Angelomorphic Christology

He Opened to Us the Scriptures: Essays in Honor of Arthur A. Just Jr.

CHARLES A. GIESCHEN

This book is a collection of essays written by confessional Lutheran scholars from across the globe in honor of their friend, colleague, and fellow Lutheran scholar Dr. Arthur Just. Dr. Just is a scholar of the New Testament and the liturgy. He has fostered the theological formation of pastors and deaconesses at Concordia Theological Seminary and accross the world for 40 years. Included essays are centered on three major areas of Dr. Just's scholarly service to the church: Scriptures, worship, and mission, and are characterized by their focus on Jesus Christ, exegesis of biblical texts, Christ's presence in the sacraments, the liturgical life of the church, and reading lost sinners with the Gospel. This book is of interest to scholars of exegesis, worship, and mission, as well as anyone who has been touched by Dr. Just's work.

The Law in Holy Scripture

Charles a. Gieschen

There is a significant amount of confusion and diverse opinion in the church and among biblical scholars concerning "the Law" in Holy Scripture. This volume consists of essays delivered during the 2001 (16th) Annual Symposium on Exegetical Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary. Biblical scholars with expertise in the Old Testament, Jesus and the Gospels, and the Pauline Epistles offer a wide and representative portrait of the Law in Holy Scripture and its ongoing significance. These essays engage and critique current problematic perspectives on the Law as well as affirm faithful teaching from the past. A concluding essay evaluates and synthesizes the common issues raised in the symposium to present a solid biblical theology of the Law for the life of the church.

The Biblical Rembrandt

Human Painter in a Landscape of Faith

John I. Durham

1. To begin with -- 2. Human painter of the human condition -- 3. Rembrandt's Bible -- 4. Rembrandt's pictures -- 5. Rembrandt's meaning -- 6. Rembrandt's faith -- 7. Rembrandt's diary -- 8. To end with.

The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque

Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam

Sidney Harrison Griffith

Amid so much twenty-first-century talk of a "Christian-Muslim divide"--and the attendant controversy in some Western countries over policies toward minority Muslim communities--a historical fact has gone unnoticed: for more than four hundred years beginning in the mid-seventh century, some 50 percent of the world's Christians lived and worshipped under Muslim rule. Just who were the Christians in the Arabic-speaking milieu of Mohammed and the Qur'an? The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque is the first book-length discussion in English of the cultural and intellectual life of such Christians indigenous to the Islamic world. Sidney Griffith offers an engaging overview of their initial reactions to the religious challenges they faced, the development of a new mode of presenting Christian doctrine as liturgical texts in their own languages gave way to Arabic, the Christian role in the philosophical life of early Baghdad, and the maturing of distinctive Oriental Christian denominations in this context. Offering a fuller understanding of the rise of Islam in its early years from the perspective of contemporary non-Muslims, this book reminds us that there is much to learn from the works of people who seriously engaged Muslims in their own world so long ago.

American Apocalypse

A History of Modern Evangelicalism

Matthew Avery Sutton

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2015 The first comprehensive history of modern American evangelicalism to appear in a generation, American Apocalypse shows how a group of radical Protestants, anticipating the end of the world, paradoxically transformed it. “The history Sutton assembles is rich, and the connections are startling.” —New Yorker “American Apocalypse relentlessly and impressively shows how evangelicals have interpreted almost every domestic or international crisis in relation to Christ’s return and his judgment upon the wicked...Sutton sees one of the most troubling aspects of evangelical influence in the spread of the apocalyptic outlook among Republican politicians with the rise of the Religious Right...American Apocalypse clearly shows just how popular evangelical apocalypticism has been and, during the Cold War, how the combination of odd belief and political power could produce a sleepless night or two.” —D. G. Hart, Wall Street Journal “American Apocalypse is the best history of American evangelicalism I’ve read in some time...If you want to understand why compromise has become a dirty word in the GOP today and how cultural politics is splitting the nation apart, American Apocalypse is an excellent place to start.” —Stephen Prothero, Bookforum

Ambrose

Boniface Ramsey

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, was one of the most important figures of the fourth century Roman empire. This volume explores the enormous impact of Ambrose on Western civilization, and examines the complexity of his ideas and influence; as a poet, ascetic, mystic and politician. Ambrose combines an up-to-date account of his life and work, with translations of key writings. Ramsey's volume presents a comprehensive and accessible insight into a relatively unexplored persona and argues that Ambrose has influenced the Western world in ways as yet unrealized.

American Evangelicals

A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement

Barry Hankins

There may be no group in American society that is more talked about but so little understood as Evangelical Christians. Sometimes dismissed as violent fundamentalists and ignorant flat earthers, few can doubt the political, cultural, and religious significance of the Evangelicals. Barry Hankins puts the Evangelical movement in historical perspective, reaching back to its roots in the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century and leading up to the formative moments of contemporary conservative Protestantism. Taking on key topics such as the standing of science, the authority of scripture, and gender and racial equality, Hankins analyzes what is most essential for us to understand today about this potent movement.

The Catholic Reformation

Michael A. Mullett

This book provides a comprehensive history of the Counter-Reformation in early modern Europe, It is an indispensable new survey which provides a wide-ranging overview of the religious, political and cultural history of the time.

A Companion to Second-Century Christian 'Heretics'

Antti Marjanen, Petri Luomanen

The book deals with thinkers and movements that were embraced by many second-century religious seekers but which are now largely forgotten or known only as "heretics": Basilides, Sethianism, Valentinus' school, Marcion, Tatian, Bardaisan, Montanists, Cerinthus, Ebionites, Nazarenes, Jewish-Christianity of the "Pseudo-Clementines," and Elchasites.

Trinitarian Perspectives in the Apostolic Fathers

An Investigation

Mina Fouad Tawfike, Emad Atef Ezzat Hanna

In this in-depth exploration, the authors embark on a journey to uncover the intriguing questions about the Trinity's emergence in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. As this study takes a close look at whether we can find signs of the Trinity and shared understandings in these early texts, shedding light on whether these writings reflect a "triadic way of talking about God." A crucial aspect of the investigation is to see if there is a common belief about the Trinity, offering insights into the theological ideas of that time. A central question arises: Did the early Apostolic Fathers have a sense of the Trinity? If so, how did they try to understand it? Immersed in the early Christian mindset, this book examines how each text talks God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in relation to each other. With scholars like Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham guiding the way, the study explores the connections and differences between the beliefs about God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the Apostolic Fathers corpus. This rich work connects the past with contemporary theological questions. Through careful research, Trinitarian Perspectives in the Apostolic Fathers reveals the interplay of history, faith, and divine understanding. This book is a helpful resource for theologians, historians, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of early Christian beliefs.

Origen of Alexandria and the Theology of the Holy Spirit

Micah M. Miller

This book offers a comprehensive account of Origen's pneumatology. In its examination of the Holy Spirit's identity (who the Spirit is) and activity (what the Spirit does), the study reads Origen in his context and surveys his entire corpus. It also provides a fresh perspective of Origen's Trinitarian thought.

From Messiah to Preexistent Son

Aquila H. I. Lee

How did the earliest Christians come to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being alongside God? Aquila Lee proposes that the root of preexistent Son Christology is to be found in early Christian exegesis of the two messianic psalms (the catalyst) in the light of Jesus's self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission (the foundation).

Putting Jesus in His Place

The Case for the Deity of Christ

Robert M. Bowman, J. Ed Komoszewski

Putting Jesus in His Place is designed to introduce Christians to the wealth of biblical teaching on the deity of Christ and give them the confidence to share the truth about Jesus with others.

Searching the Scriptures

Studies in Context and Intertextuality

Craig A. Evans, Jeremiah J. Johnston

This work critically engages the hermeneutical methods used to analyse the New Testament writings, so that the lenses through which studies of the texts have been traditionally viewed can be revised. Jeremy Hultin contributes an article on the rhetorical use of the chosen citations by Jewish rabbis in their commentary on scripture, while Mark Gignilliat writes on the potential implications for viewing Old Testament Scripture in the manner of the early Church exegetes and theologians. With these two contributions providing a frame for the other chapters, the essays explore a range of topics including the significance of the number 42 in Matthew; the study of Wisdom in Matthew, the extent to which the four gospels are underlined by Hebrew material, if any; the use of Hebrew material in shaping New Testament writings; and the uses of Scripture in the letters of Paul and the letters to the Hebrews. Read separately, these articles provide fascinating insights and revisions to established ideas on intertextuality between the Old/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings. Taken together, the collection presents a solid argument for the fundamental revision of our current hermeneutical practice in Biblical Studies.