V. G. Shillington

Who was the real founder of Christianity as it is known today--Jesus or Paul? What, if any, was the connection between them? These and other questions about the two historical figures have occupied biblical scholars and the Christian church for many years up to the present time. This book proposes new ways of framing the questions as well as new approaches to answering them. Neither Jesus nor Paul spoke of a new world religion, separate from Judaism, that would envelop the planet and last for millennia. This study seeks to locate both figures in their respective places in the first century, in Jewish contexts and within the larger Greco-Roman society. The aim is to transcend the language and thought patterns of later generations of theologians in order to hear more clearly the prophetic voices of Jesus and Paul on their terms and in their social locations. By so doing, Shillington lays the groundwork for a more authentic translation of their vision and mission into modern alternatives, including better Jewish-Christian relations.

The aim of this study is to introduce readers to the text, texture and context of Luke-Acts by using various approaches currently practiced by biblical scholars. Shillington outlines the methods of biblical interpretation and then shows how they might be applied to the texts in question.

Here V. George Shillington seeks to understand both James and Paul as Jews engaged in different but complementary missions and concludes that the tension between those missions indicates a conflict between different politics of identity.--Provided by publisher

The essays in this commemorative volume are arranged in two parts, in keeping with the two-fold interest and commitment of Professor David Ewert, the man in whose honour they were published in 1988. The first part of the book addresses the interpretation of the text of Scripture, and the second to issues pertaining to church life and Christian ministry. These divisions are, of course, not absolute and a few of the essays might well have been included in the other category. Perhaps this exigency is as it should be, for neither the Bible nor the Church exists independently of the other. ~from the Preface