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This book presents and analyses the diverging reception and interpretation of the Old Testament prophet Micah by Christian authors from the 1st to 5th centuries CE. Much of the material is in patristic commentaries and other works by church fathers, but this study examines surviving fragments of Gnostic reception as well. This work also includes a rabbinic tradition about Jesus quoting Micah and the liturgical use of Micah up to the Middle Ages.

The series Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) publishes monographs and collected volumes which explore the reception history of the Bible in a wide variety of academic and cultural contexts. Closely linked to the multi-volume project Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), this book series is a publication platform for works which cover the broad field of reception history of the Bible in various religious traditions, historical periods, and cultural fields. Volumes in this series aim to present the material of reception processes or to develop methodological discussions in more detail, enabling authors and readers to more deeply engage and understand the dynamics of biblical reception in a wide variety of academic fields. Further information on The Bible and Its Reception"e;.

Studies of the Curse of Ham, the belief that the Bible consigned blacks to everlasting servitude, confuse and conflate two separate origins stories (etiologies), one of black skin and the other of black slavery. This work unravels the etiologies and shows how the Curse, an etiology of black slavery, evolved from an earlier etiology explaining the existence of dark-skinned people. We see when, where, why, and how an original mythic tale of black origins morphed into a story of the origins of black slavery, and how, in turn, the second then supplanted the first as an explanation for black skin. In the process we see how formulations of the Curse changed over time, depending on the historical and social contexts, reflecting and refashioning the way blackness and blacks were perceived. In particular, two significant developments are uncovered. First, a curse of slavery, originally said to affect various dark-skinned peoples, was eventually applied most commonly to black Africans. Second, blackness, originally incidental to the curse, in time became part of the curse itself. Dark skin now became an intentional marker of servitude, the visible sign of the blacks' degradation, and in the process deprecating black skin itself.

This reception history of the Gospel of Matthew utilizes theoretical frameworks and literary sources from two typically distinct disciplines, patristic studies and Valentinian (a.k.a. "e;Gnostic"e;) studies. The author shows how in the second and third centuries, the Valentinians were important contributors to a shared culture of early Christian exegesis. By examining the use of the same Matthean pericopes by both Valentinian and patristic exegetes, the author demonstrates that certain Valentinian exegetical innovations were influential upon, and ultimately adopted by, patristic authors. Chief among Valentinian contributions include the allegorical interpretation of texts that would become part of the New Testament, a sophisticated theory of the historical and theological relationship between Christians and Jews, and indeed the very conceptualization of the Gospel of Matthew as sacred scripture. This study demonstrates that what would eventually emerge from this period as the ecclesiological and theological center cannot be adequately understood without attending to some groups and individuals that have often been depicted, both by subsequent ecclesiastical leaders and modern scholars, as marginal and heretical.

The series Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) publishes monographs and collected volumes which explore the reception history of the Bible in a wide variety of academic and cultural contexts. Closely linked to the multi-volume project Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), this book series is a publication platform for works which cover the broad field of reception history of the Bible in various religious traditions, historical periods, and cultural fields. Volumes in this series aim to present the material of reception processes or to develop methodological discussions in more detail, enabling authors and readers to more deeply engage and understand the dynamics of biblical reception in a wide variety of academic fields. Further information on The Bible and Its Reception"e;.

Der Physiologus, eine ursprünglich in griechischer Sprache in Ägypten abgefasste frühchristliche Schrift, bietet unter Aufnahme biblischer wie paganer Motivik und Hermeneutik eine christliche Gesamtdeutung der Natur. Sie wurde zur Grundlage mittelalterlicher Bildkunst in Kirchen und Bestiarien. Im vorliegenden Band wird sie breit interdisziplinär ausgeleuchtet ¿ unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der berühmten Berner Physiologus-Handschrift.

It demands to read miracle stories within its contexts.The book addresses how ancient concepts of reality, always complex, come to expression in stories of miraculous healings and their reception in medicine, art, literature, theology and philosophy, from classic antiquity to the Middle Ages.

This volume is the first full-length book that offers a critical investigation into the composition of Jefferson's Bible. In it, the author looks critically not only at what Jefferson includes, but also at what he chose to exclude in an effort to uncover the principles that Jefferson employed in selecting and deselecting verses. In addition to providing a full text of Jefferson's Bible, this study places these documents within a historical, philosophical and theological context that illuminates their significance and relevance to our time.

This study examines how Cyprian of Carthage, the most significant bishop in the early Latin tradition, appropriates the canonical Paul. It considers Cyprian¿s use of the apostle in the light of his pastoral concerns and his reading strategies. This illuminates the interplay between text, context and theology in Cyprian¿s exegesis. It also deepens our understanding of the early North African hermeneutical tradition and the early reception of Paul.

Leviathan, a manifestation of one of the oldest monsters in recorded history (3rd millennium BCE), and its sidekick, Behemoth, have been the object of centuries of suppression throughout the millennia. Originally cosmic, terrifying creatures who represented disorder and chaos, they have been converted into the more palatable crocodile and hippo by biblical scholars today. However, among the earliest Jews (and Muslims) and possibly Christians, these creatures occupied a significant place in creation and redemption history. Before that, they formed part of a backstory that connects the Bible with the wider ancient Near East. When examining the reception history of these fascinating beasts, several questions emerge. Why are Jewish children today familiar with these creatures, while Christian children know next to nothing about them? Why do many modern biblical scholars follow suit and view them as minor players in the grand scheme of things? Conversely, why has popular culture eagerly embraced them, assimilating the words as symbols for the enormous? More unexpectedly, why have fundamentalist Christians touted them as evidence for the cohabitation of dinosaurs and humans?

This is the first volume of a scholarly overview of Muslim responses to the Bible. The project explores how Muslims have both criticized and used the Biblical text, drawing on the Qur¿an, classical texts and more recent works from around the Muslim world. By painting a clearer picture than previously available, this project aims to tell the story of Muslim engagement with the Bible ¿ an important issue affecting interfaith relations today.

The series Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) publishes monographs and collected volumes which explore the reception history of the Bible in a wide variety of academic and cultural contexts. Closely linked to the multi-volume project Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), this book series is a publication platform for works which cover the broad field of reception history of the Bible in various religious traditions, historical periods, and cultural fields. Volumes in this series aim to present the material of reception processes or to develop methodological discussions in more detail, enabling authors and readers to more deeply engage and understand the dynamics of biblical reception in a wide variety of academic fields. Further information on The Bible and Its Reception"e;.

This study offers a fresh approach to reception historical studies of New Testament texts, guided by a methodology introduced by ancient historians who study Graeco-Roman educational texts. In the course of six chapters, the author identifies and examines the most representative Pauline texts within writings of the ante-Nicene period: 1Cor 2, Eph 6, 1Cor 15, and Col 1. The identification of these most widely cited Pauline texts, based on a comprehensive database which serves as an appendix to this work, allows the study to engage both in exegetical and historical approaches to each pericope while at the same time drawing conclusions about the theological tendencies and dominant themes reflected in each. Engaging a wide range of primary texts, it demonstrates that just as there is no singular way that each Pauline text was adapted and used by early Christian writers, so there is no homogeneous view of early Christian interpretation and the way Scripture informed their writings, theology, and ultimately identity as Christian.

Current reception histories emphasize the world of Biblical readers, their socio-historical contexts, and the myriad effects of Biblical exegesis. This reception history studies interpretations of Jesus' encounter with a Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21-28) as normative "e;scripts"e; that exhort specific types of compliance in a broad range of historical and cultural settings, revealing remarkably diverse understandings of Christian identity and community.

The book revisits New Testament and other miracle stories with regard to three dimensions: It proposes to connect the interpretation of miracle stories to concepts of reality. It emphasizes the political implications of miracle stories and their interpretations. It demands to read miracle stories within its contexts.