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Tyndale Bulletin |
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Summary
The Bible presents writing as a normal activity of daily life, but
no Hebrew books survive from Iron Age Palestine to attest that. The written
documents found there are few and brief in comparison with those from Egypt and
Mesopotamia, yet they attest a varied use of writing which, this paper argues,
reached beyond the scribal circles of palace and temple. Considered in the light
of inscriptions from neighbouring lands, Hebrew epigraphy presents a richer
source, lacking only royal monuments. On the basis of that evidence and
analogies from other parts of the ancient Near East, a case is made for the
possibility of written literature existing in the land from at least the tenth
century B.C. onwards.
Summary
The location of an Augustan milestone on the road along the south
coast of Cyprus suggests that this is a likely route for Paul and Barnabas on
their tour 'through the whole of the island'. This would have allowed them to
have visited some of the key cities of the province.
Summary
This article considers the application of rhetorical critical
methods to 1 Thessalonians, summarising the approaches of significant scholars
before considering the rhetorical genre of the letter. After considering the
options, a key issue is identified: the question of whether Paul faced opponents
in the church at Thessalonica. The evidence favours a negative conclusion, and
the rhetorical genre is concluded to be epideictic, because of the focus of the
letter on praise and blame.
Summary
This article considers Carsten P. Thiede's arguments concerning
the date of P64 and suggests that he has both over-estimated the amount of
stylistic similarity between P64 and several Palestinian Greek manuscripts and
under-estimated the strength of the scholarly consensus of a date around AD 200.
Comparable manuscripts are adduced and examined which lead to the conclusion
that the later date is to be preferred.
Summary
This article re-examines the common positioning of the Pastoral
Epistles at the transition from second to third generation Christianity. While
there is validity in recognising theological development in the Pastoral
Epistles, this need not be explained in terms of late discontinuity with Pauline
theology; unnecessary methodological assumptions lie behind such a view. It is
more likely that the Pastoral Epistles develop Pauline theology at the juncture
of first and second generation Christianity.
Summary
The creation narrative of Genesis 1:1-2:3 is characterised by
three fundamental ideas which are linked to each other by the theme of man's
work: creation in six days, man as the image of God, and the Sabbath. This theme
is sustained in the main body of the book of Genesis, as one would expect with
material which was intended to serve as a careful prologue to the rest of the
book.
Summary
How did Paul maintain contact with believers in Philippi whilst he
was imprisoned? Does the number of journeys implied in Philippians argue against
the letter's composition in Rome? The conveyance of letters and news in
antiquity is discussed with particular reference to the imperial post and the
suggestion that Paul may have used it. The nature of the contact between Paul
and the Philippians is investigated. The conclusion is reached that the
Macedonian church most probably learned of Paul's despatch from Caesarea to Rome
whilst he was en route. Epaphroditus may have already been in Rome when Paul
arrived. The number of journeys implied in Philippians does not preclude a Roman
provenance.
Summary
Two of some eighteen citations of scripture in the Fourth Gospel
are examined in detail in order to demonstrate that John's use of the Old
Testament is based on received Jewish exegetical methods. His treatment of
scripture is essential to major facets of his gospel, namely his christology and
polemical thrust.
First Paragraph:
The recent application of sociological perspectives to
the study of the New Testament has generated interest in the construction and
maintenance of social worlds in early Christianity. The theoretical model which
provides the paradigm for this line of inquiry is derived from the work of T.
Luckmann and P.O. Berger in the sociology of knowledge. This study attempts to
elucidate and refine our understanding of the phenomenon of world-construction
in Pauline Christianity by exploring the roles of the words 'world' and
'creation' , which are Paul's main terms in this process.
First Paragraph:
This study examines Matthew 11:28-30 and Hebrews 3:7-4:11
as the New Testament passages in which the rest motif is expressed thematically.
It investigates both passages as products of first-century Judaism and
Christianity in the light of the realisation that the Old Testament is the most
important factor for establishing the concerns and thinking of the New Testament
writers. For both, God's promises of rest to Israel, as those promises were
expressed in the Old Testament, were coming to fulfilment in Christ.
First Paragraph:
The introduction reviews recent work in OT ethics,
highlighting the persistent methodological confusion. The discussion points out
the importance of distinguishing between the related tasks of describing,
synthesising and applying the ethics of the OT. Deuteronomy is proposed as a
case study in description and synthesis, and an appropriate method developed.
The implications of the outcome of this study for the possibility of speaking of
a coherent ethical 'system' within the OT as a whole are examined.
First Paragraph:
This thesis argues that the use and influence of the
Jewish Scriptures in Ephesians pertains directly to our (and the originally
intended readers') understanding of the letter and that this influence is rather
greater and more deliberate than has been suggested. It examines those instances
where the author manifestly made use of wording which can be directly or
indirectly traced to the Jewish Scriptures. I have therefore focused on
quotations and allusions (1:20-3; 2:13-7; 5:14; 5:31; 6:2f.; 6:10, 14-7) and on
what I believe to be deliberate reformulation of a Biblical text in the light of
its perceived misuse by the author's, or his community's, opponents (Eph. 4:8).
In addition there is a chapter on the cluster of Old Testament phraseology in
Ephesians 4:25-30.