

Persecution and Cosmic Conflict in Galatians

Jesus and the Victory of God

One of the most perplexing problems in Pauline studies is the meaning of the phrase pistis christou. Is Paul speaking of our faith in Christ or of Christ's own faithfulness toward God? Here noted contemporary New Testament scholars join forces - and lock horns - to shed light on the answer by presenting rigorous exegetical studies from both sides of the debate. They also bring fresh creative proposals to bear on the problem, and place the discussion in the wider spectrum of historical, biblical, and systematic theology. The most penetrating and comprehensive attempt to date to grapple with the significance of Jesus' faithfulness and obedience for Christian salvation, and the extent to which it is represented in key biblical texts.

The faith of Jesus Christ: exegetical, biblical, and theological studies

This article surveys the debate about the unity of Luke—Acts in recent scholarship. The study concentrates on monographs and articles written after Mikael C. Parsons and Richard I. Pervo's volume Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts, and identifies the recent contribution that reception-history studies have brought to the debate. This is followed with a brief analysis of the flashpoints in the debate, and a discussion of what is at stake for Lukan studies.

The Unity of Luke—Acts in Recent Discussion

This book presents a series of studies on contentious aspects of Paul's doctrine of justification including the meaning of 'righteousness', the question of imputation, the role of resurrection in justification, an evaluation of the New Perspective, the soteriological and ecclesiological significance of justification, justification by faith with judgment according to works and debates over the orthodoxy of N.T. Wright. The burden of the volume is to demonstrate that both Reformed and 'new' readings of Paul are indispensable to attaining a full understanding of Paul's soteriology. [Summary from GoogleBooks]

The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification and the New Perspective

This volume argues that the historical Jesus understood his mission, ministry, or vocation (or whatever we want to call it) in messianic categories. [Preface extract]

Michael F. Bird

Papers

The faith of Jesus Christ: exegetical, biblical, and theological studies

The Unity of Luke—Acts in Recent Discussion

The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification and the New Perspective

Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question

Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction