Jens Schröter

Joseph Verheyden

Tobias Nicklas

The second century CE has often been described as a kind of dark period with regard to our knowledge of how the earliest Christian writings (the gospels and Paul’s letters) were transmitted and gradually came to be accepted as authoritative and then, later on, as “canonical”. At the same time a number of other Christian texts, of various genres, saw the light. Some of these seem to be familiar with the gospels, or perhaps rather with gospel traditions identical or similar to those that found their way into the NT gospels. The volume focuses on representative texts and authors of the time in order to see how they have struggled to find a way to work with the NT gospels and/or the traditions behind these, while at the same time giving a place also to other extra-canonical traditions. It studies in a comparative way the reception of identifiably “canonical” and of extra-canonical traditions in the second century. It aims at discovering patterns or strategies of reception within the at first sight often rather chaotic way some of these ancient authors have cited or used these traditions. And it will look for explanations of why it took such a while before authors got used to cite gospel texts (more or less) accurately.

Experiments in Reception

Gospels and Gospel Traditions in the Second Century

Thomas J. Kraus

The book presents diplomatic transcriptions (in Greek) and translations (in German and English) of all the known textual fragments which can be attributed to what is known as the Gospel of Peter and the Apocalypse of Peter or which scholars are discussing as possible elements of these texts. In addition, the documentation of the texts in ancient times is considered, and there is a brief discussion of the philological problems involved. With concordances.

Die griechischen Fragmente mit deutscher und englischer Übersetzung (Neutestamentliche Apokryphen I)

Das Petrusevangelium und die Petrusapokalypse

Karin Schöpflin

Friedrich Vinzenz Reiterer

In our present-day society a oeAngelsa are being talked about more frequently again. But where are the roots of these discourses to be found? How have they developed? The present volume focuses on important sources for the investigation of angelic images within the ancient Near East, Old Testament, early Judaism and early Christianity. Particular emphasis is given to deuterocanonical Old Testament writings. In addition, significant developments with regard to iconography and piety are examined within the fields of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Concept of Celestial Beings : Origins, Development and Reception

Angels

Thomas Hieke

The “Day of Atonement” in Leviticus 16 had a formative influence on Judaism and Christianity. The essays in this volume form a representative cross section of the history of reception of Leviticus 16 and the tradition of the Yom ha-Kippurim.

Its Interpretations in Early Jewish and Christian Traditions

The Day of Atonement

Andreas Merkt

While the so-called ”New perspective in Paul“ has been in the focus of New Testament exegesis for more than 25 years now, ancient interpretations of Pauline texts and ideas have been neglected widely. The present volume aims to fill this gap. Its articles concentrate on three different foci of modern exegesis: interpretations of Paul’s conversion, his ideas about the relation of “grace” and “works” and the fate of Israel. Several additional articles contrast these ancient perspectives with answers of modern exegesis.

Ancient Perspectives on Paul

Michael Tilly

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZNW) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded international scholarly book series in the field of New Testament studies. Since 1923 it has been a forum for seminal works focusing on Early Christianity and related fields. The series is grounded in a historical-critical approach and also explores new methodological approaches that advance our understanding of the New Testament and its world.

Apostelgeschichte Als Kirchengeschichte

Heike Braun

In this collection of essays renowned experts deal with the role of the dead or dying human body in different ancient religious and cultural contexts. The main focus of the collection lies on early Jewish and ancient Christian sources (3rd century B.C.E. ' 3rd century C.E.). Some essays deal with other traditions like the religion of Ptolemaic Egypt, Zoroastrism or ancient Gnosis.

The Human Body in Death and Resurrection

Jozef Verheyden

Korinna Zamfir

Papers based on a conference held October 2006, Babeðs-Bolyai University in Cluj.

Prophets and Prophecy in Jewish and Early Christian Literature

Ancient interpretations of Pauline texts and ideas.

David P. Moessner

Robert Matthew Calhoun

The Gospels continue to defy efforts to fix 'generic' boundaries for determining their meanings. This volume discloses new stirrings and sightings of broader, more heuristically promising literary, rhetorical, and cultural registers which intersect in ancient narrative . The contributors seek to build upon or vigorously critique current generic hypotheses (biography, history, tragedy); to introduce recent insights and developments in genre theory; to probe ancient reception of the Gospels as works of literature; and to illuminate the relations between the literary characteristics of the Gospels and methodological advances in narratology, social memory, intertextuality, and performance.

Continuing the Debate on Gospel Genre(s)

Modern and Ancient Literary Criticism of the Gospels

Armand Puig i Tàrrech

The contributions in this volume are focused on the historical origins, religious provenance, and social function of ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, including so-called ‘Gnostic’ writings. Although it is disputed whether there was a genre of ‘apocalyptic literature,’ it is obvious that numerous texts from ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and other religious milieus share a specific view of history and the world to come. Many of these writings are presented in form of a heavenly (divine) revelation, mediated through an otherworldly figure (like an angel) to an elected human being who discloses this revelation to his recipients in written form. In different strands of early Judaism, ancient Christianity as well as in Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Islam, apocalyptic writings played an important role from early on and were produced also in later centuries. One of the most characteristic features of these texts is their specific interpretation of history, based on the knowledge about the upper, divine realm and the world to come. Against this background the volume deals with a wide range of apocalyptic texts from different periods and various religious backgrounds.

Jewish, Christian and Gnostic Views of the World to Come

Dreams, Visions, Imaginations

Studien zum Petrusevangelium

Thomas J Kraus

The authors of the nine essays in this collection deal with individual or certain sets of manuscripts in order to demonstrate that approach and method are both crucial and pivotal aspects for a sound investigations. Thus, the essays serve as a variety of approaches destined by their topics, but all of them concerned about acknowledged methods.

Examples of Applied Method and Approach

Early Christian Manuscripts

The Gospel of Peter is one of the most fascinating apocryphal texts of the 2nd century. The studies in the present volume are concerned with the question of the reconstruction of the text and philological questions associated with this, with the possible contexts of its genesis and with intertexts which may be of significance in interpreting it. The result is a number of insights into the theology of this text which are partly surprising and partly controversial.

Text, Kontexte, Intertexte

Das Evangelium nach Petrus

"This is a stimulating work, engaging with those 'uncomfortable' violent texts in the Apocalypse, and detailing the reception of the work in later commentaries and in liturgy and art. The later reflections, from both East and West, are insightful, and the authors combine exegetical analysis with the critical importance of locating works within their social and political contexts...Highly recommended. -- Mark Finney, Journal for the Study of the New Testament The Apocalypse of John belongs to the most puzzling texts of the New Testament. Historical-critical exegesis has been stressing that the book above all wishes to give a message of hope and comfort for a community under threat. Yet readers have also always been impressed and terrified by the many images of violence, including war, destruction, persecution and martyrdom, and the appearance of the devil and his demons. This book does not allow its readers to remain neutral. The present volume offers the proceedings of a conference that was held in Leuven, Belgium, in September 2009 and was organised by the general editors of the Novum Testamentum Patristicum. The conference focused on how early Christian and Patristic authors have coped with all these many passages that deal with various sorts of violence. The volume contains essays on most of the important commentators, Origen, Tyconius, Lactance, Victorin of Pettau, and those of a somewhat later age, Andreas of Caesarea, Oecumenius, and Bede, but also looks at the reception history on a larger scale. It also deals with issues of method in reading the Book of Revelation, with important themes (the 1000-year reign), the Jewish background of some of these motifs, and the reception of Patristic thought in the most important medieval commentator of the book, Joachim of Fiore.

Ancient Christian Interpretations of "violent Texts" in the Apocalypse

Jacob Albert van den Berg

Annemaré Kotzé

Madeleine Scopello

This volume in honour of Prof. Dr. Johannes van Oort offers a rich variety of in-depth studies on Augustine, Manichaeism, and other Gnostic currents, thus reflecting the rich variety of the honorand’s research interests.

Studies for Johannes van Oort at Sixty

In Search of Truth. Augustine, Manichaeism and other Gnosticism

Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr

Mikhail Seleznev

The present volume contains the proceedings of the Seventh International East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars in Moscow 2016. Its contributions are devoted to different aspects of the question of the relation between history and theology in New Testament and extracanonical Gospel literature. They deal with problems regarding the impact of critical historical approaches for New Testament theology, the relation between the Gospels' claim for truth and historical facts, Orthodox receptions of the Gospel literature, and the presentation of "the" Gospel in Byzantine liturgy.

Seventh International East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars, Moscow, September 26 to October 1, 2016

History and Theology in the Gospels

Erik M.M. Eynikel

Florentino Garcia Martinez

Is there another, perhaps better world than the one where we live? Is there a future for us after death and how does it look like? The articles in this volume describe how ancient Jewish and Christian authors dealt with the above questions and what their answers had to do with their own life experience.

Early Jewish and Ancient Christian Traditions

Other Worlds and Their Relation to This World

As environmental destruction begins to seriously affect humans, it has become increasingly relevant to reflect on the essential elements of the Jewish and Christian theologies of creation. The essays in this volume explore key aspects of creation theology, which poses the question of the origin of the world and of man. Creation theology is rooted in the concept of man who owes his existence to God and who is placed in a cosmos which God created as “good”. At the same time, the essays show that even back in antiquity, the creation discussion held high potential for ideological criticism.

Tobias Nicklas

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