This Weekend: Religion and Violence

This weekend at the MacMillan Center:

Yale Conference on Religion and Violence, MacMillan Center Auditorium
Saturday, February 16th (8:30 am - 6 pm)
Convened by the MacMillan Center Initiative on Religion, Politics, & Society

The conference on Religion and Violence will take an interdisciplinary approach towards analyzing the relationship between religion and political violence by bringing together historians and social scientists. The fundamental question we hope to begin exploring is if there is something unique or different about religion that leads particular patterns of conflict across time and space.

The day-long event will consist of two panels and a keynote speaker. The first panel, relating to premodern societies, consists of Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic, School of Oriental and African Studies, and Mack Holt, Professor of History, George Mason University. The second panel, relating to the modern period, consists of Paul Brass, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle; Jennifer Todd, Associate Professor of Politics and Director of British and Irish Studies, University College, Dublin; and Malika Zeghal, Associate Professor of the Anthropology and Sociology of Religion, University of Chicago Divinity School. Our keynote speaker will be the distinguished historian Robert I. Moore, Emeritus Professor of History at Newcastle University.

Looking for Something to Do This Summer?

The editors of Biblical Archaeology Review may be able to help...

GREAT SUMMER OPPORTUNITY!
New Dig Site Lets Volunteers "Spend Your Summer in the Past"

A unique new Web site, http://findadig.com, provides visitors with everything they need to know about volunteering at more than two dozen archaeological excavations in the Middle East and Europe. The new Web site has been created by the editors of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR), the most popular magazine in its field.

Findadig.com contains:
* In-depth descriptions of more than 30 sites currently undergoing excavation
* The historical and Biblical significance of each site
* Descriptions of how volunteers will help at the site of their choice
* Profiles of the dig directors
* Essays by winners of scholarships provided by the Biblical Archaeology Society, which enabled them to join a dig this past summer. Application forms for 2008 scholarships are available on the site.

Participating in a dig requires no previous experience; all that is needed is an enthusiasm for the adventure of digging up the past.

Visitors to findadig.com can also order a free e-book, I Volunteered for This?!, an informative, amusing and sometimes touching collection of articles by dig volunteers culled from BAR. Isn't working on a dig site a dirty and sweaty job? It sure is! But people wouldn't trade it for anything. Almost everyone who has been part of an archaeological excavation describes it as the experience of a lifetime.

Visit http://findadig.com to see why.

RBL Highlights: 2/14/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Brian J. Abasciano
Paul's Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.1-9: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis
Reviewed by Thomas Gillespie

Luke Timothy Johnson
Hebrews: A Commentary
Reviewed by Wolfgang Kraus

Melody Knowles, Esther Menn, John Pawlikowski, and Timothy Sandoval, eds.
Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible
Reviewed by Ithamar Gruenwald

Amy-Jill Levine, ed., with Maria Mayo Robbins
A Feminist Companion to the New Testament Apocrypha
Reviewed by James Elliott

Edmondo F. Lupieri; Maria Poggi Johnson and Adam Kamesar, trans.
A Commentary on the Apocalypse of John
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas

George W. E. Nickelsburg
Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism and Early Christianity
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Stanley E. Porter, ed.
The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments
Reviewed by Michael F. Bird
Reviewed by James Hamilton Charlesworth

Acts with Abraham Malherbe

Anyone in New Haven over the next few weeks would do well to attend this series. Prof. Malherbe is among the finest living scholars of Pauline studies and Greco-Roman epistolary literature, among other fields. Certainly not your average set of Sunday School lessons!

All are invited to Bible Study at First Baptist Church of New Haven, Sunday mornings from February 3 to March 16, from 9:15-10:15 am. Dr. Abraham Malherbe will lead a study entitled "Windows on the Early Church: A Study in Acts." Dr. Malherbe is the Buckingham Professor Emeritus of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation and former Academic Dean of Yale Divinity School. First Baptist Church is located at 205 Edwards Street, at the corner of Edwards and Livingston Streets. For more information, contact the church office at (203) 562-0069. All are welcome!

RBL Highlights: 2/2/08

More exciting reviews from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Douglas A. Campbell
The Quest for Paul's Gospel: A Suggested Strategy
Reviewed by Matt Jackson-McCabe

Gordon D. Fee
Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study
Reviewed by Don Garlington
Reviewed by Matthew Montonini

Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams
Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea
Reviewed by Claudio Zamagni

Pieter W. van der Horst
Jews and Christians in Their Graeco-Roman Context: Selected Essays on Early Judaism, Samaritanism, Hellenism, and Christianity
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Jaclyn L. Maxwell
Christianization and Communication in Late Antiquity: John Chrysostom and His Congregation in Antioch
Reviewed by David Brian Warner

Patrick D. Miller
The Way of the Lord: Essays in Old Testament Theology
Reviewed by Walter Brueggemann

Edward L. Greenstein Lectures on Job

Beginning next week:

The Program in Judaic Studies with the Department of Religious Studies,
the Yale Divinity School, and Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale
Presents The 2008 Stanley H. Arffa Visiting Scholar

Edward L. Greenstein
Professor of Bible and Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Distinguished Scholar at
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

A three-part series: "Is God Just, or Just God?---Rethinking Job”
February 7th – 4:00pm – “The Problem of Evil in the Book of Job” (Lecture)
February 13th – 4:00pm – “Job on Trial: Another Look at the Prose Tale” (Seminar)
February 20th – 4:00pm – “Is Everybody at Fault?: Another Look at the Dialogues in Job” (Seminar)

All talks will take place at 4:00pm, Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life
at Yale, 80 Wall Street, New Haven, CT

RBL Highlights: 1/27/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

John M. G. Barclay, trans.
Flavius Josephus: Against Apion
Reviewed by René Bloch

Jeannine K. Brown
Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Philip F. Esler and Ronald A. Piper
Lazarus, Mary and Martha: A Social-Scientific and Theological Reading of John
Reviewed by Peter Phillips

Thomas R. Hatina, ed.
Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels: Vol. 1: The Gospel of Mark
Reviewed by David du Toit

Christine Helmer, ed.
The Multivalence of Biblical Texts and Theological Meanings
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Robert Tannehill
The Shape of Luke's Story: Essays on Luke-Acts
Reviewed by Robert F. O'Toole

Stephen Voorwinde
Jesus' Emotions in the Fourth Gospel: Human or Divine?
Reviewed by William R. G. Loader

RBL Highlights: 1/17/07

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Young S. Chae
Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew
Reviewed by Daniel M. Gurtner

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook
Reviewed by Brian D. Russell

Craig Cooper, ed.
Politics of Orality: (Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece, Vol. 6)
Reviewed by Jonathan A. Draper

J. Todd Hibbard
Intertextuality in Isaiah 24-27: The Reuse and Evocation of Earlier Texts and Traditions
Reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard

Steven W. Holloway, ed.
Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible
Reviewed by Patricia Dutcher-Walls

George H. van Kooten, ed.
The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses: Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity
Reviewed by Sabrina Inowlocki

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives
Reviewed by Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.

Grant R. Osborne
The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Reviewed by Oda Wischmeyer

Megan Hale Williams
The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship
Reviewed by Jonathan Yates

BAR Highlights: 1/17/07

More recent archaeological news from Biblical Archaeology Review:

In the Land of the Exodus
A magazine article describes Egypt’s tiny Jewish community.

Is It King David’s Palace?
An archaeologist guides a journalist through the Jerusalem site whose excavator has identified it as the Biblical hero’s palace.

HolyPass
A new card makes access to Jerusalem’s ancient sites more affordable and convenient.

Virtual Eternal City
With the help a new million dollar program, visitors to Rome can now explore 4.45 million acres of virtual terrain—complete with city bustle and friendly ancient bystanders—from the comfort of a local museum.

The Old is New
Researchers have published their reports on recent excavations at Ramat Rahel, the site of the only Judean royal palace unearthed to date.

A Step Forward
Iraqi archaeologists delivered 1,000 recently discovered artifacts to the National Museum, which has been closed since 2003, when invading US forces failed to protect the museum from rampant looting.

The Other Half
Finds near glamorous tombs of Pharaohs shed light on the everyday lives of ancient Egyptian laborers, including evidence of a labor strike.

Surprises Afoot
A US airman discovered ancient pottery fragments on the grounds of a military base near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq.

Still Searching for the Original Text

In an intriguing post entitled "The Composition of the Original Text," Dan Wallace addresses "a relatively new movement afoot in text-critical circles... the idea that the wording of the originals (also known as autographs) of the New Testament documents is not only not possible to recover, even the notion of an original is not true to history." He names Bart Ehrman and David Parker as prominent proponents of this theory; I would add Eldon Epp to the list as well, on the basis of his article in last summer's issue of Harvard Theological Review (about which I blogged here). In particular, Wallace critiques Parker's comparison of the New Testament text to the work of Shakespeare or Mozart, each of whom altered his own original creations and therefore made it impossible to speak of an "original." He counters, "In Shakespeare’s and Mozart’s case, the author continued to exercise control over the document. That is not the case with NT books." He adds that all of the New Testament texts were sent elsewhere, thus severing the author's control over them; the early church's interest in the words of the apostles would have led to a desire for accuracy; and that unlike the work of Shakespeare and Mozart, "authority," not "aesthetics," guided the transmission of the New Testament texts.

I am perfectly willing to discard any extended comparison between the New Testament and later artistic works (although I can see how such a comparison might be formed, particularly if earlier theories such as the editing of Acts by Luke were invoked), but a few of Wallace's other observations give me pause. While I certainly do not possess an encyclopedic knowledge of the theories of gospel transmission, I was unaware that the scholarly majority had determined that all of these works, in addition to the epistles, had been immediately dispatched to other locales after their composition. The Gospel of John, in particular, may have been composed and originally used by a single community. Furthermore, under certain conditions texts may be altered in the name of authority as readily as they might be changed for aesthetic purposes. To quote but one example, the infamous "Johannine Comma" (ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Πατήρ, ὁ Λόγος, καὶ τὸ Ἄγιον Πνεῦμα. καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι. καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ; 1 John 5:7-8) seems to have been added in order to provide additional scriptural authority for the doctrine of the Trinity.

I would also second Epp's recent argument that an obsessive search for an "original" text often causes the critic to discard or ignore variants which have been branded as "spurious" or "unoriginal," despite the fact that their presence in the manuscript tradition indicates that they formed a part of Scripture for at least some early Christian communities (and were therefore "original" in their eyes). Many of these variants, even some which appear on only a few scraps of papyrus or parchment, still have a great deal to teach us about the individuals who copied, transmitted, and worshipped with them. And that means they're important, too.

Musings on Mark: 1/16/08

In what will hopefully become a weekly tradition, here are a few particularly juicy tidbits from Prof. Adela Collins' introductory comments in yesterday's inaugural meeting of Greek Exegesis of Mark:

*One of the most provocative questions concerning Mark is the question of genre. A number of major theories have been advanced: 1) that it belongs to a unique, independent, inherently Christian "gospel" genre, a theory which was particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s; 2) that it should be classified as Greco-Roman "biography" (Gk. βιος), a theory which has been revived in recent years by Charles Talbert and Richard Burridge; 3) that it is an attempt to accurately depict the history of Jesus of Nazareth and his first followers, a theory which was wildly popular in the early modern period but was sharply curtailed by the criticisms of Karl Ludwig Schmidt and William Wrede. In her recently completed commentary, Collins describes Mark as an "eschatological historical monograph," borrowing the term "monograph" from Hans Conzelmann's earlier commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. She applies the adjective "eschatological" in light of its pervasive apocalyptic elements, which are not present in Greco-Roman texts. She does, however, note that Mark possesses some affinities with βιος, particularly its didactic and historical sub-genres.

*Although many scholars have assumed that Mark and the other canonical gospels circulated anonymously until the second century, Collins accepts the arguments of Martin Hengel, who argues that this was not the case. As she notes, if the gospel had remained anonymous until this point, surely the early Christian communities would have selected a more notable figure (e.g., Peter) for pseudonymous attribution. Furthermore, under these conditions one would expect to see a variety of attributions, with some communities assigning the gospel to one major figure, other communities to another; no extant copies of Mark bear the name of another author.

*Two schools of thought have emerged concerning the date of Mark, with Jesus' comment concerning the Temple in Mark 13:2 ("Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down") serving as the key to both. Some have argued that this prediction indicates that the gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE; Collins, on the other hand, argues for a date of composition during the Jewish War, possibly during the siege of the Jerusalem, but not after 70.

*The gospel's origin has been traditionally regarded as Rome, and a number of recent studies have also supported this theory, but Collins does not find the arguments convincing. Any major cosmopolitan area, including Jerusalem and Caesarea Maritima, is a possibility.

I hope that I haven't done any injustice to Prof. Collins' fine work through these brief comments. If you want to know more about any of these topics, don't ask me... pick up her commentary! ;-)

Latest Issues of Harvard Theological Review and Novum Testamentum Now Online

Thanks to Michael Pahl for pointing these out. Although full articles are available only to subscribing members and institutions (thank you, Yale University database!), abstracts may be viewed by all.



Harvard Theological Review 101.1 (January 2008)














Novum Testamentum 50.1 (January 2008)

Latest from Tyndale Tech: Unicode

The latest e-mail in David Instone-Brewer's eminently helpful "Tyndale Tech" series concerns Unicode fonts. Although Unicode fonts are quickly becoming the standard in biblical studies, many scholars and students remain largely unaware of what they are, how to find them, and how to use them in their own work. Dr. Instone-Brewer answers these and other questions with a few key links:

Tyndale Unicode Kit
Tyndale Unicode Keyboards

The first of these is Tyndale's easy-to-use installation kit for Greek and Hebrew Unicode fonts and keyboards. Full instructions are provided, although, as Instone-Brewer notes, installation is simple and intuitive. The second is a graphic which allows the user to view the Greek and Hebrew keyboard layouts. You probably won't need to use these for long, but they may be helpful in your first few weeks of typing.

Also included are links to downloadable Unicode Bibles (HB with vowels; LXX with accents; MT/LXX parallel; NT with accents), and the free Diogenes software, which can be used to search databases such as the TLG if you have the disks, or as a stand-alone lexical reference if you do not.

Whether you're a relative newcomer to Unicode (as I am) or a seasoned veteran, all of these are well worth a look.

OUP Sale at Dove

A number of excellent NT titles from Oxford University Press are currently on sale at Dove (through January 17):

Ashton, John
Understanding the Fourth Gospel
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $120.00 Dove Price: $95.99 Save $27.01
More Info & Ordering

Curtis, Adrian H W
Oxford Bible Atlas, 4th ed
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $35.00 Dove Price: $25.99 Save $9.01
More Info & Ordering

Dunderberg, Ismo
Beloved Disciple in Conflict?: Revisiting the Gospels of John and Thomas
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $99.00 Dove Price: $79.20 Save $19.80
More Info & Ordering

Ehrman, Bart D
Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $25.00 Dove Price: $19.99 Save $5.01
More Info & Ordering

Ehrman, Bart D
New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 4th ed
(Published 2007)
Paperback List: $57.95 Dove Price: $46.36 Save $11.59
More Info & Ordering

Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, 2 Volume Set
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $80.00 Dove Price: $63.99 Save $16.01
More Info & Ordering
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $199.00 Dove Price: $158.99 Save $40.01
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Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1: The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $45.00 Dove Price: $35.99 Save $9.01
More Info & Ordering
Hardcover List: $99.00 Dove Price: $79.20 Save $19.80
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Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, Volume 2: Trajectories through the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $55.00 Dove Price: $43.99 Save $11.01
More Info & Ordering
Hardcover List: $120.00 Dove Price: $95.99 Save $24.01
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Hodge, Caroline Johnson
If Sons, Then Heirs: A Study of Kinship and Ethnicity in the Letters of Paul
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $45.00 Dove Price: $35.99 Save $9.01
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Hvidt, Niels Christian
Christian Prophecy: The Post-Biblical Tradition
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $74.00 Dove Price: $59.20 Save $14.80
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Meech, John L
Paul in Israel's Story: Self and Community at the Cross
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $55.00 Dove Price: $43.99 Save $11.01
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Porter, J R
Jesus Christ: The Jesus of History, the Christ of Faith
(Published 2007)
Paperback List: $21.50 Dove Price: $15.99 Save $5.51
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Rogerson, John W Judith M Lieu (eds)
Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $199.00 Dove Price: $159.20 Save $39.80
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Tuckett, Christopher M (ed)
Gospel of Mary (Oxford Early Christian Gospel Texts)
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $120.00 Dove Price: $95.99 Save $24.01
More Info & Ordering

This volume, the first in a major new series which will provide authoritative texts of key non-canonical gospel writings, comprises a critical edition, with full translations, of all the extant manuscripts of the Gospel of Mary. In addition, an extended Introduction discusses the key issues involved in the interpretation of the text, as well as locating it in its proper historical context, while a Commentary explicates points of detail. The gospel has been important in many recent discussions of non-canonical gospels, of early Christian Gnosticism, and of discussions of the figure of Mary Magdalene. The present volume will provide a valuable resource for all future discussions of this important early Christian text.

Pietersma, Albert Benjamin G. Wright (eds)
New English Translation of the Septuagint
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $30.00 Dove Price: $23.99 Save $6.01
More Info & Ordering

New Links... Check Them Out!

During the winter break, I encountered several new blogs (well, new to me) which have now been added to the blogroll, and also some excellent online resources which have been added to the "Helpful Links" section. Thanks to Nick Norelli for pointing me in the direction of these fine sites:

Greek New Testament
Online Commentary on the Greek Gospels

I also discovered Peter Coad's truly excellent Greek Bible Study, which allows the reader to view the KJV and NASB versions in parallel alongside both Tischendorf's New Testament and a graduated reader linked to William Mounce's introductory textbook Basics of Biblical Greek. The Greek texts are grammatically tagged; clicking on any word instantly displays its lexical information (as given in Thayer's standard lexicon). There is also a "verse-by-verse translation" feature. Highly recommended to Greek students of all experience and skill levels.

Finally, Prof. William Harmless' Bibliographies for Theology is another exemplary site, with entries arranged under the categories of New Testament, Early Christianity, Medieval Christianity, The Reformation, Spirituality & Mysticism, Sacraments, and Twentieth-Century Theology. Each of these categories is helpfully divided into a number of sub-categories. The perfect gateway to further reading and research, for both students and laypeople. Prof. Harmless' work on the bibliographies of the recently released English translation of Hubertus Drobner's The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction (soon to become the definitive introduction to patristic studies; you heard it here first) is another indication of his skill in this regard.

Enjoy!

Another Semester Begins...

Yale's spring semester begins today. While I'm considering a few other courses, my schedule will most likely consist of the following:

REL 681: Greek Exegesis of the Gospel of Mark (A. Collins)
REL 691: History and Methods of New Testament Study (A. Collins)
REL 854: Theology and Cinema (M. Villano)

Looking forward to another stimulating and enriching semester!

New: Dirt, Greed, & Sex

A recent announcement from Fortress:

Dirt, Greed, and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today, Revised Edition

One of the most urgent tasks in contemporary discussions and controversies over sexuality, in churches and in wider society, is to put the biblical resources into their proper social and cultural contexts.

In Dirt, Greed, and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today, Revised Edition, L. William Countryman accomplishes this task in an exemplary way, showing how biblical conceptions regarding proper sexual behavior arose from concerns for purity and from cultures in which women and children were often perceived as property. What biblical texts say about sex often arises from concerns about dirt and greed.

This new revised edition of the landmark 1988 text includes updated text and notes throughout, taking advantage of recent studies of sexual ethics and, where appropriate, criticizing them. A new chapter evaluates recent proposals for a normative "ethic of creation," and in a concluding chapter, Countryman offers his own positive statement of a New Testament ethic. The result is an invaluable resource for anyone who seeks to understand what the New Testament says about sex.

Order your copy today!

BAR Highlights: 1/10/07

More recent archaeological news from Biblical Archaeology Review:

Tunnel Roadblock?
A group in Israel has asked that country’s Attorney General to order a halt in construction of a tunnel from the Western Wall to an ancient synagogue.

A Bang and a Whimper
A tsunami specialist uses a theoretical model and his own observations of the devastating results of the 2004 tsunami to piece together a theory regarding the end of Minoan society, the Bronze Age civilization crucial to the development of Western culture.

Mr. Mummy
A noted Egyptologist undertakes an actual mummification in order to learn about the ancient process and discusses, among other subjects, why it’s difficult to study Alzheimer’s disease in mummies.

Pass the Ketchup
Researchers investigating a cave near Haifa have been learning how its prehistoric inhabitants hunted, slaughtered and prepared animals 200,000 years ago.

Giza in Peril
Contaminated groundwater is rising and threatening the ancient monuments in the Giza plateau.

New: Mark (Hermeneia)

Another recent announcement from Fortress, this time featuring the one and only Prof. Adela Collins. The bookstore received its copies just before the SBL Annual Meeting... magisterial in both size and scope. This will undoubtedly remain the standard commentary on the Gospel of Mark for years to come.

Fortress Press Releases Hermeneia Volume on Mark

"Adela Collins' long-awaited commentary on the Gospel of Mark fulfills and even surpasses the highest expectations. It demonstrates the scholarly expertise and sound critical judgment we have come to expect from this expert on Jewish apocalyptic and Greco-Roman literary culture. This book will now be the definitive resource for historical-critical reading of the Gospel of Mark."
—Karen L. King, Harvard Divinity School

In the newly released Hermeneia Volume Mark: A Commentary, Professor Adela Yarbro Collins brings to bear on the text of the first Gospel the latest historical-critical perspectives, providing a full treatment of such controversial issues as the relationship of canonical Mark to the "Secret Gospel of Mark" and the text of the Gospel, including its longer endings.

She situates the Gospel, with its enigmatic portrait of the misunderstood Messiah, in the context of Jewish and Greco-Roman literature of the first century. Her comments draw on her profound knowledge of apocalyptic literature as well as on the traditions of popular biography in the Greco-Roman world to illuminate the overall literary form of the Gospel.

The commentary also introduces an impressive store of data on the language and style of Mark, illustrated from papyrological and epigraphical sources. Collins is in constructive dialogue with the wide range of scholarship on Mark that has been produced in the twentieth century. Her work will be foundational for Markan scholarship in the first half of the twenty-first century.

Adela Yarbro Collins is Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. She has written numerous books on ancient Judaism and Christianity.

Order your copy today!

New: Justin Martyr

A recent announcement from Fortress:

New Volume Reintroduces Justin Martyr

Justin—philosopher and Christian martyr, Samaritan, exegete, apologist, and witness to so many of the intellectual and cultural worlds of the later Roman Empire—surprises every generation of scholars anew with the riches he has to offer them. One of the most gifted leaders in the early church, Justin and his writings are one of our richest sources for understanding the developing beliefs, worship, and public perception of Christians in the second century.

The newly released volume Justin Martyr and His Worlds presents a well-rounded portrait of one of the second-century church's most remarkable figures.

Here are studies of Justin's relationship to Judaism, Hellenism, and the Roman state, to philosophers, emperors, and heretics, and to the scriptures and other writings of second-century Judaism and Christianity. A map and timeline of Justin's world, a list of his writings, and a full-color gallery of images complement the work of many leading scholars.

Contents
Introduction: By Sara Parvis and Paul Foster, Editors

Part One: Justin's Worlds
Justin and Judaism — Judith Lieu, King's College, London
Justin and Gnosticism — Christoph Markschies, Humboldt Universität, Berlin
Justin and the Apologetic Tradition — Sara Parvis, University of Edinburgh

Part Two: Justin's Writings and Thought
Jesus as the Name of God in the "Dialogue with Trypho" — Larry W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh
The "Apologies": A Textual History — Paul Parvis, University of Edinburgh
A New Text of Justin's "Apologies" — Denis Minns, University of Oxford
Justin's Use of the Old Testament — Oskar Skarsaune, Norwegian Lutheran School of Theology in Oslo
The Gospel of Peter and the Writings of Justin — Paul Foster, University of Edinburgh
Justin, Suicide and Martyrdom — Graham Stanton, University of Cambridge
Part Three: Reading Justin Today
Justin Scholarship: Trends and Trajectories — Michael Slusser, Duquesne University
Justin and the Postcolonial Tradition — J. Rebecca Lyman, University of California at Berkeley

Editors
Paul Foster is Senior Lecture in New Testament Literature, Language, and Theology, and Sara Parvis is Lecturer in Patristics, at the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity.

Order your copy today!