A Short History of the New Testament

Description

Few documents in world history can match the inspirational impact of the New Testament. For all its variety - gospels, letters and visions - this first-century collection of texts keeps always at its centre the enigmatic figure of Joshua/Jesus: the Jewish prophet who gathered a group around him, proclaimed the imminent end of the world, but was made captive by the authorities of Rome only to suffer a shameful criminal's death on a cross. When his followers (including former persecutor Saul/Paul) became convinced that Jesus had defeated extinction, and had risen again to fresh life, the movement crossed over from Palestine to ignite the entire Greco-Roman Mediterranean world. The author shows how the writings of this vibrant new faith came into being from oral transmission and then became the pillar of a great world religion. He explores their many varied usages in music, liturgy, art, language and literature. In discussing its textual origins, as well as its later reception, Moxnes shows above all how the New Testament has been employed both as a tool for liberation and as a means of power and control. Front cover Title page Copyright page Table of contents Preface Introduction Part 1: Brginnings From Jesus to the Gospels Chapter 1: Becoming Christians: Letter Writing as Community Formation Chapter 2: Memory and Identity: The Gospels as Jesus-biographies Chapter 3: Acts and Apocalypse: Ambivalent Living under the Roman Empire Chapter 4: Included or Excluded: When was the New Testament Created? Part 2: Shaping History The Reception of the New Testament Chapter 5: ‘Christianity goes to Press’: The Communication History of the New Testament Chapter 6: ‘. . . Their eyes were opened and they recognised him.’ Glimpses of Receptions of the Jesus Story Chapter 7: Race, Class and Gender ‘in Christ’? The Ambiguous Reception History of Galatians 3:28 Part 3: Reading and Meaning-Making The History of How to Read the New Testament Chapter 8: Historical Readings: How Modernity Shaped New Testament Scholarship Chapter 9: ‘Reading from this place’: Paul in Recent Interpretations Conclusion: Where is the Future of the New Testament? Further reading Notes Index