Now available in English

In discussions of the origin of the Pentateuch, the Priestly source traditionally constitutes an undisputed reference point for different source-critical models, and it is the only literary layer with concise terminology and a theological conception that can be extracted from a non-Priestly context. This English translation of Abschied von der Priesterschrift? Zum Stand der Pentateuchdebatte revisits the scholarly debate surrounding the Documentary Hypothesis and the so-called Priestly material’s position either as an independent written source or as a redaction within the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. Contributors include Christoph Berner, Erhard Blum, Jan Christian Gertz, Christoph Levin, Eckart Otto, Christophe Nihan, and Thomas Römer.

"This is a book about submission and subversion, injustice and justice, heroes and villains."

In Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? Jimmy Hoke reads Romans with an innovative, intersectional approach that produces distinctive meanings for passages that probe how queer wo/men who first encountered Paul's letter could have engaged with it. Though Paul's letter to the Romans arguably contains the Bible’s strongest condemnation of queer wo/men (1:26–27), that is not the letter's full story. Hoke turns a feminist and queer gaze toward Paul’s conception of faith and ethics, making explicit how Paul's theology throughout Romans has been affectively motivated by imperial notions of gender, race, and sexuality. Moving beyond Paul's singular voice, Hoke engages with a feminist and queer praxis of assemblage to generate plausible ways wo/men of Rome interacted with this epistle. By engaging affect theory, Hoke brings to life not only ideas and words but the feelings and sensations that moved in-between some of the earliest Christ-followers, revealing how queer wo/men were there among them and what that means for queer wo/men today. Hoke includes a reader's guide with key terms used throughout the book, making this an excellent option for both students and scholars beginning to engage not only Paul's letters but also the complex worlds of feminist, queer, and affect theories.

Chart the development of feminist approaches and theories of interpretation during the period when women first joined the ranks of biblical scholars

This collection of essays on feminist biblical studies in the twentieth century seeks to explore four areas of inquiry demanding further investigation. In the first section, articles chart the beginnings and developments of feminist biblical studies as a conversation among feminists around the world. The second section introduces, reviews, and discusses the hermeneutic religious spaces created by feminist biblical studies. The third segment discusses academic methods of reading and interpretation that dismantle androcentric language and kyriarchal authority. The fourth section returns to the first with work that transgresses academic boundaries in order to exemplify the transforming, inspiring, and institutionalizing feminist work that has been and is being done to change religious mindsets of domination and to enable wo/men to engage in critical readings of the Bible.

Features:

• Essays examine the rupture or break in the malestream reception history of the Bible
• Exploration of the term feminism in different social-cultural and theoretical-religious locations
• Authors from around the world present research and future directions for research challenging the next generation of feminist interpreters

The most up-to-date sourcebook on warfare in the ancient Near East

Fighting for the King and the Gods provides an introduction to the topic of war and the variety of texts concerning many aspects of warfare in the ancient Near East. These texts illustrate various viewpoints of war and show how warfare was an integral part of life. Trimm examines not only the victors and the famous battles, but also the hardship that war brought to many. While several of these texts treated here are well known (i.e., Ramses II's battle against the Hittites at Qadesh), others are known only to specialists. This work will allow a broader audience to access and appreciate these important texts as they relate to the history and ideology of warfare.

Features

• References to recent secondary literature for further study
• Early Greek and Chinese illustrative texts for comparisons with other cultures
• Indices to help guide the reader

A fresh look at early urban churches

This collection of essays examines the urban context of early Christian churches in the first-century Roman world. A city-by-city investigation of the early churches in the New Testament clarifies the challenges, threats, and opportunities that urban living provided for early Christians. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how scholars assemble an accurate picture of the cities in which the first Christians flourished.

Features:

• Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography
• Discussion of how to use different types of evidence responsibly
• Outline of what constitutes proper methodological use for establishing a nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church

Volume two of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Corinth. An investigation of the material evidence of Corinth helps readers today understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Corinthian believers faced in the city. The essays demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the Corinthian epistles in the New Testament.

Features:

• Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography
• Proposed reeconstructions of the past and its social, religious, and political significance
• A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Corinth

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church in Ephesus

The third installment of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Ephesus. As with previous volumes, contributors illustrate how an investigation of the material evidence will help readers understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Ephesian believers faced in that city. Brad Bitner, James R. Harrison, Michael Haxby, Fredrick J. Long, Guy M. Rogers, Michael Theophilos, Paul Trebilco, and Stephan Witetschek demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the New Testament writings, particularly Ephesians, Acts, and Revelation.

Features

• Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography
• Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious and political significance
• A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Ephesus

Investigate the challenges and opportunities experienced by the early church

This fourth installment of The First Urban Churches, edited by James R. Harrison and L. L. Welborn, focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Philippi. The international team of New Testament and classical scholars contributing to the volume present essays that use inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography to examine the rivalries, imperial context, and ecclesial setting of the Philippian church.

Features:

• Analysis of the material and epigraphic evidence relating to first- and second-century CE Roman Philippi
• Examination of important passages from Philippians within their ancient urban context
• Investigation of the social composition and membership of the Philippian church from the archaeological and documentary evidence

New research that transforms how to understand food and eating in literature

Meredith J. C. Warren identifies and defines a new genre in ancient texts that she terms hierophagy, a specific type of transformational eating where otherworldly things are consumed. Multiple ancient Mediterranean, Jewish, and Christian texts represent the ramifications of consuming otherworldly food, ramifications that were understood across religious boundaries. Reading ancient texts through the lens of hierophagy helps scholars and students interpret difficult passages in Joseph and Aseneth, 4 Ezra, Revelation 10, and the Persephone myths, among others.

Features:

• Exploration of how ancient literature relies on bending, challenging, inverting, and parodying cultural norms in order to make meaning out of genres
• Analysis of hierophagy as social action that articulates how patterns of communication across texts and cultures emerge and diverge
• A new understanding of previously confounding scenes of literary eating

Engaging resources for understanding the importance of bodies and spaces in producing and interpreting persuasive language

This volume collects essays that represent intellectual milestones that are informing sociorhetorical interpretation during the twenty-first century. The essays are arranged into five parts: (1) Topos; (2) Cultural Geography and Critical Spatiality; (3) Rhetorolects and Conceptual Blending; (4) Rhetography; and (5) Rhetorical Force.

Features:

• Tools for integrating multiple approaches to biblical interpretation
• Resources that emphasize the importance of language that prompts mental pictures in effective rhetoric
• Essays from classicists, rhetoricians, and biblical scholars

Dr. Ehrhardt considers that New Testament teaching could benefit by being more closely related to its context and background than is often the case. He suggests that the method of the presentation of the Gospel is important, as well as the intention behind it.

In an examination of the background, Dr. Ehrhardt deals principally with two aspects. The first is the fact that the New Testament and the form Christianity took in the first few centuries after the death of Christ were subject to several influences. One of the most important was Greek and Dr. Ehrhardt traces Hellenistic influence in St. Paul's treatment of Christ, in Greek modes of thought in the preaching of the Gospel and the historical tradition in the Book of Acts. He then turns to Jewish and Roman practices and ideas which played a part in forming Church doctrine and ritual, such as ordination and baptism. Secondly, he discusses the daily life of the newly-converted Christians, the problems they met with and the changes that took place.

It is hoped that these essays, many of which aim at giving a fresh, rather than a final view, may prove stimulating by asking unfamiliar questions and offering new solutions.