Testament Scholarship Research Articles

Reconceiving the Boundaries of Home: The ‘Oikology’ of Ephesians

AbstractThis article offers a reading of Ephesians in repair of a modern liberal inclusivism that unwittingly perpetuates an oppressive colonialist logic. It delineates the dynamic of dwelling, building and inhabitation present in Ephesians via the oik‐ root, coining the term ‘oikology’ to capture its inseparable economy and ecology. Willie James Jennings is a key dialogue partner in the articulation of the colonialist logic to be overcome. The particular species of modern inclusivism in view is that which is exhibited by New Testament scholars associated with the New Perspective on Paul, which I argue remains captive to a supersessionist logic. The article offers a non‐supersessionist reading of Ephesians, arguing that Israel, rather than being replaced, remains the wider habitat in which the gentile Ephesians find their home. In this way the article seeks a reading of the cosmic Christology of Ephesians as an instantiation not of colonial inclusivism but of true catholicity.

The Parables in Q

The Parables in Q

‘More Ingenious than Learned’? Examining the Quest for the Non-Historical Jesus

This paper seeks to scrutinise the debate about the historicity of Jesus and identify aspects that merit critical reflection by New Testament scholars. Although the question is regularly dismissed, it is a salient one that was formative in the development of the discipline, and has become increasingly visible since the turn of the century. However, the terminology employed by the protagonists is problematic, and the conventional historiography of the debate misleading. The characteristic tropes evident in the contributions are also indicative of substantive issues within the discipline of New Testament studies itself.

Die Bedeutung der übergemeindlichen Verbindungen im Urchristentum für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

This article surveys subjects and questions in New Testament scholarship in the context of which scholars refer to the translocal links among early Christian communities and the people who embody them. Such references appear in comparisons between early Christian communities and ancient associations, in reconstructions of the history of early Christianity, in various issues of New Testament introduction (including the intended readers of the Gospels), in discussions of the material basis of theological diversity and unity in the New Testament and of the understanding of the church (the relationship between local community and the larger entity of the churches/the Church), and in studies of the argumentative strategies of New Testament books (new rhetoric, rhetorical criticism). In closing, the article refers to new questions and methods where translocal links provide important raw data or additional information, that is, various forms of social network analysis, issues of early Christian conceptions of space and the application of the questions and insights of critical spaciality. In view of the significance of the translocal links between early Christian communities for various issues in New Testament scholarship, it is surprising that they have not hitherto been examined comprehensively.

MAKING CHRISTIAN CULTURE IN THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

Twenty years have passed since John AT Robinson threw a bombshell into scholarly circles by arguing for a radical redating of New Testament writings (Robinson 1976). Many New Testament scholars refused to sanction the debate by entering it directly. During these two decades, however, turmoil over the dating of early Christian writings has spread slowly but surely throughout New Testament studies, emerging with equal furor at embarrassing times for the cautious and adventurous alike.

Non-Moses le Roux: Premises, promises and fulfilment in the work of J.H. le Roux

Would it be altogether out of place tongue-in-cheek to compare and contrast J.H. le Roux with Moses – given that both of them are inextricably linked to the literature of the Pentateuch? Both figures took leadership positions, although not aspiring to such roles: Moses, of the legendary exodus group, in the various texts we know and debate so well; and Le Roux through the following:his work as historical exegetehis leadership of the Old Testament Society of South Africahis pioneering work since 2000 with the Pro Pent concept, which had influenced various other such specialist exegesis groups (respectively, on the Psalms, the Prophets, the Apocalyptic Literature, Song of Songs, Wisdom, in general, and on the Qumran texts)in leading his students and readers to promising new electronic lands by means of telematic teaching and the influential website www.teo.co.za. Aspects of these roles of Le Roux are taken into review in this contribution.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Old Testament scholarship and historiography.

MEMAHAMI KENABIAN YEREMIA DAN KITABNYA

Abstract[Title: Understanding Jeremiah’s Prophecy and His Book] Jeremiah is a prophet in the Old Testament, whose book is thick with a maximum biography. To understand the message of the prophet of Jeremiah, the readers must recognize two important things. First, the prophet Jeremiah himself, and the second,the book of Jeremiah. On one hand, there are frictions between Old Testament scholars about the historicity of Jeremiah's own figure. Is the figure of Jeremiah real or not real? On the other hand, there are many problems regarding the book of Jeremiah, related to the author of the book of Jeremiah. Who was the author of this book?Was it Jeremiah himself, or his secretary Barukh,orsomeone else, or later editors?Other problems related to the text about large differences in Jeremiah's text in the Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible are very striking. In this study the author intends to provide an alternative solution to the complexity of Jeremiah's figure and his book.Keywords: Prophet Jeremiah, Book of Jeremiah

Imaging the Divine: Idolatry and God's Body in the Book of Acts

This article problematises the widespread assumption that the God of early Christianity is an invisible God. This assumption is found in both popular and academic discourse and often appeals to biblical critiques of divine images to make its case. Yet while Hebrew Bible scholars have recently questioned this axiomatic belief, New Testament scholars have yet to do the same. To address this oversight, this article first looks at divine images and idol polemic in the ancient world and then turns to Luke's depiction of divine images in the book of Acts as a test case. Here I demonstrate how Acts depicts God as a visible – and even embodied – being, while at the same time critiquing visual representations of the divine. With Acts, we find that not all Christians ‘imaged’ God as invisible.

Reconsidering Deuteronomy 26:5–11 as a ‘small historical creed’: Overtures towards a ‘migrant reading’ within the Persian period

Against the backdrop of recent scholarship related to Deuteronomy 26:5–11, the influential hypothesis formulated by Gerhard von Rad that this verse entails a ‘small historical creed’ will be re-evaluated. In addition to recent Old Testament scholarship, attention will be paid to migrant theory and a rereading of 26:5–11. It will be suggested that this ‘creed’ addressed the identity concerns of returning migrants or exiles from Babylon, as well as the peasant farmers who remained behind in Palestine. Thus, the creed is not understood as an early cultic starting point of a theological tradition, but as a later synthesising framework that responded to theological challenges and tensions prevalent in Persian Yehud.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospel as Eyewitness Testimony / Richard Bauckham

Richard Bauckham, professor of New Testament Studies and Bishop Wardlaw Professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, is one of the leading New Testament scholars of our time. This fascinating, groundbreaking and momentous book of 538 pages, including 17 table, is witness to the author's wealth of knowledge concerning the worled of the early Judaism and Christians.

Itumeleng Mosala: Giving Theology Its World, Feet and Hands

Worthy of celebration is the contribution made by Itumeleng Mosala (hereafter Mosala) to the Black Methodist Consultation, the theological community in Southern Africa, and the Black Consciousness Movement. This article attempts to give theology its world, feet and hands in the person of Mosala. The article departs from the narration of the history of Mosala. It locates Mosala within township life and Old Testament scholarship. Furthermore, the article searches for suitable and effective weapons of intellectual struggle in light of Mosala’s life. The aim of this article is to celebrate the indelible footprints that Mosala made as he communed with black people.

Gyðingurinn Páll. Nýjustu viðhorf í rannsóknum á postulanum og gyðinglegu samhengi hans

This article presents new perspectives in research on the apostle Paul in his first-century Jewish context. The article provides a general overview of the history of research in this respect, especially in light of the antisemitic attitudes and perceptions that have played an important role in the formation of the traditional view of Paul and his message. The so-called “New Perspective on Paul“, which was prominent in the late 20th century, is briefly presented and discussed. But the main emphasis of the article is the presentation of a more recent view that is either called “The Radical New Perspective on Paul“ or (more appropri-ately) “Paul within Judaism“. This new approach is gaining more and more support in New Testament scholarship, particularly in the United States and in the Nordic countries. According to this perspective, Paul neither abandoned nor rejected Judaism, but remained a Jew, even as a believer in Christ, and he wrote his letters into a first-century Jewish context. In other words, the context of Paul’s message was not “Christian” in the sense that it was something else than Jewish — Christianity did not exist as such in Paul’s time

Jewish Scholarship on the Resurrection of Jesus by David Mishkin

Reviewed by: Jewish Scholarship on the Resurrection of Jesus by David Mishkin Glenn B. Siniscalchi david mishkin, Jewish Scholarship on the Resurrection of Jesus (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2017). Pp. xiv + 256. $33. One of the common objections to the reliability of the Gospels is that they were written by committed believers whose bias prevented them from telling us the truth about Jesus. Apparently, the weight of this objection is only compounded by the fact that most scholars of the historical Jesus are influenced by ecclesiastical presuppositions. This challenge is one of the main reasons why David Mishkin's newest book will illuminate current discussions on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus: "It is certainly legitimate to raise the issue of objectivity among such scholars. Jewish scholars do not have a specific view of the resurrection of Jesus. It has been at best a secondary issue, hidden behind more pressing topics in the historic Jewish–Christian interaction" (p. 35; cf. 202). A major part of the book covers the history of Jewish responses to the resurrection (pp. 1-34, 118-57). Although most Jewish theologians have not offered much commentary, Mishkin notes that a shift is taking place, especially in the last several decades: "As Jewish interest in Jesus has continued, so has the documentation of this field of study. . . . The progress has been steady, based on the climate of both Jewish–Christian relations and the latest New Testament scholarship" (pp. 32, 34). Some Jews stay away from the resurrection because it was not of interest to them personally. Still others have not found it relevant to Judaism as a whole. More recently, there has been a slight interest in addressing the question of what happened to Jesus after the crucifixion. Concentrating on the resurrection of Jesus as a historical phenomenon, M. argues with consistency that Easter faith is not a matter of exploring the contents of faith alone. In the aftermath of the crucifixion (which was seen as a curse from God), something must have triggered the disciples' belief that God raised Jesus from the dead. He pointedly asks, "Why a resurrection (of one individual messiah) when there were other options regarding the afterlife which would have fit much more naturally?" (p. 172). This leads M. to highlight the biblical scholarship of Pinchas Lapide (The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective [Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002]), Alan Segal (Life after Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion [New York: Doubleday, 2004]), and Geza Vermes (The Resurrection: History and Myth [New York: Doubleday, 2008]). While Lapide believed that the evidence pointed conclusively in favor of Jesus's resurrection, Segal and Vermes remained skeptical. [End Page 742] Other Jewish scholars have argued that the resurrection is indefensible because the Gospels are untrustworthy. When they turn to Paul's conversion experience, they often explain it away in terms of psychological categories. Nonetheless, M. observes that all of these Jewish NT studies are a promising sign for further developments. By the end of the book, one may conclude that almost all major contemporary Jewish scholars writing on the subject affirm the existence and Jewishness of Jesus, the crucifixion, the postmortem appearance to Paul (which resulted in his conversion to Christ), the origin of disciples' belief in the resurrection of Jesus despite having predispositions to the contrary, and the rapid dissemination of the Christian movement. Despite Christian scholarship on the credibility of the resurrection (which may appear biased and unreliable), "the main historical events that make up this discussion are virtually the same for both groups [i.e., Jewish and Christian historians]: crucifixion, burial, disciples' belief, empty tomb, and Paul's dramatic turnaround" (p. 210). After reading M.'s book, one is further convinced that the question concerning the historicity of the resurrection is not about establishing the NT evidence as much as it is about explaining that evidence in a convincing way. In an area of biblical scholarship in which it is often difficult to find new avenues of research, M. is to be commended for taking advantage of the opportunity to write a book on Jewish perspectives on the resurrection. This book will undoubtedly be of great use to specialists...

The Psychology of Memory and the Study of the Gospels

New Testament scholars who have some acquaintance with the cognitive psychology of memory have tended to conclude that memory is generally unreliable. Research in cognitive psychology does not support that view. These New Testament scholars have been misled especially by failure to distinguish different types of memory, by relying heavily on study of eyewitness testimony in court (a special category from which it is not legitimate to draw broader conclusions), and by misunderstanding the deliberate focus on the failures of memory in much of the research (which is not because failures are common but because failures are interesting). For research in this field to be useful in the study of the Gospels, we need to distinguish personal event memory from other types and to specify the conditions under which this type of memory tends to be either accurate or misleading.

Das »Neue« als Problem und Prinzip Neutestamentlicher Theologie

This contribution considers novelty and the New Testament, identifying it as a principle and problem for both the canonical texts and their interpreters. It is argued that novelty is a key element of what the New Testament texts seek to communicate, yet also needs to be negotiated, in light of the ancient preference for the old. In addition, it is observed that New Testament scholarship is focused on uncovering the ancient meaning of texts, yet does so in ever new ways, which can be seen as a function of the New Testament’s role as a canonical text that is required to occassion new interpretations for new contexts if it is to continue its role as a canonical text.

Sola Scriptura versus Sola fide versus Solum Imperium? Albert S. Geyser en ʼn kontemporêre verstaan van μορφή θεοῦ in die Christus-himne

This article explores Albert Stephanus Geyser’s understanding and application of the Christ-hymn (Phlp 2:6–11), focusing especially on the use of the words μορφή θεοῦ. The tension between a literary-critical approach to the text (Scriptura) versus a dogmatic understanding (Fide) is exposed, as well as the challenge of a political ideology of power (Imperium). Geyser’s understanding and application are measured in terms of the current state of New Testament exegetical research. In the footsteps of Stendahl and contemporary New Testament scholars, legitimacy is given to a socio-political reading of the text. Geyser is appreciated as a public theologian with a deep consideration for the text as the source for theological and socio-political reflection and practice.

Between psychology and history

Historical Jesus Studies represent the attempts of historians and New Testament scholars to, using different methodologies, deduce certain facts about his life and acts. This present essay is primarily concerned with the standard methodology based on criteria of authenticity. By characterising this methodology in a clearer way, the article strives to critically analyse it, and show its disadvantages. The conclusion of the article is that the criteria of authenticity cannot be only basis of studying Historical Jesus, and that such criteria could be replaced by a more sophisticated approach. Basic problem with such criteria lies in the fact of their incompatibility with respect to the way history is remembered. Such a methodological approach assumes that history, if done properly, will be able to tell us how it really was. Also, trying to find exact words of Jesus does not take into account that people tend to remember gist of the event, not exact details. Numerous psychological studies have shown that. Also, very own act of remembering past events always includes present context. We are inclined to fill the gaps of our memory with things that are of great importance to us from the perspective of present events. Furthermore, present essay deals with specific criteria (e.g. Criterion of embarrassment, Criterion of dissimilarity etc.) and problems they have when one tries to use them as a means of getting to the real »historical« Jesus. The Criterion of dissimilarity, for example, ends up in a picture of historical Jesus whose foremost characteristics are his dissimilarity to Judaism. Getting there means that one has to have a presupposition that embeds anti-Judaism in methodology, a presupposition that is obviously wrong. Jesus was a 1st century Jewish teacher and that context is crucial if one wants to understand historical Jesus. The second part of the article presents a different approach to studying Historical Jesus based primarily on a more adequate understanding of the relationship between the past and the present. Also, this approach takes the studies of social memory and perception into consideration and use those studies when dealing with primary sources for Historical Jesus.

KAUM REMNANT, SIAPAKAH MEREKA? SUATU KAJIAN BIBLIKA TERHADAP TEKS YESAYA 10:20-23

This research seeks to find a definite identity regarding the Remnants recorded in Isaiah 10: 20-23. Various theories have been conveyed by Old Testament scholars about who the Remnants were. Some scholars conclude that the Remnants are only limited to the remnants of Assyria. Some consider that the Remnant refers to those who have returned from the Babylonian exile. In fact, some scholars consider that this also refers to future eschatological times. Through biblical studies that have been carried out with the right methodology, this research has produced a conclusion. These Prophecies of the Rest in Isaiah 10: 20-23 have multiple fulfillments. Fulfillment in its immediate context, the remnant refers to the remnants of Israel who escaped the savagery of Assyria and they later joined the Southern Kingdom. While the fulfillment in the distant context, these remnants point to a later eschatological period where God will truly gather Israel again as a nation. The distinctive feature possessed by the rest of Israel is the absolute loyalty to God (New Testament concept: Jesus Christ) and in the future there will be a fair government from God himself. From this conclusion there are also theologies and practical implications regarding the church today

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT: SIXTH INTERNATIONAL EAST‐WEST SYMPOSIUM OF NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLARS, BELGRADE, AUGUST 25 TO 31, 2013. Edited by PredragDragutinović, Karl‐WilhelmNiebuhr, and James BuchananWallace, in co‐operation with Christos Karakolis. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 354. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck,2016. Pp. v + 516; illustrations. Cloth, $224.00.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT: SIXTH INTERNATIONAL EAST‐WEST SYMPOSIUM OF NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLARS, BELGRADE, AUGUST 25 TO 31, 2013. Edited by PredragDragutinović, Karl‐WilhelmNiebuhr, and James BuchananWallace, in co‐operation with Christos Karakolis. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 354. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck,2016. Pp. v + 516; illustrations. Cloth, $224.00.

Taking Inventory on the ‘Age of the Minuscules’: Later Manuscripts and the Byzantine Tradition within the Field of Textual Criticism

In recent decades New Testament scholarship has been flooded with an embarrassment of riches in terms of collations/images of cursive manuscripts and new tools to assess what they contain. However, many scholars—even practicing textual critics—remain somewhat at a loss on what to do with so much data. Thus, old methods, ‘Alexandrian’-vs.-Byzantine polarities, and reliance on Metzger’s Textual Commentary, remain as entrenched as ever in many circles. This article aims to take inventory on where we are in this minuscule age, focusing on four areas of most interest to NT scholars: (1) shifts in method for how to group and weigh later manuscripts; (2) ongoing debates over the Byzantine text and the increased appreciation for it in recent years; (3) findings from recent scholarly work on specific minuscule manuscripts and families; and (4) the place of minuscules in broader discussions within textual criticism and the work on the ECM.