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Today, wellbeing is high on the personal and societal agenda, but thinking about wellbeing certainly is not a new phenomenon. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, for example, came up with the concept of Eudaimonia the contented state of feeling healthy, happy, and prosperous and this concept has been influential up until today. Starting from Augustines thoughts on the topic of wellbeing, which had a great influence on theologians and others in the Early Modern Era, the contributions in this book reflect on a variety of topics ranging from wellbeing for the soul and the body to broader related concepts and theories approaching the theme from such disciplines as music, literature, history and theology.

One of the most fundamental questions when reading and trying to understand New Testament texts is the question of genre. It is impossible to understand a text, its meaning and intention, in its proper historical setting if one does not understand its genre: As an example, interpreting a satirical text without understanding the genre would no doubt lead to grave misunderstandings. The same logic applies to texts from the New Testament, and the matter is complicated even further by the immense historical gap between the time of the genesis of the New Testament canon and now. The problem of the New Testament texts genre(s) is therefore a vital area of scholarly discussion within international New Testament scholarship.The current volume utilizes the newest insights from current research on the New Testament to cast new light on the question of the genre of Marks Gospel. Here, prominent international New Testament scholars discuss how we should understand the genre(s) of Marks Gospel, thus making an important contribution to international scholarship on the Gospel of Mark as well as the Gospel genre in general.

This book brings together leading experts in the field of ancient synagogue studies to discuss the current issues and emerging trends in the study of synagogues in ancient Palestine. Divided into four thematic units, the different contributions apply archaeological, textual, historical and art historical methodologies to questions related to ancient synagogues.Part One addresses issues related to the origins and early development of synagogues up to 200 CE. The contributions provide different explanations to the alleged lack of evidence for synagogues built in the second and third centuries CE and ask how much continuity or change there is between the late Second Temple and late Roman/early Byzantine synagogues. Part Two deals with architecture and dating of ancient synagogues. It gives an overview of all synagogues found so far, approaches the dating of Galilean synagogues in the light of the recently-exposed synagogue at Huqoq, and provides a stylistic re-evaluation of the Capernaum synagogue decoration.Part three examines leadership, power and daily life in late antique synagogue contexts, illustrating non-monumental inscriptions, amulets and dining in synagogue contexts as well as the role of individual benefactors. Section four contextualizes synagogue art. An overview of synagogue mosaics in late antique Palestine is complemented with reinterpretations of the mosaics two synagogues. The section also offers a discussion of the appearance of the menorah.

The question of how theology shapes a Christian historians reading of the past has been debated thoroughly in various academic periodicals. Should historians recognise the role of providence in their accounts of past events? Should they sympathise with their subjects theology? Can objectivity be lost due to theological bias? And, last but not least, is there a compromise of faith if one writes "natural" instead of "supernatural" history? Such questions are important for understanding the historians profession. Arnold Dallimore, who trained and specialised in pastoral ministry in Canada, wrote an influential biography of the revivalist George Whitefield, as well as others on Charles and Susanna Wesley, Edward Irving, and Charles Spurgeon. How did his Reformed theological perspective impact his historiography? How does his work fit into larger historiographical debates concerning the nature of Christian history? While other books look at Christian historiography using abstract and methodological approaches, this book examines the subject precisely by looking at the life and work of an individual historian. It does so by placing Dallimore in the context of being a minister in twentieth-century Canada as well as his role in the development of Reformed Theology in the Anglosphere. It also examines the quality of his various biographies focusing on key issues such as the nature of religious revival, the problem of Christianity and slavery, and the question of charismatic religious experience. His study concludes by examining the relationship between the discipline and profession of church history and asking what is required for one to be considered a church historian.

The aim of the present conference volume is to study the interrelationship of literary and material approaches to historical investigation of gender. Paradigmatically the significance and meaning of gender and sexuality is explored in the context of private and public, religious and secular spaces. Historical, cultural, and social norms (and deviations) of daily life are examined through the lens of textual, archaeological, and art historical investigations to interpret relics of ancient Israelite, Jewish, and Christian communities from the Iron Age through Late Antiquity. Scholars from varied disciplines such as biblical and classical archaeology, epigraphy, Old and New Testament exegesis and religious studies assembled to engage in a dialogue involving both texts and material culture.

Dries De Crom intends to stimulate the cross-fertilization of Septuagint Studies and Translation Studies, particularly the theoretical framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS). It engages with concepts and theories from DTS in order to demonstrate their applicability to the study of the Septuagint. The aim is not to replace the established methods of Septuagint Studies, but rather to show that they are fully compatible with descriptive approaches to translation.The greater part of the volume is dedicated to a meticulous verse-by-verse comparison between the LXX and MT texts of Song of Songs. As there is at present no full critical edition of the Greek texts of Song of Songs, due attention is given to the most important witnesses to the pre-Hexaplaric text. The textual study engages with matters of translation technique, textual criticism, linguistic interference and the interpretation of LXX Song of Songs.On the basis of this textual analysis, the volume explores the question of Kaige-Theodotion and LXX Song of Songs relation to it, as well as the peculiar textual-linguistic profile of LXX Songs of Songs, against the background of translational norms, interference, interlanguage and literary code.

The Sahidic version of 1 Samuel is an ancient daughter version of the Septuagint. Because the Sahidic translation was made before most of the Greek manuscripts we know were copied, it potentially contains ancient readings no longer preserved or only faintly attested in the Greek tradition.This study considers the Sahidic version of 1 Samuel as a translation and how it may best be used in Greek textual criticism. The aim of this study is twofold. First, to examine the translation technique of the Sahidic translator. Second, to analyze the affiliations between the Sahidic manuscripts as well as the affiliations between the Sahidic version and Greek traditions.In the translation-technical section, clause connections and translator s additions feature prominently. In the chapter concerning the affiliations of the Sahidic text, detailed textual analyses prevail. These analyses describe the textual character of each Sahidic manuscript, and search for the existence of secondary readings and/or corruptions.This study supports the creation of a new critical edition of the Septuagint of 1 Samuel for the Gottingen series. With respect to this edition, the primary goal is to identify the affiliations of the Sahidic version. This translation-technical study, however, will additionally allow for a more careful and accurate citation of the Sahidic version within the critical apparatus of the Greek text.

For more than forty years now there has been a steady stream of interest in Richard Hooker. This renaissance in Hooker Studies began with the publication of the Folger Library Edition of the Works of Richard Hooker. With this renaissance has come a growing recognition that it is anachronistic to classify Hooker simply as an Anglican thinker, but as yet, no generally agreed-upon alternative label, or context for his thought, has replaced this older conception; in particular, the question of Hookers Reformed identity remains hotly contested.Given the relatively limited engagement of Hooker scholarship with other branches of Reformation and early modern scholarship to date, there is a growing recognition that Hooker must be evaluated not only against the context of English puritanism and conformism but also in light of his broad international Reformed context. At the same time, it has become clear that, if this is so, scholars of continental Reformed orthodoxy must take stock of Hookers work as one of the landmark theological achievements of the era.This volume aims to facilitate this long-needed conversation, bringing together a wide range of scholars to consider Richard Hookers theology within the full context of late 16th- and early 17th-century Reformed orthodoxy, both in England and on the Continent. The essays seek to bring Hooker into conversation not merely with contemporaries familiar to Hooker scholarship, such as William Perkins, but also with such contemporaries as Jerome Zanchi and Franciscus Junius, predecessors such as Heinrich Bullinger, and successors such as John Davenant, John Owen, and Hugo Grotius. In considering how these successors of Hooker identified themselves in relation to his theology, these essays will also shed light on how Hooker was perceived within 17th-century Reformed circles. The theological topics touched on in the course of these essays include such central issues as the doctrine of Scripture, predestination, Christology, soteriology, the sacraments, and law. It is hoped that these essays will continue to stimulate further research on these important questions among a wide community of scholars.

This ambitious and engaging book sets itself the task of combining a wide range of approaches to cast new light on the form and function of several ancient Jewish letters in a variety of languages. The focus of The Performance of Ancient Jewish Lettersis on applying a new emerging field of performance theory to texts and arguing that letters and other documents were not just read in silence, as is normal today, but were "performed," especially when they were addressed to a community. A distinctive feature of this book consists of being one of the first to apply the approach of performance criticism to ancient Jewish letters. Previous treatments of ancient letters have not given enough consideration to their oral context; however, this book prompts the reader to "listen" sympathetically with the audience. The Performance focuses close attention on the ways in which the engagement of the audience during the performance of a text might be read from traces present in the text itself. This book invites the audience to hear a fresh reading of a family letter from Hermopolis, concerning ugly tunics and castor oil; festal letters, about issues surrounding the celebration of Passover, Purim and Hanukkah; a diaspora letter on how to live in a foreign land; and also an official letter concerning the building of the Jerusalem temple. These letters will help us understand a text from the Dead Sea Scrolls, namely, MMT. Marvin L. Miller argues for the centrality of performance in the life of Jews of the Second Temple period, an area of study that has been traditionally neglected. The Performanceadvances the fields of orality and epistolography and supplements other scholars works in those fields.

Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3), also known as Authoritative Teaching,is a little studied story of a souls descent and ascent in the Nag Hammadi library. With her book Ulla Tervahauta fills a gap in the scholarship and provide the first monograph-length study that has this writingas its primary focus. The aim is to find a place and context for Authentikos Logos within early Christianity, but Tervahauta also adds new insight into the scholarship of the Nag Hammadi Library and study of early Christianity. Contrary to the usual discussion of the Nag Hammadi writings from the viewpoint of Gnostic studies, she argues that Authentikos Logos is best approached from the context of Christian traditions of late ancient Egypt between the third and the fifth centuries.Tervahauta discusses the story of the souls journey in light of various Christian and Platonic writings. Also, she analyses the relationship of Authentikos Logos with the Valentinian Wisdom myth and suggests that no firm evidence connects the writing closely with Valentinian traditions. And although a Platonic mind-set can be assumed, the writing combines motifs in a unique manner. For example, the four epithets used in the writing the "invisible soul", the "pneumatic soul", the "material soul", and the "rational soul" are not found thus combined elsewhere. Discussion of matter (hyle) is connected with Christian scriptural allusions and the focus is on ethics and the evilness of matter. The body, on the other hand, is the souls place of contest and progress. The Pauline term "pneumatic body" (1 Cor 15:44) is used allusively and from a Platonic perspective. With this book Ulla Tervahauta makes an important contribution to the study of early Christianity in late ancient Egypt by discussing a writing thatshows knowledge and creative combination of literary traditions that circulated in late ancient Egypt.

Among the predominantly Hebrew collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls are twenty-nine compositions penned in Aramaic. While such Aramaic writings were received at Qumran, these materials likely originated in times before, and locales beyond, the Qumran community. In view of their unknown past and provenance, this volume contributes to the ongoing debate over whether the Aramaic texts are a cohesive corpus or accidental anthology. Paramount among the literary topoi that hint at an inherent unity in the group is the pervasive usage of the dream-vision in a constellation of at least twenty writings. Andrew B. Perrin demonstrates that the literary convention of the dream-vision was deployed using a shared linguistic stock to introduce a closely defined set of concerns. Part One maps out the major compositional patterns of dream-vision episodes across the collection. Special attention is paid to recurring literary-philological features (e.g., motifs, images, phrases, and idioms), which suggest that pairs or clusters of texts are affiliated intertextually, tradition-historically, or originated in closely related scribal circles. Part Two articulates three predominant concerns advanced or addressed by dream-vision revelation. The authors of the Aramaic texts strategically employed dream-visions (i) for scriptural exegesis of the antediluvian/patriarchal traditions, (ii) to endorse particular understandings of the origins and functions of the priesthood, and (iii) as an ex eventu historiographical mechanism for revealing aspects or all of world history. These findings are shown to give fresh perspective on issues of revelatory discourses in Second Temple Judaism, the origins and evolution of apocalyptic literature, the ancient context of the book of Daniel, and the social location of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls.

Byung Soo Han intends to answer, by investigating the merger of patristic and contemporary sources in the theological method of Amandus Polanus, a significant question concerning the way in which the intellectual and methodological eclecticism of the Reformed was able to establish a coherent "system" of thought capable of defense as not only confessional but also orthodox in its theology and broadly catholic, drawing both on the thought of the Reformers and on the resources of the great tradition of Christian thought that extended back to the church fathers. From a methodological perspective, Polanuss development from the Ramistically-organized doctrinal framework of the early Partitiones, through the increasingly detailed and specialized efforts of the commentaries, disputations, and Symphonia, indicates a fairly clear, concerted effort to build toward a detailed systematic presentation and in fact, each of these earlier efforts provided as it were building-blocks that would be incorporated into the Syntagma. This constructive labor itself serves to set aside the claim that Polanus based his theology on a deductive principle. The specific focus of the book is on the place and function of backgrounds and sources, traditional and contemporary, with particular emphasis on the place of the church fathers in Reformed orthodoxy. Polanuss patristic work, Symphonia, and its eventual impact on his full systematic work, the Syntagma, provides a singular case, within the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, of the reformulation of patristic thought in a fully systematized form, suitable for combination with the results of biblical exegesis and contemporary doctrinal argumentation in the formulation of Reformed orthodox theology. This study attempts to assess the claim of catholicity and orthodoxy by Reformed theology, demonstrating the formative function of patristic thought in Polanuss theology. Further, the study illustrates the place of this traditionary exercise within the methodologically eclectic approach followed by Polanus and his contemporaries as they created a theology that drew not only on Scripture and contemporary philosophical assumptions but also on patristic, medieval, Reformation-era, traditionary Aristotelian, Platonic, and Ramist sources. This study, therefore, reappraises the development of Reformed orthodoxy. In Polanuss case, an older scholarship that read his theology as based on central dogmas or as an exercise of rationalism will be set aside in favor of a more nuanced view of his sources and method. Within this larger framework, Polanuss use of the fathers builds on and confirms the Reformerss assumption of catholicity in the face of the detailed polemics of Robert Bellarmine as well as confirming the point that his approach to formulation was traditionary and somewhat eclectic. Finally, the book identifies the theological cohesion of the early orthodox Reformed model, as exemplified by Polanuss thought, especially in its method of drawing together of traditionary materials from varied sources. In short, the book demonstrates the importance of the church fathers to the formulation of a Reformed orthodox and catholic theology in the context of showing, contrary to previous studies of Polanuss thought and contrary to the older stereotypes of "Calvinist" orthodoxy, that Reformed orthodoxy was neither a rigid monolith nor a matter of philosophical speculation but the product of a carefully conceived exercise in the compilation and assessment of biblical and traditionary materials.

Herman Selderhuis as editor of this volume has brought together a team of experts, resulting in a unique approach since each chapter is co-written by a catholic and a protestant author, who have all integrated the latest research results. Each section begins with a brief historiographical overview. The same time, ecclesiastical events are always set within a greater framework of political, social, and cultural developments for which reason each author has taken the liberty to describe its own method. The user will find in this book tables, diagrams, and illustrations. Also many source texts are integrated in the narration. Theses texts are intended to bring the described events and people closer to the reader and, as it were, to let them speak the words. The name of the book as "Handbook of the church history of the Netherlands" immediately brings to mind three problematic complexes which are relevant to its user. First, there is the nature of a handbook, that is intended to be a good tool but also has its limitations: it stimulates and necessitates the use of further books. Second, the area. The Netherlands is a plurality and that is also noticeable in its church history, for each region, town, and village has its own church history. Third, the history of the church for sure is the most important aspect, but this history can only be understood if it is described in the context of political and social developments.

Herman Selderhuis as editor of this volume has brought together a team of experts, resulting in a unique approach since each chapter is co-written by a catholic and a protestant author, who have all integrated the latest research results. Each section begins with a brief historiographical overview. The same time, ecclesiastical events are always set within a greater framework of political, social, and cultural developments for which reason each author has taken the liberty to describe its own method. The user will find in this book tables, diagrams, and illustrations. Also many source texts are integrated in the narration. Theses texts are intended to bring the described events and people closer to the reader and, as it were, to let them speak the words. The name of the book as "Handbook of the church history of the Netherlands" immediately brings to mind three problematic complexes which are relevant to its user. First, there is the nature of a handbook, that is intended to be a good tool but also has its limitations: it stimulates and necessitates the use of further books. Second, the area. The Netherlands is a plurality and that is also noticeable in its church history, for each region, town, and village has its own church history. Third, the history of the church for sure is the most important aspect, but this history can only be understood if it is described in the context of political and social developments.

The first five books of the New Testament contain a large proportion of all uses of the term Farisai/oj in extant literature. In the light of growing scepticism among historians of Judaism over the accuracy and legitimacy of reconstructions of the Pharisees of history, Mary Marshall sets aside the quest for the historical Pharisees and instead offers an analysis of the portrayal of the Pharisees by each evangelist. The author adopts a redaction critical approach which incorporates narrative critical observations where appropriate. Her examination of the texts demonstrates the particularity of each book and its portrayal of the Pharisees. The five books do not portray a monolithic body of evidence but each has its own style, occasion and purpose(s). All New Testament portrayals of the Pharisees occupy a good deal of common ground and yet the pictures they produce are not identical. Every one of the evangelists integrates the Pharisees into his own presentation of the gospel,emphasisingthose aspects of the Pharisees portrayal which serve his own particular concerns. This study of material from the gospels and Acts yields multi-faceted portraits of the Pharisees and discloses the variety of christological, soteriological, ecclesiological and ethical concerns with which they are associated. It alerts the exegete both to the nuances within a given New Testament book and to the subtle differences between books. It demonstrates the combination of fidelity and freedom with which the evangelists regarded their inherited tradition and sources. The way the Pharisees are portrayed in each text is particular to that text and its purposes, and therefore consideration of the Pharisees portrayal is able to enrich our understanding of the gospels and Acts more generally.

The intertextuality research of antique texts and their reception in Medieval and modern times is the subject of this volume: (1) What is a text and what is an intertext? This concerns the various different forms of text and how they present themselves in architecture, iconography, lexicography, the study of lists, etc. (2) Forms of intertextuality on the relationship between writtenness and oralness, how oral texts are objectified during textualisation and become fixed acts of speech (K. Ehlich), how especially antique texts were shaped by the continual interconnectedness of oral and written traditions. (3) What is understood in ancient Oriental and antique literature by "tradition" and "transmission"? To this end, the research includes languages, historical reality and antique thought structures, making clear that the transferral of tradition occurs not only within a close cultural circle, but in the exchange with neighbouring cultures over large distances and geographic boundaries. (4) On the relationship between intertextuality and canon. A number of contributions study this aspect of ongoing historical debate as it often found for culturally definitive and canonised texts a necessary part of the their rejuvination process. Contributions by M. Bauks, A. Lange / Z. Plese, Ph. Alexandre, S. Aufrere, M. Oeming, K. Davidowicz, A. Wagner, G. Selz, M.F. Meyer, L. Roig Lanzillotta, M. Dimitrova, F. Waldman, W. Horowitz, M. Risch, J. van Ruiten, L. Bormann, A. Miltenova, J. Taschner, G. Brooke, G. Dorival, A. Harder and S. Alkier.

David Luckensmeyer gelingt durch die Untersuchung der eschatologischen Motive ein hervorragender Zugang zum ersten Thessalonicherbrief. Er analysiert die grundlegenden Richtungen des enthaltenen Diskurses erstmalig, und verdeutlicht sowohl die Rhetorik wie auch die Briefstruktur des 1. Briefes an die Thessalonicher. Durch diese Zugangsweise lassen sich die verschiedenen eschatologischen Motive als Teil einer systematischen Aufforderung des Verfassers an eine Gemeinde verstehen, die einen Konflikt zu bestehen hat.Luckensmeyer verdeutlicht die Eschatologie als den besten hermeneutischen Schlussel, um die systematischen Aspekte des Briefes zu interpretieren. Es besteht kein Zweifel: Eschatologische Motive sind im Uberfluss vorhanden, etwa in 1,910; 2,1316; 4,1318 oder 5,111. Der Frage, auf welche Weise diese Motive die Absichten des Paulus in seinem Schreiben verdeutlichen, widmet sich Luckensmeyer ganz besonders. Paulus kann verstandlich machen, warum die Thessalonicher im Konflikt leben und sie zugleich zu einem neuen Verstandnis von Gemeinde ermutigen.Die ausfuhrliche Bibliographie gibt einen guten Uberblick uber die neueste Sekundarliteratur und verschiedene Register erleichtern den Zugang.

The investigation of union with Christ and justification has been dominated by the figure of John Calvin. Calvins influence, however, has been exaggerated in our own day. Theologians within the Early Modern Reformed tradition contributed to the development of these doctrines and did not view Calvin as the normative theologian of the tradition. John V. Fesko, therefore, goes beyond Calvin and explores union with Christ and justification in the Reformation, Early Orthodox, and High Orthodox periods of the Reformed tradition and covers lesser known but equally important figures such as Juan de Valdes, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Girolamo Zanchi, William Perkins, John Owen, Francis Turretin, and Herman Witsius. The study also covers theologians that either lie outside or transgress the Reformed tradition, such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Faustus Socinus, Jacob Arminius, and Richard Baxter. By treating this diverse body of figures the study reveals areas of agreement and diversity on these two doctrines. The author demonstrates that among the diverse formulations, all surveyed Reformed theologians accord justification priority over sanctification within the broader rubric of union with Christ. Fesko shows that Reformed theologians affirm both union with Christ and the golden chain of salvation, ideas that moderns find incompatible. In sum, rather than reading an individual theologian isolated from his context, this study provides a contextual reading of union with Christ and justification in the Early Modern Reformed context.

By their very nature, traditions are diverse. This is particularly the case with theological traditions, even including those cases where they have been named for a single individual (e.g. Augustinianism, Thomism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism). In the eras of the Reformation and of Reformed orthodoxy there was intense theological debate, leading to confessional identity and confessional boundaries; hence the Remonstrant controversy in the early seventeenth century. What the essays of this volume look at, however, are the debates that took place within the Reformed theological tradition, particularly within Puritan England. Some of the debates considered here threatened to rise to a confessional level whereas others were not so serious insofar as they did not press on confessional boundaries. The Puritan tradition surveyed in these essays looks at both major and minor intra-Reformed debates. Most of these debates analyzed have been passed over in the older scholarship in its quest to find the few true Calvinians to oppose to the so-called Calvinists. By contrast, none of the studies included in the present volume brands one side of a seventeenth-century debate as un-Calvinian or identifies an alteration of doctrinal perspective as a declension from Reformation-era purity. Calvin no longer appears as a norm, although he does appear, with other Reformers, as an antecedent of certain lines of argument. Lastly, the essays document the ongoing concern among Reformed theologians to further the Reformation cause. In this pursuit, Reformed theologians, as they did during the time of the Reformation theologians, often found themselves disagreeing on a number of theological doctrines.

Even though it has always been widely debated, the theology of Jacob Arminius (15591609) has not received the scholarly attention one would expect. Given also its remarkable influence, it is surprising how little research has been devoted to it. Only since the 1980s has the world of scholarship seen some movement on this front. The present study by William den Boer offers a new contribution to the understanding of Arminiuss theology by focusing on the theological motive that lay at its very foundation. Arminius has been characterized as a theologian of free will, of creation, or of freedom, and lately also as a theologian of the assurance of faith. The question as to Arminiuss central concern in his theology has been answered in different ways, with each author focusing on aspects of differing degrees of importance. William den Boer defends the thesis that another characterization needs to be added, and designates Arminius as a theologian of the justice of God, or more precisely, as a theologian of the twofold love of God. He goes on to illustrate how these two characterizations are valid at one and the same time, and why they do not exclude but include all other characterizations that have been offered by placing them in their proper perspective.In Part 1 the author posits that the leading motif of Arminiuss theology lay in a careful defense of the justice of God. Part 2 considers the reception of his theology in the discussions between Remonstrants and Counter-Remonstrants during the Hague Conference Haagsche or Schriftelicke Conferentie of 1611. Finally, Arminiuss theology is placed within the context of sixteenth-century debates on the cause of sin and Gods relationship to evil.