You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
In the second volume of his two-volume comprehensive overview of the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament, Ben Witherington III focuses on the collective witness of New Testament writers--the convergences and divergences of their theological and ethical thought.
Like Ben Witherington's previous commentary Conflict and Community in Corinth, this commentary breaks fresh ground in providing a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of Acts. Written in a readable style, with more detailed interaction with scholarly discussion found in the various excursuses, this commentary draws on the best new insights from a number of disciplines (narratological studies of Luke-Acts, archaeological and social scientific study of the New Testament, rhetorical analysis of Acts, comparative studies in ancient historiography) to provide the reader with the benefits of recent innovative ways of analyzing the text of Acts. In addition there is detailed attentio...
Most Christians spend most of their waking hours working, yet many regard work as at best a necessary evil — just one more unfortunate by-product of humanity’s fall from grace. Not so, says Ben Witherington III, and in Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor, he considers work as neither the curse nor the cure of human life but, rather, as something good that God has given us to do. In this brief primer on the biblical theology and ethics of work, Witherington carefully unpacks the concept of work, considering its relationship to rest, play, worship, the normal cycle of human life, and the coming Kingdom of God. Work as calling, work as ministry, work as a way to make a living, and the nota...
This book offers the first sustained attempt to read the Gospel of Mark both as an ancient biography and as a form of ancient rhetoric. Ben Witherington applies to Mark the socio-rhetorical approach for which he is well known, opening a fresh new perspective on the earliest Gospel. Written when the fledging Christian faith was experiencing a major crisis during the Jewish war, Mark provides us with the first window on how the life and teachings of Jesus were presented to a largely non-Jewish audience. According to Witherington, the structure of Mark demonstrates that this Gospel is biographically focused on the identity of Jesus and the importance of knowing who he is--the Christ, the Son of God. This finding reveals that Christology stood at the heart of the earliest Christians' faith. It also shows how important it was to these earliest Christians to persuade others about the nature of Jesus, both as a historical figure and as the Savior of the world.
While Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most studied and commented-on document from the biblical period, the major exegetical books on Romans from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been overwhelmingly shaped by the Reformed tradition. Through a careful survey of work on Romans by both ancient Church Fathers and modern exegetical scholars, Ben Witherington III here argues that the interpretation of Romans since the Reformation has been far too indebted to — and at key points led astray by — Augustinian readings of the text as filtered through Luther, Calvin, and others. In this first full-scale socio-rhetorical commentary on Romans, Witherington gleans fresh insights from rea...
Ben Witherington III offers a comprehensive assessment of what scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Burton Mack and the Jesus Seminar are really saying about Jesus.
An introductory guide to the New Testament examines how and why the scriptures were written and collected and how they came to be known as the New Testament that we have today, while discussing the main stories and major figures, the ways that these stories were told and retold, and how this literary development has influenced Christian theology, ethics, and social thought.
Using the evangelist's portrayals of Jesus' words, deeds, and relationships as avenues of insight, Witherington reveals a Jesus who both understood and disclosed himself in messianic terms, filling traditional terms-Son of man, Son of David, and Messiah-with new content. --from publisher description.
Paul's two letters to the Thessalonians stand as some of the very earliest Christian documents, yet they appear well into Paul's missionary career, giving them a unique context well worth exploring. In this first full-scale socio-rhetorical commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Ben Witherington gleans fresh insight from reading Paul's text in the light of rhetorical concerns and patterns, early Jewish theology, and the first-century historical situation in Macedonia. Witherington's distinctive socio-rhetorical approach helps unearth insights that would otherwise remain hidden using only form criticism, epistolary categories, and traditional criticism. Witherington details Thessalonica's place as the "metropolis" of Macedonia, and he carefully unpacks the social situation of Paul and his recipients. Scholars will appreciate the careful analysis and rhetorical insights contained here, while Witherington's clear prose and sensitivity to Paul's ideas make this work ideal for all who desire a useful, readable commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
When was the last time you heard a sermon on the theological importance of play? What do rest, eating, studying -- and sex -- have to do with the Kingdom of God? Strangely, although these activities together take up much of our time, they seldom receive much discussion from a biblical point of view. In The Rest of Life Ben Witherington explores these subjects in the light of biblical teaching about the Kingdom of God and the Christian hope for the future. He shows why and how all the normal activities of life should be done to the glory of God and for the edification of others. Focusing as it does on practical, everyday matters in an accessible style, this topical study is ideal for both individual reading and small-group discussion.