Terence L. Donaldson's scholarship in the field of New Testament studies is vital, as he has pressed scholars to pay closer attention to the complex relations between early Christ-followers-who were mostly non-Jews-and the Jewish matrix from which the narrative of the Christian proclamation comes from. This volume allows prominent New Testament scholars to engage Donaldson's contributions, both to sharpen some of his conclusions and to honour him for his work. These essays are located at the intersections of three bodies of literature-Matthew, Paul and Second Temple Jewish Literature-and themes and questions that have been central to Donaldson's work: Christian Judaism and the Parting of the Ways; Gentiles in Judaism and early Christianity; Anti-Judaism in early Christianity. With contributions ranging from remapping Paul within Jewish ideologies, and Paul among friends and enemies, to socio-cultural readings of Matthew, and construction of Christian Identity through stereotypes of the Scribes and Pharisees, this book provides a multi-scholar tribute to Donaldson's accomplishments.

Understanding Judaism and the Jews in the Gospel of John: Polemic, Tradition, and Johannine Self-Identity reopens the perennial question of the Fourth Gospel’s perplexing characterization of “the Jews.” According to the reigning paradigm, the Gospel of John witnesses to a community’s burgeoning sense of religious distinctiveness. Ethnically Jewish believers in Jesus had begun to forge a new identity in contrast to the Jews. Nathan Thiel assesses the weaknesses of the prevailing model, arguing that the fourth evangelist still saw himself as living and working within the Jewish tradition. Yet if the Gospel of John is the literary product of a self-consciously Jewish author, why would he speak so often and so critically of “the Jews”? Thiel considers the factors which have conditioned the evangelist’s choice of terminology: the Gospel’s setting, its intended audience, and, above all, John’s indebtedness to Scripture. As a first-century Jew well-versed in Israel’s sacred texts, the evangelist has modeled his story of Jesus after patterns familiar to him from the Scriptures—Scriptures in which Israelite authors consistently portray their ancestors as faithless despite God’s powerful work on their behalf. John is a relentless critic, but such cutting theological assessment had long been part of Israel’s counterintuitive way of telling its history.

Jews and Anti-Judaism in the New Testament offers a balanced, sensitive, and erudite guide to the precarious issues of anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, and supersessionism in the New Testament. Combining adept navigation of the relevant literature--both classics of the field and more recent forays--with a keen exegetical analysis of the Christian canon, Terence L. Donaldson maps the major New Testament writings across three axes: self-definition, degree of separation, and rhetorical intent. In doing so, he successfully brings his readers up to speed on this crucial discussion, even while pushing the conversation forward with intellectual force and exegetical savvy.

This collection of twelve essays will celebrate the distinguished contribution of Professor John Kenneth Riches to biblical interpretation. The international selection of contributors are all either former students or colleagues of Professor Riches and the focus of the essays all reflect (and extend) Professor Riches' particular research interests and contribution to biblical and theological studies. The essays in this volume are clustered around two closely related topics: historical and theological contributions to understanding the nature of Christian freedom and agency, and studies which investigate how Paul's thought has been interpreted in diverse settings. All the contributors have been asked to centre their thinking around the following issues: how does the grace of being 'in Christ' transform and restore those who receive it in faith; how far they are, as it were, responsible for that transformation; how far their is identity changed by their union with Christ; and how are they to make ethical decisions, are they to be guided (and goaded?) by the law, or are to be led by the Spirit and called to discern what is right and good in the law?There are four parts to this book. Part I explores grace and human agency by looking at texts both within and outside of the New Testament, highlighting the themes of ethical responsibility and freedom. Part II turns to look at how Pauline themes of grace and the Christian life have been interpreted at various points of Christian history. Part III reflects John Riches' substantial interest in and contribution to African biblical interpretation and includes essays that investigate how Paul is appropriated in African contexts. Part IV reflects John Riches' interest in the mutual engagement between theology and Scripture and includes contributions investigating the theological aspects of the Law and the Spirit, and transformation in Christ in the theology and ethics of P.T. Forsyth.

This volume, which collects together the work of several established scholars attempts to situate the Apostle Paul, the Pauline writings, and the earliest Christian Gospels together in the context of early Christianity. It addresses the issue of how the Christianity depicted in and represented by the individual Gospels relates to the vision of Christianity represented by Paul and the Pauline writings.This raises such questions as to what extent did Paul influence the canonical and non-canonical Gospels? In what way are the Gospels reactions to Paul and his legacy? A comparison of the Gospels and Paul on topics such as Old Testament Law, Gentile mission, Christology, and early church leadership structures represents a fruitful area of study. While a number of volumes have appeared that attempt to assess the relationship between the historical Jesus and the Apostle Paul relatively few studies on Paul and the Gospels have been published. This volume excellently fills this gap in New Testament Studies and makes a valuable contribution to studies on Christian Origins, Pauline research, and the Gospels.

B. J. Oropeza offers the most thorough examination in recent times on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament. The study examines each book of the New Testament with a fourfold approach that identifies the emerging Christian community in danger, the nature of apostasy that threatens the congregations, and the consequences of defection. Oropeza then compares the various perspectives of the communities in Christ in order to determine the ways in which they perceived apostasy and whether defectors could be restored. In this second volume of a three-volume set titled Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Oropeza focuses on the Christ communities of the undisputed and disputed Pauline Letters.

In this collection of essays, leading New Testament scholars reassess the reciprocal relationship between Matthew and Second Temple Judaism. Some contributions focus on the relationship of the Matthean Jesus to torah, temple, and synagogue, while others explore theological issues of Jewish and gentile ethnicity and universalism within and behind the text.

Disinheriting the Jews is a scholarly work of great interest and significance for both Christians and Jews. Jeffery Siker shows how strongly the figure of Abraham has shaped our religious identities. He also uses the portrayals of Abraham by early Christians as a new means of understanding the dynamics involved in the church's separation and estrangement from Judaism. Siker argues that the separation was precipitated by historical contingencies more so than by Christian identity, and in so doing suggests self-corrections that could mend the rift between Christianity and Judaism.

All of Scripture testifies to the person of Jesus, yet the Gospels offer a face-to-face encounter. This newly revised third edition of Jesus and the Gospels prepares readers for an in-depth exploration of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Esteemed New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg considers the Gospels’ historical context while examining fresh scholarship, critical methods, and contemporary applications for today. Along with updated introductions, maps, and diagrams, Blomberg’s linguistic, historical, and theological approach delivers a deep investigation into the Gospels for professors, students, and pastors alike.

Steven Boguslawski maintains in this provocative book that Thomas Aquinas in his Commentary on Romans uses predestination and election as hermeneutical keys to understand Romans 9-11 and to sustain a positive theological view of the Jewish people. Thomas' positions in the Summa Theologiae on significant policy questions of his time regarding the Jews are set against the socio-historical context in which Thomas wrote. He integrates predestination and election, as treated in the Summa, with their use in the Commentary on Romans. Then he draws a comparison between Thomas's position and that of Augustine. In conclusion he asserts that Thomas's way of reading Romans 9-11 not only corrects and develops the received tradition but also sustains a positive theology of Judaism.