This study is important in providing a corrective to inadequate or one-sided views of kerygma.

This challenging and original book questions the accepted conclusions of synoptic research. It argues, first, that Matthew is an adaptation and expansion of Mark by midrash - that is, by standard Jewish expository techniques - depending on no written source other than Mark, and only to a very small extent on oral tradition; and, secondly, that Matthew was written to be read in Christian worship round the year, as a cycle of lessons following the Jewish festal lectionary. Part I establishes the characteristics of the Matthaean manner - his vocabulary, his rhythms and images, the form and mode of his parables. With so much typical of Matthew as a gospel, sources other than Mark become progressively less plausible. Part II is a commentary on the gospel from this base. It finds a basic Marcan text for each new unit and a reason for its development, and works out in detail the correspondence between the five teaching sections of Matthew and the five Jewish festal seasons of Pentecost, New Year-Atonement, Tabernacles, Dedication, and Passover. A striking piece of corroborative evidence is found in the section numbers of the old Greek manuscript tradition. Michael Goulder believes that lectionary schemes also underlie Mark and Luke, and that at least one major part of the Old Testament, the work of the Chronicler, has a similar character. A gospel, in fact, is not a literary genre at all, but a liturgical one. Matthew himself comes into focus as a converted Jewish scribe who possessed the substance of the Pauline teaching, and who has been the dominant influence in forming the Church's image of Jesus in his adaptation of Mark by midrash and through lection.

Essays representing ten years of John J. Collins's expert reflection on Scripture and the Qumran community are here collected in a volume that is sure to be of interest to students and scholars of Early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Collins opens with the introductory chapter "What Have We Learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls?" before offering essays on the authority and interpretation of Scripture, historiography and the emergence of the Qumran sect, and specific aspects of the sectarian worldview: covenant and dualism, the angelic world, the afterlife, prayer and ritual, and wisdom. A concluding epilogue considers the account of the Suffering Servant and illustrates the relevance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for early Christianity.

'Prophecy and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity' was written with the conviction that the New Testament presents to its readers not merely the opinions of Christian writers, but also the message of God mediated through faithful prophets. These prophets initiated and interpreted the first proclamation of the Christian faith - a proclamation that continues to enlighten and to guide the church, for it provides a key to the church's history and theology. The prophets in this study are the pneumatics, those early Christians who are characterized by spiritual gifts of inspired speech and discernment, who are coworkers of Paul engaged in preaching and teaching. While some were perverting their gifts and thereby causing strife in the church, Paul's companions had an active role in its missionary enterprise. Dr. Ellis examines the dispute between the two parties which threatened to destroy the unity and faith of the church. The pneumatics were involved in the formulation of a Christian theology of the Old Testament through their exposition and application of Scripture. Dr. Ellis describes and elaborates upon the interpretative principles which they used. He concludes with a critique of the older form criticism of the gospels and suggests some new directions for understanding the history of the transmission of the teaching of Jesus.

Vol. 4 covers the late Roman period to the rise of Islam. Focuses especially on the growth and development of rabbinic Judaism and of the major classical rabbinic sources such as the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, Babylonian Talmud and various Midrashic collections.