• Introduction
• 1. Multifarious Meaning: Irony in Greco-Roman Literature
• 2. Ambiguity in Ancient Prophecy and Dreams
• 3. Reading Isaiah from Beginning and End: An Intratextual Study
• 4. Matthew and Emotive Effect.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The Gospel of Matthew is both deliberately deceptive and emotionally compelling.Karl McDaniel explores ways in which the narrative of the Gospel of Matthew elicits and develops the emotions ofsuspense, surprise, and curiosity within its readers. While Matthew 1:21 invites readers to expect Jewish salvation, progressive failure of the plot's main characters to meet Jesus' salvation requirements creates increasing suspense for the reader. How will Jesus save 'his people'? The commission to the Gentiles at the Gospel's conclusion provokes reader surprise, and the resulting curiosity calls readers back to the narrative's beginning.Upon rereading with a retrospective view, readers discover that the Gentile mission was actually foreshadowed throughout the narrative, even from its beginning, and they are invited to partake in Jesus' final commission.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface Jan Willem van Henten (University of Amsterdam, University of Stellenbosch), Pieter G.R. de Villiers (University of the Free State) Part I INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS Chapter One: Religion, Bible and Violence Jan Willem van Henten (University of Amsterdam, University of Stellenbosch) Chapter Two: Violence in the New Testament and the Roman Empire: Ambivalence, Othering, Agency Jeremy Punt (University of Stellenbosch) Part II CASE STUDIES Chapter Three: Paul's Version of "Turning the Other Cheek". Rethinking Violence and Tolerance Andries van Aarde (University of Pretoria) Chapter Four: Violence in the Letter to the Galatians? Francois Tolmie (University of the Free State) Chapter Five: A Godfighter Becomes a Fighter for God Rob van Houwelingen (Theological University Kampen) Chapter Six: Jesus and Violence: An Ideological-Critical Reading of the Tenants in Mark 12:1-12 Ernest van Eck (University of Pretoria) Chapter Seven: The Use of Violence in Punishing Adultery in Biblical Texts (Deuteronomy 22:13-29 and John 7:53-8:11) Wim Weren (Tilburg University) Chapter Eight: Violence in a Gospel of Love Jan van der Watt (Radboud University of Nijmegen, University of Pretoria) and Jacobus Kok (University of Pretoria) Chapter Nine: Images of War and Creation, of Violence and Non-Violence in the Revelation of John Paul B. Decock (University of KwaZulu-Natal, St. Joseph's Theological Institute) Chapter Ten: Exegetical Perspectives on Violence in Revelation 18 Pieter G.R. de Villiers (University of the Free State) Chapter Eleven: The Eschatological Battle according to the Book of Revelation: Perpectives on Revelation 19:11-21 Tobias Nicklas (University of Regensburg)
• Part III EPILOGUE Chapter Twelve: Hermeneutical Perspectives on Violence in the New Testament Pieter G.R. de Villiers (University of the Free State)
• Bibliography Subject Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Violence is present in the very heart of religion and its sacred traditions - also of Christianity and the Bible. The problem, however, is not only that violence is ingrained in the mere existence of religions with their sacred traditions. It is equally problematic to realise that the icy grip of violence on the sacred has gone unnoticed and unchallenged for a very long time. The present publication aims to contribute to the recent scholarly debate about the interconnections between violence and monotheistic religions by analysing the role of violence in the New Testament as well as by offering some hermeneutical perspectives on violence as it is articulated in the earliest Christian writings. Contributors include: Andries G. van Aarde, Paul Decock, Pieter G.R. de Villiers, Ernest van Eck, Jan Willem van Henten, Rob van Houwelingen, Kobus Kok, Tobias Nicklas, Jeremy Punt, Jan G. van der Watt, and Wim Weren.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Machine generated contents note:
• Ch. 1 method of analysis
• Ch. 2 rhetoric of the characterization of God
• Ch. 3 rhetoric of the characterization of Jesus
• Ch. 4 rhetoric of the characterization of Jesus' disciples
• Ch. 5 Recapitulation : the women at the tomb
• Ch. 6 Applications, implications, and conclusion
• App. A organization of cultivated beliefs about God
• App. B organization of cultivated beliefs about Jesus.

• A Note on Texts
• Abbreviations Preface
• * Dante's Idea of the Bible * Biblical Truth in the Paradiso * The Bible in the Inferno: Misprision and Prophetic Appropriation *Una nuova legge: The Beatitudes in the Purgatorio * Dante's Apocalypse Conclusion: Poet of the Biblical World Works Cited.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Dante Alighieri cited the Bible extensively in his Commedia, but also used his epic poem to meditate on the meaning of the Scriptures as a 'true' text. The Biblical Dante provides close readings of passages from the Commedia to explore how Dante's concept of Biblical truth differs sharply from modern notions. V. Stanley Benfell examines Dante's argument that the truth of the sacred text could only be revealed when engaged with in a transformative manner - and that a lack of such encounters in his time had led to a rise in greed and corruption, notably within the Church. He also illustrates how the poet put forth a vision for the restoration of a just society using Biblical language and imagery, revealing ideas of both earthly and eternal happiness. The Biblical Dante provides an insightful analysis of attitudes towards both the Bible and how it was read in the Medieval period.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• "The Jewish Cincinnatus" : Biblical Republicanism in the Age of the American Revolution
• "The United Tribes, or States of Israel" : The Hebrew Republic as a Political Model before the Civil War
• "A Truly American Spirit of Writing" : Pseudobiblicism, the Early Republic, and the Cultural Origins of the Book of Mormon
• Tribes Lost and Found : Israelites in Nineteenth-Century America
• Evangelicalism, Slavery, and the Decline of an Old Testament Nation
• Conclusion: Beyond Old Testamentism : The New Israel after the Civil War.

The Bible has always been an integral part of American political culture. Yet in the years before the Civil War, it was the Old Testament, not the New Testament, that pervaded political rhetoric. From Revolutionary times to about 1830, numerous American politicians, commentators, ministers, and laymen depicted their young nation as a new, God-chosen Israel and relied on the Old Testament for political guidance. In this original book, historian Eran Shalev closely examines how this powerful predilection for Old Testament narratives and rhetoric in early America shaped a wide range of debates and cultural discussions - from republican ideology, constitutional interpretation, southern slavery, and more generally the meaning of American nationalism to speculations on the origins of American Indians and to the emergence of Mormonism. Shalev argues that the effort to shape the United States as a biblical nation reflected conflicting attitudes within the culture - proudly boastful on the one hand, but uncertain about its abilities and ultimate destiny on the other. With great nuance, American Zion explores for the first time the meaning and lasting effects of the idea of the United States as a new Israel, and sheds new light on our understanding of the nation's origins and culture during the founding and antebellum decades.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction / Elizabeth Struthers Malbon and Edgar V. McKnight
• Redaction criticism : has the Hauptstrasse become a Sackgasse? / John R. Donahue, SJ
• The major importance of the minor characters in Mark / Elizabeth Struthers Malbon
• 'Watch how you listen' (Lk. 8.18) : Jesus and the rhetoric of perception in Luke-Acts / John A. Darr
• Reading Tabitha : a feminist reception history / Janice Capel Anderson
• The Gospel of Mark as an oral-aural event : implications for interpretation / Joanna Dewey
• Socio-rhetorical criticism : Mary, Elizabeth and the Magnificat as a test case / Vernon K. Robbins
• 'Since God is one' : rhetoric as theology and history in Paul's Romans / Antoinette Clark Wire
• Allegories of Hagar : reading Galatians 4.21-31 with postmodern feminist eyes / Elizabeth A. Castelli
• Peering into the abyss : a postmodern reading of the biblical bottomless pit / Tina Pippin.

• How Jesus' risen body became a cadaver / Stephen D. Moore
• The ethics of reading deconstructively, or speaking face-to-face : the Samaritan woman meets Derrida at the well / Gary A. Phillips
• A sheep in wolf's clothing : an option in contemporary New Testament hermeneutics / Edgar V. McKnight
• Matthew's dark light and the human condition / Dan O. Via
• What is it about? : reference in New Testament literary criticism / William A. Beardslee.

This publication presents the rich variety of critical methodologies in contemporary literary study of the New Testament. The tradition of study represented in the essays lies at the conjunction of developments in biblical studies and literary criticism: (1) the exhaustion of New Testament historical criticism in general and redaction criticism in particular; (2) the waning of Formalist-New Critical approaches in literary study; and (3) the emphasis upon the text in terms of language and discourse as the 'free play of signifiers'. The essays deal with theory, exegesis, and their interdependence in this new literary context. However, contributions of earlier epochs in the history of literary criticism and New Testament study are integrated into current approaches. For example, the issue of reference originating in the mimetic theories of classical antiquity is raised implicitly and explicitly. Implications of literary study for theology are suggested. The relationship between redaction-critical and literary approaches is examined. Theoretical and exegetical essays growing out of feminist literary study are offered. Orality, allegory, deconstruction, ideology, sociological criticism, rhetorical criticism, narrative criticism, as well as other themes and methods are discussed in the essays' treatment of writings of the New Testament. A rich variety of critical methodologies in contemporary literary study of the New Testament.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface-- Abreviations-- Introduction-- Outside the Johannine Text: Some Jewish Responses to the Fall of the Temple-- The New Temple: John
• 2. 13-22-- The New Beginning: The Prologue-- The Programmatic Vision of John 1.51-- A New Centre of Worship: John
• 4. 16-24-- The Temple Festivals: Part I The Passover Part II Tabernacles Part III Dedication Part IV The Sabbath The Father's House-- Possible Temple Connections in Jn 13 and 14-- Possible High Priestly and Temple Allusions in John 17-- Summary and Conclusions-- Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This book is a study of the Johannine Christian response to the fall of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 ce. A crucial text in this investigation is Jn 2.13-22 and its context, which provide a lens through which other texts in John are viewed. Kerr's examination of the Temple festivals of Passover, Tabernacles, Dedication suggests that in Jesus fulfils and replaces these, while in the case of the Sabbath he effects a transformation. The overall conclusion is that the Johannine Jesus replaces and fulfils the Jerusalem Temple.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Cover; Editorial Board; Title; Copyright; Dedication; CONTENTS; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; INTRODUCTION; Chapter 1;
• Chapter 2 THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS: SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS;
• Chapter 3 ''EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS'': A RHETORICAL EXEGETICAL EXAMINATION OF PHILIPPIANS 2.1-30;
• Chapter 4 ''WE ARE THE CIRCUMCISION'': A RHETORICAL EXEGETICAL EXAMINATION OF PHILIPPIANS 3.1-21; Chapter 5; Bibliography; Index of References; Index of Authors.

Enemies of the Cross' employs classical rhetorical analysis to examine how Paul structures a deliberative argument using his understanding of the 'cross of Christ'. His goals are to guide/advise the Philippian community through internal and external strife (ch. 2), combat his opponents (ch.3), and develop his notion of the eschatological community (3:18-21). Williams proposes that while Paul has a 'theology of the death of Jesus', of which cross terminology is one of several aspects, this terminology is used almost exclusively in polemical/conflictual contexts. Hence Paul appears to be using 'cross of Christ' not so much as a doctrine but rather as a rhetorical tool, in a context of conflict and strife, to support his understanding of eschatology, apostolic service, the nature of Christian existence, and community among the saints.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Cover; Editorial Board; Title; Copyright; CONTENTS; Acknowledgments; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction;
• Chapter 1 MARKAN PRESENT TIME: THE GOSPEL AS PICARESQUE NOVELLA;
• Chapter 2 NARRATIVE AS MEMORY: GOSPEL AS FRAGMENTS;
• Chapter 3 NARRATIVE DURATION: SUSPENDED TIME;
• Chapter 4 THE END OF FEAR: MYTHIC TIME IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of References; Index of Authors.

Here is a compact study of how Mark's Gospel meditates on time. It examines how the Gospel's contemporary setting in ordinary time defines its genre, and how Mark uses the Hebrew scriptures to remember and recall past teachings, prophecies and histories. The suspended time narratives, Mark's 'intercalations', on the other hand, interrupt the narrative of the critical time present. Finally, by bringing the eternal horizon into the events of the present, Mark's 'mythic time' reveals the crisis events as a momentary interruption of ordinary time. Similarly, during the 'ritual time', the Gospel narrative breaks with its own historical setting in order to unravel the dead-endedness of the crisis story by symbolically taking it outside time.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface--
• Chapter 1: What is Abuse?--
• 1. Self-Worth-- a. Self-Worth and Justification-- b. Resentment and Sell-Worth--
• 2. Happiness-- a. The Socratic Conception-- b. The Maimonidean Conception-- c. The Wittgensteinian Conception--
• 3. Power-- a. The Intuitive Paradigm-- b. The Moral Paradigm-- c. The Self-Restraint Paradigm--
• Chapter 2: Divine Abuse--
• 1. Job's Conception of Happiness-- a. The Worldly Conception-- b. The Moral Conception--
• 2. Job's Conception of Self-Worth-- a. Divine Abuse: Humiliation and Elevation-- b. Resentment and Moral Hatred of God--
• 3. Power and Power Relations-- a. Job's Conception of Power-- b. Job's Way of Exercising his Power--
• Chapter 3: The Way Out: From Abuse to Suffering--
• 1. Afflictions of Love and Love of Afflictions-- a. Afflictions of Love-- b. Love of Afflictions: The Sadist, the Masochist and the Slave--
• 2. Providence and Intervention-- a. Providence as Intervention-- b. Maimonides-- c. Simone Well--
• 3. Providence Lost-- a. Afflictions of Hate-- b. Malevolent Providence-- c. From Abuse to Suffering--
• Chapter 4: Forgiveness--
• 1. The Victim-- a. Harms, Wrongs and Hostile Emotions-- b. Resentment and Reason-- c. Overcoming Resentment--
• 2. The Assailant-- a. Telling the Moral Story-- b. Telling the Biographical Story-- c. Telling the Same Story--
• 3. Forgiveness-- a. Forgiveness without Reconciliation-- b. Reconciliation without Forgiveness-- c. Forgiveness and Reconciliation--
• Chapter 5: Forgiving God--
• 1. Protest-- a. Roth's Theodicy of Protest-- b. Blumenthal's Theology of Protest--
• 2. Beyond Protest-- a. Protest in Context-- b. Beyond Protest--
• 3. Forgiving God-- a. The Logical Space for Forgiveness-- b. Forgiving God-- c. Subsisting in Brokenness-- Conclusion-- Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Divinely Abused engages with the logical features of the experience of divine abuse and the religious difficulties to which it gives rise. Taking Job's trial as a test case, Verbin explores the relation between Job's manner of understanding and responding to his misfortunes and the responses of others such as rabbi Aqiva, Kierkegaard and Simone Weil. She discusses the religious crisis to which the experience of divine abuse gives rise and the possibility of sustaining a minimal relationship with the God who is experienced as an abuser by means of forgiving God.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. Synchronic Examination of Ancient Near Eastern Birth Annunciations--
• 2. Egypt, Ugarit, Hatti, Sumer--
• 3. Synchronic Examination of Hebrew Bible Birth Annunciations--
• 4. Isaac and Ishmael - Genesis-- 5 Jacob, Esau, Samson, Solomon--
• 6. Mission Tour Participants--
• 7. Comparison of Ancient Near Eastern and Hebrew Bible.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This is the first book to do an extended comparative study of birth annunciations in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Mythology. This book takes a structural approach to the Heberw bible and Near Eastern Mythology by compraring and contrasting the various forms and functions. Birth annunciations play an important role in each of these narratives and the author claims that there is a textural overlap to be studied.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Tracking the trail of scent: an introduction
• The aroma of daily life: aromatics in Roman and rabbinic culture
• Election and the erotic: biblical portrayals of perfume and incense
• Spicy ideologies: fragrance and rabbinic beliefs
• Soothing odors: death, suffering, and sacrifice
• Ephemerality and fragrance: desire for divine immanence.

"Studies aroma in Jewish life and literature in Palestine in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. Uses the history and material culture of perfume and incense as a lens to view daily activities"--Provided by publisher.

• Introduction-- Contributors-- Abbreviations-- Chronology--
• Part 1 The Earliest Christian Gospels and Their Transmission-- 1 Early Christian Imagination and the Gospels, Sean Freyn-- 2 The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, Martin Hengel-- 3 Literacy, Liturgy and the Shaping of the New Testament Canon, Harry Gamble-- 4 Early Christian Preference for the Codex, Graham Stanton-- 5 The Diatessaron and the Fourfold Gospel, William L. Petersen-- 6 The Nag Hammadi Gospels and the Fourfold Gospel, James Robinson-- 7 The Latin Gospels, Martin McNamara--
• Part 2 The Chester Beatty Gospel Codex P45-- 1 The Significance of the Chester Beatty Papyri in Early Church History, Barbara Aland-- 2 Singular Readings in the Gospel Text of P45, J. K. Elliott-- 3 P45 and the Textual History of the Gospel of Mark, Larry Hurtado-- 4 The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Charles Horton-- Illustrations-- Maps-- Bibliography-- Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The Earliest Gospels brings together the latest research on the origins of the gospels and their transmission, by many of the leading international New Testament scholars. It also provides the only guide to one of the most important primary sources in New Testament scholarship, the Chester Beatty Codex P45. Part 1 examines the general contextual background to the gospels: an introduction to the gospel genre, literacy among early Christians, and all that is known about the origins and transmission of the gospels. Part 2 focuses on the significance of P45, its place as the earliest Christian gospel-book, its unique readings, the earliest extant version of the gospel of Mark, and how the manuscript was found piece by piece by an American collector.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Cover; Editorial Board; Title; Copyright; CONTENTS; Preface; Miscellany;
• Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: ''ARE ALL SALES FINAL, OR CAN I RETURN THIS BOOK?'';
• Chapter 2 ''WHAT IS THE LAY OF THE LAND?'' OR ''WHY SHOULD I CARE?'';
• Chapter 3 TOWARD A DEFINITION OF A RHETORIC OF POWER;
• Chapter 4 THE (NEW) RHETORICAL CRITICISM(S) AND NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS;
• Chapter 5 MESSAGES IN A BOTTLE: THE PROMISE(S) OF A RHETORIC OF POWER; ASSORTED BIBLIOGRAPHIES; Index of References; Index of Authors.

Rhetorical criticism promised to bring New Testament studies into a new era that approached the Bible as a document of persuasive discourse. Major proponents of this approach suggested that its potential lies in its democratization of biblical interpretation. To date, that promise has never been fulfilled. The reasons can be found by exploring the rhetoric of these rhetorical critics. Such an exploration uncovers systems of disciplinary constraints and discursive habits that keep rhetoric firmly within traditional units of academic biblical interpretation. The promise of rhetoric can only be f.

• Introduction-- Part one: 1 Corinthians 5:5: A Critical Reception History: this section considers previous interpretations of 1 Corinthians 5:5 and assesses these arguments for their strengths and weaknesses.-- Part two: Jewish and Graeco-Roman Traditions of ('Binding') Cursing: part two offers a broad examination of Jewish and Graeco-Roman traditions of magic and cursing in order to demonstrate the common practice of magic and cursing in the apostle Paul's cultural milieu.-- Part three: The Curse Interpretation - Reformulated: this section draws upon the previous two parts to offer a fresh interpretation of 1 Corinthians 5, avoiding the pitfalls of previous interpreters and drawing upon fresh material (considered in the previous part [two]).-- Conclusion-- Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This is a fresh, cogent and persuasive reading of the notoriously difficult 1 Corinthians 5, examining the history of interpretation of this passage. 1 Corinthians 5:5 is a curious passage which has been variously interpreted by scholars. For some, it denotes a magical curse which is designed to cause the physical death of the sinner. Others have found such an interpretation unpersuasive. Instead, they maintain that Paul's words at verse five are to be understood as a metaphor for exclusion from the Corinthian community. So, the errant Corinthian is not to die by a curse, but is to be excluded.This work argues for the former interpretation by marshalling a range of the most recent - specialised - magical material, which has not been considered by other works in relation to 1 Corinthians 5. It fully acknowledges the weaknesses of previous magical interpretations, and metaphorical approaches to the passage. Instead, it presents a fresh magical reading of not only 1 Corinthians 5:5, but the whole of 1 Corinthians 5 - within its wider context of the apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthians.Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. "European Seminar on Christian Origins" and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction
• Playing with Leviathan: Job and the aesthetic turn in biblical exegesis
• "Jonah historically regarded": improvisations on Kitto's Cyclopedia of biblical literature
• "Call me Ishmael": the BIble and the Orient
• Ahab, idolatry, and the question of possession: biblical politics
• Rachel's inconsolable cry: the rise of women's BIbles
• Epilogue.

Many writers in antebellum America sought to reinvent the Bible, but no one, Ilana Pardes argues, was as insistent as Melville on redefining biblical exegesis while doing so. In "Moby-Dick, " he not only ventured to fashion a grand new inverted Bible in which biblical rebels and outcasts assume center stage, but also aspired to comment on every imaginable mode of biblical interpretation, calling for a radical reconsideration of the politics of biblical reception. In "Melville's Bibles, " Pardes traces Melville's response to a whole array of nineteenth-century exegetical writings - literary scriptures, biblical scholarship, Holy Land travel narratives, political sermons, and women's bibles. She shows how Melville raised with unparalleled verve the question of what counts as Bible and what counts as interpretation.

• Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Abbreviations; List of Figures, Tables and Maps; Preface; PART I Introductory Material; 1 Introduction to Textual Criticism; 2 Transmissional Errors Occurring in the Bible; 3 Transmission of the Biblical Texts; PART II Old Testament Textual Criticism; 4 A Brief History of Old Testament Textual Criticism; 5 Determining the Most Plausible Original Reading; 6 Getting to Know the Sources of Old Testament Textual Criticism; PART III New Testament Textual Criticism; 7 A Brief History of New Testament Textual Criticism.

• 8 Determining the Most Plausible Reading9 Getting to Know the Sources of New Testament Textual Criticism; PART IV Additional Ancient Versions for Old and New Testament Textual Criticism; 10 Examining the Ancient Versions; Conclusions; Glossary; Permissions; Names Index; Subject Index; Scripture Index; More Titles from InterVarsity Press.

The Bible has been on a long historical journey since its original composition. Its texts have been copied and recopied. And despite the most careful and painstaking efforts of scribes and publishers down through the centuries, errors of one sort or another have crept in and have been reproduced. Sorting out the errors and determining the original wording is the task of textual criticism. In fact, the task of textual criticism is so daunting and detailed that it is divided between Old Testament textual critics and New Testament textual critics. That is why nearly every book on the subject focu.

• America's Bible: loving it and leaving it
• The story told by numbers
• Does it make any difference?
• Bibles galore
• What if nobody read it?
• The perfect is the enemy of the good
• Moses in cyberspace
• Who says what the Bible says?
• Canon fodder
• The eye of the Bible beholder
• The fragility of teaching and learning scripture
• Speaking personally
• Song and dance
• The story of the greatest story ever told awaits a new chapter.

How can a book -- one that's found in courthouses, libraries, and millions of households across the land -- be everywhere and nowhere at the same time? In this book, veteran religion writer Kenneth Briggs asks how, even as the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time, fewer Americans than ever can correctly articulate what it says, much less how it might offer guidance for their lives. In a quest to make sense of the Bible's relative disappearance from public life, Briggs shares with readers his own two-year cross-country journey to a variety of places. Brigg's narrative incorporates pertinent interviews throughout with preachers, pollsters, scholars, and ordinary citizens from California to Texas to Florida to Massachusetts. As he probes and reflects on his varied findings, Briggs offers keen insight into why and how the Bible's place in American public life has shifted and shrunk -- and he suggests what role the Bible may play in the US in years to come. -- adapted from book flap.

• Abbreviations
• The Religion of Canaan and the God of Israel The God of the Fathers 'El and the God of the Fathers 'El in the Ugaritic Pantheon The Epithets of 'El 'El in the Canaanite Myth 'El and Ba'l Hamon The Abode of 'El 'El the Divine Patriarch Yahweh and 'El 'El in the Bible 'El Epithets in Patriarchal Narratives The Name Yahweh
• The Cultus of the Israelite League Prolegomena The Myth and Ritual School The History-of- Redemption School The Divine Warrior Psalm 24 and the Warrior-King The "Ritual Conquest" Transformations of the "Ritual Conquest" The Song of the Sea and Canaanite Myth The Mythic Cycle of Ba'l and 'Anat The Song of the Sea
• League and Kingdom Yahweh and Ba'I The Theophany of Ba'l The Storm Theophany in the Bible The Revelation at Sinai History of the Tradition of the Storm Theophany 'El's Modes of Revelation Yahweh and the Council of the Gods Ba'l versus Yahweh The Priestly Houses of Early Israel The Classical View of Israel's Early Priesthood The Function of the Stories of Conflict The Priestly Genealogies The Priests of David's National Shrine
• Kings and Prophets The Ideologies of Kingship in the Era of the Empire: Conditional Covenant and Eternal Decree The Limited Monarchy of Saul and Monarchy in the Northern Kingdom Davidic Kingship The Imperial Rule of Solomon The Judaean Royal Theology The Typology of the Royal Ideology A Brief Excursus on berit, "Covenant" The Themes of the Book of Kings and the Structure of the Deuteronomistic History The Contemporary Discussion of the Structure of the Deuteronornistic History The Two Themes of the First Edition of the Deuteronomistic History (Dtr1) The Theme of the Exilic Edition of the History (Dtr2) The Two Editions of the Deuteronomistic History
• Exile and Apocalyptic The Priestly Work The So-Called P-Source of the Pentateuch The P System of Covenants Is P a Narrative Source? Documents Used by P Archaizing Language in P The Date of P The Composition of the Priestly Work The Early History of the Apocalyptic Community at Qumran The Archaeological Context of the Qumran Qumran and the Essenes The Essenes: Priestly Apocalyptists Essene Origins A Note on the Study of Apocalyptic Origins
• Index of Biblical Citations Index of Ugaritic Citations Index of Technical Terms Index of Authors General Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The essays in this volume address key aspects of Israelite religious development. Cross traces the continuities between early Israelite religion and the Canaanite culture from which it emerged; explores the tension between the mythic and the historical in Israel's religious expression; and examines the reemergence of Canaanite mythic material in the apocalypticism of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1.Gender: Old and New-- 2.Canon in Context-- 3.Methods and Meaning-- 4.In Our Image-- 5.Gender-Critical Readings.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

In this book, Vander Stichele and Penner introduce their own gender-critical approach to the New Testament and other early Christian writings. Building on feminist and post-colonial insights, they explore the importance of gender in both text and context and discuss the diverse issues involved in interpretation as they relate to gender, sex, and sexuality. The authors also set out their methodology and highlight the various hermeneutical issues involved, such as the complexity of gendered and sexed identities in antiquity and the gap that exists between modern and ancient conceptions thereof. They further illustrate their gender-critical approach with concrete examples from the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, in order to demonstrate how a gender-critical approach works in practice. As such, this book is unique in terms of its range as well as in the explicit methodological focus that is fostered throughout.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)