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God of Faithfulness (vol. 538)- A Festschrift dedicated to J. Gordon McConville on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
Pre-Exilic Israel, the Hebrew Bible, and Archaeology (vol. 549)- A methodological study on how to relate written evidence with non-inscriptional archaeological evidence, with special reference to pre-exilic Israel.
Days of Our Years (464) - This study is an investigation into the lexical meanings of Hebrew terms for the human life cycle in the Old Testament.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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There is an essay by Nigel Biggar in the current edition of the Standpoint magazine on Establishment. It is part of our forthcoming book The Established Church, out in May 2011. Enjoy!
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I realise that my usual posts are about new books, endorsements, etc. This time, however, I have a very exciting news for you – we have just launched our own E-book store. Well, its name is maybe not that exciting: Continuum e-Books, but I am sure you will find all sorts of interesting titles there.
There is a wide range of our books available for purchase right now, in both formats Adobe PDF and ePub. We are planning to start publishing our new books simultaneously as eBooks and in print. A great thing about this new project is that readers can preview a selection of pages from all of the eBooks, as well as build wish-lists and save searches – how exciting is that? I realise I may sound too enthusiastic but it does sound great. But the good news does not end here – you can find in our store another feature, namely eBook widgets, these can be embedded on websites such as author’s blogs, allowing eBook previews and links back to the title’s page on the store for purchase.This is just a short post but if you want to find more information, please, click here
Well, without further ado – go and check this for yourselves.
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We have just received an advance copy of The Son of Man in the Parables of Enoch and in Matthew by Leslie W. Walck, another volume in the Jewish and Christian Texts Series. There are a number of translations of the Book of Enoch, within which the Parables are found, though there are a few books that actually analyse it, especially in the context of the Son of Man theme.
Leslie W. Walck examines all the relevant passages that include the term “Son of Man” in both Matthew and the Parables of Enoch. Walck discusses the meaning and origin of the term “Son of Man” and deliberates over the possible influence of the Par. En on Matthew.
Walck examines the date, provenance and social setting for both texts and suggests that Matthew could have known Par. En. He employs various criticisms (i.e. literary, redaction, sociological and narrative), offers sets of characteristics of the Son of Man in both texts, conducts brief examination of the other Gospels, deliberates over similarities in vocabulary, as well as in the pattern of relationships – all these developments and suggestions make this line of thought intriguing and bring fresh conclusions to the on-going discussion in the field.
As I just mentioned – we have received an advance copy of this volume, though it won’t be too long before you can read this book as it is already available in the US. Readers in the UK will be able to purchase Walck’s book in June. I am sure you all will find it a fascinating read.
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Drilling yesterday underneath The Tower Building in Central London has unearthed a remarkable discovery of lead codicies which bear a striking resemblance to those which have recently come to light in the middle east.
The codicies seem to be the literature of an Early Christian sect, and display not only Christian symbols, but what appears to be a drawing of a Tin mine, and a map of Glastonbury in a different hand. The front page of one is inscribed with the name ‘Yosef Ramatha’, which Dr April Anoetos states; ‘is clear evidence of these codicies being brought to the UK by Joseph of Arimathea, how they ended up in London is a mystery’.
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On Wednesday afternoon, our NY office was contacted by the New York Times asking for information on our 2007 title Quest for the Living God by Elizabeth Johnson. Shortly before that, we saw this article about the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops publishing a 21-page critique of the book. In the critique, they claim the book "contains misrepresentations, ambiguities, and errors that bear upon the faith of the Catholic Church as found in Sacred Scripture, and as it is authentically taught by the Church's universal magisterium." See also the article in the New York Times and another on CatholicCulture.org.
Here is Elizabeth Johnson's response to the critique.
This isn't the first time one of our authors has inspired controversy. The Vatican has objected to Roger Haight's attempts to separate Christology from Greek philosophical concepts. Haight published Christian Community in History Volumes 1-3 and The Future of Christology with us. And of course there is Hans Küng. You can find numerous titles by Dr. Küng on our website.
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This is a guest post by Frank Oveis, former editor at Continuum Books New York:
'As editor (now retired) of the 5 principal books of Sr. Distinguished Prof. Elizabeth Johnson, and someone who has just finished Diarmaid MacCulloch's "Christianity: The First Three Thousand years," I can only say it would take someone of Professor MacCulloch's wry sense of humour and long view of history to make sense of the condemnation this week by the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Doctrine of Sr./Prof. Elisabeth Johnson's's latest book," Quest for the Living God."
Ok, let's dispense with formalities.We'll just call her Beth Johnson, as everybody does. Here are some facts. Beth Johnson is the best-selling contemporary Roman Catholic theologian in the world--books translated into dozens of languages (Korean, Finnish, Chinese). She's garned every prize that American Catholic, plus other secular, institutions, can offer. How about a $200,000 Grawemeyer Award given by Southern Presbyterians? Okay, the U.S. bishops, don't want to hear about that.
I refuse to subscribe to the usual description of Beth, even, especially by the NY Times, as a "feminist theologian." Sure, she's a feminist, isn't every smart thinking person today? To describe her as a "feminist theologian" is like describing St Augustine as an "anti-donatist" or "anti-pelagian" theologian. Just like Irenaeus, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, she's simply a theologian. Unlike some of those guys, she's very careful and judicious. She never talks about things outside her "specialty," like. e.g., sexuality morality and other infra-church issues. As she insists, she's a systematic theologian. Her field is doctrine like the Trinity and the nature/divinity of Christ. If the bishops think of contesting her on these issues, she'll wipe the floor with them. As Dirty Harry said, "C'mon. Make my day!"
As a leading US RC theologian (male) emailed me this morning: "I think they [the bishops] have idiots writing this report who give the most malicious interpretation of anything Beth has written. It is just terrible." This guy will have his chance to repond to the bishops in his own good time and in a proper venue.'
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