Bøger af David A. deSilva

The fascinating history of this extracanonicaltext, its background and reception

Contemporary Western readers may find it surprising that honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship and family, and purity and pollution offer us keys to interpreting the New Testament. But as recent scholarship has proposed and as David deSilva demonstrates, paying attention to these cultural themes opens our eyes and ears to new discoveries and deeper understanding. Through our understanding of honor and shame in the Mediterranean world, we gain new appreciation of the way in which the personhood of early Christians connected with group values. By examining the protocols of patronage and reciprocity, we more firmly grasp the meaning of God's grace--and our response has fresh meaning. In exploring the ethos of kinship and household relations, we enlarge our perspective on the early Christian communities that met in houses and functioned as a new family or "e;household"e; of God. And by investigating the notions of purity and pollution along with their associated practices, we come to realize how the ancient "e;map"e; of society and the world was revised by the power of the gospel. DeSilva's work will reward you with a deeper appreciation of the New Testament, the gospel and Christian discipleship. More than that, it will also inform your participation in contemporary Christian community.

For contemporary Western readers, it can be easy to miss or misread cultural nuances in the New Testament. To hear the text correctly we must be attuned to its original context. As David deSilva demonstrates, keys to interpretation are found in paying attention to four essential cultural themes: honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship and family, and purity and pollution.Through our understanding of honor and shame in the Mediterranean world, we gain new appreciation for how early Christians sustained commitment to a distinctive Christian identity and practice. By examining the protocols of patronage and reciprocity, we grasp more firmly the connections between God's grace and our response. In exploring kinship and household relations, we grasp more fully the ethos of the early Christian communities as a new family brought together by God. And by investigating the notions of purity and pollution along with their associated practices, we realize how the ancient map of society and the world was revised by the power of the gospel.This new edition is thoroughly revised and expanded with up-to-date scholarship. A milestone work in the study of New Testament cultural backgrounds, Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity offers a deeper appreciation of the New Testament, the gospel, and Christian discipleship.

A new approach to how first-century audiences in Roman Asia would have understood and responded to Ephesians, while offering guidance for how the text might form - and challenge - modern Christian perspectives.

This Covenant experience will guide participants in a comprehensive, in-depth study of the Bible over twenty-four weeks. Unlike the learning participants may have experienced in other groups, this in-depth study of the whole Bible emphasizes the biblical concept of covenant as a unifying pattern through all the books in the Old and New Testaments. It underscores the unique relationship that God chooses to have with us as God's people. This relationship is grounded in the faithfulness of God's love and on our ongoing commitment to stay in love with God while we share signs of that love with others.Each episode connects to an aspect of this covenant relationship, which is summarized in the heading of each participant guide.GOD ESTABLISHES THE COVENANT to be in relationship with us. So the first eight weeks, Creating the Covenant, examines how the covenant community is created and established-highlighting several examples throughout scripture. It discusses the story of our origins in Genesis, the Exodus narrative, the teachings of Moses, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, as well as other books from each Testament that focus on the foundation of Christian faith. In doing so, it lays out the framework for a life lived in concert with God and others. Each participant in the group needs the Participant Guides and a Bible. The CEB Study Bible is preferred. The Creating Participant Guide is eight weeks long, and has a lay flat binding making it easy to take notes in the generous space provided on each page. The Creating Participant Guide contains the following episodes:Episode 1: Creating the CovenantRelationships with people in our lives are key to faithful living. Covenant is about the family God creates and the power of love that overcomes evil. We are broken and miss the mark. Substitutes for faithful love destroy our relationships. Yet God's response to broken relationships is to restore us to wholeness. Through the shared practice of reading and interpreting the Bible scripture in holy conversation, we sharpen our understandings until they become more accurate and relevant. And we learn about God's gracious love and how to share it with others.Episode 2: Torah-GenesisGenesis answers the question: Who are we in the scheme of things? Covenant relationships are a metaphor for life together before God. This life is characterized by both gift and responsibility. Broken relationships in these stories are countered by forgiveness and generosity.Episode 3: Exodus, Leviticus, NumbersPassover is a bittersweet celebration of Israel's liberation. The covenant at Sinai creates a people with instructions for living in harmony. These instructions are ever in need of reinterpretation in new situations, much like amendments to a constitution. God is holy and calls the people to be distinct and set apart in their faithfulness.Episode 4: Gospels-Matthew and MarkThe Gospels are similar to Greco-Roman biographies but with a saving twist. They paint a portrait of Jesus' significance for first-century readers living under Roman rule before and after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. By arranging the events of his life, death, and resurrection in distinct order, these writers depict Jesus as both the suffering "e;human one"e; (Mark) and a new teacher like Moses (Matthew). Jesus comes to bring and embody a new covenant reign (kingdom) of God's saving love in the world.Episode 5: Romans and GalatiansThe letters of Paul substituted for his presence and represent his attempt to deal with controversies and provide guidance to churches from a pastor's perspective. For Paul, God's grace expressed in Jesus' faithfulness on the cross is a saving gift with no substitutes. The Spirit's presence, too, is a gift that marks the community of faith and produces fruit for faithful life together, making us more gracious to ourselves and others.Episode 6: HebrewsThe book of Hebrews is a masterful sermon written by an unknown author to a struggling community.The writer encourages them to live lives of gratitude for God's saving work in Jesus. Hebrews embraces the imagery of sacrifice in the Old Testament to describe Jesus' pioneering cosmic work of redemption. Replacing fear with trust, Jesus-our faithful forerunner-made it possible for us to approach the holy with confident expectation of God's favor.Episode 7: 1 and 2 CorinthiansPaul's letters to the church at Corinth address very concrete issues in a culture that honors the freedom of superiors to do as they please. Paul counters this with the mind of Christ, patterned by the logic of self-giving love. This "e;logic of the cross"e; balances freedom with Christ-shaped responsibility to live in ways that benefit both self and community.Episode 8: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 SamuelThese books retell the story of Israel and its responsibilities as a rescued, covenant people. As they transition to a new life in the promised land, the first commandment (no other gods) is restated positively: love God with all your heart and strength. Life in the land after Moses and Joshua is characterized by a cycle of faithlessness, crisis, cries for help, and temporary rescue. The last tribal chieftain/first prophet Samuel will anoint kings for an unruly people when the real king missing in Israel is God.More Questions? Visit http://covenantbiblestudy.com/ for more information.

The Book of Hebrews helps us see the connection between God's grace in our lives and the call to invest ourselves in God's mission in the world. In doing so, we express gratitude for the salvation we have received and respond to God's grace by being faithful to the One who delivers us.In Hebrews: Grace and Gratitude, author and New Testament scholar David deSilva takes you through a study of Hebrews, tracing the themes of grace and gratitude through this unique New Testament book. In the Book of Hebrews, you will discover a bold perspective on who Jesus is and what he has done, as well as a powerful reflection on the meaning and significance of his death and resurrection in light of the Old Testament. As you read and study this letter, you will receive a deeper appreciation for the salvation we have received through Christ and hear afresh God's call to a life of gratitude and faithfulness.The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.

Journey inside the pages of Scripture to meet a personal God who enters individual lives and begins a creative work from the inside out. Shaped with the individual in mind, Immersion encourages simultaneous engagement both with the Word of God and with the God of the Word to become a new creation in ChristImmersion, inspired by a fresh translation--the Common English Bible--stands firmly on Scripture and helps readers explore the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs of their personal faith. More importantly, they'll be able to discover God's revelation through readings and reflections.

This comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to the Old Testament apocryphal books summarizes their context, message, and significance. Now substantially revised and updated throughout.

In this historical novel, David deSilva paints a vivid portrait of Ephesus and brings to life the compelling struggles faced by early Christians. Supplemented by historical images and explanatory sidebars, this imaginative novel digs into the early Christians' conflict with the religious cults of the day as well as the Roman empire.

Grow in the Scriptures throughout the church year with David deSilva as your mentor. Beginning with Advent and moving through the church year, David deSilva brings his years of experience as a biblical scholar to the church in the form of sermons delivered to his home congregation throughout the church year, now adapted into a thoughtful and inspiring collection of reflections. These reflections, which draw on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, will inform and inspire your understanding of Scripture, written with Dr. deSilva's characteristic warmth and wisdom. In Season and Out makes for excellent devotional reading that will feed saints both in front of and behind the pulpit.

New volume in a favorite Bible commentary seriesWriting a commentary on Galatians is a daunting task. Despite its relative brevity, this Pauline letter raises a number of foundational theological issues, and it has played a vital role in shaping Christian thought and practice over the centuries.In this replacement of Ronald Y. K. Fung's 1988 New International Commentary volume, David deSilva ably rises to the challenge, providing a coherent account of Galatians as a piece of strategically crafted communication that addresses both the immediate pastoral challenges facing Paul's converts in Galatia and the underlying questions that gave rise to them.Paying careful attention to the history, philology, and theology of the letter, and interacting with a wealth of secondary literature on both Galatians and the rest of the Pauline corpus, deSilva's exegetically sound commentary will serve as an essential resource for pastors and theological students.

The emotionally evocative power of the book of Revelation has been often noted and experienced by interpreters, but until now it has never been systematically explored. The strange visions of the book of Revelation provide some of the most difficult passages of the New Testament, yet Christians have long been fascinated by its power and...

A lot of mystery surrounds the book of Hebrews, especially regarding its authorship, date, and audience. But by asking the right kind of questions, one can move beyond the impasses typical of historical investigation. In this volume, David deSilva explores Hebrews through a social-scientific lens, asking one of the most important questions when interpreting letters and sermons: What was going on in the community to occasion such a response? DeSilva looks for clues concerning the anonymous author, his education level, the influence of the Greek environment, and his perception of his own authority. In addition, by forming a social profile of the audience that includes location, ethnicity, and class status, deSilva brings to light the author's aims of helping protect Christian converts from persecution and social shame. This book not only helps the sermon ""to the Hebrews"" take on flesh and blood for contemporary readers; it also expands the readers' tools for asking fresh questions and exploring new dimensions in biblical texts.

Reading Scripture with a view to hearing its significance and challenge within its original, foreign context is the essence of exegesis and an anchor point for responsible hermeneutics. Reading Scripture alongside others from a significantly different social location also helps us see fresh aspects of the meaning of the text itself, as well as fresh angles on its challenge to Christian discipleship. This innovative commentary by respected New Testament scholar David deSilva is grounded in both approaches: a careful exegesis of Galatians as a basis for discerning the challenge of Scripture in any social location; and a reading of Galatians from the viewpoint of the challenges to living out its message among the churches in Sri Lanka, the result of extensive interaction with Christian leaders in Sri Lanka. Seeing the text afresh from within its ancient context and a different, modern social location will challenge readers in the West to consider once more Paul's message of transformation through the Spirit, with implications for Western Christians in their own context and in the larger global matrix of the Church universal.

"New Testament Themes" focuses on the worldview and values of the early church, tracing the development of the themes of grace, discipleship, community, and apocalypticism.

Offers teachers and students a comprehensive guide to the grammar and vocabulary of Galatians. A perfect supplement to any commentary, this volume's lexical, analytical, and syntactical analysis is a helpful tool in navigating New Testament literature.