New Testament

Shows how the canonical Nativity Gospels can easily be harmonized. And how the Blessed Virgin Mary may have anointed Jesus' head in Bethany, as consent to his sacrificial death in Jerusalem. This last issue is elaborated further and stronger in my later article "The Virgin Mary anointed her Son the Christ and for burial in Bethany - Coredemptrix" https://www.academia.edu/26377098/The_Virgin_Mary_anointed_her_Son_the_Christ_and_for_burial_in_Bethany_Coredemptrix .

Over the past fifty years, archaeological excavations in Israel have unearthed about half a dozen ancient synagogues that were in use at different points in time between the first century BCE through the outbreak of the Bar-Kochba rebellion early in the second century of the Common Era.  In close proximity to each of these synagogues, a mikveh (ritual bath) has been discovered.  In contrast, no mikvaot have been discovered adjacent to any of the dozens of later synagogues that have been excavated and studied, with only one or two possible exceptions. 
At this point it is impossible to determine exactly when mikvaot ceased to be built in connection with synagogues, as the archaeological record reports very little about synagogues of the late second - early third century CE.  From an archaeological perspective, it is clear that at least from the second half of the third century, synagogues began to be built without regard for proximity to mikvaot.
Talmudic sources make no mention of a requirement to build mikvaot adjacent to synagogues. To date, no satisfactory explanation has been given for the evident connection between the synagogue and the mikveh in the early period, and the disappearance of such a connection in later periods of synagogue history. The objective of this paper is to present and explore a possible interpretation of this puzzling phenomenon.
  During the Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, a rabbinical enactment was in effect requiring mikveh ablutions prior to engagement in Torah study and prayer for individuals who had experienced seminal emission. Careful study of the Talmudic sources reveals that this enactment was nullified early in the Amoraic Period, sometime during the second quarter of the third century CE.
It would appear that the mikvaot built adjacent to the earlier synagogues were intended for this precise function, serving visitors to the synagogue who required ritual ablutions prior to Torah study and prayer.  Once the rabbinical enactment regarding these ablutions was nullified, there was no longer need for such mikvaot, and hence the absence of mikvaot in proximity to the later synagogues.

Scholars have commonly located the source of Paul’s analogy for the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:39–49 in the enumerated creatures of Genesis 1. Some interpreters have suggested Sir 43:1–10 lies behind the reference to the variegated glory of the celestial bodies mentioned in 1 Cor 15:41. Paul seems to list each of the respective terrestrial creatures and their bodies in a hierarchical order, as he does with the celestial bodies, relating the resurrection body to the later. Rather than the eschatological egalitarianism presumed in some attempts to appropriate Pauline eschatology for theological purposes, this text suggests that Paul envisioned the imminent resurrection of the dead would result in a kind of celestial hierarchicalism, a point often overlooked by interpreters. In this paper, I will argue for an alternative source for the celestial hierarchicalism apparent in the formulation of Paul’s resurrection mythos in 1 Cor 15:41, namely, an apocalyptic reception of Exodus tradition rooted in the hierarchical ascent of the cosmic mountain in Exodus 24 and its later reception. As is the case for other apocalypticists before, contemporary with, and after Paul, this paper will provide further evidence that Paul's own particular construal of Jewish eschatological mythoi, while recognizable, would place him squarely alongside other Jewish contemporaries who operate at the fringes of their own tradition in the wider ancient Mediterranean religious landscape.

The opening of Mark’s Gospel has received substantial scholarly attention over the past century. While initial debates largely centered on nailing down its precise ending, narrative criticism and increased attention to intertextuality have attuned scholars to the ways in which the prologue establishes a set of narrative and theological agendas for the rest of the Gospel. This study builds on many of these previous contributions by drawing attention to the function of Mark’s opening citation (Mark 1:2–3). Specifically, I argue that the composite citation functions as a prophetic script and that the remainder of the prologue functions as its dramatic enactment. Reading the prologue in this way suggests that God is, in fact, the central actor of the prologue, the one who summons and commissions the dramatis personae to enact his will. The script thus discloses that at the heart of the good news about Jesus Christ stands the revelation that Christ is the “you” who both takes up Israel’s vocation as the covenant people (cf. Exod 23:20) and enacts the glorious manifestation of Israel’s Kyrios (cf. Mal 3:1; Isa 40:3).

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Jesus is variously titled by different people in the Fourth Gospel. John 8,12 is one of the I am sayings. This paper examines exegetically the import of this text as underscored by Isa 42,6. It argues that the author of the Fourth Gospel was influenced by Isaiah in the coinage of the concept.

Author: Kirsten Laurel Guidero
Publisher: CBE International

Evangelicalism can find a foothold in renewed practices of reading Scripture. This article first illustrates the larger problems haunting evangelical patterns of reading Scripture by analyzing as a test case two prevalent evangelical interpretations of Gal 3:26–29.2 Next, I offer a better interpretive method and spell out how it treats this passage. We will see that, far from viewing the biblical texts too reverently, with a proposed correction of qualifying textual authority—an approach some evangelicals who struggle with difficult elements of Scripture have adopted—both of the earlier approaches may fail to respect the text enough.

Origen’s exegesis of the Song of Songs, despite the praise it generally raised both in antiquity and in modern times, still awaits for deeper investigation as far as the literary project of the Alexandrian and its output are concerned. In this respect, it is difficult not only to exactly define the mutual relations between the Commentary and the Homilies on the Song of Songs, apart from the evident similarity of their themes, but more specifically to catch the particular nature of Origen’s interpretation at the first level of the biblical text against his well-known allegorism. Viewing the «littera» or «historia» of the Song as a theatrical piece, as especially shown in the Commentary, Origen delivers a dramatical interpretation which by its careful description of the successive scenes develops into a proper script for the stage. Though this explanation is meant to guide the reader to a further level of interpretation, the ‘letter’ cannot here be appreciated simply as the provisional step leading to the ‘spirit’, i.e. the spiritual intelligence of the Song which is in principle the only one permitted for Origen in this biblical love poetry. Instead of that, through the discourse engaged by the dramatic interpretation, on the one hand, there is an overlapping of both the ‘historical’ and the ‘spiritual’ explanation and, on the other hand, the dramatic exegesis also delivers a surplus of sense which is not totally subsumed in the spiritual interpretation. At moments the Song as ‘play’ seems therefore to gain in Origen’s perceptive reading a life of its own.

The following paper explores the formulation of universal commandments for non-Jews within the book of Jubilees and compares it with rabbinic traditions that also deal with Gentiles and law observance. The discussion concerning commandments incumbent upon all of humanity in Jubilees betrays a remarkable preoccupation in promoting the observance of particular laws (e.g., Sabbath and circumcision) for Jews alone—universal law becomes a means for highlighting Israel’s special covenantal status. The bitter opposition expressed in Jubilees against Gentiles is best understood as a polemical response to events redefining Jewish-Gentile relations during the second century BCE.

Desde el resurgir del igualitarismo 1 Corintios 14:34–35, escrito por el apóstol Pablo, ha causado un revuelo interpretativo. En un sentido, se podría decir que aunque léxica y sintácticamente el significado natural de estos versículos es relativamente sencillo, su complejidad textual enturbia su interpretación. Por lo que es necesario lidiar con algunas dificultades textuales que aparentemente justifican el igualitarismo antes de clarificar el significado de estos versículos.

This paper argues that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) can profitably be understood as a second Deuteronomy. The author makes his case through the development of strong conceptual links between these texts such as presentation and interpretation of Torah, Jesus as the greater Moses within Matthew, and the concluding calls at Matt 7:24-27 and Deut 30:11-20 to choose obedience (=life). This linking has many interesting results including advancing the concept of "Torah" as instruction that demands a response because it comes from God to man through authorized teachers and the strengthening of the depiction of Jesus as the greater Moses (i.e., the greater law giver/interpreter).

Author's Note I am thankful for the opportunity to present this paper at the 2021 EABS. I am thankful for the organizers and the participants. I wish to state up front that this is a draft of an idea. This is the first step toward a paper. This is a draft of a draft. In other words, I am very thankful for the kind reception and assistance that was given. In that vein, I have included the comments that were given in the Canonical Approaches to the Bible program unit after I read the paper. Their comments will make the paper better in the end.

השאיפה לטהרה עמדה במוקד התרבות הדתית של יהודי העת העתיקה ועיצבה את תמונת עולמם, אורחות חייהם ויחסיהם החברתיים. קבוצות שונות הציעו דרכים למימוש חיי טהרה וכרכו בה גאולה עצמית ותיקון קוסמי.


הספר טהרה וקהילה בעת העתיקה: מסורות ההלכה בין יהדות בית שני למשנה מציע תיאור מקיף של תחום הטהרה, אופייה ותכליתה בעולמם של יהודי בית שני בכלל, ובפרט בתורתם של הפרושים. על רקע תפיסות מתחרות, המופיעות בספרות קומראן ובברית החדשה, הציעו הפרושים חלופה משלהם לחיי טהרה שבה נכרכו מסורת בדלנית ואידאולוגיה חברתית. מקורות התקופה משרטטים אורח חיים מעורר מחלוקת הממוקד בהגנה על הגוף במקום על הקודש, ובשליטה על הטומאה במקום שעבוד לעוצמתה הקוסמית. מדיניות הפרושים הוסיפה ועיצבה את דמותן של ההלכה והקהילה גם לאחר החורבן, ותורתם הניחה את היסודות לפעילותם של התנאים בתוך הקשרים חברתיים משתנים. ניתוח ביקורתי של תולדות מסורות ההלכה בתחום הטהרה במשנה ובתוספתא חושף את תהליכי התפרקותה של התרבות הדתית הקדומה והתגבשותה של תורת החכמים.

The concern for purity shaped Second Temple Judaism, and its significance expanded far beyond the limited realm of the Temple. The fear of impurity shaped daily conduct, stood at the heart of ideological disputes and formed the contours of Jewish society. The question how to ensure ritual and moral purity was of cosmic dimensions, and therefore determined the dividing lines between the main parties of Jewish society in Palestine. The Qumran sect developed the notion of the defiling sin, and Jesus was viewed by his followers as the ultimate purifier. Against these alternatives, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the purity policy in the teachings of the dominant Pharisees. Early rabbinic traditions alongside anti-pharisaic sources uncover a controversial policy focused on the body and not on the purity of the Temple. They provided purification to wider social circles, while preserving its role in maintaining their own status. The book further demonstrates the fundamental change of religious life and social practices from the Second Temple period through the rise of the rabbinic movement, which offered a new version of ritual purity and community. A close analysis of the halakhic traditions in rabbinic literature reveals the gradual disintegration of the ancient religious culture and the emergence of the rabbinic culture within new social contexts.

A wide-ranging, academically oriented list of over sixty forthcoming publications on the Pastoral Epistles (as of April 2022) including essays, monographs, and commentaries. This list helps students of the Pastorals to see current trends in research. The list was compiled mainly through contacting academic publishers and Pastorals scholars who have published previously on the letters. In some cases, authors provided a brief synopsis of their work specifically for this project.

In the book we argue that 2 Cor 10, although presenting strong characteristics of polemical discourse, actually sets in motion a self-praise speech with a pedagogical, not defensive purpose. The chapter in question serves as a programmatic introduction to the Pauline boasting developed in chapters 11–13. Applying rhetorical analysis, we show that 2 Cor 10 contains an exordium (10,1-6) and a propositio for the entire speech (10,7-8); we further identify by this analysis the criteria crucial for legitimate apostolic boasting (10,12-18). The main problem of 2 Cor 10–13 expressed in the propositio (10,7-8) regards Paul’s claim to be a true servant of Christ and to have the right to boast about it. This problem is strictly connected with the accusations of the opponents which point at his weakness and ineffectiveness in dealing with the community’s problems.

Thus, 2 Cor 10 sets the stage for all of 2 Cor 10–13. This chapter is the key to a proper understanding of the rhetorical stasis of the entire speech elucidated from the Pauline inventio and dispositio. Paul’s use of the periautologia, metaphor, and irony reveals the strong position of the Apostle in Corinth but also points out the fatal infatuation the Corinthians have with newcomers. The causa of Paul ultimately revolves around the status qualitatis: he proves he is strong enough to be the leader in Corinth and paradoxically demonstrates that weakness should belong to the identity of apostle.  Such a reading of the rhetorical stasis introduces two problematic issues begun in 2 Cor 10 and continued in Cor 11–13: the relationship between power and weakness and the legitimacy of Pauline boasting. Paul’s approach to weakness in 2 Cor 10–13 challenges the standards on which the evaluation of true apostleship is made. Contemporaneously, he also recognizes infirmity as an integral part of his apostolic identity. Christ himself is the only model that enables Paul to subvert worldly standards of judgment and claim weakness as an integral part of his apostolic mission (13,3-4). Subsequently, 2 Cor 10 is crucial to understanding the legitimacy of Paul’s boast developed throughout all of 2 Cor 10 – 13. The thesis (10,7-8) and its argumentation (10,12-18) elaborate the exterior criteria of such boast including a divine call (status qualitatis) and apostolic praxis (performance), as well as the supreme rule saying that all credit for apostolic achievements should be given to the Lord (i.e. boasting en kyriô 10,17). Paul successfully responds to the first two imperatives of boasting. Problems, however, arise when he comes to the last criterion, namely, boasting in the Lord (en kyriô). The ego-centric boast based additionally on the comparison mentioned for the first time in 10,12 is the one that Paul fears and abhors and calls foolish, but he is forced, nevertheless, to undertake it for the sake of his spiritual children. The tool that ultimately enables him to transform self-aggrandizing speech into speech that is focused on Christ is his paradoxical boasting of weakness. It is being prepared in the pivotal section 11,30-33 (the entirety of 11,1-29 should be read as boasting of the apostolic achievements) and reaches its climax in 12,9-10. The careful crafting of the discourse based on Christological principles and meant for the edification of the community (10,8; 12,19; 13,10) ultimately speaks against qualifying it as a parody of the opponents’ boasting.

The following video presentations were designed for the online study program at South Florida Bible College & Theological Seminary. They are similar in format to a class that has been taught by the same professor at Trinity International University and corresponding Powerpoint presentations are available for free downloads on this website.

According to some, the doctrine of inerrancy is laden by so many qualifications as to render it irrelevant. Particularly troubling for New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman has been the doctrine’s demand that inerrancy be restricted to the original manuscripts. His complaint is that those original manuscripts no longer exist and there is, as a result, no inerrant, authoritative source for Christian faith and practice.

Many have put forth effective responses to the more troubling of Ehrman’s assertions. This paper is not intended to be another complete response to Ehrman. Rather, it will look specifically at the question of textual corruption in the body of extant New Testament manuscripts and whether inerrancy can, in any way, apply to them. Is inerrancy necessarily a lost cause due to the lack of the original manuscripts or does Ehrman’s “all-or-nothing” approach present a false dilemma?  The answer will be demonstrably that, given the materials and methods of textual criticism, the biblical text that has been reproduced is itself largely inerrant.

This book debunks the myth that the cross was never used as a visual symbol in pre-Constantinian Christianity, bringing together the relevant material evidence demonstrating Christian use of the cross prior to Constantine. The artifacts presented in this book interlock with literary witnesses from the same period to provide a consistent and robust portrait of the cross as a pre-Constantinian symbol of Christian devotion. The material record of the pre-Constantinian period illustrates that Constantine did not invent the cross as a symbol of Christian faith; for an impressive number of Christians before Constantine’s reign, the cross served as a visual symbol of commitment to a living deity in a dangerous world.

This new contribution to the Pillar New Testament Commentary series by Robert Yarbrough offers insightful exegesis of these three important but often overlooked letters. As he observes in his introduction, many readers approach the Pastoral Epistles for their detailed descriptions of church leaders. In fact, these letters do contain “valuable counsel not available elsewhere in the New Testament” (1). But the list of qualifications for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are only one aspect of these letters.

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

Explores definitions, distinctions, and contexts key to understanding the concept of moral injury, and provides abstracts of the other essays in the book. I've decided to upload the full version as it is already available via Google Books' preview.

Travail de Master réalisé en 2017 cherchant à développer des fondements éthiques proprement chrétiens pour répondre aux questions écologiques qui sont les nôtres.
La réflexion prend pour point d'ancrage une péricope bien connue de la lettre aux Romains (8, 18-30) qui est analysée sur la première moitié du travail. L'exégèse se veut complète et propose une interprétation à la lumière de la lettre aux Romains dans sa totalité.
La deuxième moitié est consacrée au développement d'une herméneutique verte sur la base de l'exégèse en insistant sur l'ancrage juif de la pensée de Paul. Le travail se termine par des pistes de réflexions éthiques.

This paper addresses the iconographic origins of the Virgin Annunciate spinning in both text and visual culture during late antiquity.  Further, this paper promotes the original thesis that the earliest images of Mary were based on an idealized matron type as opposed to the inaccessible, semi-divine Theotokos, a title that became central to codified Orthodoxy by the fifth-century.

Building on my paper presented at SVS 2013, which sketched out the proposal that the manner of Jesus’ own coming into the world defines the manner of the coming of his kingdom into the world, this paper argues that the concept of kenosis provides vitally important insight for a robust understanding of the ways and patterns of the kingdom of God as experienced in this “time between the times.” The paper first examines the Christological question of how the Son’s incarnation and his kenosis are related to one another, arguing that the two should not be confused and clarifying that incarnation is the logical prerequisite for Christ’s kenosis, rather than vice-versa as is often assumed. With this clarification in hand, the paper next argues that the reason Christ’s incarnation took place initially in the mode of kenosis was so that the advent of his kingdom could be saving rather than destructive for our fallen world. Finally, several implications this has for the present mode of his kingdom are drawn out. This includes consideration of how the new order created by God’s reign in the present is characterized by weakness and vulnerability to suffering, self-giving service, obedience to and sheer trust in God, and a laying aside of any claim to authority of one’s own.