In his letter to the Galatians, Paul sets out an astute vision of what God has done in Christ against the backdrop of a world out-of-joint, a world engulfed in identity-distorting domination systems. Theologically profound and prophetically challenging, Galatians showcases God's initiative to empower liberation from those systems and their relational toxicity. For Paul, the union of Christ with his followers fosters flourishing forms of relational life that testify to the sovereign power o...

This beautifully designed, full-color textbook introduces the Roman background of the New Testament by immersing students in the life and culture of the thriving first-century towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which act as showpieces of the world into which the early Christian movement was spreading. Bruce Longenecker, a leading scholar of the ancient world of the New Testament, discusses first-century artifacts in relation to the life stories of people from the Roman world. The book inclu...

New in the Acclaimed Paideia Commentary SeriesTwo respected senior New Testament scholars examine cultural context and theological meaning in Philippians and Philemon in this addition to the well-received Paideia series. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs, showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits, and making judicious...

Drawing from many parts of the broad Christian tradition, this commentary on First and Second Timothy and Titus helps readers gain a stronger understanding of early Christian ministry in the first two centuries. Paideia commentaries show how New Testament texts use ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies to form and shape the reader and provide a fresh reading of the biblical texts in light of ancient culture and modern issues. Students, pastors, and other readers will appreciate the h...

This practical commentary on Revelation is conversant with contemporary scholarship, draws on ancient backgrounds, and attends to the theological nature of the text. Sigve Tonstad, an expert in the early Jewish context of the New Testament, offers a nonretributive reading of Revelation and addresses the issue of divine violence. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs, showi...

Though often neglected among readers of Paul's letters, his two surviving letters to the church in Thessalonica are highly valuable sources for reconstructing the theology of Paul and the history of the earliest Christian churches. First and Second Thessalonians also stand out for their intensely personal nature and provide a rare glimpse into Paul's methods of pastoral care. This practical commentary interacts with the best scholarship on the Thessalonian letters while offering fresh new ...

Mikeal Parsons, a leading scholar on Luke and Acts, examines cultural context and theological meaning in Luke in this addition to the well-received Paideia series. This commentary, like each in the projected eighteen-volume series, proceeds by sense units rather than word-by-word or verse-by-verse. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs, showing how the text shapes theologi...

In the fourth and fifth centuries CE, Christian artistry began to flourish, as elite patrons sponsored decorative initiatives for basilica churches throughout the Mediterranean basin. But what about the first three centuries? Living prior to the Constantinian age of tolerance, did Christ followers of that period engage in artistic expressions that externalized their theological hopes and convictions?The question can best be answered by consulting the ancient material record itself....

The study of Paul and his letters can be exciting, challenging, and life-changing, but only if it is done well and only if students achieve more than a basic familiarity with the subject. This is exactly what Pauline experts Bruce W. Longenecker and Todd D. Still accomplish with their new textbook aimed at college and seminary level courses on Paul and his writings.Longenecker and Still bring decades of study and expertise to Thinking through Paul, challenging rea...

Scholars of early Christianity are awakening to the potential of Pompeiis treasures for casting light on the settings and situations that were commonplace and conventional for the first urban Christians. The uncovered world of Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., allows us to peer back in time, capturing a heightened sense of what life was like on the ground in the first century the very time when the early Jesus-movement was beginning to find its feet. In light...

This book brings together, for the first time, the relevant material evidence demonstrating Christian use of the cross prior to Constantine. Bruce W. Longenecker upends a longstanding consensus that the cross was not a Christian symbol until Constantine appropriated it to consolidate his power in the fourth century.Longenecker presents a wide variety of artifacts from across the Mediterranean basin that testify to the use of the cross as a visual symbol by some pre-Constantinian Ch...

2026 Christian Book Award® Finalist (Bible Reference Works)Southwestern Journal of Theology 2024 Book Award (Biblical Reference / Biblical Backgrounds)This authoritative volume brings together a team of world-class scholars to cover the full range of New Testament backgrounds in a concise, up-to-date, and comprehensive manner.Drawing on the expertise of specialists in the areas of archaeological, historical...