The New Testament in Its First Century Setting: Essays on Context and Background in Honour of B.W. Winter on his 65th Birthday.THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ITS FIRST CENTURY SETTING: ESSAYS ON CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND IN HONOUR OF B.W. WINTER ON HIS 65TH BIRTHDAY. Edited by P. J. Williams, Andrew D. Clark, Peter M. Head, and David Instone-Brewer. Grand Rapids Grand Rapids, city (1990 pop. 189,126), seat of Kent co., SW central Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1850. The second largest city in the state, it is a distribution, wholesale, and industrial center for an area that yields fruit, dairy products, farm produce, , MI: Eerdmans, 2004. Pp. xxxii + 335. Cloth, $50.00. This Festschrift fest·schrift n. pl. fest·schrif·ten or fest·schrifts A volume of learned articles or essays by colleagues and admirers, serving as a tribute or memorial especially to a scholar. contains twenty-one very short articles structured around the various genres of New Testament writing. The book opens with a helpful list of Winter's publications, and is followed by six articles on the gospels: "The Linguistic Background to Jesus' Dereliction dereliction n. 1) abandoning possession, which is sometimes used in the phrase "dereliction of duty." It includes abandoning a ship, which then becomes a "derelict" which salvagers can board. Cry (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)," by P.J. Williams; "Jesus and the New Exodus Restoration of Daughter Zion: Mark 5:21-43 in Context," by Rikki Watts; "Papyrologlcal Perspectives on Luke's Predecessors (Luke 1:1)," by Peter M. Head; "Zechariah Wrote (Luke 1:63)," by Alan Millard Alan Ralph Millard is Rankin Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages, and Honorary Senior Fellow, at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (SACE) in the University of Liverpool. ; "Atonement Theology in Luke-Acts: Reflections on Its Background," by David Peterson David Robert Peterson, PC (born December 28, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) was the twentieth Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years. ; and "'I Suppose' (oimai): The Conclusion of John's Gospel in Its Literary and Historical Context," by Andreas J. Kostenberger. The next section comprises three essays on Acts: "'Omothumadon' in Acts: Co-location, Common Action, or 'Of One Heart and Mind'?" by Steve Walton; "The Italian Cohort in Acts 10:1," by Irina Levinskaya; and "Before Paul Arrived in Corinth: The Mission Strategies in I Corinthians Noun 1. I Corinthians - a New Testament book containing the first epistle from Saint Paul to the church at Corinth First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, First Epistle to the Corinthians 2:2 and Acts 17," by Conrad Gempf. The third section includes ten essays on the Epitles: "'Beloved Brothers' in the New Testament and Early Christian World," by Alanna Alanna may refer to:
Finally, two essays on the Apocalypse close out the volume: "Rome, Provincial Cities and the Seven Churches of Revelation 2-3," by Bruce W. Longenecker; and "Revelation 12: An Apocalyptic 'Church History'?" by Paul Barnett Paul Barnett may refer to:
In the interest of brevity, I shall comment on only a few essays that stood out for me personally. Drawing on papyrological evidence, Peter Head (pp. 30-45) looks at the opening of the gospel of Luke and draws a conclusion that has implications on the synoptic problem The synoptic problem concerns the literary relationships between and among the first three canonical gospels (the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke), known as the Synoptic Gospels. Similarity in word choices and event placement shows an interrelationship. . Luke's preface reflects ancient historical writing conventions, and the papyrological evidence does not, interestingly, suggest that Luke had a negative opinion of his sources. In another essay, Andreas J. Kostenberger (pp. 72-88) considers the vexed question VEXED QUESTION, vexata quaestio. A question or point of law often discussed or agitated, but not determined nor settled. of the authorship of John 21:24-25, and questions the long-standing conclusion that those verses cannot have come from the hand of the original author. Kostenberger finds that oimai (I suppose) is a common expression of authorial modesty among historical writers. Conrad Gempf (pp. 126-42) resurrects an old and long-forgotten suggestion of William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (October 2, 1852 – July 23, 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 (along with Lord Rayleigh who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for the discovery of argon). that Paul rejected wisdom and eloquence in Corinth (1 Cor 2:2) because of the failure of these methods in Athens (Acts 17). In the end, Gempf is uncertain whether Paul changed his strategy in Corinth because of Athens, or whether it was his strategy in Athens that was anomalous. And finally, Alanna Nobbs's essay (pp. 143-50) is to be singled out for observing that use of the Pauline phrase "beloved brothers" might be one of the earliest occurrences of Christian discourse influencing the wider world rather than the direction of influence being exclusively in the other direction. The topics discussed in this volume are varied and interesting, but on the whole, the essays are only loosely connected, as is the nature of Festschriften. Also, while it might be said that the number of contributors in the volume is a strength, the brevity of many of the contributions limits their usefulness. The papers can do no more than whet the appetite for more argumentation, data, or detail. This, admittedly, is a happier situation than the alternative. Zeba Crook Carleton University Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada |
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