Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook Volume I

Description

This landmark handbook, written by distinguished Pauline scholars, and first published in 2003, remains the first and only work to offer lucid and insightful examinations of Paul and his world in such depth. Together the two volumes that constitute the handbook in its much revised form provide a comprehensive reference resource for new testament scholars looking to understand the classical world in which Paul lived and work. Each chapter provides an overview of a particular social convention, literary of rhetorical topos, social practice, or cultural mores of the world in which Paul and his audiences were at home. In addition, the sections use carefully chosen examples to demonstrate how particularly features of Greco-Roman culture shed light on Paul’s letters and on his readers’ possible perception of them. For the new edition all the contributions have been fully revised to take into account the last ten years of methodological change and the helpful chapter bibliographies fully updated. Wholly new chapters cover such issues as Paul and Memory, Paul’s Economics, honor and shame in Paul’s writings and the Greek novel Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Foreword to the Fourth Edition Canon: The Measuring Rule for Discerning God’s Word I. Introduction II. “Old Testament” Canon III. If the Canon Were Open in the West, What Should Be Added? IV. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Closed Canon? V. Conclusion Foreword to the First Edition Abbreviations Preface Part 1: Introductions and Definitions Chapter 1: Introduction I. What Is the Bible? II. Some Important Questions III. Recent Investigations of Canon Formation IV. Assumptions of Canon Formation V. An Adaptable Bible VI. Emergence of an Old Testament and New Testament VII. The Processes of Canonization Excursus: The “First” or “Old” Testament: What to Call the First Christian Testament Chapter 2: The Notion and Use of Scripture I. Introduction II. Scripture as “Defiling The Hands” III. Oral and Written Sacred Traditions IV. Scribes, Writing, and Scriptures in the Ancient World V. The Emergence of Scriptures in Ancient Israel VI. The Christians’ First Scriptures and Early Christian Scriptures Chapter 3: The Notion, Use, and Adaptability of Canon I. Introduction II. The Term “Canon” III. Canons in the Ancient World IV. Biblical Canons in Early Christianity V. Scripture and Canon in Antiquity VI. Canon 1 and Canon 2 VII. Jewish Notions of Canon VIII. Canon Characteristics: Adaptability and Life IX. Summary Part 2: Formation of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament Canon Chapter 4: The Hebrew Scriptures I. Introduction II. Lost Scriptures in Ancient Israel III. Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Writings: Writings That Did Not Make the Cut IV. Temporary Canonization or “Decanonization” V. The Theory of a Three-Tiered Canon Formation of the Hebrew Bible VI. The Prophets as a Scripture Collection Chapter 5: The Law, the Prophets, and the Cessation of Prophecy I. Introduction II. The Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach III. The Prologue to Sirach IV. 4QMMT V. The Hasmonean Dynasty and the Cessation of Prophecy VI. Prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, and Josephus VII. The Holy Spirit in Rabbinic Tradition VIII. Scriptures Placed in the Temple IX. Books in the Sacred Collections X. The Holy Spirit and Scriptural Canons Chapter 6: Greek Influence and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible I. Hellenism, the Greek Language, and Jewish Tradition II. Aristeas and the Origin of the Greek Bible III. Homer and Biblical Canons IV. The Alexandrian Library, Catalogues, and Canons V. The Septuagint in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity VI. The Greek Alphabet and a Twenty-Four Book Canon VII. The Myth of an Alexandrian Canon VIII. Summary and Conclusion Chapter 7: Scripture Among Essenes, Sadducees, Pharisees, and Samaritans I. Judaisms in the Late Second Temple Period II. The Essenes and Qumran III. The Sadducees and Their Scriptures IV. Pharisees V. The Samaritan Bible Chapter 8: Emerging Jewish and Christian Collections of Scriptures I. 2 Maccabees 2:13–15 II. The Therapeutae, Their Scriptures, and Philo III. Luke 24:44, Daniel, and a Tripartite Biblical Canon IV. Luke 11:48–51 and Matthew 23:34–35 V. Order and Sequence of Biblical Canons VI. Conclusion Chapter 9: The Scriptures of Jesus and Early Christianity I. Scripture in Early Christianity II. The Scriptures of Jesus III. The New Testament’s Use of Scripture IV. The Inviolability of Scripture V. The Church Fathers and the Old Testament Canon VI. The Authority of the Old Testament in Early Christianity VII. Church Council Decisions and Canon Formation VIII. Conclusion IX. Supplement: Jesus’ Scripture References Chapter 10: Texts Reflecting an Emerging Biblical Canon I. Josephus and a Twenty-Two Book Canon II. 4 Ezra 14:19–48 III. Jubilees 2:23–24 IV. The Bryennios Canon V. 1 Enoch: A Challenging Exception V. The Emerging Scriptural Canon Chapter 11: Scripture in the Rabbinic Tradition (90–550 CE) I. Myth of the Council at Jamnia II. The Writings and the Tripartite Hebrew Bible Canon III. The Bible in the Rabbinic Tradition IV. Rabbinic Writings V. Conclusion Chapter 12: Ancient Artifacts and the Stabilization of the Jewish Scriptures I. Hebrew Bible and Old Testament Manuscripts: What Is in Them? II. The Masoretes and the Surviving Hebrew Bible Text III. The Search for the Earliest Text IV. The Text of the Hebrew Scriptures V. Other Translations of Hebrew and Old Testament Scriptures VI. Conclusion Chapter 13: The Formation of the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament: A Summary I. The Hebrew Bible and Old Testament Canon II. Concerns About an Ambiguous Biblical Canon III. Criteria for Establishing a Hebrew Biblical Canon IV. Issues of Canon, Christology, and Biblical Interpretation V. A Twenty-Three-Book Biblical Canon VI. Summary Appendices Appendix A: Ancient Lists of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament Scriptures Appendix B: Current Lists of Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament Scriptures Index of References Inxex of Authors Index of Subjects