John H. Elliott

A Commentary on 1 Peter

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Leonhard Goppelt's commentary on I Peter . . . masterfully exposes the evangelical power and ethical significance of this oft-neglected New Testament gem. Now available in lucid English translation, this commentary can finally reach the wider audience it surely deserves.”

A Cultural Handbook to the Bible

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“A Cultural Handbook to the Bible is a splendid resource for teachers (at any level), preachers, and general readers seeking to bridge the gaps (geographical, historical, social, cultural) separating us today from biblical times and everyday life in antiquity.”

A Marginal Scribe

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“"[A] 'must read' for both biblical hermeneutes in general and Matthean scholars in particular.”

Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This ambitious study breaks fresh methodological ground by utilizing both narrative criticism and aspects of social-scientific criticism to examine the characterization of the Pharisees in Luke-Acts. The path which Gowler has forged in seeking to unite narrative criticism and social-scientific criticism is to be warmly welcomed. His numerous specific comments on the cultural scripts implicit in the texts examined indeed cast these texts in a fresh light and provide a splendid model for others to emulate.”

Imagining Jesus in His Own Culture

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Engaging use of the famous Ignatian spiritual exercises is employed to imagine Jesus and his teaching rooted in a first-century Mediterranean context. Lucid, vivid writing with generous textual and cultural illustrations transports the general reader to the turf and culture and ‘imaginative everyday scenarios’ of earliest Christianity. Here is vintage Neyrey the master teacher and exegetical guide at his instructive—and pastoral—best.”

Jesus and Magic

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Jesus was no 'miracle-worker' or 'magician' but a healer who encountered scores of the ill and the spirit-possessed, welcomed their trust in his power to heal, and mediating God's healing power, reintegrated them into society. His healings and exorcisms were perceived by his followers as manifestations of the direct rule of God in human community and key means for the renewal of Israel in opposition to the Jerusalem establishment. A must read for Bible translators and interpreters, as well as an eye-opener for students, preachers, and general readers.”

Jesus and the Peasants

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Anyone who has ever wondered why the Lord's Prayer asks for the gift of bread and the forgiveness of debts has got to read this book. Anyone who has never wondered has even more cause to read this book. Anyone curious about the real value of a denarius or Jesus's take on the morality of money or how many calories were necessary to keep from starving or how Jesus advised to resist an economic system geared for devouring widows' houses--anyone, in short, eager to learn of the day-to-day realities of first-century Palestine as the matrix for Jesus's message can't get and read this book soon enough. "Behind the rich information on the peasant world of Jesus and his appeal to first-century peasants is a constant hermeneutical question humming in the background: what does this mean for us today? What are those 'general human concerns' that suggest some link or bridge between ancient Israelite farmers and urban yuppies? How might a 'realist' stance of reading find in the biblical experience and its symbols voices that speak about 'the essentially human'? "The information that Oakman provides in these essays is essential for understanding the world of Jesus and his peasant perspective. The moves Oakman suggests for bridging the gap from past to present are essential for keeping a reading of the Bible from becoming an exercise in canonical archaeology or an illusion that the Bible is hot off the divine press.”

Joseph's Dilemma

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Books that bring a new slant to bear on old disputed texts and unresolved issues are always welcomed. Matthew Marohl's study of the heated debate concerning the circumstances surrounding Jesus's conception and birth is such a new slant on a highly controverted story. It is sure to broaden our cultural vista, shed light on an overlooked aspect of Joseph's dilemma, and rustle not a few feathers along the way.”

Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John & Jude as Scripture

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In this eloquent challenge to current exegetical communis opinio, the authors argue forcefully for a reading of the seven Catholic Epistles as a canonical unit, which then reveals their common theology, their collective role in the scriptural canon as balance to the Pauline letters, and their cogent apostolic instruction on Christian discipleship and community both in antiquity and in today’s world.”

Society and Politics in the Acts of the Apostles

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Its comprehensive survey of the data and its judicious assessment of scholarly opinion make this a timely contribution to one of the burning issues of Lukan research.”

The New Testament

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Writing with his usual verve and clarity, Gerd Theissen gives us a fresh perspective on the history of the development of the New Testament and its establishment as canon. This welcome harvest of research by one of the world’s foremost exegetical scholars sparkles throughout with pithy discussions of the literary, formal, rhetorical, situational, and theological features of the Jesus and Paul traditions and their subsequent interpretations, with a substantive consideration of the extra-canonical literature as well. "This is a 'literary history,' to be sure, but it is more. Theissen attends to the genres and sub-genres of the "two basic forms of literature" of the Jesus movement (gospels and letters related to the two "chief charismatics," Jesus and Paul), the subsequent "fictive self-interpretations" of these two founding figures, and the four basic phases of historical development marked by the continuous crossing of class and cultural boundaries. "This literary-critical history of the New Testament—informed as well by form, tradition-, redaction-, and historical criticisms—joins the ranks of Herder, Overbeck, Bultmann, Dibelius, and Schmidt as another milestone of research on the origin and development of the New Testament and early Christian literature.”