Into the World of the New Testament: Greco-Roman and Jewish Texts and Contexts. By Daniel Lynwood Smith. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015. Pp. xxii + 233; illustrations, maps. Cloth, $82.00; paper, $24.95.

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-167
Author(s):  
Ryan S. Schellenberg
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament

scholarly journals The Catalogs of Vices and Virtues in the Pauline Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 130-146
Author(s):  
José David Padilla
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Virtuous Life

It was common to find in the writings of the different Greco-Roman philosophical schools of the first century certain catalogs of two or more vices and virtues. They were used to teach that a virtuous life ensured well-being and health while encouraging their disciples to abandon their vicious life leading to ruin. These catalogs influenced the composition of moral catalogs in the New Testament, especially in the letters written or attributed to Paul. Their catalogs were used as a rhetorical tool where the moral teachings of Christianity were developed and taught. According to the divine plan in Christ Jesus, good acts or virtues were considered divinely inspired because they helped the growth of the human person. On the other hand, bad actions or vices were seen as unworthy or sinful because they go against God’s plan and as a sign of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Thus, the catalogs of vices and virtues invited conversion and invited us to wait for the day when God will make all evil and corruption disappear from the world when love (agape), the Christian virtue per excellence, would be the norm for all.

The New Testament: Matthew

2020 ◽  
pp. 286-311
Author(s):  
Jon Stewart
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Important Change ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Value System ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Individual

Chapter 11 explores the revolution in human thought that took place with the birth of Christianity. The chapter begins with a general account of the New Testament and its modern critics. A general introduction is also given to The Gospel of Matthew specifically, which is examined in order to outline the key elements in Jesus’ teachings. Jesus’ doctrine of love is contrasted to the Greco-Roman warrior ethic that has been discussed in connection with Homer and Virgil. It is argued that the Christian value system in effect inverts the previous value system of the pagan world by arguing that what is valuable in the world is in fact worthless. By contrast, Jesus points to the inner sphere of the individual. This also marks a shift in the Jewish tradition, which was focused on the obedience to external law. This can be seen most clearly in Jesus’ ethical teachings when he claims that the locus of sin is not in the act in the external world but rather in the heart of the individual. This is the beginning of an important change in thinking about the nature of responsibility. Christianity contributed in an important way to the development of subjectivity and inwardness. The chapter ends with a consideration of certain elements of Christianity in the thought of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

scholarly journals ‘De God van de vrede’ in het Nieuwe Testament

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Van Houwelingen
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Roman Culture

‘The God of peace’ in the New Testament. Why does the New Testament use the expression ‘the God of peace’ and what is the meaning of this phrase? In the Old Testament, the God of Israel is often connected with peace, but he is never called ‘the God of peace’. Not until the Hellenistic period is this expression sporadically found in Judaism (once in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and once in Philo). As for the biblical Umwelt, the gods of the ancient Near East were not very peace-loving, and in the perception of Greco-Roman culture the god of war, Arès/Mars, as one of the twelve Olympians was much more prominent than Eirènè/Pax. However, the expression ‘the God of peace’ is found several times in the Corpus Paulinum and once in the letter to the Hebrews. This article investigates all New Testament texts that have this formula, suggesting that the apostle Paul could be responsible for the wording. In conclusion, Paul states that the God of Israel desires to establish a definitive peace in his creation through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and by finally defeating all powers of evil. This apostolic message further indicates that Christians are supposed to be bearers of peace, promoting a peaceful atmosphere in their environment and in the world.

Jewish Women’s Life and Practice in the World of the New Testament

2019 ◽  
pp. 219-237
Author(s):  
Tal Ilan
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Rabbinic Literature ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Private Space ◽  
Gender Research ◽  
Politics And Religion ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament

The women of the New Testament were Jewish women, and for historians of the period their mention and status in the New Testament constitutes the missing link between the way women are portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and their changed status in rabbinic literature (Mishnah and Talmud). In this chapter, I examine how they fit into the Jewish concepts of womanhood. I examine various recognized categories that are relevant for gender research such as patriarchy, public and private space, law, politics, and religion. In each case I show how these affected Jewish women, and how the picture that emerges from the New Testament fits these categories.

‘Public Theology’ in Luke-Acts: The Witness of the Gospel to Powers and Authorities

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-252
Author(s):  
James R. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Roman Military

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.

Soteria

1953 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-416
Author(s):  
R. McL. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Good News ◽  
Early Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Love Of God ◽  
Wrath Of God

In the Gospel according to St. John it is written that ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-lasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ In these familiar words is summed up the message of the Bible as a whole, and of the New Testament in particular. In spite of all that may be said of sin and depravity, of judgment and the wrath of God, the last word is one not of doom but of salvation. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is a Gospel of salvation, of deliverance and redemption. The news that was carried into all the world by the early Church was the Good News of the grace and love of God, revealed and made known in Jesus Christ His Son. In the words of Paul, it is that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself’.

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