The T & T Clark Blog

New to the LNTS Series!

The LNTS list is bringing you many exciting new titles over the coming weeks. Two books are coming out in February, starting with the enlightening ‘What Does the Scripture Say?’ Studies in the Function of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. This two-volume work focuses on the function of Scripture in the New Testament Gospels and the letters of the apostle Paul. These essays explore new methods and overlooked traditions that shed light on how the founders of the Christian movement understood the older sacred tradition and sought new and creative ways to let it speak to their own times.

February will also see the publication of Christology, Hermeneutics, and Hebrew, a radical consideration of the theological impact of the Letter to the Hebrews. The history of the interpretation of Hebrews over the last two millennia is discussed and assessed. Beginning with the Patristic period, the book goes on to examine the responses of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, as well as more recent figures such as Karl Barth. This radical academic project moves the study of Hebrews away from perennial arguments about its authorship and provenance and engages instead with it from a theological perspective; the issue of the Christological message in the Letter to the Hebrews is at the forefront and is considered both in terms of the interpreter's context and historical setting.

The beginning of March brings us another wonderful book. Jeffrey E. Brickle’s Aural Design and Coherence in the Prologue of First John is also set to appear on 01.03.12! It is the first sustained investigation of the oral patterning of 1 John 1:1–4, examining underlying design and organisation. Unlike literature in the modern western world, ancient documents were typically crafted for the ear rather than the eye. Brickle examines, describes, and depicts graphically the patterns of sound that emerge as the text is read aloud. He uses the approaches to Greek pronunciation and orality advocated in recent New Testament research to determine the impact on the Prologue’s soundscape, followed by an analysis employing the principles for beautiful and effective composition elucidated by the ancient teacher of rhetoric, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his treatise, On Literary Composition.

Don’t miss these fantastic and diverse new titles!

LNTS & Fourth Gospel in First-Century Media Culture

Great to see this post from Chris Skinner on Thatcher/LeDonne volume on Fourth Gospel in First-Century Media Culture.

Thanks for this, Chris!

I'm really pleased and proud with and of the volumes coming out in LNTS at the moment, particularly the edited collections, which are really focused. The FS for Loveday Alexander - Reading Acts Today is a real state of the art of current acts scholarship. I've found that whilst some publishers are a bit scared of doing festschriften nowadays if it's a really focused project it can almost function as a reader, and sell and review really well.

We've also just published Chris L. Keith's new book on Jesus' Literacy. And some great revised dissertations have been coming through of late. We're only signing up about 8 dissertations a year in LNTS now and some of the really solid work we've had to turn down points to the quality of what's coming through. We're a bit strict on reducing word-count to ensure a thorough revision and to force people to reconceive the project as a book. It seems to be working really well.

If you've got a proposal for LNTS do send it on, or feel free to make an appointment to discuss it with me at SBL. Book soon to avoid disappointment, as my diary's over half-full already.

‘Paul and the Second Century’ another guest post

A month or so ago, I introduced to you two authors’ posts about new LNTS volumes. I have now received another post, which I hope you’ll find informative. This very interesting collection of essays is already published in the UK and will be ready for readers in the US at the beginning of July 2011. So, without further ado here it is:

The second century was a tumultuous time for the church who had to wrestle with deviations of belief influenced by hyper-Hellenism, spasmodic persecution by Roman authorities, criticism from pagan intellectuals, and occasional departures from an assumed moral framework by certain figures in the church. It was in the midst of such difficulties that a great many voices came forward to define the doctrines and guiding characteristics of what they considered “genuine” Christianity. The interest of Paul and the Second Century is to explore how great an impact Paul made on the minds engaged in this endeavor.

Therefore, “this volume represents cutting edge research that combines experts in Pauline studies with experts in Second Century Christianity to identify the formative influence that Paul had on Second Century Christian groups and writings."

Michael F. Bird and Joel Willitts on ‘Paul and the Gospels. Christologies, Conflicts and Convergences’

How does the Christianity represented by Paul, relate to the Christianity represented by the early Christian Gospels? In other words, what are the similarities and dissimilarities between the Apostle and the Evangelists on a myriad of topics including christological beliefs, convictions vis-a-vis the Law, attitudes towards Jews and Gentiles, socio-religious praxis, leadership structure, and use of Scripture, etc. The formation of the canonical Gospels post-date Paul by 10-50 years. So in theory it would be very likely that they would offer some kind of response to Paul and his legacy even if implicitly. In many cases there could be convergences or thought or alternatively polemical opposition. Scholarship has often regarded Matthew as containing an anti-Pauline bent. Luke and Mark are believed to be sympathetically Pauline to some degree. While the Gospel of John is said to represent a form of Christianity completely independent of Paul altogether. Yet these are assumptions that need to be tested rather than affirmed in the usual recycling of footnotes. What is more, if we venture into the second century it might be worth exploring new areas such as how Paul, as figure and influence, shaped traditions embedded in the Gospel of Thomas. That would give us a more complete picture of how the Jesus tradition was shaped by Paul or was enlisted as a response to Paul. In sum, the purpose of this volume is to identify the relationship between Paul and the Gospels within the context of early Christianity.

A Guest Post from Brian J. Abasciano

Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.10-18 continues what I call the “intertextual exegesis” of Romans 9 begun in my first volume for T&T Clark’s LNTS series, which covered Rom. 9:1-9. To put it simply, “intertextual exegesis” of the New Testament is standard grammatical-historical exegesis that pays special attention to the Old Testament and Jewish background of the New Testament text. Scholars have paid increasing attention to such background over the last couple decades due to greater recognition of the prime importance of these factors for the New Testament authors, not least the Apostle Paul. I have found this to be one of the most fruitful avenues of research for understanding Paul’s epistles. Now Paul makes use of Scripture extensively in Romans 9–11, a passage that is undoubtedly one of the most important in Paul’s writings for understanding his theology on multiple issues. Romans 9 in particular relates to some of the most intriguing and controversial issues in Christian theology, such as election, reprobation, divine hardening of human beings, divine sovereignty, human free will and responsibility, and the relationship between Israel and the Church as well as their places in God’s plan for the world. So I have undertaken to exegete Romans 9 in what I expect to be the most extensive study of the chapter in the history of scholarship when it is done (there’s at least another, third volume to come) in order to understand what Paul has written and its theological ramifications.

This second volume analyses Rom. 9:10-18 and corroborates the general thrust of my exegesis of Rom. 9:1-9 in my first volume along with its conclusions regarding Paul’s theology and his use of Scripture (see chapter 5 of that first volume). (In describing the findings of the new book, I will incorporate some material directly from the manuscript.) I have found that Rom. 9:10-18 supports 9:8, which represents God’s election of those who believe in Christ (the Church) as his covenant people/heirs rather than ethnic Israel. In 9:10-18 Paul defends this as faithful to God’s promises to Israel, arguing that God’s covenant promises and purpose for election (to save the world) are fulfilled not by works or ancestry, but by the sovereign call/naming of God, which he bestows on the basis of faith in Christ.

Guest Posts

I have been reading our blog, just to check it you understand - I wouldn’t want you to think that I am my own biggest fan! Well, I have been trying to keep you up to date with new books, perhaps not the most creative of tasks… and therefore the idea of having a guest blog post here seems rather refreshing. I have asked some of our authors whether they would like to contribute to our blog and they have, very kindly, agreed to do so. Two posts, which will be put on right away, relate to LNTS volumes that are going to be published very soon. I hope you’ll enjoy reading both!

Another new title in the LNTS series!

An advance copy of ‘Dialogue Not Dogma. Many Voices in the Gospel of Luke’, by Raj Nadella, has just landed on my desk. In this volume Nadella interprets selected Lukan passages in the light of Bakhtinian concepts, such as dialogism, loophole and exotopy, to show that the disparate perspectives, as well as interplay between them, display Luke’s superior literary skills rather than his inability to produce a coherent work. In turn Luke emerges as a polyphonic work that accommodates competing views on several issues and allows them to enter into dialogue as equal partners. This volume will be available next week in the UK and at the end of May in the US.

Four New Titles in the Library of the New Testament Studies Series

I was just looking at our blog and suddenly realised that I’ve been mentioning mostly books from Thomas’ list – I would not want you all to think that we have only Theology books to look forward to. On the contrary, there are few months ahead of us when we have many good books coming out in the LNTS series.

There are four titles that will be available in March 2011 and one of these is Geir O. Holmås’ volume titled ‘Prayer and Vindication in Luke-Acts. The Theme of Prayer within the Context of the Legitimating and Edifying Objective of the Lukan Narrative.’ This comprehensive study discusses the literary function of prayer in Luke-Acts, employing narrative critical methodology and focuses on the theme’s relation to Luke’s historiographical aims. This study is divided into three parts. In Part I Holmås ‘sets the framework by defining the scope of examination in terms of text selection and by presenting, in a general way, the pragmatic-rhetorical motivations underlying Luke-Acts as an ancient historical work and the implications of this for the interpretation of Lukan prayer’. In Part II he examines the passages featuring prayer in Luke’s gospel, whereas in Part III he investigates the continuation of the prayer theme in Acts.

‘Who is this son of man? The Latest Scholarship on a Puzzling Expression of the Historical Jesus’, edited by Larry W. Hurtado and Paul L. Owen is another title that is coming out in March 2011. This volume is the first ever collection of scholarly essays in English devoted specifically to the theme of the expression ‘son of man’. This lively discussion is taken up by contributors such as Albert L. Lukaszewski, David Shepherd, P.J. Williams, Darrell L. Bock, Benjamin E. Reynolds and Darrell D. Hannah, as well as by both editors.

‘Psychological Analyses and the Historical Jesus’

‘Psychological Analyses and the Historical Jesus. New Ways to Explore Christian Origins’ by Bas Van Os is now available to the readers in the UK, and all those interested in the US will be able to read it at the end of February 2011.

As the author says: ‘This is not a theological study although it may yield some insights that theologians can use. Neither is it a historical-critical analysis of the Gospels, although some findings may be of importance to the methodology employed in such analyses. I am not looking for absolute truths or relatively certain facts behind the Gospels, although my findings could be relevant for that enterprise as well. Rather, this is an attempt to reintegrate psychology in the search for the historical Jesus and his earliest followers from an interdisciplinary and social-scientific point of view.’

Although this volume comes from our LNTS series and we usually do not solicit endorsements for books in this series, we have received four great blurbs for this title, which are posted below:

'Impressively interacting with advanced biblical scholarship, and cognizant of the dangers in moving too easily from psychobiography to historical studies, Bas van Os presents a major contribution to Jesus Research (which as I have emphasized is not driven by theology). He agrees with Albert Schweitzer who rightly protested any psychiatric study of the historical Jesus; yet, he demonstrates how recent psychology theory helps in Jesus Research. Employing psychobiology, Bas van Os demonstrates how psychological insights can make plausible what seemed impossible. Using modern research in conversion patterns, new religious movements, and social memory he demonstrates that, within the Jesus Movement, there is continuity between Jesus and his followers. This study is well informed and will be welcome to all who realize that all methodologies can help us avoid subjectivity as we advance Jesus Research.' - James H. Charlesworth, author of The Historical Jesus.

Off to SNTS in Berlin

    

There are conferences and conferences. Some happen in rather boring places. This one will be different. Tomorrow morning I am off to the Fatherland, attending on T&T Clark's behalf the 2010 SNTS Conference in Berlin, Germany. The conference will be held in the Humboldt Universität with the prestigious address "Unter den Linden", a stone's throw from the Brandenburg Gate. Morning prayer will be offered in Berlin Cathedral, just across the road, with an evening reception in the Pergamonmuseum. Do I need to say more? It will be a week of bathing in the Prussian past, and if I do not come back with another Schleiermacher book for the T&T Clark list I will have to rate this conference as an utter failure...

If you happen to be in Berlin too, do come to the T&T Clark stand and say hello!