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  3. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

Cambridge is proud of its long-standing arrangement with the Society for New Testament Studies to publish its monograph series. The first title was published in 1965; there are now well over one hundred and fifty. Books in the series present specialised research into all aspects of New Testament textual and historical culture, taking a range of approaches. This is widely recognised as the most authoritative and prestigious forum for serious scholarly publication in the area, and series books are highly regarded by biblical scholars the world over.

  • General Editors: Catrin Williams, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David
  • Associate Editors: Brittany Wilson, Duke University, North Carolina, Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University, Ontario

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149 results in Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

Page 5 of 8

Paradise Now and Not Yet
  • Studies in the Role of the Heavenly Dimension in Paul's Thought with Special Reference to his Eschatology
  • Andrew T. Lincoln
  • Published online:
    03 November 2009
    Print publication:
    17 September 1981
  • Dr Lincoln sees three main factors contributing to the Pauline picture of heaven: Paul's Jewish conceptual background and knowledge of Old Testament and other traditions about heaven; the effect on that inherited background of Paul's encounter with the risen Saviour and his later visions and revelations of the heavenly Christ; and his apostolic task in moulding the thought and practice of the converts in the churches for which he felt responsible, countering what lie considered to be distorted views or false options. The author analyses passages in Paul's letters where the concept of heaven plays a significant role, and discusses the relation of the concept to the background of his thought, his views of history, of the cosmos, of the destiny of humanity, and of the nature of Christian existence. As a uniquely full treatment of a neglected aspect of Paul's thought this monograph makes an important and contemporarily relevant contribution to New Testament studies.

Theological Hermeneutics and 1 Thessalonians
  • Angus Paddison
  • Published online:
    02 November 2009
    Print publication:
    05 May 2005
  • This book proposes a theological reading of 1 Thessalonians, making an important response to the increasing demand to relate biblical scholarship more closely to theological concerns. Paddison's interpretation adheres very closely to the text and is divided into three parts. Part I offers a theological critique of dominant historical-critical readings of 1 Thessalonians. Part II examines the history of interpretation of 1 Thessalonians focusing on the pre-Modern exegesis of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. Paddison explores what theological exegetes can learn from Thomas Aquinas' Lectura and John Calvin's commentary on 1 Thessalonians. Aided by the insights of these neglected pre-Modern commentators, Part III presents a theologically driven interpretation of the letter. Theological exegesis is practised as a dialogue with Paul, the canon and a plethora of theological voices to elucidate Paddison's central argument, that the astonishing subject-matter of 1 Thessalonians is God's all-powerful hold over death.

The Problem of the Text of Acts
  • W. A. Strange
  • Published online:
    30 October 2009
    Print publication:
    02 April 1992
  • In the book of Acts, the so-called Western text departs from the alternative text in numerous points of detail. These divergences in the textual tradition of Acts have been the subject of renewed interest in recent years, with a notable concentration on Lucan traits in the Western text. The author of this study takes into account recent theories which have been proposed on the textual tradition of Acts, and puts forward an ingenious thesis (not considered hitherto) to explain the existence of two streams of textual tradition for the book. Analysis of a number of Western textual variants in Acts suggests that they may have arisen from the incorporation of marginal annotations into the text of Acts, but Lucan thought and language is indeed characteristic of these readings. Investigation of the non-Western textual tradition uncovers occasional signs of editing according to the interests of the second-century church. From this evidence Dr Strange proposes that Acts shared the fate of numerous other works of antiquity by being published posthumously; the work of two second-century editors is responsible for the remarkable divergence in the textual tradition of Acts.

Paul's Intercessory Prayers
  • The Significance of the Intercessory Prayer Passages in the Letters of St Paul
  • Gordon P. Wiles
  • Published online:
    30 October 2009
    Print publication:
    31 January 1974
  • A study of the communal worship and private prayers of the early Christian Church, in particular the intercessory prayer passages in Paul's seven epistles. Professor Wiles is concerned to discover what these prayers reveal about Paul's ministry and his apostolic strategy. Were his assurances that he was praying continually for his readers merely polite expressions? Were his requests for their prayers sincere and serious? How did this affect his relations with the churches and his influence on them? To answer these questions the book makes a thorough analysis of the prayer passages in the light of ancient epistolary and liturgical style. It places the passages within the structure of each letter, and relates them to the dynamic situation for which each was written.

The Son of Man in the Teaching of Jesus
  • A. J. B. Higgins
  • Published online:
    30 October 2009
    Print publication:
    18 December 1980
  • This monograph develops the view that the Synoptic Gospels suggest that Jesus expected vindication of his earthly mission after his death by receiving a status of exaltation in the presence of God. This would involve the exercise of the functions of judging and ruling associated with the Jewish concept of the Son of man. A variety of alternative explanations has been offered concerning the origin and meaning of this title as it appears in the Gospels. The earlier part of this book examines the most important of these against their Jewish background. The second part examines in detail the most important Son of man sayings attributed to Jesus in the first three Gospels. The author concludes that some of these sayings which refer to the Son of man in his future exaltation and glory alone contain authentic words of Jesus in which the term has a messianic sense; and that the Son of man christology in the gospels originated not in the creative thought of early Christians but in the preaching of Jesus himself.

The Apocalypse and Semitic Syntax
  • Steven Thompson
  • Published online:
    29 October 2009
    Print publication:
    31 January 1985
  • This book offers a consistent explanation of the peculiarity of the language of the Apocalypse (or Book of Revelation), namely that the rules of Greek grammar are broken because of the influence of Hebrew and Aramaic. It advances previous similar hypotheses in three ways. First, it focuses chiefly on the verbal system. Secondly, by methodically citing the ancient Greek translations of the Old Testament to demonstrate Hebrew/Aramaic influence, it serves as a limited survey of the syntax of the Septuagint. Thirdly, it argues that the Apocalypse's grammar was influenced not by later Hebrew/Aramaic dialects in use during the first century AD but by Old Testament Hebrew/Aramaic. This thesis suggests a new approach to the Apocalypse that gives greater attention to the influence of Old Testament Hebrew/Aramaic grammar and a fuller awareness of the writer's indebtedness to the Old Testament.

The Temptation and the Passion
  • The Markan Soteriology
  • 2nd edition
  • Ernest Best
  • Published online:
    28 October 2009
    Print publication:
    23 August 1990
  • The aim of this book is to illuminate the manner in which Mark understood Jesus' death. That death forms the climax of the Gospel, and is all-important for the evangelist. Since it is central to every form of Christianity, much has already been written on the significance Jesus' death had for Mark. Most previous studies, like the first edition of this book, used redaction criticism to interpret Mark's viewpoint from the alterations he made to the form of the Passion narrative as he had received it from tradition. More recently the Gospels have been examined as continuous stories, and the author adopts this approach in the additional material of his new edition. By examining the general sweep of the narrative, and in particular of its last chapters, Professor Best attempts to show how Mark saw Jesus' death as both an atonement for sin and as creative of the new community of the Church.

Hebrews and Perfection
  • An Examination of the Concept of Perfection in the Epistle to the Hebrews
  • David Peterson
  • Published online:
    28 October 2009
    Print publication:
    18 November 1982
  • The concept of perfection is central to the Epistle to the Hebrews but what is the precise meaning to be attached to the perfecting of Christ and the perfecting of Christians? Is teleioun to be understood in a cultic or ethical sense, or with reference to glorification; or is it employed in a formal sense so that the meaning has to be determined solely from the context? A thorough survey of the background literature suggests to Dr Peterson that it is only the context and, in particular, the object of the verb which can decide its sense on any specific occasion, and it is this method he pursues.

Discerning the Spirits
  • Theological and Ethical Hermeneutics in Paul
  • André Munzinger
  • Published online:
    26 October 2009
    Print publication:
    02 August 2007
  • How did Paul determine ethical and theological truth? Were all believers expected to be able to 'discern the spirits' (1 Corinthians 12.10)? This 2007 study shows that discernment must be understood against the backdrop of an extensive hermeneutic, by which Paul inherently relates ethical and theological knowledge. Understanding the will of God requires noetic and existential transformation, in short, the 'renewal of the mind' (Romans 12.2). Munzinger argues that Paul implies a process of inspiration in which the Spirit sharpens the discerning functions of the mind because the believer is liberated from a value system dominated by status and performance. The love of God enables all believers to learn to interpret reality in a transformed manner and to develop creative solutions to questions facing their communities. For Paul authentic discernment is linked to a comprehensive sense of meaning.

Wisdom in the Q-Tradition
  • The Aphoristic Teaching of Jesus
  • Ronald Allen Piper
  • Published online:
    25 October 2009
    Print publication:
    27 January 1989
  • One of the least well-researched aspects of the teaching of Jesus found in the gospels is the use of proverbs, or aphorisms. Whilst the parables of Jesus have drawn great interest and study, this other kind of saying has been relatively neglected, although it is equally if not more prominent in the gospel-tradition. The present study is an attempt to show how these proverbial or aphoristic sayings played an important role in the early formulation of the sayings of Jesus by the church. Small collections of aphoristic sayings can be detected in the sayings tradition known as 'Q'. These collections reveal markedly similar structures and concepts, which lead one to suspect that they have been compiled by a unique group which had a particular interest in 'wisdom'. These findings are then tested by analysing other aphoristic sayings outside the collections and by relating the results to other studies which have approached the question of 'wisdom' in the Jesus-tradition from other angles.

'And so we Came to Rome '
  • The Political Perspective of St Luke
  • Paul W. Walaskay
  • Published online:
    23 October 2009
    Print publication:
    17 November 1983
  • It has often been suggested that Luke's two volumes were written as an apology for Christianity, to demonstrate to the Roman authorities that the new faith was not a dangerous and subversive innovation, a threat to the Pax Romana and to Roman rule. This book reviews the development of the 'traditional perspective', then raises some questions, e.g. if Luke was writing an apologia pro ecclesia, why does he include so much material politically damaging to the Christian cause? Is it possible that the approach has been made from the wrong angle, that Luke was writing an apologia not pro ecclesia but pro imperio, to assure his fellow Christians that Church and Empire need not fear or suspect each other? This conclusion is then supported by an investigation of the text of Luke-Acts, particularly the trials of Jesus and Paul. This challenging volume will be of interest to students and scholars of the New Testament and to ecclesiastical and Roman historians.

Faith as a Theme in Mark's Narrative
  • Christopher D. Marshall
  • Published online:
    22 October 2009
    Print publication:
    20 July 1989
  • Mark's gospel has attracted an enormous amount of scholarly attention over recent decades. The major themes of the gospel have been studied exhaustively and from a variety of critical perspectives. But at least one important theme in Mark has been comparatively neglected in recent study, the theme of faith. This critically acclaimed book redresses such neglect through a thorough exegetical and literary study of all the references to faith in Mark's composition.

Irony in Mark's Gospel
  • Text and Subtext
  • Jerry Camery-Hoggatt
  • Published online:
    22 October 2009
    Print publication:
    30 April 1992
  • The author of this lucid and interdisciplinary study of Mark's Gospel believes that - when applied to Gospel texts - sociological analysis and literary criticism may be far closer together in purpose and intent than is often supposed. Professor Camery-Hoggatt therefore begins his work with an exploration of the social functions of narrative in general, and of ironic narrative in particular. He then turns to the literary functions of the internal elements of the narrative, and draws the two discussions together into a single framework that can be used as a lens through which Mark's Gospel can be read. The author's claim is that irony - especially dramatic irony - thoroughly permeates the Gospel, and that this evinces a rhetorical strategy central to Mark's whole narrative. The second half of the book shows that the presence of irony is especially powerful when the deeper level of meaning is somehow hidden from the story's characters.

Jewish Communities in Asia Minor
  • Paul R. Trebilco
  • Published online:
    21 October 2009
    Print publication:
    31 May 1991
  • Scholarly assessment of Jewish communities in the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman Diaspora has, in the past, been dominated by our knowledge of the large and influential communities in Rome and Alexandria. This book brings together the evidence for significant Jewish communities in another part of the Diaspora, namely Asia Minor. By collating archaeological, epigraphic, classical, New Testament and patristic sources, the book provides an invaluable and coherent description of the life of Jewish communities in Asia Minor, and so gives a more complete picture than was previously available of Jewish life at the time. By describing the strength, vitality and diversity of Jewish life in Asia Minor, the author is able to point to the retention of their Jewish identity by these communities, despite their close relations with the wider pagan society in which they lived. A degree of integration did not, therefore, mean the abandonment of an active attachment to Jewish tradition. The survey the book provides thus contributes to our understanding of the New Testament and of early Christianity.

The Melchizedek Tradition
  • A Critical Examination of the Sources to the Fifth Century A.D. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews
  • Fred L. Horton Jr.
  • Published online:
    16 October 2009
    Print publication:
    15 July 1976
  • This monograph seeks to answer the question why Melchizedek, who is a minor figure in the Old Testament, is selected by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to represent the priesthood of Christ. In the course of his study, Professor Horton surveys the traditions about Melchizedek from the Old Testment period, in Philo, Josephus and Qumran, to the later sources in Rabbinical and patristic writings and the Gnosticism. The book concludes with a critical examination of the claims made for the dependence of Hebrews on the Qumran figure and tradition. The author finally rejects this interpretation in favour of a source and background for Hebrews in an independent and largely original interpretation of the Old Testament passages.

Discipleship and Family Ties in Mark and Matthew
  • Stephen C. Barton
  • Published online:
    15 October 2009
    Print publication:
    08 December 1994
  • During the first two centuries CE there was a common awareness that familial tensions were generated by conversions to the Christian faith. Yet studies of Christian origins have so far paid little attention to the impact of the Christian movement upon attitudes to family ties and natural kinship. Stephen C. Barton remedies this deficiency by means of a detailed study of the relevant passages in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. First, however, he examines the religious traditions of Judaism and the philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world, and shows that the tensions apparent within the Christian movement were by no means unique. In all three areas of thought and religious belief there is found the conviction that familial obligations may be transcended by some higher responsibility, to God, to Christ, or to the demands of philosophy. Mark and Matthew saw the Jesus-movement as offering a transcendent allegiance, which relativised family ties.

The Son of Man Debate
  • A History and Evaluation
  • Delbert Burkett
  • Published online:
    15 October 2009
    Print publication:
    13 January 2000
  • The expression 'Son of Man', used in the Gospels almost exclusively by Jesus, has been the object of intensive study since the Protestant Reformation, yet scholars have come to no agreement on its origin or meaning. Research in this area has been described as 'a veritable mine field' and 'a can of worms'. Because of the scope and complexity of the literature, no comprehensive survey of the subject has been written in the twentieth century. Delbert Burkett's book fills this need. It provides a comprehensive historical overview of the debate from the patristic period to 1996, and gives an evaluation of that research and a summation of the present state of the question. Burkett concludes that despite nineteen centuries of 'Son of Man' study there is no consensus concerning the meaning or origin of the expression; the debate is therefore a prime example of the limits of New Testament scholarship.

The Preface to Luke's Gospel
  • Loveday Alexander
  • Published online:
    15 October 2009
    Print publication:
    27 May 1993
  • Luke's two-volume work begins with a formal preface unlike anything else in the New Testament, and it has long been academic orthodoxy that Luke's choice of style, vocabulary, and content in this short passage reveal a desire to present his work to contemporary readers as 'History' in the great tradition of Thucydides and Polybius. This study challenges that assumption: far from aping the classical historians, Dr Alexander argues, Luke was simply introducing his book in a style that would have been familiar to readers of the scientific and technical manuals which proliferated in the hellenistic world. The book contains a detailed study of these Greek 'scientific' prefaces as well as a word-by-word commentary on the Lucan texts. In her concluding chapters, Alexander seeks to explore the consequences of this alignment both for the literary genre of Luke-Acts (is it meant to be read as 'history'?) and for the social background of the author and the book's first readers.

The Trial of the Gospel
  • An Apologetic Reading of Luke's Trial Narratives
  • Alexandru Neagoe
  • Published online:
    14 October 2009
    Print publication:
    16 May 2002
  • For many years Luke-Acts has been studied as a work of history and theology. The Trial of the Gospel sets out to examine Luke's writings as an apologetic work, by focusing on those parts of Luke's story where the apologetic overtones seem most prominent - the trial narratives. By analysing the trials of all major Lukan characters - Jesus, Peter, Stephen, and Paul - Alexandru Neagoe argues that the narratives are best understood when viewed as part of Luke's apologia pro evangelio, a purpose which is in keeping with the author's declared aim to give his readers 'assurance' about the 'matters' in which they had been instructed (Luke 1:4). Neagoe concludes that the specific role of the trial narratives is to provide the framework within which important tenets of the Christian faith are themselves put 'on trial' before the reader, with the intended result of the gospel's confirmation.

The Shepherd Discourse of John 10 and its Context
  • Edited by Johannes Beutler, Robert T. Fortna
  • Published online:
    10 October 2009
    Print publication:
    22 February 1991
  • This volume, which emerges from an SNTS seminar in 1985–1986, analyses one of the best-known, but also one of the most intriguing, of Jesus' discourses within the Fourth Gospel. Previous studies of the Shepherd Discourse have concentrated either on its historical setting in the life of Jesus (Simonis) or on the prehistory of its text (Bullmann and his school). The present study, consisting of essays written by an international team of specialists, adopts a more contextual approach. The Shepherd Discourse is here situated in the text of the Fourth Gospel, with particular emphasis on the preceding chapter and on the subsequent Passion narrative. The internal coherence of John 10 so becomes clearer, and it is seen that - in spite of its links with Gnostic ideas - the roots of the Discourse in Old Testament and Jewish texts about the shepherds of Israel become apparent.

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