Sadly, the ascension is regularly neglected or forgotten. The ascension is surely essential to NT theology, but what did it mean in the first century? And what role did it play in Luke’s writings, in which it is found? This is where Ascent into Heaven in Luke-Acts: New Explorations of Luke’s Narrative Hinge comes into play. The book has two goals. First, to consider ancient contexts that may have influenced Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ ascent. Second, to consider the importance of the ascension narratives within the larger work of Luke-Acts.
Tag: Fortress Press (page 1 of 2)
I recall my shock when a veteran teacher told me that Romans 2 was possibly the most difficult chapter in the letter for him to interpret. Upon my own study, I soon understood: though Paul’s rhetoric seems clear at first, there is a flow-chart-like abundance of exegetical options available to the interpreter. Change one small interpretation and the whole passage takes on a fresh meaning. As if there weren’t enough already, another branch in the flow chart is growing in popularity among scholarship today. This view questions the long-held tradition/assumption that Romans 2:17ff describes the Jew. The authors of this present volume have written on this question elsewhere, but The So-Called Jew in Paul’s Letter to the Romans presents a unified re-reading of Paul’s letter if this hypothesis were true.
» Read the entire post: Review: The So-Called Jew in Paul’s Letter to the Romans »
Joshua Jipp’s Christ is King has garnered much discussion and rightfully so: he argues against a common dismissal of Christ as being a royal title, by comparing ancient royal discourse (Jewish and Greco-Roman) to the writings of Paul. Along the way, he also presents some unique exegetical insights. In this post I want to present one of these insights that potentially unravels a very knotty problem: to what does Paul refer when he speaks of “The Law of Christ” (Gal 6:2; 1 Cor 9:22)?
» Read the entire post: “The Law of Christ” = Christ’s Embodying the Torah »
In The Vine and the Son of Man (my review), Andrew Streett reveals Psalm 80 as an overlooked but important contribution to the Messianic portrait in both the Old and New Testaments. He considers the role of the Psalm within the Psalter, as an influence behind Daniel 7, its interpretation in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism, and then the New Testament in Mark’s Gospel, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mk 12) and Jesus’ true vine discourse in John 15.
» Read the entire post: Psalm 80: the Most Neglected Messianic Psalm? »
We are continuing our review of Practices of Power by Robert Ewusie Moses, an investigation of Paul’s teaching on the powers and principalities and the practices he advocates in response to them. We are turning now to Galatians and its discussions of bondage under the elements. Unlike the previous positive practices of power – baptism, Gospel preaching and church discipline – in Galatians we find Paul warning against a negative practice of power: living under the Law.
» Read the entire post: Practices of Power #4: Life Under The Law »
As I mentioned in my introduction, I’m working through Robert Ewusie Moses’ book on Paul’s prescribed practices in regards to powers and principalities called Practices of Power. We discussed Gospel preaching before, and now we’ll look at church discipline.
» Read the entire post: Practices of Power #3 Church Discipline »
