What's in the Word : rethinking the socio-rhetorical character of the New Testament / Ben Witherington III.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Witherington, Ben, III, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. New Testament--Socio-rhetorical criticism.

Bible.

Bible. New Testament.

Socio-rhetorical criticism of sacred works.

Physical Description:

viii, 195 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Waco, Tex. : Baylor University Press, [2009]

Summary:

Written in clear, and at times colorful, prose, Ben Witherington's What's in the Word explains how the recognition of the oral and socio-rhetorical character of the New Testament and its environment necessitates a change in how the New Testament literature is read. Expanding on the work in which he has been fruitfully engaged for over a quarter century, Witherington challenges the previously assured results of historical criticism and demonstrates chapter by chapter how the socio-rhetorical study shifts the paradigm.

Taken together, the chapters in What's in the Word coalesce around three of Witherington's ongoing academic concerns: orality and rhetoric; New Testament history, including issues of authenticity and canonicity; and the exegesis of given words in their canonical and socio-cultural contexts. Always unpredictable, this book never fails to pique interest and proffer instruction.

Contents:

Invitation to the dance

Oral examination : how did oral texts function in a rhetorical culture?

Canonical pseudepigrapha : is it an oxymoron?

Rethinking and redescribing scribal culture

The question of sermons and homilies in the New Testament

Rom 7:7-25 : retelling Adam's tale

What's in a name? : rethinking the historical figure of the beloved disciple in the Fourth Gospel

What's in a word? part one : eidolothuton

What's in a word? part two : porneia

What's in a phrase? : no male and female (Gal. 3.28)

Christianity in the making : oral mystery or eyewitness history?

The rise of canon consciousness and the formation of the New Testament

Sign posts along the way : on taking the less-travelled path.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9781602581968

1602581967

OCLC:

301948401