Colleen M. Conway - A Contemporary Introduction to the Bible

21 CHAPTER 8: HELLENISTIC EMPIRES AND THE FORMATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLEChapter OverviewJudaism and Hellenism Before the Hellenizing CrisisThe Crisis Over Hellenizing Jerusalem and the Book of DanielA Hellenistic Period Kingdom of Israel: The Hasmonean Revolt and MonarchyThe Hellenistic Period as the Setting for Other Hebrew Bible TextsFocus Text: Daniel 10–12The Formation of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament(s)ConclusionChapter Eight ReviewResources for Further Study

22 PROLOGUE TO THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

23 CHAPTER 9: THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ROMAN EMPIREChapter OverviewImagining the Jerusalem That Jesus KnewRome Comes to JerusalemThe Earliest Jesus TraditionsSearching for the Historical Jesus: Problems and ProposalsChapter Nine ReviewResources for Further Study

24 CHAPTER 10: PAUL AND HIS LETTERS IN THE ROMAN COLONIAL CHAPTER OUTLINEChapter OverviewPaul’s Travels and Letter CollectionWho Was Paul?Three Undisputed Letters of Paul: Galatians, 1 Corinthians, and RomansFocus Text: The Problem of Israel and the Place of the Gentiles (Romans 9–11)The Disputed LettersConclusion: From Letters to ScriptureChapter Ten ReviewResources for Further Study

25 CHAPTER 11: THE GOSPEL OF MARK: SUFFERING AND TRAUMA UNDER IMPERIAL RULEChapter OverviewThe Jewish War (66–70 ce)Pointers to the Dating and Context of the Gospel of MarkRising Popularity of Jesus and Rising Conflict with the Authorities (Mark 1:1–8:21)Teaching and More Misunderstanding on the Way (Mark 8:22–10:52)The Suffering Messiah (Mark 11:1–16:8)Mark’s Enigmatic EndingFocus Text: Mark 12:1–12Chapter Eleven ReviewResources for Further Study

26 CHAPTER 12: THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: DEFINING COMMUNITY IN THE WAKE OF DESTRUCTIONChapter OverviewThe Synoptic ProblemThe Structure of the Gospel of MatthewThe Matthean Jesus and MosesThe Matthean Jesus, Righteousness, and Torah ObedienceThe Matthean Jesus, Wisdom, and TorahMatthew’s Apocalyptic Vision and the Kingdom of HeavenThe Matthean Polemic Against the PhariseesFocus Text: Matt 25:31–46Chapter Twelve ReviewResources for Further Study

27 CHAPTER 13: LUKE–ACTS: LEGITIMIZING THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN THE MIDST OF EMPIREChapter OverviewThe Lukan ProloguesThe Lukan Jesus in Continuity with Israel’s PastThe Jesus Movement in Continuity with Israel’s PastSalvation to the Gentiles in Luke–ActsSituating the Jesus Movement in the Roman EmpireThe Holy Spirit in Luke–ActsFocus Text: Jesus’s Sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:14–30)Chapter Thirteen ReviewResources for Further Study

28 CHAPTER 14: THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE JOHANNINE LETTERS: TURNING INWARD AS A STRATEGY FOR LIFE IN THE EMPIREChapter OverviewWho Is the Johannine Jesus?Knowing and Believing in the Johannine JesusOpposition from the WorldThe Problem of “the Jews” in the Gospel of JohnFocus Text: John 17The Johannine LettersChapter Fourteen ReviewResources for Further Study

29 CHAPTER 15: FOLLOWING CHRIST IN THE EMPIRE: DIVERSE APPROACHES IN THE NEW TESTAMENTChapter OverviewThe Revelation to John: Visions of “Conquering” Roman PowerFocus Text: Revelation 17–18Hebrews: Platonic Perspectives on Christ1 Peter: Living as Aliens and Accommodating to the EmpireConclusion: Three Different Relationships to the Roman EmpireChapter Fifteen ReviewResources for Further Study

30 Epilogue: The Final Formation of the Jewish and Christian Bibles

31 Glossary

32 Index

33 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 00.1 Scholarly edition of the same text as in Figure 0.2.0.2 One of our earliest manuscripts of the book of Isaiah.

2 Chapter 11.1 Ancient visitors to Egypt from the East (Canaanite ancestors of Israelites?)

3 Chapter 22.1 Part of the hill country of central Israel.2.2 Typical pillared house of the Israelites.2.3 Tablet containing a letter from Abdi-heba.2.4 Merneptah stela2.5 Animals feeding on trees.

4 Chapter 33.1 Artist’s reconstruction of Solomon’s Jerusalem.3.2 Scribe standing before the king of a small neighboring kingdom.3.3 Student exercise tablet.3.4 Letters inscribed into the surface of a stone.3.5 The “Gezer Calendar.”3.6 Copy of the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope.3.7 The stela of Hammurabi.3.8 Titian’s painting of Adam and Eve taking the apple.

5 Chapter 44.1 One of the ivory carvings found in Samaria.4.2 Detail from a wall-sized panorama of the defeat of the town of Lachish in Judah.4.3 Panel from the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III.4.4 The Sennacherib prism.4.5 Pillar figurines of a sort common in archaeological remains of the eighth century.4.6 Drawing and inscription found at a desert trading post called Kuntillet Adjr…4.7 Judean seals from the time of Isaiah and Micah.

6 Chapter 55.1 Seals and other images from the late seventhcentury.

7 Chapter 66.1 Ashes and arrowheads left from the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem.6.2 Reproduction of part of the magnificent temple of Ishtar.6.3 Silver amulet, dating to just before the fall ofJerusalem.

8 Chapter 77.1 Relief from the Persian capital of Persepolis.7.2 The Cyrus cylinder.

9 Chapter 88.1 Copy of the Hebrew book of Ben Sira found near the Dead Sea.8.2 Coin from the time of the Hasmoneans.

10 Chapter 99.1 Excavation of outer stairway and arches of the Jerusalem Temple.9.2 Model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.9.3 Model of first-century CE Jerusalem.9.4 The Forum of Augustus in Rome.9.5 Parchment illustration of a scene from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.9.6 Wall painting of Moses from Dura Europos, third-century synagogue.

11 Chapter 1010.1 Remains of the Via Egnatia.10.2 Doorways of shops in ancient Corinth.10.3 Statue of Augustus.10.4 Artist’s reconstruction of ancient Rome.

12 Chapter 1111.1 Silver shekel minted about 67 CE during the Jewish revolt.11.2 Pillaging of the Jerusalem Temple depicted on the Arch of Titus.11.3 “Judaea Capta” coin minted by Rome.

13 Chapter 1212.1 Two-source hypothesis.12.2 Roman coin depicting Augustus subduing and ruling the earth.

14 Chapter 1313.1 Base of an honorific column in Rome showing the apotheosis of a second-century CE emperor and his wife.13.2 Book cover dating to the fifth century CE and depicting the heavenly ascent of an emperor.

15 Chapter 1414.1 Papyrus with lines from the Gospel of John.14.2 Medieval image of the church preferred over thesynagogue.

16 Chapter 1515.1 Fourth-century CE catacomb painting.15.2 The whore of Babylon.

17 Epilogue16.1 Bust of Constantine.16.2 The Codex Sinaiticus.

1 Chapter 00.1 The ancient Near East.

2 Chapter 11.1 The land of Israel and its surroundings.1.2 The major routes of the ancient Near East.1.3 The reach of three of the major empires that dominated Israel and/or Judah.

3 Chapter 22.1 Areas of the hill country occupied by the Israelites and Judeans.

4 Chapter 33.1 Areas ruled and dominated by David andSolomon.

5 Chapter 44.1 The neighboring kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

6 Chapter 55.1 The Judean kingdom after the fall of the north.

7 Chapter 66.1 The journey to Babylonia.

8 Chapter 77.1 Judah as a province of the Persian empire.

9 Chapter 88.1 The expanding kingdom of the Hasmoneans.

10 Chapter 1010.1 The Roman Empire in the 1st century CE.10.2 Map of cities addressed in Pauline letters

11 Chapter 1111.1 Palestine in the first century CE.

12 Chapter 1515.1 Cities of Revelation.

13 Chapter 1616.1 Spread of Christianity across the Mediterranean world by 300 CE.

1 Cover

2 Title page A CONTEMPORARY INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE SECOND EDITION

3 Copyright

4 Table of Contents

5 LIST OF FIGURES

6 LIST OF MAPS

7 MAIN DISCUSSIONS/OUTLINES OF BIBLICAL BOOKS