Showing papers in "New Testament Studies in 2016"
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that the apocryphal Letter to the Laodiceans exhibits a discernible structural coherence from which a rhetorical strategy is evident, which is not common in other works.
Abstract: It is commonly thought that the apocryphal Letter to the Laodiceans was composed by an author who was little more than an editor, piecing together phrases from Pauline texts in a mediocre fashion. Not only does the text seem devoid of conceptual rigour and theological merit, but it is also thought to lack a coherent structure. This essay proposes that, to the contrary of most estimates, the Letter to the Laodiceans exhibits a discernible structural coherence from which a rhetorical strategy is evident.
17 citations
TL;DR: This article provided an up-to-date estimate of the number of textual variants in the Greek New Testament, based on the most extensive collation data available and showed that the number reflects the frequency with which scribes copied more than their infidelity in doing so.
Abstract: Since the publication of John Mill's Greek New Testament in 1707, scholars have shown repeated interest in the number of textual variants in our extant witnesses. Past estimates, however, have failed to tell who estimated, how the estimate was derived, or even what was being estimated. This study addresses all three problems and so offers an up-to-date estimate based on the most extensive collation data available. The result is a higher number than almost all previous estimates. Proper use shows that the number reflects the frequency with which scribes copied more than their infidelity in doing so.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the author's accepted manuscript which has been accepted for publication in New Testament Studies has been published and the definitive version will be published on the publisher website at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=NTS
Abstract: This is the author's accepted manuscript which has been accepted for publication in New Testament Studies. The definitive version will be published on the publisher website at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=NTS
10 citations
TL;DR: Streeter's Four Gospels have had a critical influence on the study of the Synoptic Problem as discussed by the authors, however, this seminal work rests on two fundamental errors: Mark wrote first, Luke used Mark and other sources and, at a later date, Matthew conflated Mark, Luke and others sources, including some also used by Luke.
Abstract: B. H. Streeter's Four Gospels has had a critical influence on the study of the Synoptic Problem. Unfortunately, this seminal work rests on two fundamental errors. When these are corrected, however, Streeter points to a fully satisfying solution to the Synoptic Problem: Mark wrote first, Luke used Mark and other sources and, at a later date, Matthew conflated Mark, Luke and other sources – including some also used by Luke.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that early Christian letters were also instrumental in the creation of a distinctive Christian world-view and that they respond to, and hence negotiate and seek to overcome, actual and imagined spatial and temporal distance between author and recipient(s).
Abstract: While embedded in contemporary letter-writing conventions, early Christian letters were also instrumental in the creation of a distinctive Christian world-view. Fundamental to letters of all types, ‘real’ and fictional, is that they respond to, and hence negotiate and seek to overcome, actual and imagined spatial and temporal distance between author and recipient(s). In practice and as cultural symbols, letters, sent and transmitted in new contexts, as well as letter collections, produced in the Christian imagination new trans-locational and cross-temporal dynamics of relationality that can be mapped onto the standard epistolary topoi – ‘absent as if present’, half a conversation, a mirror of the soul.
8 citations
TL;DR: In the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul addressed the occasion of deaths among Christians with stock arguments of the consolatory genre, without using the typical epistolary structure associated with consolation in ancient handbooks of letter-writing as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul addressed the occasion of deaths among Christians with stock arguments of the consolatory genre, without using the typical epistolary structure associated with consolation in ancient handbooks of letter-writing. It is demonstrated that three of Seneca the Younger's letters also employed stock arguments of consolation, but did not follow the usual structure for a letter of consolation. Using Seneca's letters as a test case for what constituted pagan ideas of consolation, we highlight some compelling reasons for reading First Thessalonians as a letter of consolation, a reading that offers some new insights into the passage on the right Christian attitude towards death in 1 Thess 4.13–5.11.
7 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the key assumptions of the performance criticism movement ignore various historical realities regarding the use of texts in the ancient world, and that the renewed focus on orality and performance is a corrective that helps to provide a broader understanding of how biblical texts were typically experienced in ancient world.
Abstract: Over the last several decades, performance criticism has made significant headway as an interpretive method. However, in a recent issue of this journal, Larry Hurtado argues that the key assumptions of the movement ignore various historical realities regarding the use of texts in the ancient world. The following discussion offers a brief response to what Hurtado suggests are several ‘oversimplifications’. The essay argues that rather than being a ‘fixation’ as Hurtado maintains, the renewed focus on orality and performance is a corrective that helps to provide a broader understanding of how biblical texts were typically experienced in the ancient world.
7 citations
TL;DR: The only surviving Greek witness to the Diatessaron of Tatian is a fragment of parchment found in excavations at Dura-Europos in Iran as discussed by the authors, where it was used to produce a new narrative of the life of Jesus.
Abstract: Among those texts that vied for a position as authoritative Scripture, but were eventually rejected by ecclesiastical authorities, was the so-called Diatessaron of Tatian. Having been compiled from the four canonical gospels, Tatian's work occupies a liminal position between the categories of ‘canonical’ and ‘apocryphal’, since the majority of its content was common to users of the fourfold gospel, though this content existed in a radically altered form and was tainted by association with an author widely accused of heresy. In order to demonstrate the originality of Tatian's gospel composition, this article gives a close reading of the only surviving Greek witness to it, a fragment of parchment found in excavations at Dura-Europos. Dura's very location as a borderland between Rome and Persia corresponds with the fact that in this outpost garrison city Christians were using a gospel text that would have appeared markedly strange to those in the mainstream of the Christian tradition. The wording that can be recovered from the Dura fragment shows how Tatian creatively and intelligently combined the text of the four gospels to produce a new narrative of the life of Jesus, choosing to leave out certain elements and to make deliberate emendations along the way. However, it was precisely such originality that made his gospel appear problematic, so in order to rescue his text from censure, later scribes had to domesticate it by making it conform throughout to the canonical versions. Comparison of the Dura fragment with the medieval Arabic gospel harmony and with the Latin version in Codex Fuldensis illustrates well this process whereby Tatian's gospel went from being a rival to the fourfold gospel to a designedly secondary, and therefore acceptable, work.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that in Rom 4.17d Paul does present absolute "nothings", though in God's speech to Abraham, not at creation, though in the context of creation.
Abstract: Rom 4.17d is often read as referring to creation, perhaps even creatio ex nihilo. Others argue that this doctrine was not yet conceptually available. After exploring what ‘nothing’ means in similar phrases in Paul's ancient context (2 Macc 7.28 and Philo), the first conclusion is that if Rom 4.17d refers to creation then Paul's ‘nothings’ most likely do not refer to an absolute nihil. However, after exploring Rom 4.17 in the context of Paul's argument, the final conclusion is that in Rom 4.17d Paul does present absolute ‘nothings’, though in God's speech to Abraham, not at creation. Paul's theology encompasses God's authority and causation ex nihilo.
6 citations
TL;DR: When Paul employs the motif of oneness in 1 Corinthians 12 and joins it to the metaphor of Christ's body, he is drawing not only on Greco-Roman political rhetoric, as argued by the majority of interpreters, but also, and at times more directly, from theological wells found within his Jewish theological heritage as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: When Paul employs the motif of oneness in 1 Corinthians 12 and joins it to the metaphor of Christ's body, he is drawing not only on Greco-Roman political rhetoric, as argued by the majority of interpreters, but also, and at times more directly, from theological wells found within his Jewish theological heritage: the use of the phrase ‘one body’ in 1 Corinthians is an ecclesial application of the Shema. Paul's oneness language expresses not simply a call to internal unity or social harmony. Ultimately, the ecclesial designation ‘one’ is a succinct articulation of an ecclesiology of Christological monotheism.
6 citations
TL;DR: Pauline Anthropology has long been seen as the key to the quest for the human being in New Testament theology as mentioned in this paper. But there are other concepts in ancient Roman and early Jewish religious-philosophical thinking that deserve our attention in this regard.
Abstract: Pauline Anthropology has long been seen as the key to the quest for the human being in New Testament theology. But there are other concepts in ancient Roman and early Jewish religious-philosophical thinking that deserve our attention in this regard. Exegetical analyses of James 1.2–18 and 3.13–18 point to a view of the human being that traces the ability to do what is good back to God's working within and his bestowal of wisdom. Surveys of ethical passages in the Wisdom of Solomon and Epictetus indicate that the origin of ethical decisions can be understood in psychological as well as religious terms. In the light of such anthropological discourses the Pauline argument about the human being in Romans 5–8 can be seen from a new perspective.
TL;DR: This article explored affinities between the second Gospel and Jewish sectarian groups of the first centuries and concluded that an area in the Syrian Decapolis is a much more likely place of origin for Mark's Gospel than that of Rome.
Abstract: Rome or Syria? This article addresses the issue of the provenance of Mark's Gospel by exploring affinities between the second Gospel and Jewish sectarian groups of the first centuries bce and ce. It is argued that Mark displays certain sectarian tendencies, and that these tendencies, most notably seen in the Gospel's negative evaluation of the Jerusalem temple and its priestly overseers, strongly suggest that the Gospel was written in close geographical proximity to Jerusalem and its temple. Accordingly, an area in the Syrian Decapolis is a much more likely place of origin for Mark's Gospel than that of Rome.
TL;DR: The role of canonical and apocryphal works in the construction and development of these places of memory is discussed in this article, where it is argued that instead of labelling the latter works "apocryphal" it would be better to call them "useful for the church".
Abstract: Is Christianity a ‘religion of (canonical) books or a ‘religion of memories’? What role did the books that would eventually become canonical play in various early Christian contexts? This article explores the history of the canon, especially in relation to early Christian ‘landscapes’ and ‘places of memory’. The role of ‘canonical’ and so-called ‘apocryphal’ writings in the construction and development of these ‘places of memory’ is discussed. It is argued that instead of labelling the latter works ‘apocryphal’, it would be better to call them ‘useful for the church’. German abstract: Die Erforschung der Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons konzentriert sich üblicherweise auf die Geschichte seiner Entstehung und Durchsetzung. Welche Rolle jedoch spielte der neutestamentliche Kanon bzw. spielten die Bücher, aus denen er sich zusammensetzt, in verschiedenen Lebenskontexten antiker Christen, von denen viele nicht oder kaum lesen konnten oder wenigstens kaum Zugang zu Büchern hatten? Der vorliegende Beitrag greift die Vorstellung „kollektiver Erinnerung“ (M. Halbwachs) auf. Am Beispiel von Berichten antiker Palästinapilger sowie anhand spätantiker Apostelerzählungen (Akten des Philippus, Akten des Barnabas sowie Titusakten) wird gezeigt wie Erzählungen, schriftlich niedergelegte, darunter auch kanonisch gewordene Texte, konkrete Orte, daran gebundene Rituale sowie weitere Medien komplex verknüpfte und sich dynamisch ändernde „Erinnerungslandschaften“ (P. Nora) bilden können, die für das Verständnis des antiken Christentums als einer Religion bzw. eines Kults nicht nur des Buches, sondern auch als einer Religion kollektiver Erinnerungen von hoher Bedeutung sein dürften.
TL;DR: In this paper, the capacity of a research associate in the department of New Testament studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, was assumed for the purpose of research associate.
Abstract: This article was written in the capacity of research associate in the department of New Testament studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
TL;DR: The last chapter of the gospel of Luke includes a story of the risen Christ meeting two of his disciples on their way from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus and chastising them with the poetic expression ὦ ἀνόητοι καὶ βραδeῖς τῇ κβαρδίᾳ ‘O foolish ones, and slow in heart’ (Luke 24.25) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The last chapter of the gospel of Luke includes a story of the risen Christ meeting two of his disciples on their way from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus and chastising them with the poetic expression ὦ ἀνόητοι καὶ βραδeῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ ‘O foolish ones, and slow in heart’ (Luke 24.25). No commentator has ever observed that Jesus' expression occurs verbatim, in the same iambic trimeter metre, in two poetic versions of animal fables attributed to the famous Greek fabulist Aesop. It is plausible that Luke is here, as at least twice elsewhere in his gospel, tapping into the rich tradition of Aesopic fables and proverbs that were widely known throughout the Mediterranean world in the first century ce.
Abstract: This article reads Acts 27–28.10 as an ‘aquatic display’ that offers Christ-believers a spectacle of navigating the stormy imperial world. It argues that Pliny's Panegyricus similarly employs aquatic displays to instruct in negotiating the emperor Trajan's power. It identifies four means in Acts 27 that assert Rome's power – judicial, military, economic, and the sea as a contested site where the sovereignties of God and Rome compete and cooperate – and which Christ-believers must negotiate by various means including submission, awareness of danger, courage, social interaction, agency, contribution to well-being, and discernment of and contestive allegiance to God's greater sovereignty.
TL;DR: In the early Church, the prophet Paul's blessing of his youngest son Benjamin (Gen 49.27) was widely understood as a prophecy of that most famous Benjaminite, the apostle Paul as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Jacob's blessing of his youngest son Benjamin (Gen 49.27) was widely understood in the early Church as a prophecy of that most (in)famous Benjaminite, the apostle Paul. This exegesis enjoyed enduring popularity and can be traced to every corner of the Roman world. It is also early: it was already well established by the time of its earliest surviving witnesses at the end of the second century. But if it predates the late second century, when did it originate? While we can only speculate, this paper offers reasons for supposing that this exegesis may reach back into the first century.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that Acts more closely links the salvific benefits that Jesus provides with his resurrection and exaltation than with his death, and point out that Acts is strangely silent regarding the sacrificial significance of Jesus' crucifixion.
Abstract: Luke-Acts is strangely silent regarding the sacrificial significance of Jesus' crucifixion. Curiously, too, Acts more closely links the salvific benefits that Jesus provides with his resurrection and exaltation than with his death. Luke, many conclude, is not concerned with explaining Jesus' atoning work in terms of Jewish sacrificial categories. By way of contrast, this article argues that Luke's connecting of forgiveness and purification (i.e. key elements of sacrificial atonement) with Jesus' exaltation indicates that he is aware of the sacrificial aspects of Jesus' work. Jewish sacrifice consists of a hierarchically structured ritual process that cannot be reduced to the slaughter of the victim. In Leviticus, the culminating elements of this process occur as the priests convey the materials of the sacrifice into God's presence (i.e. offer the sacrifice) by approaching and serving at the various altars. Such a perspective on sacrifice is suggestive for interpreting Luke's emphasis on Jesus' exaltation in Acts. Luke has not stressed the sacrificial aspects of Jesus' death, but has highlighted the atoning benefits of Jesus' exaltation because he understands Jesus to have offered his atoning sacrifice as part of his exaltation to the right hand of God.
TL;DR: A causal clause is often used to translate ὅτι in John 8.47 as discussed by the authors, which is a problematic translation of the prepositional phrase διὰ τοῦτο, creating a logical argument that is contrary to the argument in Greek.
Abstract: A causal clause is often used to translate ὅτι in John 8.47. This, in combination with a problematic translation of the prepositional phrase διὰ τοῦτο, creates (in the translations) a logical argument that is contrary to the argument in Greek. The NRSV translates: ‘Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’ The translation is somewhat different from the King James Version, which interprets the ὅτι-clause as causal: ‘He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.’ Both translations and the implied logic must be rejected for philological reasons. The correct translation is: ‘He that is of God hears God's words. From this follows: you do not hear. Thus, you are not of God.’ The difference is obvious: the logical argument is turned on its head. The usual way to translate this argument implies a predestination: the Jews are simply ‘not of God’. The semantically correct translation makes obvious the connection between their decision (i.e. not to listen to Jesus) and the judgement spoken by Jesus.
TL;DR: In this paper, the shape of the Synoptic Problem is changed by the Matthew Conflator Hypothesis, where Matthew sometimes conflates Luke with his own source.
Abstract: The mainstream approaches to the Synoptic Problem all agree: there are no extant instances of Q. The shape of ‘Q’ changes, however, if, as proposed in the companion article, ‘Streeter's “Other” Synoptic Solution: The Matthew Conflator Hypothesis’, Matthew sometimes conflates Luke with Luke's own source. Where this happens Luke's source qualifies as an instance of ‘Q’ – inasmuch as it preserves sayings of Jesus used, ultimately, by both Luke and Matthew. This fresh conception of ‘Q’ opens up the possibility that examples of ‘Q’ are, after all, available. An extant text meeting this description is Didache 1.2–5a.
TL;DR: Moret as discussed by the authors pointed out that Moret has not grasped how resurrection and atonement are inextricably linked in my argument, and he often does not engage with the specific arguments/exegesis I present.
Abstract: There are numerous points in Moret’s article with which I take issue. 2 I will here limit my response to two general concerns. First, Moret has not grasped how resurrection and atonement are inextricably linked in my argument. My response to this concern is woven throughout the specific issues I address below. Second, Moret often does little to engage with the specific arguments/exegesis I present. The modus operandi of his critique tends instead toward citing scholarly opinions that differ from my views, even though I argue in ALR against many of those very opinions. It would be useful to know why Moret deems faulty the evidence and argumentation I offer in support of my interpretations, particularly since these arguments establish foundational elements for my understanding of the nature of Jesus’ heavenly offering in
TL;DR: The prima facie sense of the assertion of Hebrews 9.23 that the heavenly things themselves needed to be cleansed is often rejected as fantastic or preposterous as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The prima facie sense of the assertion of Hebrews 9.23 that the heavenly things themselves needed to be cleansed is often rejected as fantastic or preposterous. Consequently, the verse is often read as describing the cleansing of conscience or the inauguration, not purification, of the heavenly tabernacle. Both interpretations are critiqued here. Positively, this essay argues that in Heb 9.23 Christ's sacrifice cleanses the tabernacle in heaven from antecedent defilement in order to inaugurate the new covenant cult. I argue that the structure of 9.23–8 and the manner in which Hebrews appropriates both cult inauguration and Yom Kippur support this conclusion.
TL;DR: This article showed that Rufinus does, in fact, alter his text in some subtle ways so that the statements on the New Testament correspond more closely to the increasingly stabilised canon of the late-fourth and early-fifth centuries, but such subtle alterations do not overturn the translator's basic fidelity when reporting earlier views.
Abstract: Around the turn of the fifth century Rufinus of Aquileia translated many important Greek theological works, especially by Origen and Eusebius. These translations have received a great deal of criticism for their lack of fidelity to their Vorlagen, a criticism that extends to their statements on the New Testament canon. Several scholars now assume that the list of New Testament books to be found in Origen's Homilies on Joshua 7.1 (available only in Rufinus' Latin translation) should be attributed to the translator rather than to Origen himself. This paper calls this assumption into question by comparing Eusebius’ statements on the books of the New Testament to Rufinus' translation of those statements. We will find that Rufinus does, in fact, alter his text in some subtle ways so that the statements on the canon correspond more closely to the increasingly stabilised canon of the late-fourth and early-fifth centuries, but such subtle alterations do not overturn the translator's basic fidelity when reporting earlier views. This analysis suggests that Origen did produce a list of books in the mid-third century that closely – though not exactly – resembled the list of New Testament books published by Athanasius in 367.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defend these suivante: en Ph 2.6b, Paul souligne que le Christ n’a pas considere comme un avantage d'etre traite a l’egal d'un dieu (ou de Dieu).
Abstract: Quelle est la portee de la formule to einai isa theo[i],lorsqu’elle est resituee dans son contexte d’origine? Cet article defend la these suivante: en Ph 2.6b, Paul souligne que le Christ n’a pas considere comme un avantage d’etre traite a l’egal d’un dieu (ou de Dieu). Cette these est soutenue sur base d’un examen de la structure de l’eloge de Ph 2.6-11, d’une analyse philologique du v. 6, et de la contextualisation de l’eloge du Christ (Ph 2.6-11) qui est adresse a des chretiens vivant dans la colonie romaine de Philippes, laquelle est comme une Rome en miniature ou le cursus honorum joue un role important.
TL;DR: The authors examines the alterations that Luke makes to his citation of Joel 3.17.1.5 in Acts 2 and argues that the various changes that Luke made to Joel's prophecy reflect Luke's theological vision for the way in which Israel's eschatological restoration is occurring within the community of the early church.
Abstract: This article examines the alterations that Luke makes to his citation of Joel 3.1–5 in Acts 2.17–21. It argues that Luke has chosen various Scriptural co-texts to shape the meaning of Joel's prophecy as it applies to the early church. Thus, the various changes that Luke makes to Joel's prophecy reflect Luke's theological vision for the way in which Israel's eschatological restoration is occurring within the community of the early church.
TL;DR: The authors describes how the writers of the Hodayot understand Gen 2.7 as describing an anthropological crisis: the human is formed from the dust and wasting away, and the hymnists maintain that this crisis is overcome by God imparting his Spirit.
Abstract: This article describes how the writers of the Hodayot understand Gen 2.7 as describing an anthropological crisis: the human is formed from the dust and wasting away. Drawing on Ezekiel 37, the hymnists maintain that this crisis is overcome by God imparting his Spirit. This understanding of Gen 2.7 is used to illuminate Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul likewise reads Gen 2.7 as a description of an anthropological problem, and he finds the solution in Ezekiel 37. Yet, he introduces his own twist so that Gen 2.7 comes to express both the crisis and the solution.
TL;DR: Moffitt as mentioned in this paper argued that the moral category of sin is the final target of purification and the notion of ransom, life given in death in place of another life, is key for understanding atonement in Hebrews.
Abstract: David M. Moffitt has recently put forward an interpretation of Hebrews whereby purification is understood as a victory of life over death, and atonement is effected by the resurrected life of Jesus entering the heavenly sanctuary. We discuss this reading and defend an alternative whereby the moral category of sin is the final target of purification and the notion of ransom, life given in death in place of another life, is key for understanding atonement in Hebrews.
TL;DR: The authors examines the theoretical justification for such a rule and sets out a number of examples from throughout the New Testament to show how such an application works, even when the preferred solutions may go against traditional principles of text-critics such as the age, quality or quantity of witnesses in supporting a selected initial text.
Abstract: As one of its rules, thoroughgoing eclecticism in New Testament textual criticism puts great store by an author's consistency of language, style and usage when assessing variation. This article examines the theoretical justification for such a rule and sets out a number of examples from throughout the New Testament to show how such an application works, even when the preferred solutions may go against traditional principles of text-critics such as the age, quality or quantity of witnesses in supporting a selected initial text. One section deals with conjectural emendation.
TL;DR: Polycarp of Smyrna as discussed by the authors offers a reading of 1 Timothy 6 in which he uses the term "the commandment" as an apparent reference to the practice of almsgiving.
Abstract: In his letter to the Philippians, Polycarp of Smyrna offers a reading of 1 Timothy 6 in which he uses the term ‘the commandment’ as an apparent reference to the practice of almsgiving. Polycarp's Philippians, therefore, offers important and heretofore neglected evidence that supports recent contentions that ‘the commandment’ in 1 Tim 6.14 is almsgiving.
TL;DR: This paper surveys the numerous and diverse powers and authorities to which the gospel is addressed in Luke-Acts, including major Jewish institutions and officials, Herodian rulers, Roman military officers, Greco-Roman officials, diverse officials, and pagan cults and supernatural powers.
Abstract: This study surveys the numerous and diverse powers and authorities to which the gospel is addressed in Luke-Acts, including major Jewish institutions and officials, Herodian rulers, Roman military officers, Greco-Roman officials, diverse officials, and pagan cults and supernatural powers. Well over half the references to authorities in Luke-Acts occur nowhere else in the New Testament. The frequent and diverse references to powers defend Christianity in a preliminary and obvious way from charges of political sedition. In a broader and more important way, however, they redefine power itself according to the standard of the gospel.