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Tyndale Bulletin |
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Summary
Part 1 reviewed recent studies that suggest the presence of
significant editorial activity in the final form of the Hebrew Bible. It also
presented evidence for such editorial activity in the first major division of
the Hebrew Bible, the Torah. Part 2 now considers the second and third divisions
of the canon, the Prophets and the Writings. Again, the themes of Torah and
Temple, so prominent in the Torah, also provide a hermeneutical framework for
these divisions. This editorial activity is also considered as internal evidence
which can help determine the order of some of the books, particularly in the
Writings.
Summary
This is the first part of a two-part study of Nietzsche and
Christianity. Nietzsche's phrase 'Dionysus against the Crucified' is used as a
kind of text for the articles. 'Dionysus' is the principle of life: raw, tragic,
joyful, but real, subject to no extraneous principle. 'The Crucified' is the
principle of death: anti-natural, symbolising consciousness of sin and
foreboding authority of God, imposing a morbid principle on life. This part is
strictly descriptive and although it outlines some elements in Nietzsche's
philosophy, it suggests that philosophy as such will not provide an adequate
response.
Summary
It is usually thought that Jews sacrificed their Passover
offerings in the Temple during the afternoon of 14th Nisan. There is, however,
evidence that many people sacrificed on the 13th Nisan and the morning of the
14th Nisan.
Summary
All three Synoptic accounts of the Last Supper describe a cup
offering in which Jesus refers to an act done for beneficiaries. This act,
expressed by the present passive participle ejkcunnovmenon is rendered by most
modern translations with present tense verb forms and has been treated by source
and historical critical researchers as denoting a 'pouring out' taking place at
the supper table. Nevertheless, biblical Greek usage indicates that a
participle's time-sense was determined not by tense but by verbal aspect derived
from content. If, as this essay proposes, verbal aspect establishes a future
time sense for ejkcunnovmenon, it would indicate that the Synoptic Gospels, like
John's Gospel, are describing a Passover supper on the eve of the Day of
Preparation and portraying Jesus as speaking of the shedding of blood on the
cross, not the libation at the table.
Summary
Recent publications on Old Testament wisdom literature perpetuate
the theory of a 'crisis in wisdom' and leave unresolved the question of its
provenance within Old Testament theology. Despite considerable diversity within
the wisdom corpus, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job are in basic agreement
regarding wisdom's limitations and benefits, as well as regarding divine freedom
and retribution. Thus a case can be made for unity in wisdom theology, a
theology which is rooted in Israel's covenant faith and in its creation
traditions. The intertextual relationships between the wisdom corpus and the
other Old Testament books indicate that this tradition has been consciously
integrated into the larger Old Testament canon.
Summary
Insufficient attention has been given to the meaning of the four
distinctive terms used in Romans 13:7: 'tribute' (fovro"), 'tax' (tevlo"),
'reverence' (fovbo"), and 'honour' (timhv). This article will discuss these
terms in relation to the Graeco-Roman semantic field of political obligation,
dividing them into the categories of 'tangible' obligations (tribute and tax)
and 'intangible' obligations (reverence and honour). We will also examine Romans
13:7 in light of the social context of the Neronean era, in which there was an
increasing burden of taxation and the introduction of legal penalties for
failure to show due reverence and honour to those in authority.
Summary
This article suggests that the association of the fall of
Jerusalem and the consummation of the age in Mark 13 finds a parallel in the
linkage of the collapse of the Roman Republic and the collapse of the cosmos in
Lucan's Civil War. Both texts, it is proposed, link a historical catastrophe
with the end of the world/age in broadly similar ways.
Summary:
The most recent critical editions of the New Testament along with
a majority of modern commentators do no believe the apostle Paul calls for the
appointment of Christian arbiters in 1 Corinthians 6:4. Drawing attention to the
cultural and legal situation of Corinth, and to certain features of Greek
grammar, this essay argues that Paul indeed calls for the 'despised' Christians
in Corinth to be made arbiters should lawsuits arise.
Summary:
On the basis of Otto Weinreich's Antike Heilungswunder (1909), it
is generally thought that the idea that a simple touch can have healing power
originated with the Greeks. The present essay argues, however, that this concept
is proper to the Gospels and to texts dependent on them. There are no Greek
cases of such healings before the rise of Christianity. Before Christ, the
concept of healing by a mere touch occurs only in one isolated case, viz. the
Genesis Apocryphon from Qumran.
First paragraph:
In a recent study relating to Genesis 3:15, Jack Collins
observes that certain syntactical features make it possible to distinguish
between [r"z< meaning 'seed' (singular) and 'seeds' (plural). This is
important because the noun [r"z< itself does not have distinctive singular
and plural forms; the singular form [r"z< also functions as a collective
noun. After surveying all the occurrences of [r"z< meaning 'offspring' in the
Hebrew Bible, Collins concludes that when a writer wishes to indicate that
[r"z< 'denotes a specific descendant, it appears with singular verb
inflections, adjectives, and pronouns'. On this basis the 'seed of the woman' in
Genesis 3:15 must be understood as referring to a single individual and not
numerous descendants.
First paragraph:
Before 1945 a few pioneers began to argue that
anti-semitic sentiments exist in some New Testament writings. After the war
other scholars joined in with this contention, culminating in Rosemary Ruether's
Faith and Fratricide (1974). The Fourth Gospel, with its notable
polemic against 'the Jews', has subsequently remained largely abandoned to an
anti-Jewish interpretation. Our aim is to demonstrate that the Fourth Gospel is
not anti-semitic.
First paragraph:
Martin Luther's approach to Holy Scripture remains
controversial. Though most recognise his significance in the history of biblical
interpretation, no genuine consensus has yet emerged concerning the basic
elements of his approach. Attempts to portray him as the forefather of biblical
criticism, an archetypal fundamentalist, and even a proto-existentialist, all
attract trenchant criticism. The interests of the twentieth century repeatedly
intrude and distort many reconstructions. In the commotion, Luther's own voice
is often lost.
First paragraph:
Paul's speech to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts
20:18-35) is important for two interlocking debates: first, concerning the
relationship between the portrait of Paul found in Acts and that derived from
the epistles; and second, concerning Luke's sources-specifically, whether Luke
had knowledge of the Pauline epistles. This thesis contributes to both debates
by a careful examination of the speech, and a comparison with speeches by Jesus
in Luke's Gospel (to see how Lukan the Miletus speech is) and 1 Thessalonians
(to see how Pauline the speech is).