A substantial portion of the New Testament was either written in the Jewish Diaspora or addressed to members of the Diaspora. This means that Hellenistic Judaism outside of Palestine was to a great extent the matrix from which New Testament thought developed, so that New Testament teachings and presuppositions about the relationship of the followers of Jesus to the "Old Covenant" must be understood in terms of Hellenistic Jewish understandings of that covenant. These papers, which were presented at a conference held at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, in 1992, investigate different aspects of the relationship of formative Christianity to its Hellenistic Jewish matrix.

Contributors are European scholars, such as the volume editors and Marinus de Jonge, and Americans, including James Charlesworth and Adela Yarbro Collins. Topics include: ownership of the covenant according to the "Epistle of Barnabas; "Alexandrian Jewish religious life as seen in texts prior to Philo; the universality of Torah in Hellenistic Judaism as a preparation for gentile Christianity; the Jewishness of the "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs" and of certain magical texts; the Jewish background of Mark's empty tomb account, Mark's "theios aner" christology, and the New Testament love command; comparisons of Philonic and Pauline biblical exegesis; the role of Hellenistic philosophy in the Corinthian conflict; the influence of passion traditions on Pauline hardship catalogs; and the semiotics of the Adam-Christ typology in Romans. All articles are in English, including one newly translated from German for this edition.

Jesus's enigmatic and compelling parables have fascinated their hearers since he first uttered them, and during the intervening centuries these parables have produced a multitude of interpretations. This accessibly written book explores the varying interpretations of Jesus's parables across two millennia to demonstrate how powerfully they continue to challenge people's hearts, minds, and imaginations. It covers more than fifty imaginative receptions from different eras, perspectives, and media, showing how the use of Jesus's parables affects society and culture and offering a richer appreciation for Jesus's most striking teachings.

John Howard Schutz's milestone analysis of Paul's authority shaped a generation of thought about Paul. This insightful work continues to be relevant to Pauline scholarship.

The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.

In this book esteemed Pauline scholar John Barclay presents a strikingly fresh reading of grace in Paul's theology, studying it in view of ancient notions of "gift" and shining new light on Paul's relationship to Second Temple Judaism.

Paul and the Gift centers on divine gift-giving, which for Paul, Barclay says, is focused and fulfilled in the gift of Christ. He offers a new appraisal of Paul's theology of the Christ-event as gift as it comes to expression in Galatians and Romans, and he presents a nuanced and detailed discussion of the history of reception of Paul. This exegetically responsible, theologically informed, hermeneutically useful book shows that a respectful, though not uncritical, reading of Paul contains resources that remain important for Christians today.

Aside from Jesus, the Apostle Paul had the greatest formative influence on the early Christian movement. Yet who was this passionate missionary who carried the message of Christ throughout the Mediterranean world? The New Testament writings give us not one but two portraits of Paul. We read numerous details of Paul's life and relationships in the Book of Acts and we also find an additional set of details about Paul's activities in his letters. Yet how consistent are these two portraits? And which one gives us the most accurate picture of the historical Paul? In this volume Thomas E. Phillips examines the portrayals of Paul in recent biblical scholarship in the light of these two major NT portraits. Believing the apostolic conference at Jerusalem to be a watershed event, Phillips draws conclusions that help contemporary readers get a more accurate picture of Paul.