The Construction of Gender in the New Testament

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen M. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Gender Construction ◽  
Gender Theory ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Classical Studies ◽  
Analytical Work ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Primary Focus

This chapter begins with a brief overview of the theorists who have shaped gender analytical work on the New Testament, especially the application of gender theory in classical studies. It then concentrates on gender analyses on New Testament writings that demonstrate the differing approaches of masculinity studies, queer theory, and intersectional analysis. The primary focus is on gender construction in Paul’s letters and the canonical gospels, with additional discussion of symbolic and metaphorical uses of gender in other writings of the New Testament. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of future directions for gender criticism.

Jeremiah and His Prophecies in the New Testament

2021 ◽  
pp. 519-538
Author(s):  
Catrin H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
New Covenant ◽  
Epistle To The Hebrews ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters

This chapter examines the various modes of reference to Jeremiah in the writings of the New Testament. It begins with an investigation of the three explicit references to the prophet Jeremiah in the Gospel of Matthew before expanding the discussion to examine various allusions to the content of Jeremiah’s prophecies in the four canonical gospels. The study will then consider the contribution of Jeremiah to Paul’s understanding of his apostolic ministry and also focus on the influence of the Jeremianic concept of “new covenant” on the understanding of the salvific significance of Christ both in Paul’s letters and in the epistle to the Hebrews. It concludes with an exploration of the various ways in which Jeremiah’s prophecies are employed in the book of Revelation, including the oracles of judgment against Babylon.

Thessalonians

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Ascough
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sexual Morality ◽  
Problematic Behavior ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
The City ◽  
Community Relationships

The two letters written to the Christian group at the city of Thessalonica occupy the thirteenth and fourteenth places in the canon of the New Testament; they are eighth and ninth in the sequence of Paul’s letters. There is little doubt that Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, and many scholars consider it to be one of his earliest letters. In contrast, the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians is much contested, with scholars split between ascribing it to Paul and ascribing it to a later writer using Paul’s name. On the other hand, the textual integrity of 2 Thessalonians is secure, while 1 Thessalonians is argued by some to be a combination of two or more letters, or at the very least, they suggest, it contains a nonauthentic interpolation at 2:13–16. The primary aim of 1 Thessalonians is to encourage Jesus’ believers to continue to progress in their faith, and Paul addresses some practical concerns to that effect: sexual morality, community relationships, and Jesus’ return. In 2 Thessalonians the emphasis lies on addressing fear and anxiety over the return of Jesus and some problematic behavior within the group.

scholarly journals The Evolution of the Pauline Canon

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Price
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters

The article aims at reviewing theories of how the Pauline Corpus first came to be. A taxonomy consisting of four families of theories is established: Paul himself collected his writings; after his death Paul lived forth in the form of a collection of his writings; an intercourse between one Pauline center and another gradually led to the exchange of copies of letters; the collection of Paul's letters gave him pothumously a centrality which he lacked in his own time until about 90 C E. The article concludes with the disputed question whether all of Paul's writings in the New Testament descend or diverge from a particular, definitive edition of the Pauline Corpus.

Pre-Critical Readings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hofreiter
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Justin Martyr ◽  
Primary Focus

This chapter briefly considers the reception of the major herem texts in a number of corpora that lie outside the primary focus of the present work: in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament itself (including the Apocrypha), in Second Temple and Jewish Hellenistic literature, in the New Testament, and in Christian authors before Marcion. These readings are ‘pre-critical’ in that they predate Marcion’s seminal criticism and do not address herem in terms of a moral challenge. The reception of herem texts within this corpus is shown to have been largely uncritical; there is some evidence of toning down in the works of Philo, who strategically omits certain herem passages and interprets others allegorically. However, neither the allegoresis by Philo nor that by Barnabas or Justin Martyr appear to have resulted from moral concerns about the texts. There is also no suggestion that these events did not in fact occur.

Procreation, Children, and Family

2019 ◽  
pp. 538-556
Author(s):  
Robert H. von Thaden
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Pastoral Epistles ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters

This chapter situates the rhetoric surrounding procreation, children, and family within the New Testament in its ancient context. Eschewing claims of uniqueness, it describes recent research into ancient understandings of family and children centered in the oikos, or household. It examines this rhetoric found in the Synoptic Gospels, Paul’s letters, and the Pastoral Epistles and the different ways that the communities that produced these texts participate in and reconfigure norms and expectations from surrounding Hellenistic, Roman, and Jewish cultures. It notes the tension, also found in non-Christian ancient cultures, between positive portrayals of family and children (as in the Household Codes) and negative evaluations of the same (in texts expressing an apocalyptic eschatological hope). It concludes by noting that early Christ-believing communities did not radically alter the situation of children in antiquity, even as they did create theological rationales for avoiding practices such as exposure and infanticide.

In Quest of the Third Heaven: Paul & his Apocalyptic Imitators

2004 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-55
Author(s):  
J.R. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Third ◽  
Authority Figure ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Social Agendas

AbstractIt is an irony of history that by late antiquity Paul had become the authority figure he never was during his lifetime. However, by the subapostolic and patristic periods Paul's apostolic authority was no longer considered quite so controversial. From 200 AD onwards Paul's letters were regularly cited alongside the Gospels and the Old Testament as 'Scripture'. It is therefore no surprise that the premier apocalyptic theologian of the New Testament would spawn several apocalyptic imitators. Two 'Apocalypses of Paul' have come down to us from antiquity, one gnostic, the other Christian. After discussing each work, the article asks to what extent the historical Paul would have agreed with these later works written in his name. The article will demonstrate how differing ecclesiastical traditions appropriated Paul for their own theological and social agendas instead of allowing the apostle to the Gentiles to speak to his first-century context

Semantic Voids, New Testament Translation, and Anachronism

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 315-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Eyl
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
New Testament ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
God's People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Pauline Studies ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Consistent Problem

This essay addresses the problem of theologically-inflected English translation choices of the New Testament, and how those translations come to bear in theologically disinterested scholarship on Christian beginnings. As a case study I examine the ubiquitous rendering ofekklesiaas “church” in Paul’s letters. I argue that Paul was not referring to Christian churches, but to the “day of theekklesia” in the Septuagint, when God’s people gathered at Sinai/Horeb. Paul is not making Christians out of pagans; he is making quasi-Judeans out of gentiles. Renderingekklesiaas “church” inscribes Christian essentialism into Paul’s letters, and masks what Paul is actually doing with this word. The bridging of Greek-to-English semantic voids on the part of translators and New Testament scholars is a consistent problem that frustrates advancements in Pauline studies, and in studies of the religions of the Roman Empire more generally.

scholarly journals Jesus - Kind van God, Vaderloos in Galilea

2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.G. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Biological Father ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
The Public ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
John's Gospel ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Literary Model

This article consists of four sections. Firstly, it reflects on the public debate regarding Jesus' alleged illegitimacy. The article argues that illegitimacy here refers to fatherlessness. Secondly, Joseph is focused on. According to New Testament writings of the latter part of the first century, Joseph is either Jesus' biological father (John's gospel) or the person who adopted him as son (the gospels of Matthew and Luke). Thirdly, Joseph as a legendary literary model is discussed (in the Old Testament, intertestamentary literature, the New Testament, writings of the Church Fathers and the dogtrines of the Orthodox Church). Fourthly, the articles sketches a picture of a fatherless Jesus based on evidence from the earliest intracanonical writings (the Sayings Gospel Q, traditions in the Gospel of Thomas, Paul's letters and the Gospel of Mark). Joseph does not appear in these writings. The article concludes with a reflection on the relevance of fatherlessness for today.

scholarly journals New Testament in a Digital Culture: A Biblaridion (Little Book) Lost in the Web?

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-38
Author(s):  
Claire Clivaz
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Classical Studies ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Impact

The digital revolution makes one attentive to a “blind spot” of modernity, the influence of the material support of writing on ideas and concepts. Modernity has led us to “believe” in the existence of “works” and “ideas” independently of their concrete expressions in the supports of writing. Such beliefs have deeply influenced modern methodologies, and among them the biblical methodological approaches. The digital revolution reminds one to take a humble attitude to our ideas, and also to our attachment to literary “works”, paying attention to the texts as documents and objects. Starting from this general idea, this article considers first the impact of some modern beliefs on Classical studies. The second part of this article argues that digital culture can particularly help us to rediscover a culture with plural literacies. Finally, this article asks if the New Testament is becoming a biblaridion (Revelation 10:2, 9-10), a “very small booklet”, lost in the World Wide Web, losing more and more of its covers and becoming potentially a “liquid book”, as described by Jacques Derrida (Adema, 2012). To go beyond such a perception, I will consider other ways to deal with a Scripture that is going out of the Book.

scholarly journals Transformative joy in Qohelet: A thread that faintly glistens

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalie E. Steenkamp-Nel
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Spiritual Transformation ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
New Spirituality

Qohelet prompted a rich body of work reflecting the breadth of the Old Testament book’s appeal. Few, however, interpret Qohelet’s spiritual dimension, incarnated in life. I will opt to offer an overarching framework that holds the book together and that was until now absent in the discourse on Qohelet. It will be argued that spiritual transformation provides a fruitful theoretical framework for Qohelet. I will indicate that Qohelet undertook a spiritual journey in which his experiences fostered profound spiritual transformation, and ultimately a new paradigm leapfrogging old spiritual infrastructure and choices. The framework that evolved from this effort delineates four phases, stages or movements. In order to provide clarity and enhance understanding of this concept, the analysis will be done on the basis of the leitwort (or keyword) ‘joy’. The findings point to the importance of spiritual transformation, directing readers towards a new spirituality. The article concludes with suggestions on future directions regarding Qohelet as a ‘bridge book’ to the New Testament.

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