Bøger i Jewish and Christian Texts serien

Vicente Dobroruka explores Iranian influence on Second Temple Judaism, providing a new explanation of Persian culture and history in the context of biblical accounts by focusing on the spread of Zoroastrian ideas in the period c.300 BCE-200 CE.Dobroruka begins his investigation with an overview of the problems posed by a dualistic worldview-he examines the Indo-European origins of Zarathushtra and his ideas, explores the long-term implications for the notion of free-will, and clarifies the lightness/darkness paradigm that originated in Persia. Following this, Dobroruka discusses a variety of concepts that illustrate this influence, such as the role of matter and the material world, aspects of dualism and the cosmic struggle, the perspectives on the rewards for the just and the opposing punishments for the wicked, the idea of an 'Anointed One', shamanistic visionary experience, the resurrection, and the concepts of Sheol and Paradise.

Etienne Nodet proposes that Qumran functioned as a pilgrimage site for the Essenes from the 1st century BC onwards. Nodet suggests that the Essenes were scattered everywhere within Palestine in rural communities and that they used to commemorate a renewal of the early Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land, after crossing the Jordan river and celebrating Passover at Gilgal with Joshua, Moses' heir. The Essene dead were moved to be buried at Qumran in a well-organized graveyard, as the place was deemed to be a kind of gate to heaven.Nodet shows how the Jewish movement of the Essenes did not did not disappear after the war in 70 CE, rather its customs had a strong influence upon early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. The chapters of this book examine the Essenes in the period after the war in Jerusalem, showing how this community developed and its longer term significance. This is linked to the texts of the New Testament, to the writings of Josephus and to the Qumran community's own documents, the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The second in George T. Zervos' two-volume critical investigation of the Protevangelium of James. Whereas volume 1 offers a critical edition of the Greek text together with English translation and critical introduction this second volume considers the wide-ranging critical questions in greater depth. Zervos presents a detailed study of the critical questions regarding the ProtJas - authorship, date, origins, purpose - and offers conclusions concerning the textual and compositional history of the ProtJas within the framework of the historical and theological development of the Christian Church. Together these two volumes tell the fascinating story of how an early apocryphal gospel provided the developing church with doctrinal material that was incorporated into both the theology and the ecclesiastical liturgical cycle of the medieval Church, and became a significant part of the standard catechism.

This volume applies a rhetorical-discourse method to the Yahadic manuscripts and Romans to show how community leaders uniquely determined specific hermeneutical rules, axioms, and paradigms for their communities.

George T. Zervos presents the first in a two-volume critical investigation of one of the earliest and most important of the New Testament Apocrypha, the Protevangelium of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of James. Zervos challenges the prevailing view that the ProtJas is a 2nd century unitary document; finding it instead to be the product of an ongoing redactional process in which a 1st century CE "heretical" text was progressively conformed to the "orthodox" Christian doctrine of the time.Zervos tells the story of how an early apocryphal gospel provided the developing church with doctrinal material, which was incorporated into both the theology and the ecclesiastical liturgical cycle of the medieval Church, thus becoming a significant part of the standard catechism for generations of Christians. In this first volume Zervos provides a critical introduction to the text and discusses ProtJas' publication history, scholarly investigation, compositional problems and evidence of redaction, as well as a in-depth analysis of the narrative. For the first time the readings of the vast majority of the known Greek manuscripts appear together, with a transcription of the original text of the complete copy of the ProtJas found in Papyrus Bodmer V.

Sets out to demonstrate that the sectarian Qumran document "The Rule of the Community", provides linguistic clues which illuminate our understanding of how the author of the "Fourth Gospel" used truth terminology and expected it to be understood.

Depictions of the Son of Man in the Gospel of "Matthew" and in the "Parables of Enoch" (Par En) raise questions about their relationship. This work examines the relevant passages containing the Term 'Son of Man' in both "Matthew" and the "Par En". It discusses the meaning and origin of the term 'Son of Man', and the influence of Par En on Matthew.

Lidija Novakovic provides and in depth analysis of the scriptural and interpretative traditions surrounding the resurrection of Jesus.

Oegema works with the hypothesis that apocalypticism was a major current and mindset from the beginning of the Second Temple period, through Enochic literature, the Qumran Scrolls and the New Testament into Late Antiquity, shaping many inner-Jewish traditions and those emerging from Early Judaism. This book offers an examination of Apocalypticism.

A comparative study of the Messiah in the Pauline letters with the Enochic Son of Man traditions in the "Parables of Enoch". It discusses conceptual elements of messianic traditions that are identified in the "Parables of Enoch" and the "Letters of Paul" by examining the nature and functions of the divine figure and of the messiah figure.

Over the past four decades, many scholars have focused on the expanding collection of alleged "extra-canonical" documents that were deemed inspired by God in numerous early Jewish and Christian groups. Eventually, these texts ceased to have an authoritative role in Judaism and Christianity and were branded "extra-canonical." Now, these documents, once considered sacred, are recognized as fundamental in understanding antiquity, and the development of the canon. Many scholars are now according an authority to some of these texts This volume draws attention to these ancient religious texts, especially the so-called "non-canonical" texts, by focusing on how they were used or functioned in early societies. The contributors also warn us about the assumed barriers between "canon" and "extra-canon," "texts" and "traditions," and they suggest that we should be careful with labels such as "Jewish" and "Christian." The contributors also indicate, intermittently or implicitly, the importance of combining disciplines that had been isolated, especially the study of texts, the exploration of the canonical process, and the relevance of sociology in studying ancient groups.

The study of early Judaism and early Christianity has been revolutionised by new evidence from a host of sources: the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Pseudepigrapha, the New Testament Apocrypha, the Nag Hammadi writings and related texts, and new papyrus and amulet discoveries. Now scholars have entered the "next generation†? of scholarship, where these bodies of evidence are appreciated in conversation with each other and within the contexts of the wider Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman cultures from the fourth century BCE to the fourth century CE.This volume features chapters from leading scholars who approach the study of early Judaism and early Christianity from this synthetic approach. The chapters engage in an inter-generational and international dialogue among the past, present and future generations of scholars, and also among European, North-American, African and South-American scholars and their various methodologies and approaches -- linguistic, historical or comparative. Among the chapters are contributions by Professors James Charlesworth (Princeton), André Gagné (Concordia) and Loren Stuckenbruck (Munich), as well as papers from researchers from North America, Europe, South America and Africa.