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This exegetical study of creation and nature in 4 Ezra argues that this first-century Jewish apocalypses profound pessimism concerning humankind and the present age is matched by a surprisingly robust belief in the goodness of the created order. 4 Ezra presents the natural world as standing with God over and against corrupt humankind, envisions substantial elements of continuity between the ages and hints that those parts of the earth that remain unsullied by humankind still witness to Gods sovereignty, love and justice and even serve as material pointers to the new creation. This study calls into question the persistent assumption that apocalypticism and the apocalyptic eschatology of the historical apocalypses in particular necessarily entails a profound dualism. Emerging as it does from an experience of historical disaster and unresolved questions of theodicy, 4 Ezra especially is often considered an apocalypse in which the doctrine of the two ages has been radicalised to the extent that creation, history and life in this world have lost their meaning or significance. The results of this study, however, indicate that while 4 Ezra considers the world of humankind to be corrupted and corrupting, in the natural world the creators sovereignty is not so obscured, and there his original intentions for creation can still be perceived. This study provides a fresh reading of 4 Ezra that takes seriously the books unity and coherence. Its conclusions suggest that it may be best to abandon the label apocalyptic eschatology given its potential mask the interesting complexities and mix of continuity and discontinuity that attend the portrayal of creation, nature and hope in an apocalypse like 4 Ezra.

Frederik A.V. Harms untersucht Calvins Ekklesiologie ausgehend von dessen Kommentar zu den Kleinen Propheten von 15571559. Harms stellt Calvins Sicht auf die Kirche aus historisch-systematischer Sicht dar. Seine Studie uber die Ekklesiologie des groen Reformers wird begleitet von zwei historischen Teilen. Zum einen bietet Harms Calvins historischen Kontext aus den Jahren 1558 bis 1559, als dieser Vorlesungen zu den Kleinen Propheten hielt. Andererseits bietet Harms einen Uberblick uber die Auslegungsgeschichte der Kleinen Propheten von der Zeit der Fruhen Kirche bis zur ersten Generation reformierter Orthodoxie.

Der reformierte Theologe Peter Martyr Vermigli (14991562) war ein Moderator. Er suchte den Mittelweg zwischen theologischen Extremen. Dafur typisch waren seine Uberlegungen zu den aueren Zeichen der gottlichen Gnade. Solche Zeichen die menschliche Natur Christi, die vernehmbaren Worte der Schrift und die sichtbaren Worte der Sakramente sollten laut Vermigli weder zu stark verfleischlicht noch zu stark spiritualisiert werden. Obwohl Gott auch direkt, ohne dazwischen geschaltete Zeichen, handeln konnte, hat er verfugt, Heil durch diese Zeichen zu erwirken. Deshalb lassen sich die innere spirituelle Kraft und das auere Zeichen nicht voneinander trennen. Vermigli, ein gebildeter humanistischer Forscher, vertrat wohl bedachte, distinguierte Positionen. Ein tieferer Blick in seine Theologie, wie ihn Zuidema wagt, lohnt sich, um die inneren theologischen Vernetzungen seiner Zeit besser kennen zu lernen.

Stand-Alone Commentary Set from Christopher Ash Sets Out a Deeply Christian Study of the PsalmsWhile reading Psalms, it is common for commentaries to focus on Old Testament meaning, without connecting it deeply to Christs fulfillment in the New Testament. By studying Scripture this way, believers miss out on the fullness of Gods word. The key to experiencing authentically Christian worship is learning a Christ-focused approach to praying and singing the Psalms.In this comprehensive, 4-volume commentary, Christopher Ash provides a thorough treatment of all 150 Psalms, examining each psalms significance to David and the other psalmists, to Jesus during his earthly ministry, and to the church of Christ in every age. The first volume in the set is a detailed handbook that explains how to interpret the Psalms with Christ at the center. The remaining 3 volumes cover each psalm in depth, with introductory quotations, a deep analysis of the texts structure and vocabulary, and a closing reflection and response. Ash also includes selected quotations from older readings of the Psalms, including patristic, medieval, Reformation, and post-Reformation scholars. Perfect for pastors, Bible teachers, and students, this commentary set helps readers sing and pray the Psalms with Christ in view.Stand-Alone Commentary: Christopher Ashs research also builds on other commentaries for a comprehensive, thorough resource on the Psalms Exhaustive: Ashs exegesis includes all 150 Psalms and their superscriptions, and explores how the Psalms are quoted and echoed throughout the New Testament Applicable and Heartfelt: Explains how a Christ-centered approach to reading the Psalms influences doctrines of prayer, prophecy, the Trinity, ecclesiology, and more Ideal for Pastors and Serious Students of Scripture: Written for Bible teachers, Sunday school and youth leaders, and small-group leaders

Historians and scholars of the Reformations earliest century are invited to expand their understanding of that critical era by an examination of aspects of Reform which are lesser known than Luther and his activities. This volume widens and deepens and broadens our perceptions of the Reformation and reminds us that in fact what we have in the 16th and early 17th century are Reformations.On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the German monk and reformer Martin Luther posting his theses (October 31, 1517), the contributors of this volume invite us to expand our understanding of the Reformation by an examination of aspects of Reform which are lesser known than Luther to probe some less-explored corners of the Reformation. To be sure, Martin Luther himself receives attention in this volume. But the aim of this book is really to take the occasion provided by the increased attention paid to the Reformation during the year 2017 to explore other theologians, movements, and ideas. The expanding of the scholarly mind and opening up of new vistas often overshadowed by larger figures, like Luther, can only be good for the study of the Reformation and Early Modern era.This volume is intended for students of early modern Church history with a particular focus on the non-Lutheran aspects of that history.

Hanna Tervanotko first analyzes the treatment and development of Miriam as a literary character in ancient Jewish texts, taking into account all the references to this figure preserved in ancient Jewish literature from the exilic period to the early second century C.E.: Exodus 15:20-21; Deuteronomy 24:8-9; Numbers 12:1-15; 20:1; 26:59; 1 Chronicles 5:29; Micah 6:4, the Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q365 6 II, 1-7; 4Q377 2 I, 9; 4Q543 1 I, 6 = 4Q545 1 I, 5; 4Q546 12, 4; 4Q547 4 I, 10; 4Q549 2, 8), Jubilees 47:4; Ezekiel the Tragedian 18; Demetrius Chronographer frag. 3; texts by Philo of Alexandria: De vita contemplativa 87; Legum allegoriae 1.76; 2.66-67; 3.103; De agricultura 80-81; Liber antiquitatum biblicarum 9:10; 20:8, and finally texts by Josephus: Antiquitates judaicae 2.221; 3.54; 3.105; 4.78. These texts demonstrate that the picture of Miriam preserved in the ancient Jewish texts is richer than the Hebrew Bible suggests. The results provide a contradictory image of Miriam. On the one hand she becomes a tool of Levitical politics, whereas on the other she continues to enjoy a freer role. People continued to interpret earlier literary traditions in light of new situations, and interpretations varied in different contexts. Second, in light of poststructuralist literary studies that treat texts as reflections of specific social situations, Tervanotko argues that the treatment of Miriam in ancient Jewish literature reflects mostly a reality in which women had little space as active agents. Despite the general tendency to allow women only little room, the references to Miriam suggest that at least some prominent women may have enjoyed occasional freedom.

Although termed "the little Genesis", the Book of Jubilees is significantly engaged with Exodus. It reworks key Exodus narratives, develops modules of Exodus law, and highlights Exodus motifs. The most fundamental connection to Exodus is the grounding of the two narrational structures of Jubilees in the scenario of Moses receiving a revelation on Mt. Sinai. In the frame an anonymous narrator develops the Mt. Sinai setting of the work. In the body an angel employs that setting as the present-time pivot for a retrospect that moves backward and forward in time.Focusing on the intersection of structure and content, the study explores the relationship between the retrospective design of the angel narration and the exegesis. The approach is a literary one that treats Jubilees as a unitary text that may reflect the work of a single author or of a final editor. The analysis draws particular attention to manipulations of temporal and textual perspective that transform Exodus narratives, facilitate the hermeneutical elaborations of Exodus law, and effect cohesion in the revelation that is the Book of Jubilees.Halpern-Amarus study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of biblical interpretation in Second Temple Judaism. For example, the reading of the Jubilees narrative of the exodus as a revelation of how God uses His heavenly forces, i.e., Mastema and his demons as well as the angels of the presence, on behalf of Israel, has implications for the understanding of strategies that temper dualism in Second Temple Judaism.

The free offer of the gospel has been a matter of significant debate within Reformed theology. However, despite this controversy, Reformed theologians such as James Durham preached a gospel offer which was a sincere and free invitation from God to all, to embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour. This gospel offer expressed Gods grace and goodness to all. Donald MacLean argues that Durhams doctrinal position is representative of the Westminster Standards and embraced by his contemporaries and evidenced by the later disputes concerning the meaning of the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Herman Speelman deals with a central question in the intellectual history of the sixteenth century: to what extent can Calvin be regarded as responsible for the tendency in Calvinism or, broader, in Reformed Protestantism, to form a church which has its own ecclesiastical organization and office bearers? So far, claiming a great deal of independence for the church has been considered an important aspect of Calvins legacy. In this line of reasoning, it is assumed that Calvin was a strong opponent of the church as a state organization that did not have its own governing body and power of excommunication.To better understand this issue, we first examine the position of the church within the city-state of Bern. Secondly, we direct our attention to the manner in which Calvin gave form to ecclesiastical life in Geneva. Next we deal with the church in France, and finally, we examine the influence of Calvin and French Calvinism on the organization of the Reformed church in The Netherlands in the 1570s.

Daniel Kalaj (d.1681) was a Polish Reformer of Hungarian background, born in Little Poland (Malopolska) and trained in Franeker, Friesland, under some of the most brilliant Reformed theologians of seventeenth-century Europe, such as Cocceius and Cloppenburgh. Kalajs ministry in the Reformed Church of Little Poland was abruptly interrupted when Catholic authorities wrongly accused him of spreading then-outlawed Arianism, calling him a Calvinoarian. Kalaj became the first Polish Protestant minister to receive a sentence of capital punishment as a result of the new anti-toleration law issued in 1658 against Arians, under the false pretext of military treason during the Second Northern War (16551660). He escaped the axe by fleeing to Lithuania (and later to Gdask), where he wrote his best-known work A Friendly Dialogue between an Evangelical Minister and a Roman Catholic Priest. The Friendly Dialogue is both: Kalajs own personal defense and a compendium to Polish Reformed doctrine, and has a strongly irenic disposition. In contrast with many Reformed thinkers of his day, Kalaj is capable of communicating Reformed doctrine in a friendly and peaceful manner. He places special emphasis on the unity of the catholic church, as expressed in his statement that the three churches Roman, and Lutheran, and Reformed are all part of one true church before God, while at the same time attempting to retain his Reformed orthodoxy.

The Lucianic text of the Historical Books is demonstrably a late, recensional text, but it has numerous curious agreements with the earliest witnesses against B and the majority of the manuscripts. Tuukka Kauhanen aims at throwing light on this proto-Lucianic problem in 1 Samuel (1 Kingdoms) by taking a comprehensive view of all the relevant witnesses. Kauhanen concludes that there are significantly less of actual proto-Lucianic readings than has often been supposed and refutes the old theory of the proto-Lucianic recension.

This volume of the new DSI series is the most comprehensive investigation of Hebrew and Greek translation equivalents in Ps 42-43 in the Psalter and in the Septuagint as a whole currently available. This detailed study does not only include the translation equivalents in the Septuagint, the semantic meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words are also discussed and parallels in the LXX as well as in the Hebrew Bible are included. A systematic investigation of the translators method must be carried out before one can use the manuscripts in a proper way. Accordingly, the extensive translation-technical emphasis and the discussion of text-critical matters make it possible to present a more accurate Old Greek text and this book may thus contribute to a new critical edition of the Greek Psalter. The book is also in some respects in itself a text-critical study, since all variants in Rahlfs edition of the Septuagint Psalms, with the addition of Papyrus Bodmer XXIV (Rahlfs 2110), as well as Hebrew variants, are referred to and studied. This includes suggestions and evaluations of the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Septuagint text. It is also a commentary on the Hebrew and the Greek texts of Ps 42-43. Like other commentaries, it describes the position of the psalm, it presents the unity and form of the psalm, its structure and its relation to the close context. As a commentary on both the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, it gives an overall interpretation of the psalm in Hebrew and in Greek separately. The book can be read by the specialist in Septuagint studies as well as all scholars interested in translation, textual criticism, and in the book of Psalms, not least its use of metaphors and the reflection of temple theology.

In Lutheran Germany of the post-Reformation era (ca. 15801750), a genre of pastoral, ethical writings arose that consisted in casuistry and in topically or thematically related theological counsels. In this first volume of the new Refo500 series Mayes shows that this casuistry literature was intended to instruct and comfort the consciences of Christians. Lutheran casuistry, related to but also distinct from Roman Catholic and Reformed counterparts, arose especially as pastors looked within Holy Scripture, the medieval tradition, and the writings of Martin Luther and other Lutheran authorities for answers to ethical problems and doctrinal disputes, and then catalogued their findings. As an extensive example from this genre Mayes examines the Thesaurus Consiliorum Et Decisionum, published in 1671 by Georg Dedekenn and Johann Ernst Gerhard. This Thesaurus was an anthology of wise advice from Lutheran theologians and jurists, published to encourage readers to avoid individualistic ethical choices and instead to engage in an "aristocratic" process of moral decision making in which one would consult the wise men of the past and present. The counsels included in the Thesaurus address inter-confessional disputes, intra-Lutheran disputes, sacraments, church government, pastoral ministry, social ethics, marriage, sexual ethics, and many other topics. The topics of divorce and remarriage, especially, show the different ways in which Lutherans reasoned about moral matters. The author shows that in the Thesaurus the Lutheran casuistry literature, which has been overlooked in most scholarship of the 20th and 21st centuries, was in bloom. It arose to meet the needs of people who had doubts, and it continued to instruct and console Christian consciences for many generations.

Philosophy of religion, as is often demanded today, must change from a philosophy of religion to a philosophy of religions, otherwise it has no academic future in a pluralistic world. It should look at religions worldwide in all their diversity and no longer be content with a construct of religion in the tradition of Western theism. The criticism is often justified. However, the proposed alternatives do not offer a solution, but only multiply the problems. That is why this study takes a different approach. We can learn from Kant and Kierkegaard that existential problems and not questions of religion are at the center of the philosophy of religion. Philosophy of religion is not primarily concerned with knowledge about religion or religions, but with self-knowledge. Like all critical philosophy, it aims to enable self-thinking, self-assessment and self-action. This existential turn in the philosophy of religion is concretized in four central areas of existential challenges: the relationship between existence and the idea of God, between meaning, absurdity, and existence, between existence and evil, and between infinite love and finite existence. [Das Mysterium der Existenz. Religionsphilosophie und die existentielle Wende]Religionsphilosophie, so wird heute oft gefordert, muss sich von einer Religionsphilosophie zu einer Philosophie der Religionen wandeln, sonst hat sie in einer pluralistischen Welt keine akademische Zukunft. Sie sollte die Religionen weltweit in ihrer ganzen Vielfalt in den Blick nehmen und sich nicht mehr mit einem Konstrukt von Religion in der Tradition des westlichen Theismus begnugen. Die Kritik ist oft berechtigt. Die vorgeschlagenen Alternativen bieten jedoch keine Losung, sondern vervielfachen nur die Probleme. Deshalb wahlt diese Studie einen anderen Ansatz. Von Kant und Kierkegaard konnen wir lernen, dass existenzielle Probleme und nicht Fragen der Religion im Mittelpunkt der Religionsphilosophie stehen. In der Religionsphilosophie geht es nicht in erster Linie um Wissen uber Religion oder Religionen, sondern um Selbsterkenntnis. Wie jede kritische Philosophie zielt sie darauf ab, Selbstdenken, Selbstbeurteilung und Selbsthandeln zu ermoglichen. Diese existenzielle Wende in der Religionsphilosophie wird in vier zentralen Bereichen existenzieller Herausforderungen konkretisiert: dem Verhaltnis zwischen Existenz und Gottesidee, zwischen Sinn, Absurditat und Existenz, zwischen Existenz, Ubel und Bosem und zwischen unendlicher Liebe und endlicher Existenz.

In this volume, the contributions analyze diverse apocalyptic phenomena, religious and secular alike. The authors use the category of entanglements in order to demonstrate that the terms "religious" and "secular" remain ideal type abstractions, which dissolve upon a closer empirical look. They converge on the assumption that apocalypse as literature genre and lens of interpretation either leads towards emancipation or totalitarian control. The role of apocalypse in the advance of modernity is analyzed and how the once religious concept changes through secularization and adaptation by various movements on the political spectrum. The main goal is to achieve mutual appreciation by both religious and secular actors alike, who seek to enhance the common good. Both the church and secular society must humbly recognize that each needs the other. The church must recover its apocalyptic roots and the secular society admit its limitations.

In the study of Christian eschatological thought, virtually no attention has been given to past interpretations of the biblical phrase the new heavens and earth. John Duff uncovers the interpretations of this phrase that were extant in seventeenth-century England. These interpretations fall into two basic campsthose that understood the phrase metaphorically and those that understood the phrase literally.Some English divines believed the new heavens and earth referred to the new age of the gospel that commenced in the first century CE. At that time, God flung open the doors of salvation to Gentiles while at the same time bringing judgment to the Jewish nation for its failure to recognize and embrace Jesus as Messiah. This epic transition was fittingly described as a new heavens and earth.A second group of English interpreters believed the phrase stood for a yet future time when the political and religious circumstances of the world would change for the betterment of the church for one thousand years. The new heavens and earth stood for a future millennium in which Christ would establish his reign over the world prior to the day of resurrection and final judgment. Theologians who accepted a literal understanding believed the new heavens and earth described the renovation of the physical creation at the final judgment. Among this group, differences of opinion existed with respect to how much of the world would need cleansing, what creatures would be restored and of what use would a renovated world serve. The idea that the earth, and not heaven, would be the final abode of the saints emerged among a few obscure writers.

The Bible is the foundational text for the Byzantine Empire. The papers of this volume explore its reception through appropriation, adaptation and interpretation as articulated in all aspects of Byzantine society. Several sessions at the ISBL held in Vienna, 6 to 10 July 2014 on The Reception of the Bible in Greco-Roman Tradition,The Bible between Jews and Christians in Byzantium,Biblical Scholarship in Byzantium, and Biblical Foundations of Byzantine Identity and Culture built the basis of this volume.Various angles shed light on the Byzantine experience of the Bible. The wide range of source materials that inform the contributions to this volumefrom manuscripts and military handbooks to lead seals and pilgrim guides allows insights into a vivid liturgical tradition, which shapes Orthodox Christianity up today. As a thoroughly Christianized society, the Bible had sunk deep into the cultural DNA of Byzantium. The volume shows the multitude of strategies for the engagement with the Biblical text and the manifold ways in which the Bible message was experienced, articulated and brought to life on a daily basis.

Personal renewal or sanctification belongs to the heart of the Christian life and is becoming more important in our present-day culture. Listening to Scripture and in conversation with a variety of theologians from the protestant tradition, the author presents an up-to-date concept for a theology of personal renewal.In this concept the spiritual union with Christ (unio mystica cum Christo) is taken as the starting point in order to consider the way in which renewal obtains form in relation to God, our neighbour, ourselves and the world. To place this concept into a historical perspective, van Vlastuin begins his study with an investigation of Luther and Calvins theology concerning the relationship between the union with Christ and personal renewal. The concept is developed within the current theological debate, with particular reference to the eschatological character of the Christian life.An important issue concerns the measure of renewal, especially in relation to the sinful heart of the believer. In this context the author also deals with the question of sanctification as a position or a process, and the relation between the two.In addition the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human soul in the process of renewal is discussed. Another important issue concerns the abiding significance of the law and the way in which it functions in the Christian life. The exploration of several theological positions leads to a modern concept by which to understand law.The study concludes with an investigation of the relationship between the eschatological Christian life in this present life and the complete revelation of the eschaton.

After Ernst Jennis three well known basic volumes dealing with the Hebrew prepositions Beth, Kaph and Lamed a further study of the third most common preposition in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic was a scholarly desideratum.This study of the preposition Min is presented here. The aim is to advance linguistic research on the Old Testament and to help to clarify a number of linguistic and semantic doubts and translation problems. Some new paths are being taken: The polysemous network that forms Min is systematically presented, the system of Hebrew prepositions is expanded to include an overall theory and the question of the logical subject in passive sentences is answered in a new way.This means that around 80% of all references to prepositions in the Old Testament have now been recorded and analysed.

The Republic of Venice was the only Catholic territory in which an Anabaptist community formed in the 16th century. The history of Venetian Anabaptism, hitherto little known in Reformation Studies, is the focus of this book. Using a large quantity of archival material and rare printed sources Riccarda Suitner reconstructs the lives of the Republics Anabaptists and the inquisitorial repression they suffered, and analyses the doctrinal specificities of the Radical Reformation in this area. This story represents a fundamental stage in the relations between German, central-European and Italian culture in the early modern period. Events in Venice are presented within a broader comparative framework, paying particular attention to the German states, Switzerland, the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, Moravia, Tyrol, and the Kingdom of Naples. It will emerge that its Venetian history cannot be ignored if we are to gain a true understanding of the European Reformation.