Paul and the Gentile Problem provides a new explanation for the apostle Paul’s statements about the Jewish law in his letters to the Romans and Galatians. Paul’s arguments against circumcision and the law in Romans 2 and his reading of Genesis 15-21 in Galatians 4:21-31 belong within a stream of Jewish thinking which rejected the possibility that…[Read more]

Matthew Thiessen offers a nuanced and wide-ranging study of the nature of Jewish thought on Jewishness, circumcision, and conversion. Examining texts from the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, and early Christianity, he gives a compelling account of the various forms of Judaism from which the early Christian movement arose. Beginning with…[Read more]

In this paper I examine Bernard Lonergan’s interpretation of ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ in Romans 5:5 as a subjective genitive construct.

In the so-called Protevangelium Jacobi, Mary spins thread for the temple veil while receiving news of her impending pregnancy. Some have argued that her work is apologetic, countering the unflattering claim (of Celsus) that she spun in order to make ends meet, others that it is indicative of her virtue, intended to portray her as laudable. Without…[Read more]

This paper examines the concept of kingship in the book of Ben Sira by exploring both the adages regarding rulers and the Praise of the Ancestors. In the former, Ben Sira stresses God’s sovereignty over the Gentile ruler, and in the latter he assures peace through fidelity to the Aaronide priesthood, especially the lineage of Simeon. He…[Read more]

The Johannine group formulates for itself specific characteristics that differentiate it from three major Johannine opponents. The language of Social Identity Theory makes it evident that the Johannine group acts as an ingroup, according to its own text(s). As an ingroup with an emphasis on true knowledge, loyalty to Christ, and lived experience…[Read more]

Both 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees portray the Sabbath law as a central point of con- tention during the struggle over Judean law and tradition in the second century BCE (e.g., 1 Macc 1:41-50; 2 Macc 6:4-6). The Hasmonean family in particular is at times high- lighted as holding the Sabbath in high regard (2 Macc 5:27). In every available source,…[Read more]

Many scholars recognize the importance of authority in the process of scripturalization. The presence of words like “authority” and “au- thoritative” in definitions of the term “scripture” is ubiquitous. Many also identify authoritative status for a text as an important step on the way toward it becoming scripture. However, “authority”…[Read more]

This article investigates the prefatory material in 2 Maccabees (2:19-32; 15:38-39) in order to reveal the motivation and attitude of the epitomator of 2 Maccabees toward the text he is adapting. The article argues that the concept of auxiliary texts, recog- nized in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic texts by classicist Markus Dubischar, is the lens…[Read more]

This study highlights features of the Letter of Aristeas that reveal how that story conceives of the royal translation project. It will apply the concept of ‘auxiliary texts’ developed by Markus Dubischar based on the conversation theory of Paul Grice in order to show that Aristeas understands the Hebrew Pentateuch as a failing text. It will be…[Read more]

The majority of interpreters conclude that in Rom 2:17-29 Paul addresses an ethnic Jew. In contrast, Runar M. Thorsteinsson has argued recently that Paul addresses a gentile, specifically a gentile who has judaized and now thinks of himself as a Jew. This article provides further support for Thorsteinsson’s argument, arguing that Paul, contrary t…[Read more]

Though the “many for one” political ideology was widespread in the first century CE, Mark 10:45 rejects this ideology. Instead, this type of rule is contrasted with Jesus’s own rule as a servant king, sacrificing himself (the one) for his followers (the many).

A draft version of the 2016 Pollard Prize article to be published in Historical Review in 2017.

Because the profession of chaplaincy has significant challenges in balancing ones spiritual life while providing spiritual resiliency to ones Soldiers, a chaplain must have an identity that is God centered, self-knowing and Soldier focused. In our stressful military world, we are often pushed and pulled in different ways. At times these ways can…[Read more]

The elements of thought described by Drs. Paul and Elder is one resource that will assist Army officers in conducting the Army Problem Solving Process.

Have you ever been given an assignment that you feel you’re totally unprepared or unable to do and look for every reason/excuse why you shouldn’t be the one to do it? Here are the five reasons Moses gave not to do what he had be selected for.

Die Arbeit versucht anhand des kontemporären Hip-Hop Künstlers Retrogott Identitätsproduktion in der Kunst zu untersuchen. Das Interesse dieser Arbeit gilt der Möglichkeit in Kunst Bedeutung zu schaffen und Sinn zu stiften. Es soll untersucht werden, wie das Kunstwerk zu Rezipient/innen spricht und inwiefern es dazu dienlich ist, dass Selbst- und…[Read more]

Even as there has been a pronounced trend towards secularization in modern literature, a group of authors continues to be haunted by religious texts, histories, and rituals. George Eliot, James Joyce, Rabindranath Tagore, Salman Rushdie, Philip Roth, Orhan Pamuk, V.S. Naipaul

The lines between death and life were neither fixed nor finite to the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean. For most, death was a passageway into a new and uncertain existence. The dead were not so much extinguished as understood to be elsewhere, and many perceived the deceased to continue to exercise agency among the living. Even for those more…[Read more]