New Testament

Keywords: pigment;carbon;Egyptian papyri;ancient manuscript We report the first in-depth, systematic study of the Raman spectra of black pigments on ancient Egyptian papyri with well-specified dates from the 4th century bce to the 10th century ce. The observed spectra are all characteristic of carbon black, but the shapes of the spectra change systematically with the manuscript date, a striking observation given the time span represented. We conclude that the pigments for these papyri were manufactured by using similar processes. We attribute these experimentally observed changes to chemical degradation, possibly the result of the oxidation of both amorphous carbon and crystalline aromatic carbon within these pigments. This investigation offers new insights into the ink materials used in ancient Egypt and provides a possible basis for a new nondestructive means for estimating the dates of ancient papyri. DOI: 10.1002/jrs.4945 Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: pigment;carbon;Egyptian papyri;ancient manuscript We report the first in-depth, systematic study of the Raman spectra of black pigments on ancient Egyptian papyri with well-specified dates from the 4th century bce to the 10th century ce. The observed spectra are all characteristic of carbon black, but the shapes of the spectra change systematically with the manuscript date, a striking observation given the time span represented. We conclude that the pigments for these papyri were manufactured by using similar processes. We attribute these experimentally observed changes to chemical degradation, possibly the result of the oxidation of both amorphous carbon and crystalline aromatic carbon within these pigments. This investigation offers new insights into the ink materials used in ancient Egypt and provides a possible basis for a new nondestructive means for estimating the dates of ancient papyri. DOI: 10.1002/jrs.4945 Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article seeks to demonstrate that implicit within Weber’s writings on charisma are tools that can enable a processual, social constructionist understanding of charismatic formation. A corollary of this point is that Weber’s writings represent an historically crucial turning point in the progression from a Carlylian idea of leaders as inherently powerful to a non-essentialist, sociological perspective, and that Weber’s inspiration for this progression is best understood not through reference to his nineteenth-century forbearers in the social sciences, but rather in his contrast with the very few theological writers (namely Rudolph Sohm and the writers of the New Testament) who actually had employed charisma as a term prior to Weber’s famous appropriation of it. A reinterpretation and retranslation of Weber’s writings on charisma that gives priority to the social constructionist elements in his thought can provide tools for navigating through many of the interpretational controve...

Entry for “James the Brother of Jesus in Visual Art,” in The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Volume 13. Edited by Dale Allison, Jr., Christine Helmer, Choon-Leong Seow, et al. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2016.

III. Visual Arts Analyses of images of James the brother of Jesus are complicated by the differing views about his identity and familial relationship to Jesus (e.g., the Helvidian, Hieronymian, and Epiphanian theories). Most images of James the Less, e.g., identify him with James the brother of Jesus. Some images also assume that James was the son of Joseph by a previous marriage, such as depicting James as leading the donkey on which a pregnant Mary rides from Nazareth to Bethlehem or as present on the later flight to Egypt. Images of James the brother of Jesus are often strikingly similar to images of Jesus (e.g., James Tissot, Saint James the Less, 1886-94, Brooklyn Museum). Most often, however, James can be identified by iconographical elements. Most Russian Orthodox icons, e.g., depict James in his episcopal robes. The painting of James adjacent to the episcopal chair in Sts. James Cathedral in Jerusalem depicts James, the first patriarch of Jerusalem, sitting on his episcopal chair of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate, wearing bishop's robes and a mitre, and holding a crozier. The portrait of James on the northern wall of the sanctuary, in a series of paintings of all the Jerusalem patriarchs, shows an older, white-haired James sitting on the episcopal throne but with no crozier or mitre. The painting of James the brother of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem includes James the Great . . .

This is part two of David Gowler’s analysis of Jesus’s parables (see part one: “Go and Do Likewise”).

The Domestication of Jesus’s Parables
By far, in my view, the most important and also the most difficult aspect of making Jesus’s parables relevant today is recognizing their prophetic perspective, learning more about the socio-economic situation in the first-century in which Jesus created his parables, and avoiding the all-too-common “domestication” of Jesus’s prophetic message.

In my course, “The Ethics of Jesus,” at Oxford College of Emory University, I have found that the best way for students to grasp major differences between the context of Jesus’s message and their own situations is for them to read Howard Thurman’s classic book, Jesus and the Disinherited, which was first published in 1949.[1]

Thurman correctly argues that the religion of Jesus was born in the context of a people suffering persecution and oppression. Thurman realized that Jesus, a poor first-century Jew, spoke to others who, like him, were poor, oppressed, disinherited and dispossessed—those with their “backs constantly against the wall.” Countless interpreters of the parables over the centuries have recognized the importance of this perspective in the parables of Jesus, including John Chrysostom, Augustine, Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory the Great, Theophylact, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others.[2]

The principal concern of New Testament scholars in turning to the paraenesis found in Romans 12–13 is the question of whether this reflects knowledge of the Jesus-tradition on the part of St. Paul. This article suggests that hunting for Pauline parallels in synoptic material, and asking whether these indicate direct knowledge of Jesus’s teaching on St. Paul’s part, is to miss the point that regardless of its origin, this material is transmitted through catechesis. The parallels
with synoptic material are inexact, but the paraenesis of Romans 12–13 is setwithin a baptismal frame. As such, it provides no information of St. Paul’s knowledge of Jesus traditions, but rather it indicates the nature of catechesis in the earliest Christian communities. Moreover, the number of parallels in the paraenesis of Romans 12–13 and in the two ways chapters of the Didache (1–5) — which are demonstrably catechetical in purpose — is striking, though there are further parallels with the catechetical tradition elsewhere (such as Pliny’s report of Christian activities and in the Elchesite baptismal ritual). This leads to the further observation that this catechesis is shaped in a specifically Jewish context; Paul is thus employing a recognizably Jewish form of catechesis in the paraenesis of Romans 12–13, in order to commend his teaching to an audience which is primarily Jewish.

The author has made the premise that original sin necessitates a sacrificial system and that this is
expressed within both Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism the sacrificial system is explicitly
expressed and defined in the Torah and implemented especially in the tabernacle and temple cult.
In Christianity the central core is the belief that Jesus died for the sins of the world and was
presented as a sacrificial offering in atonement for those sins. This is implemented in the
sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic service as well as emphasis that Christians are saved by
the blood of Jesus.

The author presents textual evidence to challenge these central doctrines of 1) original sin in
several previous papers, “Original Sin and Its Relationship to Sacrifice”, and 2) sacrificial
atonement which is covered further in subsequent papers.
This present paper continues with the
theme from the perspective of Roman Catholic theology – specifically in the liturgy of the Mass.

In future papers in this series, the use of the statements of the Biblical prophets and sayings of
Jesus will compose the major part of this body of evidence as this theme is developed in further.
Other primary sources from Jewish sages and Christian theologians are also used to create a
compelling argument that challenges both original sin and the sacrificial system. Historical
sources are utilized to trace the development of the practice of sacrifice in various religions and
cultures.

One of the most important events in Korea is Hyeonchung-il—the Korean Memorial Day. The government of South Korea has designated June 6 as a national Memorial Day in order to honor those soldiers and civilians who sacrificed their lives for the country during the Korean War, as well as those who bravely carried out the independence movement during Japanese colonization.

I was blessed to be able to attend Sunday School at a young age. My Chinese father was a Buddhist and my mother, of Chinese, Spanish and Filipino descent, was a Roman Catholic. Although they were nonChristians then, they allowed me, together with my four siblings, to go to an evangelical Christian church. I am grateful for the Western
missionaries who founded and pastored my church. They faithfully taught us the Word of God, and enhanced our skills in studying the Scriptures. However, I could have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of Scripture if I had seen it from the standpoint of my own worldview, which is quite similar to the worldview of the Mediterranean culture in the first century.

The difficulty in writing a commentary on First Corinthians is that there exists a myriad of interpretaive methods that lend themselves to different conclusions regarding the meaning of Paul's writings. Daniel Boyarin in his book Paul And The Politics of Identity A Radical Jew, compares Pauline Studies to a wrestling match. Quoting Maimonides he goes on to say "You will surely not find it strange that this subject, so profound and difficult, should bear various interpretations, for it will not impair the face of the argument with which we are here concerned.