Paul's Language of Grace in its Graeco-Roman Context

Paul's Language of Grace in its Graeco-Roman Context
Author: James R. Harrison
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2017-01-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532613466

Paul’s Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context was originally published by Mohr Siebeck in 2003 and is now reprinted by Wipf and Stock with a new introduction by its author, James R. Harrison. The book was the first major investigation of charis (‘grace’, ‘favor’) in its social, political, and religious context since G. P. Wetter’s pioneering 1913 monograph on the topic. Focusing on the evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, philosophers, and Greek Jewish literature, Harrison examined the operations of the eastern Mediterranean benefaction system, probing the dynamic of reciprocity between the beneficiary and benefactor, whether human or divine. Before Paul’s converts were first exposed to the gospel, they would have held a variety of beliefs regarding the beneficence of the gods. The apostle, therefore, needed to tailor his language of grace as much to the theological and social concerns of the Mediterranean city-states in his missionary outreach as to the variegated traditions of first-century Judaism. In terms of human grace, although Paul endorses the reciprocity system, he redefines its rationale in light of the gospel of grace and transforms its social expression in his house churches. The explosion of ‘grace’ language that occurs in 2 Corinthians 8–9 regarding the Jerusalem collection is unusual in its frequency in comparison to the honorific inscriptions, underscoring the apostle’s distinctive approach to giving. Regarding divine beneficence, Paul accommodates his gospel to contemporary benefaction idiom. But he retains a distinctiveness of viewpoint regarding divine charis: it is non-cultic; it is mediated through a dishonored and impoverished Benefactor; it overturns the do ut des expectation (‘I give so that you may give’) regarding divine blessing in antiquity. Harrison’s book still remains the authoritative coverage of the Graeco-Roman context of charis.

Reframing Paul

Reframing Paul
Author: Mark Strom
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2000-10-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780830815708

Mark Strom unveils Paul in his original context and invites us to engage with him in new terms. He courageously draws Paul into vital conversation with contemporary evangelicalism. This book is for anyone who wants to learn how the church can be an attractive community of transforming grace and conversation.

Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook

Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook
Author: J. Paul Sampley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2016-10-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567657078

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.

Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit

Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit
Author: James R. Harrison
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 467
Release: 2019-11-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3161546156

"In this study, James R. Harrison compares the modern cult of celebrity to the quest for glory in late republican and early imperial society. He shows how Paul's ethic of humility, based upon the crucified Christ, stands out in a world obsessed with mutual comparison, boasting, and self-sufficiency." --

Metaphors and Social Identity Formation in Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians

Metaphors and Social Identity Formation in Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians
Author: Kar Yong Lim
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2017-05-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498282903

Why did Paul frequently employ a diverse range of metaphors in his letters to the Corinthians? Was the choice of these metaphors a random act or a carefully crafted rhetorical strategy? Did the use of metaphors shape the worldview and behavior of the Christ-followers? In this innovative work, Kar Yong Lim draws upon Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Social Identity Theory to answer these questions. Lim illustrates that Paul employs a cluster of metaphors--namely, sibling, familial, temple, and body metaphors--as cognitive tools that are central to how humans process information, construct reality, and shape group identity. Carefully chosen, these metaphors not only add colors to Paul's rhetorical strategy but also serve as a powerful tool of communication in shaping the thinking, governing the behavior, and constructing the social identity of the Corinthian Christ-followers.

Paul and Seneca in Dialogue

Paul and Seneca in Dialogue
Author: Joey Dodson
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2017-03-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004341366

Paul and Seneca in Dialogue assembles an international group of scholars to compare the philosophical and theological strands in Paul and Seneca’s writings, placing them in dialogue with one another. Arguably, no other first-century, non-Christian writer’s thoughts resemble Paul’s as closely as Seneca’s, and scholars have often found value in comparing Pauline concepts with Seneca’s writings. Nevertheless, apart from the occasional article, broad comparison, or cross-reference, an in-depth critical comparison of these writers has not been attempted for over fifty years – since Sevenster’s monograph of 1961. In the light of the vast amount of research offering new perspectives on both Paul and Seneca since the early 1960s, this new comparison of the two writers is long overdue.

Paul and the Imperial Authorities at Thessalonica and Rome

Paul and the Imperial Authorities at Thessalonica and Rome
Author: James R. Harrison
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2011
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9783161498800

James R. Harrison investigates the collision between Paul's eschatological gospel and the Julio-Claudian conception of rule. The ruler's propaganda, with its claim about the 'eternal rule' of the imperial house over its subjects, embodied in idolatry of power that conflicted with Paul's proclamation of the reign of the risen Son of God over his world. This ideological conflict is examined in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and in Romans, exploring how Paul's eschatology intersected with the imperial cult in the Greek East and in the Latin West. A wide selection of evidence - literary, documentary, numismatic, iconographic, archeological - unveils the 'symbolic universe' of the Julio-Claudian rulers. This construction of social and cosmic reality stood at odds with the eschatological denouement of world history, which, in Paul's view, culminated in the arrival of God's new creation upon Christ's return as Lord of all. Paul exalted the Body of Christ over Nero's 'body of state', transferring to the risen and ascended Jesus many of the ruler's titles and to the Body of Christ many of the ruler's functions. Thus, for Paul, Christ's reign challenged the values of Roman society and transformed its hierarchical social relations through the Spirit.

A History of Charisma

A History of Charisma
Author: J. Potts
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2009-09-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0230244831

This book traces the history of the word 'charisma', and the various meanings assigned to it, from its first century origins in Christian theology to its manifestations in twenty-first century politics and culture, while considering how much of the word's original religious meaning persists in the contemporary secular understanding.

Paul and the Conflict of Cultures

Paul and the Conflict of Cultures
Author: E. A. Judge
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2019-10-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532610017

The catastrophes of the twentieth century have decisively broken the grip of Aristotle's fixed universe on our minds. "Society" is no longer the logical category of statecraft that is to determine our lives. The glorious horrors of fascism discredited the survival of the fittest, upstaged even by the compulsory class equality of the Soviets. Instead we now appeal to "culture" and mutual "communication" as we hope to grow together in response to each other. The universe itself at last is open-ended. Particle physics and the genetic code ensure diversity for us all. Our individual gifts will reveal our identity and our mission in life. We are indeed personally answerable for the choices we make. The twenty-first century's great leap forward is Jerusalem's long foreshadowed answer to Athens. Not logic but experiment has been the mainspring that has unlocked it. The transformed life of the apostle Paul in Christ first experienced the developmental prospect that has inspired the cultural reformation of our time.

The First Urban Churches 3

The First Urban Churches 3
Author: James R. Harrison
Publisher: SBL Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2018-02-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0884142353

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church in Ephesus The third installment of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Ephesus. As with previous volumes, contributors illustrate how an investigation of the material evidence will help readers understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Ephesian believers faced in that city. Brad Bitner, James R. Harrison, Michael Haxby, Fredrick J. Long, Guy M. Rogers, Michael Theophilos, Paul Trebilco, and Stephan Witetschek demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the New Testament writings, particularly Ephesians, Acts, and Revelation. Features Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Ephesus