Showing papers in "Journal for the Study of the New Testament in 2010"
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that notions of honour come to the fore and higher-status male Corinthians are employing modes of head attire to maintain distinctions of status, at the same time, Paul insists upon female head-coverings to safeguard the honour of the community within a context of the potential presence of non-believers in a communal service of worship.
Abstract: A significant yet missing dimension of scholarly engagement with 1 Cor. 11.2-16 is the consideration of honour-shame and its critical importance in ancient cultures. As this section of Paul’s letter abounds in honour-shame terminology, analysis of the text within such a framework will allow a profitable exploration of the reasons why the Corinthians are changing their attire (for purposes of this paper, their head-coverings), in a way that appears to be contrary to what may be considered the Pauline norm. The argument offered here is that notions of honour come to the fore and higher-status male Corinthians are employing modes of head attire to maintain distinctions of status. At the same time, Paul insists upon female head-coverings to safeguard the honour of the community within a context of the potential presence of non-believers in a communal service of worship.
23 citations
TL;DR: The meaning of a text does not reside alone in the creative genius of its author; there is a complex correlation between a text and the contexts in which a text has been read and reread as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The meaning of a text does not reside alone in the creative genius of its author; there is a complex correlation between a text and the contexts in which a text has been read and reread, including ...
22 citations
TL;DR: Sachkritik, or critical assessment of what a biblical text says in the light of the gospel that the author intended to communicate, became an issue in modern theology and scriptural interpretation in 1922 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Sachkritik, or critical assessment of what a biblical text says in the light of the gospel that the author intended to communicate, became an issue in modern theology and scriptural interpretation in 1922—26 with Bultmann’s discussions of Barth’s theological exegesis of Romans and 1 Corinthians. Since the gospel is itself heard in and through the witness of scripture this implies a dialectic between them. Bultmann could override some of Paul’s formulations in the light of the apostle’s basic intention, and so find a contemporary Christian meaning in texts from a distant culture. His later demythologizing the New Testament applied the same principle to large swathes of the biblical language without calling it Sachkritik, but some of his followers used the word for their critical assessment of one biblical writer in the light of the gospel as understood from another. Finally, a few liberal theologians now use the word to express their rejection of parts of scripture in the light of their modern understandin...
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors defend the traditional interpretation of the heir analogy in Gal. 4.1-2 and demonstrate that Paul's use of έπίτροποι and οἰκονόμοι as guardians of a minor corresponds accurately to Roman legal practice.
Abstract: Paul’s heir analogy in Gal. 4.1-2 has traditionally been interpreted against the backdrop of Graeco-Roman guardianship laws. However, because certain conceptual and terminological incongruities in the text have not been adequately explained, a relatively new typological reading, which identifies the analogy as an allusion to the Exodus, has begun to influence many interpreters. This study will defend the traditional interpretation, first by responding to the criticisms and exegetical insights introduced by those who interpret the text typologically, and second by demonstrating that Paul’s use of έπίτροποι and οἰκονόμοι as guardians of a minor—a widely acknowledged crux interpretum—corresponds accurately to Roman legal practice.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the lack of glory in 3.23 refers to mortality and shame as the result of sin, not only elevated honour, but also incorruption.
Abstract: Paul enigmatically describes humanity’s universal sinfulness in Rom. 3.23 as a lack of ‘the glory of God’. Interpreters have tried to situate the lack of this glory in various contexts: ancient honour discourse, ancient Jewish Adam traditions, and Paul’s ethical discourse. To interpret this passage, this article utilizes the literary context of glory language throughout the letter. From this we find that glory denotes not only elevated honour, but also incorruption. Thus, the lack of glory in 3.23 refers to mortality and shame as the result of sin. In addition, this study of glory has implications for the burgeoning interest into the question of theosis with regard to Pauline theology.
20 citations
TL;DR: The main focus of the article is Gadamer's idea of Wirkungsgeschichte, a term that has, for good reason, been read in various ways by New Testament scholars as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In an attempt to introduce Wirkungsgeschichte, reception history and reception theory, this article begins by considering the different histories each term carries. Although each term signals something slightly different, their collective effect is to raise questions about the historical-critical method that continues to dominate New Testament studies. The main focus of the article is Gadamer’s idea of Wirkungsgeschichte, a term that has, for good reason, been read in various ways by New Testament scholars. Acknowledging that different readings of the term exist, I turn to Gadamer’s broader thesis in Truth and Method and suggest that the purpose of Wirkungsgeschichte is to enable an interpretative conversation rather than to define a new scientific methodology.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a new perspective on Paul, which they call "contemporary contexts, crises, and moral values shape the interpretation of Paul, even in rigorously 'historical' scholarship".
Abstract: Contemporary contexts, crises, and moral values shape the interpretation of Paul, even in rigorously ‘historical’ scholarship, and the new perspective on Paul well illustrates this point. Our curre...
17 citations
TL;DR: The recent attempt by G. Aichele, P. Miscall and R. Walsh to generate a debate between historical criticism and postmodern interpretation using the language of comparative mythologies has so far failed as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The recent attempt by G. Aichele, P. Miscall and R. Walsh to generate a debate between historical criticism and postmodern interpretation using the language of comparative mythologies has so far fa...
17 citations
TL;DR: The first instance of κύριoς, which refers to both God and Jesus (Mk 1.3), is seen as the key to Mark's λυρυoς Christology as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Against the common view that the title κύριoς plays a relatively insignificant role in the Gospel of Mark, this article argues that Mark uses κύριoς to set out important aspects of Jesus’ identity. The first instance of κύριoς, which refers to both God and Jesus (Mk 1.3), is seen as the key to Mark’s κύριoς Christology. The difficulty of determining whether κύριoς refers to God or Jesus in many of the following passages should be understood in light of this. Mark used κύριoς ambiguously to link both God and Jesus to the title. While the evangelist maintains that there is only one κύριoς, he also claims that Jesus shares the identity of being κύριoς with the God of Israel.
13 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated Mark's story about Jesus' "triumphal" entry and its relation to Roman imperialism, and argued that the entry story with its subsequent temple incident could be taken as mimicry of celebratory welcome.
Abstract: This article investigates Mark’s story about Jesus’ ‘triumphal’ entry and its relation to Roman imperialism. The article’s first part analyses how that relation has been understood in both a late nineteenth-century biblical commentary and a contemporary political reading respectively. In the article’s second part, a reading is suggested that is informed by the postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha. Special attention is given to how Jesus acquires the colt by αγγαρeία, how he is greeted, and how the procession ends anticlimactically in the temple. The entry story with its subsequent temple incident, it is argued, could be taken as mimicry of celebratory welcomes. This places Jesus in an interstitial third space in-between a clear-cut anti- and pro-Roman position, a space that is characterized by colonial ambivalence.
10 citations
TL;DR: In 1 Cor. 13, Paul argues that we see in a mirror and in a riddle, but at the eschaton we will see face to face as discussed by the authors, where the implied object of "seeing" is God.
Abstract: In his praise of the attitude of loving one another in 1 Cor. 13 Paul argues that ‘now we see in a mirror and in a riddle’ but at the eschaton we will see ‘face to face’ (v. 12). The implied object of ‘seeing’ is God. By introducing the image of a mirror Paul uses a well-known Hellenistic metaphor to describe the indirect, partial and incomplete nature of man’s knowledge of God. The expressions ‘in a riddle’ and ‘face to face’ are taken from Old Testament descriptions of Moses’ unique communication with God found in Num. 12.8 and Deut. 34.10.
TL;DR: The Aryan Jesus (2008) as discussed by the authors has been criticised for combating all antisemitism but questions whether it sufficiently distinguishes that from an also deplorable theological anti-Judaism.
Abstract: This discussion of The Aryan Jesus (2008) welcomes its combating all antisemitism but questions whether it sufficiently distinguishes that from an also deplorable theological anti-Judaism. Heschel’...
TL;DR: In this article, the adoration of the Magi (Mt. 2.1.1-12), the first public and universal seeing of Christ and one of the most frequently depicted scenes in the entire history of biblical art, is used to illustrate Gadamer's approach.
Abstract: The article considers the visual dimensions associated with Wirkungsgeschichte. It accentuates the role of the artist as an active reader of the Bible and not merely as an illustrator of biblical scenes and highlights the approach of Hans-Georg Gadamer in appreciating the part played by the viewer, as well as the artist, in the visual hermeneutical process. The biblical story of the adoration of the Magi (Mt. 2.1-12), the first public and universal seeing of Christ and one of the most frequently depicted scenes in the entire history of biblical art, is used to illustrate Gadamer’s approach. The emphasis in the biblical narrative on the revealing of the Christ-child to the reader parallels a key concept in Gadamer’s hermeneutical aesthetics, namely Darstellung, a term that denotes how a painting facilitates its subject matter in coming forth, in becoming an existential event, an epiphany , in the life of the viewer.
TL;DR: The main contours of Matthew's eschatology are relatively uncontested, including the apparent tension between what has been called his realized and future eschatologies, while Matthew himself seems to be remarkably relaxed about it.
Abstract: The main contours of Matthew's eschatology are relatively uncontested, including the apparent tension between what has been called his 'realized' eschatology and his 'future' eschatology. However, there is less agreement on whether or how this tension can be resolved, while Matthew himself seems to be remarkably relaxed about it. This article attempts to explain this surprising fact, and offers a new approach to reconciling the tension. The eschatological data in the Gospel are analysed by a process of 'adaptive inference' in order to build progressively its 'implied temporal framework'. The article concludes with a claim that the temporal framework implied by the Gospel is a relatively simple threefold division of history in which, after the period prior to the coming of Jesus, the central pattern of tribulation and vindication experienced by Jesus in his life, death and resurrection inaugurates an age in which a derivative pattern of tribulation and vindication is to be experienced by his followers.
TL;DR: In the Synoptic Gospels, the second part of the logion is a causal clause, whereas in the Gospel of Thomas it is a purpose clause as discussed by the authors, which is quite similar to its parallels in Mt. 5.6 and Lk. 6.21a.
Abstract: Logion 69.2 of the Gospel of Thomas is quite similar to its parallels in Mt. 5.6 and Lk. 6.21a, the beatitude for the hungry, except for one detail: while in the Synoptic Gospels, the second part of the logion is a causal clause, in the Gospel of Thomas it is a purpose clause. If this twist of grammar is taken seriously, Gos. Thom. 69.2 finds material parallels in a range of early Christian texts that speak of fasting for the benefit of others. There may even be an otherwise neglected connection to a very similar macarism preserved in Origen’s Homilies on Leviticus (10.2) that is sometimes classified as an Agraphon
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop the argument of omission in relation to Paul and the law and argue that the Law of Moses holds a very different place for Jews than for Christians in Paul's thought.
Abstract: As Betz observed in 1979, Paul never says that Christians are supposed to ‘do’ the Torah. This article seeks to develop the argument of omission in relation to Paul and the law. What else does he not say? According to Rom. 2.17-29, Jews ‘rely on’ the law, ‘boast’ in the law, know God’s will through the law, are educated in the law, have light, knowledge and truth because of the law, are to ‘do’, ‘observe’ and ‘keep’ the law, on occasions ‘transgress’ the law, and possess the law as a ‘written code’. Not only does Paul not say these things about Christians vis-a-vis the law, he shifts the focus from the law to something else using the same words and concepts. Such omission and substitution suggests that the Law of Moses holds a very different place for Jews than for Christians in Paul’s thought.
TL;DR: The background of a short description of the recent growing interest in the effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte ) of the biblical text precedes a foregrounding of Ulrich Luz and his work as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The background of a short description of the recent growing interest in the effective-history (Wirkungsgeschichte ) of the biblical text precedes a foregrounding of Ulrich Luz and his work. His int...
TL;DR: Bauckham as discussed by the authors raised the question of the meaning of "identity" in the context of the historical dimension of the life of Christ and the historical nature of historical truth.
Abstract: Bauckham’s response, while focusing on the historical dimensions of Jesus, is right to raise the question of the meaning of ‘identity’. It perhaps invests too much confidence, however, in memory and recollection. Riches’ thoughtful unpacking of some of the tensions in the volume nevertheless downplays the apocalyptic and the narrative contours of Paul’s thought. While Riches’ call for a wider global view might offer fresh perspectives on the situation of poverty in Jesus’ own context, it would hardly enable us to relativize the demonic realm. Seeking the Identity of Jesus calls for an epistemological approach that recognizes not only ‘the historical nature of theological truth’ (Riches) but also the theological nature of historical truth.
TL;DR: The authors argue that Paul is intentionally altering Isaiah's salvation-historical scheme, such that the glorification of the Gentiles draws Israel into the realm of salvation rather than vice versa.
Abstract: A viable interpretation of Rom. 11.25-27 must be able to explain four interrelated problems: (1) Paul’s use of καi οűтως to connect vv. 25 and 26, (2) the phrase Πȃς Ἰσραήλ in v. 26, (3) how Paul intends for his citation of Isa. 59.20, 27.9 to support his argument, and (4) why Paul’s citation of Isa. 59.20 says the deliverer comes έκ (rather than ένeκeν) Σiών. Beginning with the change to Isa. 59.20, this article argues that Paul is intentionally altering Isaiah’s salvation-historical scheme, in keeping with his earlier arguments in chs. 10—11, such that the glorification of the Gentiles draws Israel into the realm of salvation rather than vice versa. Paul cites and redacts Isa. 59.20 to support his claim for an in-time instrumentality at work through the ingathering of the Gentiles for the sake of Israel’s salvation, analogous to the jealousy arguments found earlier in Rom. 11.
TL;DR: The authors summarizes the contents of Susannah Heschel's book, The Aryan Jesus and probes four areas of engagement and disagreement with Heschel: the incomplete p... and concludes that "the incomplete p...
Abstract: This appreciative and critical review briefly summarizes the contents of Susannah Heschel’s book, The Aryan Jesus and probes four areas of engagement and disagreement with Heschel: the incomplete p...
TL;DR: Seeking the Identity of Jesus as discussed by the authors seeks to look at Jesus through ecclesial and theological lenses and to be responsive to the very different presentations of Jesus' identity in the canonical Gospels.
Abstract: Seeking the Identity of Jesus seeks to look at Jesus through ecclesial and theological lenses and to be responsive to the very different presentations of Jesus' identity in the canonical Gospels. This raises questions about how far some of the aspects of Jesus to be found in the Gospels can be accommodated within an ecclesial view and how selective scholars in this volume are in the aspects of Jesus on which they focus. Jesus' activity as an exorcist, noted in some at least of the essays, is not easily accommodated within many ecclesial perspectives. The considerable attention given to Jesus' thoroughgoing Jewishness in recent scholarship stands in sharp contrast to much traditional church teaching about Jesus. It is also notable that this book is very much a European/North American pilgrimage, which may be reflected in the paucity of attention given to Jesus' concern for the poor.