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When focusing on the sapiential traits in text of the Fourth Gospel, it should be noted that in its images of wine, water, and bread, connected by the common theme of eating and drinking, one can see Jesus the Giver, who, like the Old Testament personified wisdom, bestows his gifts on man. Although single references to the Old Testament sapiential texts have been suggested for the Johannine images of wine, water, bread, light, and the vine, no detailed study of these images, as well as their juxtapositions even in the aspect of eating and drinking, has been published so far. The selected topic seems to be important for showing a comprehensive approach to the Johannine banquet motif in its sapiential aspect, broken down into particular Johannine images, which are the events related to wine, water, and bread. It is ultimately significant to present Jesus full identity through these three metaphors, referring to the personified and preexisting wisdom as described in the Old Testament sapiential literature.

King Manasseh of Judah is one of the most intriguing characters in the Bible. 2 Kings presents him as the wickedest of monarchs. In 2Kgs 24:34, he is accused of having provoked God to destroy Judah on account of the innocent blood he had shed in Jerusalem (cf. 2Kgs 21:16). In his study Krzysztof Kinowski investigates this accusation, viewing it against the biblical and ancient Near East backgrounds, and casts a new light upon Manassehs role in the fall of Jerusalem. The mention of bloodshed in this affair appears to be the outcome of a process of scapegoating of Manasseh, ongoing in 2 Kings and reflecting both the legal and the cultic paradigms governing the biblical historiography. The link between Manassehs bloodshed and the destruction of Judah on account of the cultic lands blood-defilement points towards a group of priestly scribes involved in the production of the 2Kgs 21 and 24 narratives. This assumption lies behind the scholarly discussion about the Priestly-like strata and priestly touches in the Books of Kings.

There are five marked quotations from Psalms in the Gospel of Matthew. These are: (1) Ps 91:112 in Matt 4:6; (2) Ps 78:2 in Matt 13:35; (3) Ps 8:3 in Matt 21:16; (4) Ps 118:2223 in Matt 21:42; and (5) Ps 110:1 in Matt 22:44. Piotr Herok argues that the investigated texts are related to each other not only by the presence of the introductory formulas, making clear that a given citation comes from Scripture, but also through mutual thematic convergence, concerning in various degrees king David, the temple, and the theme of Jesus identity. Thanks to the new literary context, in which the quotations are embedded, Matthew reinterprets them significantly while giving them a new dimension clearly distinguishing them from the rest of the psalm quotations found in his work. This aims at presenting Jesus as not only the Son of David, but first of all the Son of God.

Kowalski addresses the Pauline understanding of S/spirit in Romans 8, as compared to the Stoic idea of pneuma. The author first analyzes the Stoic views on pneuma perceived in a variety of life-giving, cognitive-ethical, unifying, reproductive and inspiring functions. The aforementioned features are taken as a starting point for the comparison with Paul to which, however, the third element is added, the Jewish texts of the Second Temple period. These include the Old Testament but also The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jubilees, Qumran, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Psalms of Solomon, Philo of Alexandria, Flavius Josephus, LAB, Joseph and Aseneth, 4 Book of Ezra and 2 Book of Baruch. Such a rich comparative material contributes to the novelty of the book and enables the reader to discover both the similarities and differences between Paul, Greco-Roman and Jewish authors. The study analyzes Romans 8 in its rhetorical context and brings to light the novelty of the Pauline view of the Spirit. The apostle portrays it in its primary cognitive-ethical and communitarian function of making the believers similar to Christ and inculcating in them the Lords mindset and attitudes. Paul presents the Spirit as dwelling within a person, similarly to God inhabiting the Jerusalem temple, and as the mediator of the resurrected life. In the original Pauline take the Spirit enables a close union between God and human beings in which the latter keep their freedom and distinctive personal traits.

Communion is a dynamic reality love, unity of life, mutual penetration, the closest union. The Holy Spirit is the Communion within the Trinity and forms the communion between God, man and the world, between people, in the Church and within whole reality of this world.Showing pneumatology as a dimension of the entire dogmatic theology determines the originality of this monograph. Typically, theologians focused their works on pneumatology itself. Marek Jagodziskis monograph is especially up to date since the pentecostal awakening in Christianity carries certain dangers. They take the forms of over-exposing the Holy Spirit at the expense of the Son of God, overly simplified ecumenism, emphasising charisms over the institution and putting personal experience over the community faith of the Church. The study is not only a presentation of ideas but brings new and inspiring elements to the scientific discussion. It is an original and creative contribution to the theoretical achievements of theology as a discipline of science. The dissertation brings a new name for the Third Divine Person Communion in the Holy Trinity. Communion reflects the mission of the Holy Spirit which embraces the Church and the sacraments, voices a golden mean between forgetting about the Holy Spirit and the Joachimism of proclaiming the era of the Holy Spirit. The monograph justifies the simultaneous existence of Christology and pneumatology, brings a new perspective on Filioque and is of significance for ecumenism.

For centuries it has been discussed whether systematic theology is a scientific discipline. But it is not obvious what is meant by either "systematic theology" or "scientific discipline". Michael Agerbo Mrch presents an understanding of systematic theology as a tripartite discipline and science as a rationally justified public discourse about a given topic. Systematic theology is shown to meet the most generally accepted criteria for scientific work, since its theories can be tested and even falsified in an intersubjective setting. This can be done by the most proper tool we have for assessing and comparing scientific theories, which is coherence theory. Therefore, even though systematic theology is a distinct and normative discipline, it is not compromising for its theories because it can present its theses in a transparent way that can be checked and criticized by peers and compared to relevant alternatives. As such, the book shows that systematic theology is a scientifically strong discourse that meets accepted criteria to the same degree as other disciplines.

This volume contains the papers of the international RefoRC conference on Reformed Majorities and Minorities in Early Modern Europe as it was organized by the Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek, Emden in cooperation with the Faculty of Artes Liberales of the University of Warsaw. The conference took place April 10-12, 2013 in Emden and was part of the research project Doctrina et Tolerantia directed by the Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek. The contributions in this volume deal with the question how the relation between doctrine and toleration was dealt with in territories with a Reformed majority. Did the refugee-experience of the Reformed make them tolerant or militant? How did official policy relate to everyday practice? Were there different opinions on this issue within the Reformed tradition? The answers to these questions give more insights into the diversity of international Calvinism and the way theory was put into practice.

Korinna Zamfir explores the manner in which the Pastoral Epistles redefine roles and ministries within a changed ecclesiological framework (the ekkl?sia as oikos Theou). The contextual investigation focuses on the cultural and social background of the station codes and church orders. Applying the environmental approach advanced by Abraham MalherbeZamfir discusses the Pastoral Epistles as writings intimately linked to their Greco-Roman social and cultural environment. The volume addresses the mentalities reflected in moral philosophies, political theories, drama and epigraphy, focusing on the discourse articulated in these sources. Exploring the adoption of conservative mentalities, the monograph advances a reading of the Pastoral Epistles based on ideology critique. It also incorporates insights gained from research on the social world of earliest Christianity, in particular on private associations.Korinna Zamfir argues that the ecclesiology of the Pastoral Epistles presupposes the metaphorical use of oikos Theou and shows that in Greco-Roman antiquity oikos denotes larger social entities like the religious association, the polisand the cosmos. The ekkl?sia is the oikos and polis of God. As a consequence the Pastoral Epistles define roles and ministries based on the public-private divide and on honor and shame mentality. The theo-logical and cosmic dimension of the household of Godexplains the essentialist understanding of social and ecclesial roles. The author also tackles the contrast between discourse and ecclesial reality.

Arnold Huijgen analyses und assesses the idea of divine accommodation in John Calvins theology. He proves that Calvins idea of accommodation was terminologically influenced by Erasmus, while its content originated in patristic theology. Though Calvins idea of accommodation is multifaceted, Huijgen subsumes and analyzes it in the light of the two main perspectives of pedagogy and revelation. The pedagogical aspect relates to Calvins understanding of salvation history, and the relation between the Old and the New Testament. In this perspective Christ as the mediator holds a central position. The aspect of revelation focuses on Calvins comprehension of Gods nature which for him is behind Gods revelation. Calvins understanding of accommodation implies a distinct dynamic to revelation, which is disrupted by its static, hierarchical ontology. Huijgen points out the weaknesses of Calvins idea of accommodation on the basis of modern critiques by Karl Barth, Isaak August Dorner, and Harry M. Kuitert; he also explores the viable points for present day theology.

Transylvanian Sabbatarianism emerged from the aspirations of the Reformation, without direct contact with the Jews. Although the most frequently asked question about them concerns their identity were they Christians or Jews the answers of the literature are superficial, biased, and take only an external point of view. The aim of this book, therefore, is to move closer to the 1617th century Sabbatarian manuscripts and to examine how much they were still connected to Christianity in their biblical interpretations, doctrines and religious practices, how they adapted to Judaism, and how they saw themselves in relation to the two world religions. The analysis of Reka Timea Ujlaki-Nagy shows that although they still held some Christian beliefs, these were considered to be incidental and unnecessary to salvation. Sabbatarians followed the ideal of an age preceding Christ, consequently the Reformation effort to restitute apostolic Christianity disappeared from their religious thought.

This book gives attention to the language and style of the letter of James, with a hypothesis about its rhetorical purpose in mind. It focuses on what we can learn about the author of James, by reading the text in light of a guiding research question: How does the author establish and assert authority? The letter builds literary authority for a number of purposes, one of which is to address socioeconomic disparity, a major concern for the author.The author of James presents a speech-in-character in the shape of a letter to establish his ethos (Ch. 2), employing vocabulary and style to signal his education implicitly (Ch. 3 & 4) and includes himself in the categories of sage, teacher and exegete explicitly (Ch. 5). From this standpoint, the author can address the rich as equals, rebuke them and admonish both rich and poor to receive Gods wisdom (Ch. 6).The comparison with ancient literary criticism shows that the categories at play are the same. The insight that language and ethos are inseparable categories in antiquity provides us with renewed ways to interpret the literary production of early Christianity. Both James and the Classicists present a competing epic in the context of the early imperium, the former with an Israelite piety that is superior to contemporary economic and moral categories and the latter with the supremacy of Greek culture as a foundation for Rome.The letter of James emerges as a document that builds educational ethos as a balance against the rich and powerful, a strategy that calls for a revision of both its rhetoric and socio-economic situation.

The book presents many aspects of the phenomenon of translation and commentary work of the Bible in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries. It contains studies of eminent scholars as well as of some young adepts, coming mainly from Poland, but also from Lithuania and Czech Republic. The texts present various aspects of the researches conducted on this phenomenon nowadays. As it was an exceptional movement, extremely varied and long-time lasting, it would be difficult to offer its complete synthesis in one volume. Though, the exhaustive presentation of the historical and linguistic contexts allows the reader to understand the phenomenon. Intensified interest in translations of the Bible is closely connected with the interest in the Polish language, its literary expression as well as its grammatical and orthographic standardisation that occurred just in the same time. The intellectual activity related to the Bible contributed simultaneously to the development of the Polish literary language and even inspired the translations of the sacred texts of other religions present in the country. Moreover, contacts between different languages of Central and Eastern European area, where many attempts of new translations appeared, are very important. A quick rise of the different Reformation movements contributed to a natural need for new translations and commentaries to be used by community members. These new currents, first easily accepted and spread in the country, even when suppressed, could not stop this activity, and later new Catholic translations and commentaries of the post-Trident period, both in Polish and Lithuanian, proved it. Big part of study is also dedicated to particular typographical realizations of this activity and an interesting example of the musical expression directly inspired by the biblical translation, is also provided.

This present volume aims to stimulate Bucer-research as it brings together a selection of the best of De Kroons and Vant Spijkers articles some of which appear for the first time in English translation. In the first section Bucer is described as taking his independent stand in the patristic and scholastic tradition. The next five articles go into the close personal and theological relation between Bucer and John Calvin and make clear how much of Bucer works through in Calvin and Calvinism. Bucers efforts to bridge theological and ecclesiastical gaps brought him often in discussion with catholic as well as protestant theologians. How he dealt with this is the topic of the third section in this volume. The two following articles deal with his view on discipline and on the right of resistance. The next articles deal with Bucers doctrinal legacy and the last section focuses on sanctification as one of the most important characteristics of his theology.The most important issues of contemporary Bucer-research and the outlines of his theology are convincingly presented in this volume by known experts for this topic.

Melanchthon and Calvin were late medieval people, stemming from a world of order and unity, and at the same time they fully lived in the early modern world, in which everything was changing. In this new world they committedly, enthusiastically, and restlessly sought to introduce some order, in theory as well as practice. The sixteenth-century church was governed by multiple coercive constructions and systems. Did the two Reformers really succeed in disconnecting themselves from them, and to what extent did they connect to, for example, the existing forms of eucharistic piety?The established church had come under serious criticism, and people were massively turning their backs on the less than attractive ecclesiastical practicessomething connecting that era to ours. In these highly turbulent and suspenseful 1520s, when it was not yet clear whether the ten-year-old evangelical movement in Germany was still viable, Melanchthon tried to introduce at least some order into the chaos by means of a confession accompanied by a church order. As it turned out, the new doctrine on Christian freedom and justification by faith alone was easily interpreted in a one-sided manner. Through a careful analysis of the sources, Herman A. Speelman examines Melanchthons church visitations in 1527 and Calvins five attempts to shape the modernisation of ecclesiastical life. In addition to the gospel, also penance and the preaching of the law received a place in the Protestant liturgy and spirituality.Melanchthons and Calvins contributions were not only to have an enormous impact on the theological evolutions in the evangelical movement in Europe, but they also proved to be of eminent importance for the way in which the new doctrine was given meaning in practice. Their instructions continue to be highly influential in large parts of Europe today.

In the last decades, many countries in Latin America underwent a transition from dictatorship to democracy. Truth commissions were an essential instrument of uncovering politically motivated crimes and serious human rights violations. However, in many cases truth came without justice, perpetrators were not held accountable, and the reparations policy was rather restrictive. The authors of this volume address the issue from a transdisciplinary perspective. On the one hand, they focus on a past that is shaped by fierce conflicts but also by attempts of fostering reconciliation in the middle of conflict. On the other hand, they address a reconciliation that still lies in the future and has to do with justice.Their first part offers a collection of case studies that approach the topics of reconciliation and conflict resolution during and in the aftermath of dictatorship and civil war from different perspectives and academic disciplines. Their second part is dedicated to experiences with reconciliation, conflict resolution and migration from a global and comparative perspective.Several contributors reflect the Holderlin perspective of "reconciliation in the middle of dispute". Other contributions aim to deepen our theoretical understanding of reconciliation by exploring the diversity of interpretations of the concept itself and elaborating the specific benefit of reconciliatory approaches for a sustainable peace. Two authors offer an in-depth analysis of particular conflicts, and one article deals with the influence of religion and culture on the social role of Brazilian migrants in Japan.

The structural approach facilitates exposure of the elements of eschatological teaching characteristic of 2 Peters author with its correct or incorrect interpretation. Narratives drawn from Jewish tradition aim to show two attitudes towards the announcement of destruction: a positive attitude, signifying salvation, and a negative attitude, signifying annihilation. This pattern is transferred to the attitude towards prophetic and apostolic eschatological teaching. Part 1 of the commentary (2 Pet 12) focuses on the misinterpretation of this teaching by false teachers and their followers. Their eschatological scepticism is ridiculed and their grim fate described. As the starting point for this description and Peters whole line of argumentation 2 Pet 2:3b is taken the thesis is that Gods inaction is only apparent, while judgment and punishment are inevitable, although only God knows when they will be executed.Part 2 of the commentary (2 Pet 3) focuses on the proper interpretation of this teaching and on laying out the principles of the letter authors hermeneutics. This hermeneutic construes texts from Jewish tradition as foreshadowing and typologies of eschatological events. In explaining the principles of his hermeneutic, the letters author drew on the creation story, which Jewish apocalypticism read inversely, to mark that the eschatological hermeneutics is rooted in tradition. The starting point of Peters line of argumentation was taken to be 2 Pet 3:5.7 with its thesis of Gods creative and destructive word and Gods sovereign will regarding the preservation of creation and the appointment of the time of judgement. This thesis explains the apparent lack of divine action, which was also a major concern in Part 1 of the commentary (2 Pet 12).

While in the 16-17th centuries about the two thirds of the Hungarians belonged to the Reformed Church, the presence of the "spirit of capitalism" and the "protestant ethic" is rather questionable. The Calvinists did not play a different or decisive role in the capitalization process of Hungary at the end of the 19th century. The historical analysis focuses on the puritan doctrines can be found in the religiosity of Hungarian puritans and Reformed people in the 17th century. The "Hungarian Protestant ethic" differs from Webers ideal-type in two respects: the Hungarian version is more pietistic, less activist; and it seems to have less practical influence in everyday life because of the weak religiosity. The Hungarian case does not refute Webers thesis, but it call the attention to two important parts of historical analysis: the reinterpreting, selecting procedure in social context; and the intensity of religiosity.

In the light of the research undertaken in this book the author concludes that the so called "anti-Jewish" texts in Johannine Gospel are not directed against the Jews being an ethnic or religious community. The object of the polemic and attacks is not the entire Jewish nation across the span of all the ages but a group of the Jewish leaders or opponents to Jesus in the First Century AD. Looking through the prism of the aposynagogal polemics, one can notice that the state of tension between the Johannine community and the rabbinic Judaism is inter-Jewish, not anti-Jewish, in character. The source of the polemical language of the Fourth Gospel is the Christological discussion in the historical and sociological context (the Messianic confession, the excommunication from the Synagogue, the presence of Samaritans in the Johannine community, the struggle for the preservation of the identity).

There is no doubt that Jerusalem in the Bible is a city of great historical and theological significance. However, many modern readers are unaware that authors writing in Greek used its two names, Ierousalem and Heriosolyma. Among the few who used both names simultaneously is Luke the Evangelist. Commentators of this onomastic phenomenon have tried to explain this fact in various ways, referring to Lukes literary and theological choices or denying its meaning altogether. Krzysztof Mielcareks monograph proposes a new view and explanation of this phenomenon in a theological-historical key. In his opinion, Lukes choices may be underpinned by his deep immersion in the world and terminological richness of the Septuagint, as well as important historical events that influenced the perception of the Holy City by the Hellenistic Jewish community and later also by the early Christians.

Stefan Szymik analyses New Testament texts in terms of polemic and anti-Epicurean rhetoric. To what extent and how did Epicurus and his philosophical thought influence the first Christian Churches? How did Christians react to Epicureanism? Although the New Testament only includes one account of an encounter between the Apostle Paul and the Epicureans (Acts 17:18), the probability of their contacts was high, given the popularity of Epicureanism in the Roman Empire in the first century CE. As a vital component of Hellenistic-Roman culture, Epicureanism should be taken into account in research on the New Testament, becoming a point of reference and part of the content of comparative analyses.