The construction of early Christian identity was a dynamic process in which social boundaries were drawn but also transcended. The source documents of Christianity bear witness to the process and dynamics involved in the construction of insiders and outsiders - determining who is to be included and who excluded. In the super-diverse and super-mobile time in which we live, identity boundaries are often drawn. This volume explores not only New Testament and Early Christian texts to investigate these dynamics, but also how contemporary ideology can shape the reading of scripture to exclude or include others.

Deacons:The diakon-words in the New Testament and the ministry of the deacon offers an in depth analysis of the concept of `deacon' in the New Testament and its significance for present day congregational practices. The essence and content of the service of the deacon within the community of God forms the focus of the study. Significant passages in the New Testament are considered in fine exegetical manner to determine the guidelines offered within the context of these NT texts. In this way different perspectives are highlighted that enrich the overall understanding of the concept of `deacon'. Obviously, this challanges some of the views held on this topic (that even influence the way several churches organise their diaconal service) and suggests some novel ideas related to the topic. Certain focal points are described, for instance, the centrality of the covenant and Kingdom in exercising diaconal service, or the interrelatedness of koinonia, diakonia and worship. This book offers a rich and responsible study of the concept of deacons in congregations, both on theoretical and practical levels. Prof Dr Jan van der Watt

This volume advances our understanding of early Christianity as a lived religion by approaching it through its rites, the emotions and affects surrounding those rites, and the material setting for the practice of them. The connections between emotions and ritual, between rites and their materiality, and between emotions and their physical manifestation in ancient Mediterranean culture have been inadequately explored as yet, especially with regard to early Christianity and its water and dining rites. Readers will find all three areas—ritual, emotion, and materiality—engaged in this exemplary interdisciplinary study, which provides fresh insights into early Christianity and its world. Ritual, Emotion, and Materiality in the Early Christian World will be of special interest to interdisciplinary-minded researchers, seminarians, and students who are attentive to theory and method, and those with an interest in the New Testament and earliest Christianity. It will also appeal to those working on ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman religion, emotion, and ritual from a comparative standpoint.

In this volume, the concept of quality is discussed both in the Bible and in the scholarship that evolved around the Bible. Scholars of various backgrounds analyse the Bible and its narrative and enumerative (or legal) way of qualifying the world around. According to the intrinsic theological view of the Bible, it is God himself who is the touchstone of any qualitative judgement. From literary and historical point of view though, we can - and we often do - judge Bible and things around us differently. The volume presents an intersection of biblical theology, biblical criticism and biblical archaeology in their quest for (their respective renditions of) quality.

In this book, the academic colleagues of Prof. Dr. Gie Vleugels, who turned 65 in 2021, celebrate his life by contributing chapters in his honor. Several chapters are innovative in nature, including Clemens Wassermann's comparative analysis of 1 John and the Fourth Gospel, which utilizes insights from Semitic syntax and shows how spoken Semitic dialects help us to unearth new perspectives on the relationship between John's Gospel and 1 John. The chapter on the Didache by Martin Webber makes innovative use of Social Identity Complexity Theory. Other contributions come from the fields of New Testament, Old Testament, Historical Theology, and Systematic Theology. Prof. Dr. Dr. Jacobus Kok is Professor and Department Chair of New Testament Studies and Co-Director of RCEC at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven in Belgium, as well as Professor Extraordinarius and NRF B3 rated scholar in the Department of New Testament and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria in South Africa.

When Paul heard that a Christ-follower in Corinth was in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, the apostle insisted the man be removed immediately from the congregation. This dramatic response is surprising, as Paul responds to other serious situations with much less vehemence. Why did Paul react to the immoral man with such urgency and severity? Using socio-cultural tools, this study explains the importance of group identity and witness for Paul’s ecclesiology. The argument lays a foundation for contemporary readers to appraise contexts where an expulsive response to sin might be appropriate.

Few scholarly constructs have proven as influential or as durable as the Johannine community. A product of the era in New Testament studies dominated by redaction criticism, the Johannine community construct as articulated first by J. Louis Martyn and later by Raymond E. Brown emerged with an explanatory power that proved persuasive to scholars deliberating on the provenance and emergence of the Johannine literature for the next 50 years. Recent years, however, have seen this once dominant paradigm questioned by many of those working with the Gospel and Letters of John. The Johannine Community in Contemporary Debate is dedicated to exploring the current state of the question while shining a light on new and constructive proposals for understanding the emergence of the Johannine literature. Some contributions accept the idea of a Johannine Community but suggest different ways we might know about the nature of that community. Others reject the existence of a Johannine Community, suggesting alternate models for understanding the emergence of these texts. These proposals are themselves set in perspective by responses from senior scholars.