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• • .A .,r, .__ _:~ , ~ ~11i ,

_.- •
•

•
Boxes XVl
•••
Maps, Timelines, and Diagrams XXlll

Preface xxiv
••
Notes on Suggestions for Further Reading XXVll
•••
Resources for Instructors and Students XXVlll

Credits xxix
•
Master Timeline XXXl

INTRODUCTION: WHY STUDY THE NEW

TESTAMENT? 1

1 WHAT. IS THE NEW TESTAMENT?

rrHE EARLY CHRISTIANS AND THEIR
LITERATURE 4
The Diversity of Early Christianity 6
The New Testament Canon of Scripture 11
Implications for Our Study 14
EXCURSUS: Some Additional Reflections: The Historian and the Believer 16
TAKE A STAND 18

2 DO WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL NEW

TESTAMENT? 20
Publishing Books: Now and Then 20
How Can We Know If We Have an Ancient Author's Actual Words? 22

••
VII
viii Table of Contents

What Manuscripts of the New Testament Do We Have?

The Good News and Bad News 23
A Concrete Example 25
Accidental Mistakes 26
Intentional Errors 27
Criteria for Establishing the Text 29
TAKE A STAND 31
PHOTO ESSAY: Ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament 33

3 THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD OF EARLY

CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS 41
The Problem of Beginnings 41
One Remarkable Life 44
The Environment of the New Testament: Religions in the Greco--Roman
World 46
TAKE A STAND 59

4 THE JEWISH WORLD OF JESUS AND HIS

FOLLOWERS 61
Judaism as a Greco--Roman Religion 62
Political Crises in Palestine and Their Ramifications 69
The Formation of Jewish Groups 72
TAKE A STAND 80

5 THE ORAL TRADITIONS ABOUT JESUS IN THEIR

GRECO-ROMAN CONTEXT 82
Oral Traditions Behind the Gospels 83
EXCURSUS: Some Additional Reflections: The Authors of the Gospels 93
TAKE A STAND 94

6 THE CHRISTIAN GOSPELS: A LITERARY AND

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 96
The Question of Genre 97
Biography as a Greco--Roman Genre 98
The Gospels as Ancient Biographies 100
TAKE A STAND 101
 •
Table of Contents IX

7 JESUS, THE SUFFERING SON OF GOD:

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK 103
The Beginning of the Gospel: Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God Who Fulfills
Scripture 104
Jesus the Authoritative Son of God 106
Jesus the Opposed Son of God 107
Jesus the Misunderstood Son of God 110
Jesus the Acknowledged Son of God 111
Jesus the Suffering Son of God 112
Jesus the Crucified Son of God 114
Jesus the Vindicated Son of God 117
Conclusion: Mark and His Readers 117
TAKE A STAND 119

8 THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

FOR INTERPRETATION 120
Methods for Studying the Gospels 120
The Synoptic Problem 121
The Methodological Significance of the Four..Source Hypothesis 126
TAKE A STAND 127

9 JESUS, THE JEWISH MESSIAH: THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 129
The Importance of Beginnings: Jesus the Jewish Messiah in Fulfillment of the
Jewish Scriptures 130
Jesus and His Forerunner from Matthew's Perspective 136
The Portrayal of Jesus in Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount as a
Springboard 137
Jesus and the Jewish Cultic Practices Prescribed by the Law 141
Jesus Rejected by the Jewish Leaders 142
Matthew and His Readers 146
TAKE A STAND 147

10 JESUS, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD: THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING TO LUKE 149
The Comparative Method and the Gospel of Luke 150
A Comparative Overview of the Gospel 151
x Table of Contents

The Preface to Luke's Gospel 151

Luke's Birth Narrative in Comparative Perspective 154
From Jew to Gentile: Luke's Portrayal of Jesus the Rejected Prophet 159
Luke's Distinctive Emphases Throughout His Gospel 160
Conclusion: Luke in Comparative Perspective 166
TAKE A STAND 167

11 JESUS, THE MAN SENT FROM HEAVEN:

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN 169
The Gospel of John from the Perspective of Genre Criticism 170
The Gospel of John from a Comparative Perspective 173
The Gospel of John from a Redactional Perspective 177
The Socio. .Historical Method 182
The Gospel of John from a Socio. .Historical Perspective 184
The Author of the Fourth Gospel 189
TAKE A STAND 191
EXCURSUS: Methods of Ideological Criticism 192

12 FROM JOHN'S JESUS TO THE GNOSTIC CHRIST:

THE JOHANNINE EPISTLES AND BEYOND 195
The Questions of Genre and Author 196
The New Testament Epistolary Literature and the Contextual Method 198
The Johannine Epistles from a Contextual Perspective 200
Reflections on the Contextual Method 203
Beyond the Johannine Community: The Rise of Christian Gnosticism 205
Major Views of Various Gnostic Groups 208
Gnostics and the Johannine Community 210
TAKE A STAND 212

13 JESUS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES:

OTHER GOSPELS IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY 214
Narrative Gospels 215
Marcion's Gospel 217
Sayings Gospels 218
Infancy Gospels 224
Passion Gospels 226
Conclusion: The Other Gospels 231
TAKE A STAND 233
 •
Table of Contents XI

14 THE HISTORICAL JESUS: SOURCES, PROBLEMS,

AND METHODS 235
Problems with Sources 236
N on--Christian Sources 236
Christian Sources 240
Using Our Sources: Some of the Basic Rules of Thumb 242
Specific Criteria and Their Rationale 243
Conclusion: Reconstructing the Life of Jesus 248
TAKE A STAND 249

15 EXCURSUS: THE HISTORIAN AND

THE PROBLEM OF MIRACLES 251
Miracles in the Modern World and in Antiquity 252
The Historian and Historical Method 253
TAKE A STAND 256

16 JESUS IN CONTEXT 257

Popular Modes of Resistance to Oppression 258
An Ideology of Resistance 261
Jesus in His Apocalyptic Context 265
TAKE A STAND 270
PHOTO ESSAY: The Material World of Jesus and the Gospels 272

17 JESUS, THE APOCALYPTIC PROPHET 280

The Apocalyptic Deeds of Jesus 280
The Apocalyptic Teachings of Jesus 289
The Apocalyptic Death of Jesus 295
TAKE A STAND 298

18 FROM JESUS TO THE GOSPELS 301

The Beginning of Christianity 302
Jesus' Resurrection from an Apocalyptic Perspective 302
Jesus' Death, According to the Scriptures 305
The Emergence of Different Understandings of Jesus 307
TAKE A STAND 310
xii Table of Contents

19 LUKE'S SECOND VOLUME: THE ACTS OF

THE APOSTLES 312
The Genre of Acts and its Significance 313
The Thematic Approach to Acts 315
From Gospel to Acts: The Opening Transition 316
Themes in the Speeches in Acts 319
EXCURSUS: The Author of Luke--Acts and His Audience 328
Conclusion: The Author and His Themes in Context 330
TAKE A STAND 332

20 PAUL THE APOSTLE: THE MAN

AND HIS MISSION 334
The Study of Paul: Methodological Difficulties 335
The Life of Paul 340
TAKE A STAND 350

21 PAUL AND HIS APOSTOLIC MISSION:

1 THESSALONIANS AS A TEST CASE 353
The Founding of the Church in Thessalonica 354
The Beginnings of the Thessalonian Church:
A Socio--historical Perspective 360
The Church at Thessalonica After Paul's Departure 362
Conclusion: Paul the Apostle 3 65
TAKE A STAND 367

22 PAUL AND THE CRISES OF HIS CHURCHES:

1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS,
PHILIPPIANS, AND PHILEMON 368
1 Corinthians 369
2 Corinthians 379
Philippians 392
Philemon 396
TAKE A STAND 400
 •••
Table of Contents XIII

23 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PAUL:

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS 401
The Occasion and Purpose of the Letter 402
The Theme of the Epistle 405
Pauline Models for Salvation 406
The Flow of Paul's Argument 410
Conclusion: Paul and the Romans 412
TAKE A STAND 413
PHOTO ESSAY: The Cities and Roads of Paul 415

24 DOES THE TRADITION MISCARRY? PAUL IN

RELATION TO JESUS, JAMES, THECLA, AND
THEUDAS 423
Paul in Relation to What Came Before 424
Paul in Relation to What Came After 428
Conclusion: Pauline Christianities 431
TAKE A STAND 432

25 IN THE WAKE OF THE APOSTLE: THE DEUTERO-

PAULINE AND PASTORAL EPISTLES 434
Pseudonymity in the Ancient World 435
The Deutero . .Pauline Epistles 438
The Pastoral Epistles 449
The Historical Situation and Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles 452
Conclusion: The Post. .Pauline Pastoral Epistles 457
TAKE A STAND 458

26 FROM PAUL'S FEMALE COLLEAGUES TO

THE PASTOR'S INTIMIDATED WOMEN:
THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN EARLY
CHRISTIANITY 460
Women in Paul's Churches 461
Women Associated with Jesus 462
Paul's Understanding of Women in the Church 465
Women in the Aftermath of Paul 466
xiv Table of Contents

Ancient Ideologies of Gender 468

Gender Ideology and the Pauline Churches 470
TAKE A STAND 472

27 CHRISTIANS AND JEWS: HEBREWS,

BARNABAS, AND LATER ANTI-JEWISH
LITERATURE 474
Early Christian Self--Definition 475
Continuity and Superiority: The Epistle to the Hebrews 477
Discontinuity and Supremacy: The Epistle of Barnabas 484
Conclusion: The Rise of Christian Anti--Judaism 488
TAKE A STAND 491

28 CHRISTIANS AND PAGANS: 1 PETER,

THE LETTERS OF IGNATIUS, THE
MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP, AND LATER
APOLOGETIC LITERATURE 493
The Persecution of the Early Christians 494
Christians in a Hostile World: The Letter of 1 Peter 499
Christians Sentenced to Death: The Letters of Ignatius 504
Christians Before the Tribunal: The Martyrdom of Polycarp 508
Christians on the Defensive: The Later Apologetic Literature 510
TAKE A STAND 511

29 CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANS: JAMES,

THE DIDACHE, POLYCARP, 1 CLEMENT, JUDE,
AND 2 PETER 513
The Epistle of James 514
The Didache 516
Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians 519
1 Clement 521
2 Peter 524
Conclusion: Conflicts Within the Early Christian Communities 526
TAKE A STAND 527
 Table of Contents xv

30 CHRISTIANS AND THE COSMOS: THE REVELATION

OF JOHN, THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS, AND THE
APOCALYPSE OF PETER 529
Introduction: The End of the World and the Revelation of John 529
The Content and Structure of the Book of Revelation 531
The Book of Revelation from a Historical Perspective 532
Apocalyptic Worldviews and the Apocalypse Genre 533
The Revelation of John in Historical Context 536
The Shepherd of Hermas 542
The Apocalypse of Peter 544
TAKE A STAND 545

Glossary of Terms 547

Index 559
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 : •
-
-

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 1.1 The Canon of Scripture 5
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO 'EHE PAST: Box 1.2 The Hebrew Bible and the Christian
Old Testament 7
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 1.3 The Common Era and Before the
Common Era 12
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 1.4 The Layout of the New Testament 13
AT A GLANCE: Box 1.5 The New Testament Canon 16

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 2.1 Thirty Thousand Variant Readings?! 24
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 2.2 The Abrupt Ending of the Gospel
ofMark 26
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 2.3 Citing Chapter and Verse 27
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 2.4 Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery 28
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 2.5 Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Explicitly
Taught in the New Testament? 30
AT A GLANCE: Box 2.6 The Text of the New Testament 31

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 3.1 Pagan and Gentile 42
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 3.2 Alexander the Great and the
Greco--Roman World 43
ANOTNER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 3.3 The Roman Empire 52
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 3.4 Divine Rulers as Savior Gods 53
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 3.5 Christianity as a Mystery Cult 57
AT A GLANCE: Box 3.6 The World of Early Christianity 58

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.1 Key Figures from the Jewish Scriptures 62
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.2 Key Books of the Hebrew Bible 64
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO 'FHE PAST: Box 4.3 The Septuagint: The Hebrew
Bible in Greek 65

•
XVI
 ••
Boxes XVII

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.4 Flavius Josephus 70

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.5 Divine Revelation in the
Dead Sea Scrolls 75
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.6 Women in the Synagogues 77
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 4.7 Other Jewish Miracle--Working
Sons of God 78
AT A GLANCE: Box 4.8 The Jewish World of Early Christianity 79

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 5.1 Orality and Literacy in the
Ancient World 87
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 5.2 The Church Father Papias and
the Ongoing Oral Tradition 90
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 5.3 Mark and John on the
Time of Jesus' Death 91
AT A GLANCE: Box 5.4 The Traditions of Jesus 92

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 6.1 Plutarch on Biography 99

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 6.2 Establishing the Dates of Our Gospels 100
AT A GLANCE: Box 6.3 The Christian Gospels 101

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 7.1 The Jewish Messiah 105
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 7.2 Jewish Scribes, Herodians, and
Chief Priests 107
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 7.3 Jesus' Opponents in Mark 108
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 7.4 Jesus: An Angry Healer? 110
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 7.5 The Messianic Secret in Mark 112
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 7.6 The Son of God and the Son of Man 113
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 7.7 The Charge of Blasphemy
According to Mark 115
AT A GLANCE: Box 7.8 The Gospel of Mark 118

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 8.1 Ironing Out the Problems: One
Potential Difficulty in Mark's Account 124
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 8.2 The Contents of Q 125
AT A GLANCE: Box 8.3 The Synoptic Problem 127

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 9.1 Matthew's Scheme of Fourteen 132

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 9.2 The Women in Matthew's Genealogy 134
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 9.3 The Golden Rule 140
xviii Boxes

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 9.4 Gentiles in Matthew's Community 143

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 9.5 Was Matthew a Jew? 146
AT A GLANCE: Box 9.6 Matthew 147

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 10.1 Apologetic Literature in

Early Christianity 153
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 10.2 The Virginal Conception in
Matthew and Luke 155
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 10.3 Historical Problems with
Luke's Birth Narrative 156
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 10.4 Jesus' Bloody Sweat in Luke 161
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 10.5 Jesus as a Righteous Martyr 162
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 10.6 The Institution of the
Lord's Supper in Luke 165
AT A GLANCE: Box 10.7 Luke 167

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 11.1 Jesus' Signs in the Fourth Gospel 171
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 11.2 ''The Jews'' in the Fourth Gospel 172
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 11.3 What Is in the Synoptics but
Not in John? What Is in John but
Not the Synoptics? 175
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 11.4 Jesus and the ''I Am'' Sayings
in John 177
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 11.5 The Death of the Beloved Disciple
in the Johannine Community 183
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 11.6 John's De--Apocalypticized Gospel 187
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 11.7 Did the Early Christians Think That
Jesus Was God? 189
AT A GLANCE: Box 11.8 The Gospel of John 190

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 12.1 A Letter from Greco--Roman Egypt 197
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 12.2 The Gospel and Epistles of John:
Some Thematic Similarities 199
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 12.3 House Churches in Early Christianity 201
AT A GLANCE: Box 12.4 Historical Methods for Studying the
New Testament 203
AT A GLANCE: Box 12.5 The Johannine Epistles 204
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 12.6 How Do You Know a Gnostic
When You See One? 207
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 12.7 Gnostics and the Jewish Scriptures 209
AT A GLANCE: Box 12.8 Gnosticism 211
 •
Boxes XIX

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 13.1 The Gospel of the Ebionites and
Early Gospel Harmonies 217
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 13.2 Judas Thomas as Jesus' Twin Brother 219
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 13.3 The Older Sayings of the Gospel of
Thomas 222
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 13.4 The Laughing Jesus 232
AT A GLANCE: Box 13.5 The Other Gospels 232

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 14.1 Christianity as a Superstition in the
Roman World 238
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 14.2 The Testimony of Flavius Josephus 239
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 14.3 Aramaisms as a Criterion of
Authenticity 244
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 14.4 Judas and the Roasting Chicken 247
AT A GLANCE: Box 14.5 The Sources for the Historical Jesus 249

AT A GLANCE: Box 15.1 The Problem of Miracles 255

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 16.1 Prophecy and Apocalypticism 263
AT A GLANCE: Box 16.2 Firs~Century Palestinian Judaism 265
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 16.3 0 Little Town of Nazareth 267
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 16.4 Jesus of Sepphoris? 269
AT A GLANCE: Box 16.5 Jesus as an Apocalyptic Prophet 270

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.1 Explaining Away the Apocalyptic

Traditions: Seeking the Lost 281
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.2 Explaining Away the Apocalyptic
Traditions: Getting a Date 282
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.3 Was Jesus a Cynic Philosopher? 283
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.4 The Temple Incident as an Enacted
Parable 285
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 17.5 Another Apocalyptic Jesus 288
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.6 Was Jesus Married with Children? 290
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 17.7 The Cosmic Deliverer of Israel 292
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.8 Jesus and ''Family Values'' 294
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 17.9 Jesus and Judas, the Betrayer 297
AT A GLANCE: Box 17.10 Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet 298

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 18.1 The Women and the Empty Tomb 303
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 18.2 Humans Exalted to Heaven at the
End of Their Lives 304
xx Boxes

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 18.3 Vicarious Suffering in Jewish Martyrologies

and Other Greco--Roman Literature 307
AT A GLANCE: Box 18.4 From Jesus to the Gospels 309

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 19.1 The Book of Acts: An Ancient Novel? 314
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 19.2 Luke's Mysterious Two Men 317
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 19.3 Luke's Artistry as a Storyteller 1 318
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 19.4 Luke's Artistry as a Storyteller 2 319
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 19.5 The Death of Judas 321
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 19.6 Christianity Before Paul 327
AT A GLANCE: Box 19.7 The Book of Acts 328

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 20.1 The Pauline Corpus 336
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 20.2 Other Sources for the Life of Paul 339
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 20.3 What Did Paul Look Like? 342
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 20.4 Paul on the Road to Damascus 344
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 20.5 Jesus as God in Paul 347
AT A GLANCE: Box 20.6 Paul and His Mission 350

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 21.1 Rules for a Private Association 361
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 21.2 Christians Maligned as
Perverts and Criminals 364
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 21.3 The Thessalonians' Perplexity 365
AT A GLANCE: Box 21.4 1 Thessalonians 366

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 22.1 Possibilities of Existence in

the Afterlife 375
AT A GLANCE: Box 22.2 1 Corinthians 378
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 22.3 The Partitioning of 2 Corinthians 381
AT A GLANCE: Box 22.4 2 Corinthians 383
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 22.5 The Logic of the Opponents' Position in
Galatia 386
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 22.6 Why Does Paul Appeal to the
Law to Deny the Importance of the Law? 388
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 22.7 Just Say No: Paul's Gospel of
Sexual Abstinence 390
AT A GLANCE: Box 22.8 Galatians 392
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 22.9 The Christ Poem of Philippians 394
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 22.10 Was Paul Contemplating Suicide? 395
 •
Boxes XXI

AT A GLANCE: Box 22.11 Philippians 396

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 22.12 The New Testament and Slavery 399
AT A GLANCE: Box 22.13 Philemon 399

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 23.1 The Beginnings of the Roman Church 403
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 23.2 Paul's Gospel to the Romans 405
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 23.3 Two Different Ways of Salvation in
Paul? 407
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 23.4 Judicial and Participationist
Models of Salvation in Paul 410
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 23.5 Other Models of Salvation in Paul 412
AT A GLANCE: Box 23.6 Romans 413

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 24.1 Jesus and Paul: Some of the Similarities 426
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 24.2 Jesus and Paul: Some of the Differences 427
AT A GLANCE: Box 24.3 Paul in Relation to What Came
Before and After 432

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 25.1 Paul's Third Letter to the Corinthians 436
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 25.2 Authors and Their Books: Getting Some
Concepts Straight 437
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 25.3 The Secretary Hypothesis 439
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 25.4 The Resurrection of Believers in
Paul and Colossians 443
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 25.5 The ''Household Rules'' in
Colossians and Ephesians 444
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 25.6 The Vocabulary of Salvation in
Paul and Ephesians 447
AT A GLANCE: Box 25.7 The Deutero--Pauline Epistles 448
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 25.8 Forgery: Why Would a Christian Do It? 451
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 25.9 Church Hierarchy in Ignatius 455
AT A GLANCE: Box 25.10 The Pastoral Epistles 457

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 26.1 Mary Magdalene 463
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 26.2 Similarities Between 1 Timothy 2:11-15
and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 467
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 26.3 Women in the Manuscript Tradition of
the New Testament 470
AT A GLANCE: Box 26.4 Women in Early Christianity 472
xxii Boxes

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 27.1 Early and Diverging Views of Christians
and Jews 476
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 27.2 Divergent Views of Christ in Hebrews 479
AT A GLANCE: Box 27.3 Hebrews 484
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 27.4 Six Thousand Years and Counting 486
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 27.5 Gematria in Early Christianity 487
AT A GLANCE: Box 27.6 The Epistle of Barnabas 488
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 27.7 Melita's Passover Sermon 490

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 28.1 The Christian Disruption of the

Family: The Case of Perpetua 496
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 28.2 Pliny's Letter to Trajan 498
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 28.3 The Spread of Christianity 500
AT A GLANCE: Box 28.4 1 Peter 503
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 28.5 An Alternative View of Christian
Martyrdom 506
AT A GLANCE: Box 28.6 The Letters of Ignatius 507
AT A GLANCE: Box 28.7 The Martyrdom of Polycarp 509

ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 29.1 The Development of the Lord's Prayer 518
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 29.2 Polycarp and the Early Christian
Tradition 520
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 29.3 Birds Raised from the Dead and
Problems in the Corinthian Church 522
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 29.4 Peter, the Smoked Tuna, and the
Flying Heretic 525
AT A GLANCE: Box 29.5 Christian Internal Conflicts 527

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 30.1 The Book of Revelation as

Underground Literature? 534
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 30.2 The Author of Revelation in the
Early Church 535
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 30.3 An Ancient Copyright Curse 538
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Box 30.4 Futuristic Interpretations of the
Book of Revelation 53 9
AT A GLANCE: Box 30.5 The Book of Revelation 542
ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST: Box 30.6 The Shepherd of Hermas and the
Muratorian Canon 543
 ..."-A ,~.~·'·~
_.., J ,, - -·

MAPS
.
FRONTMATTER The Roman Empire: Central and Eastern Provinces XXXIV

FIGURE3.1 The Journeys of Alexander the Great (334- 323 B.C.E.) 44

FIGURE3.7 The Spread of Roman Rule 55
FIGURE5.2 Christian Churches in Existence by 100 c.E. 84
FIGURE 7.2 Palestine in New Testament Times 109
FIGURE 17.1 Jerusalem in the First Century C.E. 286
FIGURE 19.1 Paul's Missionary Journeys According to the Book of Acts 316
FIGURE 20.2 Places Associated with Paul in the New Testament 348
FIGURE22.5 The Roman Province of Galatia in the Midst of Asia Minor
(Modern,Day Turkey) 384
FIGURE 28.1 The Distribution of Christianity by 300 C.E. 503
FIGURE 30.1 The Seven Churches of Asia Minor Addressed in Revelation 2- 3 530

'FIMELINES AND DIAGRAMS

FRONTMATTER Master Timeline xxxi
FIGURE3.2 The Divine Pyramid as Understood in Greco,Roman Religion 48
FIGURE3.9 Timeline of Key Events in Hellenistic and Roman Times 58
FIGURE4.4 Timeline of Key Events in the History of Palestine 72
FIGURE 5.1 Timeline of the Early Christian Movement 83
FIGURE 8.1 The Four,Source Hypothesis 122
FIGURE 11.4 Sources in the Farewell Discourse 182

•• •
XXIII
 en I started doing research on to the historical study of the New Testament, and
the first edition of this textbook, are inherently interesting.
twenty years ago now, I had very I also wanted the book to be critical, engaged in
clear ideas about what I wanted it rigorous scholarship so that students reading it
to be. First and foremost, I wanted to approach the could see what the critical questions were and what
New Testament from a rigorously historical per-- evidence was typically adduced in order to answer
spective. It is not that I had any difficulties at the them. I absolutely did not want to emulate some of
time, either professionally or personally, with intro-- my predecessors in trying to introduce students to
ductions that were more geared toward theology, or the prominent scholars of the past who took one
exegesis, or literary criticism. But I wanted my book position or another, and pretend that this is the
to be different. I wanted to situate the writings of same thing as introducing them to actual evidence.
the New Testament more thoroughly than was typi-- In my experience, nineteen-- to twenty--year--olds are
cally done in the historical, cultural, social, politi-- simply not all that interested, and do not need to
cal, literary, and ideological worlds from which it be, in the different positions taken on the nature of
emerged; I wanted it to plow beneath the surface to justification in Paul by Bultmann, Kasemann, J.
find clues not only about such traditional issues as Louis Martyn, E. P. Sanders, N. T. Wright, and
authorship, sources, and dates, but also about what Douglass Campbell. They've never heard the names
was then still a vibrant field of study, social history; of these scholars (fine ones, all of them), and, so far
I wanted it to ask historical questions of the texts as I'm concerned, in an introductory class, they have
and of the events that they either narrated or pre-- no need to hear of them. Far more interesting than
supposed. I was interested in the history of the text a list of names of modern scholars is a grappling
and the formation of the canon of the New Testa-- with the texts themselves, to try to make sense of
ment. In the historical Jesus. In the historical Paul. Romans or Galatians.
In the history of the Johannine community. In the Finally, I thought this kind of approach could be
historical realities lying behind Matthew, and 2 achieved at a level that a nineteen-- or twenty--year--
Corinthians, and Revelation. old might appreciate. The really difficult task was
Relatedly, I wanted the book to be highly com-- satisfying that audience and the other audience
parative: How does John compare with the Synop-- of a textbook: the university professors who decide
tics? How do they compare with each other? How whether to use it. My goal was to make the book
does the preaching of Jesus compare with the ac-- interesting, even intriguing, for beginners and yet
counts of the Gospels? Or the theology of Paul? fully competent in its scholarship. As far as making
How does Paul's theology stack up against the letter it interesting, I realized that the choice of content
of James? Or the book of Hebrews? How does the was fundamental: the study of the New Testament
book of Revelation compare with everything else? is absolutely fascinating if you know where to look,
And on and on. In my view these questions are central but dreadfully dull if you look elsewhere. At least as

•
X:XIV.
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