Paul and Politics: Ekklesia, Israel, Imperium, Interpretation. Essays in Honor of Krister Stendahl. .Paul and Politics: Ekklesia, Israel, Imperium, Interpretation. Essays in Honor of Krister Stendahl. Edited by Richard A. Horsley. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2000. viii and 248 pages. Paper. $26.00. The essays in this volume originated as papers read to the Paul and Politics Group at four annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies with the stated mission to "Foster Biblical Scholarship". Membership is open to the public, including 7200 individuals from over 80 countries. , together with respondents' comments. They are presented now as a Festschrift in honor of Bishop Krister Stendahl, Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's purpose is to train graduate students—either in the academic study of religion, or in the practice of a religious ministry. , forstimulating a new way of reading Paul. (Stendahl rejected an individualist view of Paul as having a bad conscience and blamed Luther for this; I think it more likely that Luther reflected medieval Western Christendom's preoccupation with guilt, confession, and absolution.) The contributors to this volume deal in original and provocative fashion with several interrelated political issues in Paul's letters. Topics include the politics of interpretation, of the Roman Empire; of Israel (Jew and Gentile relations); in churches (social relations: sexes, slaves and free). Many articles pay special attention to the Corinthian letters. Contributors include Stendahl, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza (Harvard Divinity School), Richard A. Horsley (University of Massachusetts The system includes UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth (affiliated with Cape Cod Community College), UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School. It also has an online school called UMassOnline. , Boston), N. T. Wright (at that time Westminster Cathedral), Sheila Briggs (University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission ), Cynthia Briggs Kittredge (Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is located in Austin in the Diocese of Texas. The seminary sets forth the following mission and core values[1]: The Mission of the Seminary ), Pamela Eisenbaum (Iliff School of Theology Iliff School of Theology is a graduate theological school of the United Methodist Church located in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1892, Iliff's central mission is the education of persons for effective ministry in Christian churches and other religious communities, academic ), Mark Nanos (Lees Summit, Missouri), Allen Callahan (Harvard Divinity School), Szekar Wan (Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School, located in Newton, Massachusetts, is the oldest graduate school of theology in the United States. It maintains covenantal ties with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. ), and Neil Elliott (Seabury Western). Respondents include Antoinette C. Wire, Robert Jewett, Alan Segal, and Calvin Roetzel--all well-known scholars of Paul. This a very rich volume; this brief review cannot do more than say that it honors Stendahl by demonstrating how a younger generation of scholars is thinking out the implications of his work in significant areas--a fitting Festschrift indeed. It leads the reader into thinking new thoughts too. Pastors will benefit from reading these essays; they do not leave one in the ivory tower of the academy. |
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