Grace/Gift in Paul

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. G. Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Gift Exchange ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Social Ethic ◽  
Divine Grace ◽  
Roman World ◽  
History Of Interpretation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Worth

Paul's understanding of divine 'grace' stands at the centre of recent debates concerning Paul's relationship to Second Temple Judaism and his adaptation of the benefactor ideologies of the Graeco-Roman world. After outlining the diversity of ways in which Jewish texts configure the benevolence of God, two distinctively Pauline features are highlighted: that the gift of God is enacted in the Christ-event, and that this gift is given without regard to the ethnic, moral, or social worth of its recipients. This incongruity matches Paul's own experience and his practice of the Gentile mission; it also shapes his understanding of Israel's history, past and future, while undergirding a social ethic for communities formed in the mutuality of gift-exchange. It is noted how the history of interpretation has tended to extend this Pauline theme, by 'perfecting' the theme of grace in a variety of additional ways.

Joel

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-103
Author(s):  
Richard Coggins
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
History Of Interpretation ◽  
Day Of The Lord ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Book Of The Twelve ◽  
History Of ◽  
Minor Prophets

Much recent study of Joel has been concerned with its setting within the 'Book of the Twelve' Minor Prophets. This article assesses this develop ment, noting especially the relevance of studies of inner-biblical exegesis and intertextuality. New questions relating to the unity of the book are con sidered. The distinctive literary features of Joel are assessed, with particular reference to its place in the development of Second Temple Judaism. Vari ous understandings of the locusts are noted, plus the importance of 'the day of the Lord'. Finally, brief attention is given to the history of interpretation of Joel, especially in the New Testament.

Response to the Respondents: Competition, Qumran and Supersessionism

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-133
Author(s):  
Joel Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
History Of ◽  
Qumran Community ◽  
The Way

Abstract The critics of JBHT in this issue have questioned three main aspects of the book: its assertion that early Christians competed with people who believed that John the Baptist was the principal figure in the history of salvation, its assertion that early in his career the Baptist was a member of the Qumran community, and the way in which the book situates the Baptist in relation to Second Temple Judaism in general. The article addresses these concerns, rebutting certain objections but acknowledging areas in which the book could have been more nuanced or further developed.

Jesus the Pharisee: Leon Modena, the Historical Jesus, and Renaissance Venice

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Cristiana Facchini
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Ecclesiastical History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

This article is devoted to Leon Modena’s anti-Christian polemical work Magen ve-herev (1643 ca.) as a useful source for the reconstruction of notions about the historical Jesus in the early modern period. In this work, Modena depicts Jesus in a sympathetic way, placing his religious activity against the backdrop of second Temple Judaism. Modena’s Jesus is fully Jewish, and Magen ve-herev offers different perspectives on the religious and historical context of Jesus’ life, and on the development of Christianity. The text is interpreted not exclusively against the backdrop of Jewish anti-Christian polemics but as the result of an increasing interest in the history of Christianity and ecclesiastical history, mainly as a response to the religious strife that resonated in the Republic of Venice and its ghetto.

scholarly journals ‘I am not strong to dig and I am afraid to beg’: Social status and status concern in the parable of the Dishonest Steward (Lk 16:1–9)

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Ndekha
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Roman World ◽  
History Of Interpretation ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Shame Culture ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interpretative Framework

This article offers a reading of the parable of the Dishonest Steward from the perspective of Greco-Roman status concern. It observes that the parable has a long and complicated history of interpretation. The different approaches in the reading of the parable reveal the unresolved quest in scholarship to establish a reading of the parable that takes into account both the steward’s act of generosity towards his master’s debtors and the praise that follows this action. This article proposes the Greco-Roman status concern as a framework for understanding the meaning of the parable in its original context. Status concern was the spirit of tenacity in maintaining one’s status and honour against all odds characteristic of Greco-Roman honour and shame culture. The article argues that when the parable is read within its literary context, it reveals that at the heart of Jesus’ message in the parable is the theme of persistence as an attribute of authentic discipleship. This understanding of the parable resonates with the entrenched Greco-Roman spirit of status concern. The interpretation would also have been relevant to Luke’s Greco-Roman auditors living on the periphery of the Greco-Roman culture with the constant pressures to conform to the ethos of the larger social context. The steward’s resolve to maintain his status even in the most difficult circumstances provided a paradigm for those Christ-followers to remain steadfast in the faith against all odds.Contribution: The article presents an alternative interpretation of the parable of the Dishonest Steward. By proposing status concern as an interpretative framework, it offers both new insights into the socio-economic and socio-cultural realities of Luke’s world and the continuing evidence of the contribution of Greco-Roman world to the development of the New Testament texts.

A New Theory on Aṣḥāb al-kahf (“The Sleepers of the Cave”) Based on Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls (dss)

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-47
Author(s):  
Rashid Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Innovative Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (dss) in 1947 substantially transformed ideas surrounding Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Up to now, Islamic scholars have paid little attention to dss, primarily because of the perception that dss are an exclusively Judeo-Christian matter. However, a common research field has grown out of dss, one that compels an Islamic response that will answer certain unaddressed queries. Therefore, in this hermeneutic synopsis, nature, history and an exposition of Aṣḥāb al-kahf are expounded in the light of references from dss, Second Temple Judaism, early Christian history, the history of the Roman Empire and astounding connections found in the Qurʾān. This delineated and innovative method may be called the “Five-Pronged Juxtaposing” approach, and it is entirely different from existing perspectives.1

The Non-Masoretic Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek Ezekiel (LXX967/LXXB), Other Non-Masoretic and Proto-Masoretic Ezekiel Texts: Evidence from Quotations of and Allusions to Ezekiel in Second Temple Judaism

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-351
Author(s):  
Karin Finsterbusch
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Textual History ◽  
Damascus Document ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Greek ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract In Second Temple Jewish Literature, more than a hundred quotations of and allusions to Ezekiel are preserved. Although only a few of them are text-critically relevant, these cases may help to shed light on the complex textual history of the book. In this article, eleven cases of quotations and allusions are analyzed in detail: Six cases should be regarded as evidence for the existence of the non-masoretic Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek Ezekiel. In two of these cases, non-aligned textual elements appear as well. Taken together with two non-aligned cases in the Damascus Document, these quotations and allusions substantiate the assumption that even more non-masoretic Ezekiel texts were in use until the beginning of the first century BCE—alongside proto-masoretic Ezekiel texts, which are attested by three cases of quotations and allusions.

Paul the ‘Convert’?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Fredriksen
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
History Of

‘Paul the “Convert”?’ has three goals: to track the history of this construction of Paul from its origins in antiquity through to the present; to examine scholarly assessments of its utility; and to offer a synthetic historical account of how and why Paul acted as he did to either side of his affiliation with the Jesus movement. In various sections the chapter examines the fundamental contributions of Munck, Stendahl, and Dahl and those of E. P. Sanders and James Dunn; the work of Alan Segal, Daniel Boyarin, and N. T. Wright; and the proposals of Gaston, Gager, and Stowers. Finally, the chapter explores newer work arguing that both the content and the context of Paul’s mission to pagans continued to be Second Temple Judaism, inflected through the peculiar eschatology of the Jesus movement. For this reason, the essay concludes, Paul’s transformative moment is best conceptualized as his ‘call’.

8. Jewish sectarianism in the Second Temple period

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy H. Lim
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Qumran Community

‘Jewish sectarianism in the Second Temple period’ contextualizes the Dead Sea Scrolls within the history of Second Temple Judaism and discusses the origins and history of the Qumran community of the Essenes. The period began under Persian rule, when Cyrus adopted a policy of religious tolerance. Alexander’s conquest of Judaea led to Hellenistic rule, until the Maccabaean revolt gained Jewish freedom. The Qumran–Essenes did not view Maccabaeans as legitimate rulers, so left the group before the Hasamonaean dynasty began. Judaism at this time comprised many sects. Some, such as the Qumran–Essenes, were introversionist and isolated, whereas others were reformist and remained in wider society.

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