The New Testament and the People of God

by Wright, N. T.

• ISBN13: 9780800626815
• ISBN10: 0800626818
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-01
• Publisher: Fortress Pr

Summary

In this volume Wright trains a penetrating historical and theological spotlight on first-century Palestinian Judaism. By describing the history, social make-up, worldview, beliefs, and hope of Palestinian Judaism, Wright familiarizes the reader with the 'world of Judaism' as situated within the world of Greco-Roman culture.

Author Biography

N.T. Wright is Fellow, Chaplain, and Tutor in Theology at Worcester College, Oxford. His Fortress Press books include The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology (1992) and Jesus and the Victory of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 2; 1997)

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Christian Origins and the New Testament	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
The Task	p. 6
What to Do with the Wicked Tenants	p. 6
The Questions	p. 11
The History of Early Christianity	p. 14
'New Testament Theology'	p. 18
Literary Criticism	p. 25
The Task Restated	p. 26
Tools for the Task	p. 29
Knowledge: Problems and Varieties	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
Towards Critical Realism	p. 32
Stories, Worldviews and Knowledge	p. 38
Conclusion	p. 44
Literature, Story and the Articulation of Worldviews	p. 47
Introduction	p. 47
On Reading	p. 50
Introduction	p. 50
'Is There Anybody There?'	p. 54
Reading and Critical Realism	p. 61
On Literature	p. 65
The Nature of Stories	p. 69
The Analysis of Stories: Narrative Structure	p. 69
The Analysis of Stories: The Wicked Tenants	p. 74
Jesus, Paul and the Jewish Stories	p. 77
History and the First Century	p. 81
Introduction	p. 81
The Impossibility of 'Mere History'	p. 82
This Does Not Mean 'No Facts'	p. 88
Critical Realism and the Threat of the Disappearing Object	p. 88
The Causes of the Misconception	p. 92
Wanted: New Categories	p. 96
Historical Method: Hypothesis and Verification	p. 98
Introduction	p. 98
The Requirements of a Good Hypothesis	p. 99
Problems in Verification	p. 104
From Event to Meaning	p. 109
Event and Intention	p. 109
History and Narrative	p. 113
History and Meaning	p. 115
Conclusion	p. 118
Historical Study of First-Century Religious Movements	p. 118
Introduction	p. 118
Judaism in the First Century	p. 118
Christianity in the First Century	p. 119
Theology, Authority and the New Testament	p. 121
Introduction: From Literature and History to Theology	p. 121
Worldview and Theology	p. 122
On Worldviews	p. 122
On Theology	p. 126
On Christian Theology	p. 131
Worldviews, Theology and Biblical Studies	p. 137
Theology, Narrative and Authority	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 143
First-Century Judaism within the Greco-Roman World	p. 145
The Setting and the Story	p. 147
Introduction	p. 147
The Aim	p. 147
The Sources	p. 151
The Greco-Roman World as the Context of Early Judaism	p. 152
The Story of Israel, 587 BC--AD 70	p. 157
From Babylon to Rome (587-63 BC)	p. 157
Jews under Roman Rule (63 BC--AD 70)	p. 159
Judaism Reconstructed (AD 70-135)	p. 161
Conclusion	p. 166
The Developing Diversity	p. 167
The Social Setting	p. 167
Movements of Revolt	p. 170
The Pharisees	p. 181
The Sources	p. 181
The Identity of the Pharisees	p. 184
The Agenda and Influence of the Pharisees	p. 185
The Essenes: Spotlight on a Sect	p. 203
Priests, Aristocrats, and Sadducees	p. 209
'Ordinary Jews': Introduction	p. 213
Story, Symbol, Praxis: Elements of Israel's Worldview	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
Stories	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
The Basic Story	p. 216
The Smaller Stories	p. 219
Conclusion	p. 221
Symbols	p. 224
Introduction	p. 224
Temple	p. 224
Land	p. 226
Torah	p. 227
Racial Identity	p. 230
Conclusion	p. 232
Praxis	p. 233
Introduction	p. 233
Worship and Festivals	p. 233
Study and Learning	p. 235
Torah in Practice	p. 237
According to the Scriptures; The Anchor of the Worldview	p. 241
Conclusion: Israel's Worldview	p. 243
The Beliefs of Israel	p. 244
Introduction	p. 244
First-Century Jewish Monotheism	p. 248
Creational Monotheism	p. 248
Providential Monotheism	p. 250
Covenantal Monotheism	p. 251
Types of Duality	p. 252
Monotheism and its Modifications	p. 256
Election and Covenant	p. 259
Introduction	p. 259
Covenant	p. 260
Israel, Adam and the World	p. 262
Pentateuch	p. 262
Prophets	p. 264
Wisdom Literature	p. 264
Qumran	p. 265
Other Second-Temple Literature	p. 266
Israel and the Nations	p. 267
Covenant and Eschatology	p. 268
Covenant, Redemption and Forgiveness	p. 272
Beliefs: Conclusion	p. 279
The Hope of Israel	p. 280
'Apocalyptic'	p. 280
Introduction	p. 280
A Literary Form and a Linguistic Convention	p. 280
The Contexts of Apocalyptic	p. 286
On 'Representation'	p. 289
Daniel 7 and the Son of Man	p. 291
Apocalyptic, History and 'Dualities'	p. 297
The End of Exile, the Age to Come and the New Covenant	p. 299
No King but God	p. 302
The King that would Come	p. 307
The Renewal of the World, of Israel, and of Humans	p. 320
Salvation and Justification	p. 334
Conclusion: First-Century Judaism	p. 338
The First Christian Century	p. 339
The Quest for the Kerygmatic Church	p. 341
Introduction	p. 341
Tasks and Methods	p. 345
Fixed Points: History and Geography	p. 346
Filling in the Gaps: Literature in Search of Setting	p. 357
Praxis, Symbol and Questions: Inside Early Christian Worldviews	p. 359
Introduction	p. 359
Praxis	p. 359
Symbols	p. 365
Questions	p. 369
Stories in Early Christianity (1)	p. 371
Introduction	p. 371
Luke and his Stories	p. 373
A Strange Comparison?	p. 373
The Form of Luke's Story	p. 378
The Scribe and the Plot: Matthew's Story	p. 384
'Let the Reader Understand': The Story of Mark	p. 390
Synoptic Gospels: Conclusion	p. 396
Paul: From Adam to Christ	p. 403
The Narrative World of the Letter to the Hebrews	p. 409
The Story of John	p. 410
Stories in Early Christianity (2)	p. 418
Introduction: Form Criticism	p. 418
Towards a Revised Form Criticism	p. 427
Introduction	p. 427
Prophetic Acts	p. 429
Controversies	p. 431
Parables	p. 433
Longer Units	p. 434
Conclusion	p. 435
Stories but no Story? Q and Thomas	p. 435
The Early Christians: A Preliminary Sketch	p. 444
Introduction	p. 444
Aims	p. 444
Community and Definition	p. 447
Development and Variety	p. 452
Theology	p. 456
Hope	p. 459
Conclusion	p. 464
Conclusion	p. 465
The New Testament and the Question of God	p. 467
Introduction	p. 467
Jesus	p. 468
The New Testament	p. 469
The Question of God	p. 471
Chronological Chart of Second-Temple Jewish History and of Early Christianity	p. 477
Bibliography	p. 481
Abbreviations	p. 481
Primary Sources	p. 482
Secondary Sources	p. 485
Indexes	p. 511
Index of Ancient Sources	p. 511
Old Testament	p. 511
Apocrypha	p. 514
Pseudepigrapha	p. 515
Qumran	p. 516
Josephus	p. 517
Philo	p. 518
Rabbinic Works	p. 518
New Testament	p. 519
Other Early Christian Works	p. 522
Gnostic Sources	p. 523
Pagan Sources	p. 523
Index of Modern Authors	p. 525
Index of Selected Topics	p. 530
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.