SPCK
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 6 (1.1) The Problem
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 6 (1.1) The Problem
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
The Problem This first essay is composed of four sections that are as follows: 1.1. The Problem: Divisions, Baptism and the Cross (1:10-16) 1.2. The Wisdom and Power of God: The Cross (1:17–2:2) 1.3. The Wisdom of God: Revealed Through the Spirit (2:3-16) 1.4. Christian Unity: Pa…
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 5 (0.1) Greeting and Prayer of Thanksgiving
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 5 (0.1) Greeting and Prayer of Thanksgiving
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Greeting and Prayer of Thanksgiving Paul’s letter opens with an identification of the senders (Paul and Sosthenes) and the receivers (the Corinthians, and all Christians). He then offers his introductory prayer. These two sections are tied together by their rhetorical form and by…
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 4 Prelude
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 4 Prelude
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Prelude To begin this topic, a brief overview of the history of “rhetorical criticism” may be helpful. In 1969, in his presidential address to the Society of Biblical Literature, James Muilenburg issued a call for moving beyond form criticism to what he titled “rhetorical critici…
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 3 Introduction
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 3 Introduction
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Introduction The preacher in Ecclesiastes considers “wisdom and madness and folly” and then seems to accept his fate as he bemoans, “What can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done…” Taken from Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 2 Preface
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 2 Preface
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Preface As with many books, this work evolved in stages. Some forty years ago I noted that 1 Corinthians 13 was composed in the following manner: Love and the spiritual gifts (13:1-3) Love defined positively (4a) Love defined negatively (4b-6) Love defined positive…
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 1 Abbreviations
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 1 Abbreviations
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Abbreviations ABD David Noel Freedman, editor, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1992). BAGD Walter Bauer, W. F. Arndt, F. Wilber Gingrich, Frederick W. Danker, eds., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chica…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - Conclusion
Parallel Lives of Jesus - Conclusion
by SPCK - Edward Adams
Conclusion This book set out to provide an introduction to the four Gospels that respects the unity and individuality claimed for them in the Christian canon. Appropriating a distinction made in narratology, and drawing a comparison with multiple-narrative films and novels, I sho…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 12 The Empty Tomb
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 12 The Empty Tomb
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Empty Tomb None of the four evangelists describes Jesus’ actual resurrection, but they all report the discovery of the empty tomb, and all except Mark recount appearances of the risen Jesus to his followers. The resurrection accounts of the four Gospels are notoriously diffic…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 11 The Death of Jesus
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 11 The Death of Jesus
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Death of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus is the “crucial” event of the shared gospel story, the climactic occurrence to which the whole course of events has been leading. Crucifixion was an excessively cruel and drawn-out mode of execution, designed to shock and inti…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 10 The Transfiguration
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 10 The Transfiguration
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Transfiguration The transfiguration is one of the key episodes in the Synoptic Gospels, occurring in all three. Like the baptism with which it connects, the transfiguration is a onetime event in the pre-passion ministry of Jesus. It is sometimes classed as an epiphany story, …
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 9 The Walking on the Water
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 9 The Walking on the Water
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Walking on the Water The story of Jesus’ walking on the water appears in three of the four Gospels: not, as one might expect, in the three Synoptic Gospels, but in Matthew, Mark, and John. Luke does not include this episode; he moves directly from the feeding miracle to the c…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 8 The Feeding of the Five Thousand
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 8 The Feeding of the Five Thousand
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Feeding of the Five Thousand The feeding of the five thousand is one of the most well-known of the miracles performed by Jesus and the only one that is recorded in all four Gospels.1 It is classed as a “nature miracle,” an action by which Jesus demonstrates his authority over…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 7 Selected Parallel Episodes
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 7 Selected Parallel Episodes
by SPCK - Edward Adams
Selected Parallel Episodes Having considered each Gospel separately, we now bring the “parallel lives” of Jesus into contact with each other as we look at selected common episodes. The exercise will allow us to explore the unity and plurality of the Gospels in a more focused way,…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6c Characterizational Emphases
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6c Characterizational Emphases
by SPCK - Edward Adams
Characterizational Emphases The Fourth Evangelist lays emphasis on the heavenly character of Jesus. Jesus has come from heaven and will return to it (e.g., 3:13, 31; 6:33). He is “from above”; he is “not of this world” (8:23). Jesus comes across as a more detached and other-world…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6b Epilogue
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6b Epilogue
by SPCK - Edward Adams
Epilogue The last two verses of chapter 20 probably constitute the original ending of John’s Gospel: chapter 21 seems to have been added later as an appendix. It recounts a further post-resurrection appearance by Jesus, in which he miraculously enables the disciples to make an ab…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Gospel according to John The Fourth Gospel shares features of the genre of ancient biography with the Synoptic Gospels (size, structure, narrative focus on one individual). Like the Synoptics, John’s Gospel constitutes an ancient “life” of Jesus. It also has in common with th…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 5d The Characterization of the Disciples