Teachings of Jesus and Popular Hellenistic Stories

Teachings of Jesus and Popular Hellenistic Stories Nauki Jezusa i popularne opowiadania hellenistyczne

A very rich material concerning the Hellenistic background of the Gospels has already been collected. However, standard works present most often parallels taken from either Hellenistic Jewish texts or sources later then the Gospels. Studying the remaining texts we find that many parallels happen to be purely verbal, to concern general banal truths, or notions present already in the Old Testamen...

The Teachings of Failure

My first duty is to thank you sincerely for the honour which you have done me in calling me to the presidential chair of this Society. If I do not proceed to enlarge upon my unfitness for a position of such responsibility, it is not that I am not conscious of it; but you are already too familiar with the expression of the sense of self-distrust which appears to be inseparable from the assumptio...

Ancient teachings, modern lessons.

James, the Wisdom of Jesus

When the Epistle of James is studied, it is regarded as a book of wisdom. But what kind of wisdom is it? With what biblical parallels can it be connected? Given that it is practical, with what matters does it register concern? Does it speak directly to all mankind or is it specifically directed to the believer? Are the issues that presented themselves to the 1st century church pertinent for thi...

The Jewishness of Jesus and ritual purity

Today it is commonplace for historical Jesus scholars to emphasize Jesus’ Jewishness. at the same time most new Testament scholars deny that he cared about the Jewish purity system, which was a central aspect of early Judaism. This article examines how such a reconstruction of the historical Jesus would influence his Jewishness, arguing that it indeed would make such a Jesus figure ‘less Jewish...