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The Community That Raymond Brown Left Behind: Reflections On The Johannine Dialectical Situation, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Among the paradigm-making contributions in Johannine studies over the last half century, one of the most significant is the sketching of “the community of the Beloved Disciple” by Raymond E. Brown (Brown 1979). Extending beyond Johannine studies, Brown’s work on the history of early Christianity and “the churches the apostles left behind” (Brown 1984) is also among the most practical and interesting of his 47 books.1 Here, Brown’s analyses of the unity and diversity of early Christians’ approaches to leadership and community organization2 have extensive implications, not only to historical and sociological understandings of the first-century Christian movement, but also …

Philip: A Connective Figure In Polyvalent Perspective (Chapter In Character Studies In The Fourth Gospel), Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

While Philip plays no special role in the Synoptics, he plays more of a central role in the Fourth Gospel. Aside from references to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, Philip is mentioned in John more often (a dozen times) than any of the other followers of Jesus - either male or female. Interestingly, he plays a connective role in the narrative, and in several ways. At the outset of the Gospel, during the calling narrative, Philip plays the role of an intermediary, connecting Nathanael with Jesus (John 1:43-48). At the beginning of the feeding narrative, Philip is asked by Jesus …

Matthew 25:1-13 Exegetical Perspective, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "The Gospel of Matthew presents a lucid and compelling portrait of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah for third-generation Christians. Having shown Jesus to be descended from David and Abraham (1:1), and fulfilling all righteousness (3:15), Matthew addresses followers of Jesus with such issues as the way of the kingdom (5:2- 16), the order of the church (18: 15-20), and the Great Commission (28:18-20). Along with John, Matthew was the great teaching Gospel of the early church, and it continues to be a favorite for discerning Christian living in every generation."

Matthew 25:31-46 Exegetical Perspective, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "The parable of the Sheep and the Goats is one of the most moving, yet most vexing among the teachings of Jesus. Found only in Matthew, this parable concludes its final collection of Jesus' sayings in ways striking and disturbing. Over and against earlier emphases about being prepared for the unannounced coming of Christ, here the Son of Man sits as the heavenly judge of the gathered nations, along with his angels, dividing humanity between the sheep and the goats. The sheep, at his honoring right hand, will receive a heavenly welcome; the goats, at his dishonoring left, will …

The Fate And Power Of Heroic Bones And The Politics Of Bone Transfer In Ancient Israel And Greece, Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Ezekiel’S Topography Of The (Un-)Heroic Dead In Ezekiel 32:17–32, Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

This essay is an attempt to address several interpretive problems in Ezek 32:17–32 in light of religious ideas prominent in ancient Mediterranean expressions of hero cult. Previous studies have not adequately dealt with the richness of Ezekiel’s striking and unusual imagery in this passage, and I contend that a reading that more fully develops the meaning of Ezekiel’s presentation vis-à-vis the history of religious ideas regarding the power of the heroic dead is the most appropriate one in terms of Ezekiel’s overarching message in this chapter. I argue that Ezekiel’s invocation of ancient Israelite heroic traditions involving the Gibborim and …

Wahlde's "The Gospel And Letters Of John" - Book Review, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

This revised dissertation (Catholic Theology Faculty, Tübingen) was written in conscious dialogue with the Vatican II documents on Jewish and Christian relations. Still, the volume has value for all scholars seeking more clearly to understand the Lukan and Pauline perspectives on the future of Israel. Schafer argues that both Paul and Luke, like most Jewish writers of their time, were deeply influenced by Deuteronomistic theology on the abiding, but conditional, nature of God’s covenant with Israel. According to Schafer, both Luke and Paul regarded the initial presence of a core group of Jewish believers within early Christianity as essential for …

Biblical Curses And The Displacement Of Tradition (Book Review), Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Review of Britt, Brian Biblical Curses and the Displacement of Tradition Bible in the Modern World 34 Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2011. Pp. x + 309. ISBN 9781907534119.

Addressing The Johannine Riddles—A New Introduction To John, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Westernizing Islam And The American Right, Ross W. Mccullough

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "At the end of The Searchers, John Wayne stands framed by the darkened doorway of a cabin, and with the dry scrub and John Ford vastness behind him he contemplates the house his successful search party has just entered. He looks inside for a second, half smiles, turns, and walks with his John Wayne slouch back into the sandstone and prairie. The door closes in front of the camera, the screen is thrown into blackness, and the credits roll. John Wayne ain’t gonna do civilization: The End."

The Last Of The Rephaim: Conquest And Cataclysm In The Heroic Ages Of Ancient Israel, Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

This dissertation explores the role of giants in the narrative and historiographic worlds of symbol, geography, and religion in ancient Israel. The Nephilim, Anaqim, Rephaim, Emim, Zamzumim/Zuzim, some Gibborim, and other individuals (e.g., Goliath) can all be classified as “giants”—not only with respect to their height and other physical properties, but also with respect to the negative moral qualities assigned to giants in antiquity. Previous interpreters have treated giants as merely a fantastical prop against which God’s agents emerge victorious. I argue that giants are a theologically and historiographically generative group, through which we gain insight into central aspects of …

The Beauty Of The Ethical: An Everyday Ethics That Brings Grace To Life, Ross W. Mccullough

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "Malcolm Muggeridge entitled his reflection on Mother Teresa Something Beautiful for God. Perhaps the force of that expression does not immediately strike us, but consider how curious a statement it is: that here was something—an act, a project, a life—beautiful for God. By far the most curious aspect, and the hardest to see afresh and not as mere formula, is that it was for God; but I leave that to a subsequent essay, with only the saints, here Teresa and Irenaeus, to point toward my sequel. For now note instead that it was something beautiful."

Response To Four Reviews Of The Riddles Of The Fourth Gospel, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

"Some Worthless And Reckless Fellows": Landlessness And Parasocial Leadership In Judges, Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

The Origin And Development Of The Johannine Egō Eimi Sayings In Cognitive-Critical Perspective, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Th e long-held critical judgment that the I-am sayings of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel have no connection at all with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth is based primarily on the inference that they are entirely missing from the Synoptics. As a result, John has been expunged from Jesus research, assuming its patent ahistoricity; yet critical analyses have largely overlooked Johannine- Synoptic similarities. While the Johannine presentation of Jesus’ I-am sayings is indeed distinctive and highly theological, it cannot be claimed that either the I-am convention of speech or its predicate metaphors and themes are absent from the Synoptics. …

Acts 4:19-20—An Overlooked First-Century Clue To Johannine Authorship And Luke’S Dependence Upon The Johannine Tradition, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

From Mainz To Marburg: A Dialectical Engagement With The Master Of Diachronicity, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

A Fourth Quest For Jesus: So What, And How So?, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

The John, Jesus, And History Project—New Glimpses Of Jesus And A Bi-Optic Hypothesis, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Memory And Tradition In The Book Of Numbers (Book Review), Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Review of Adriane Leveen, Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2008, x D 245 pp, ISBN 978 0 521 87869 2

Legalists, Visionaries, And New Names: Sectarianism And The Search For Apocalyptic Origins In Isaiah 56–66, Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

This essay re-examines the difficult questions concerning the origins of apocalyptic literature and the rise of Jewish sectarianism. Since the publication of O. Plöger’s Theokratie und Eschatologie and P. Hanson’s The Dawn of Apocalyptic, the search for proto-apocalyptic origins in early post-exilic period sectarian conflict has generated a fair amount of debate. The most cogent and sustained response to Hanson’s and Plöger’s theories, S. Cook’s Prophecy & Apocalypticism (1995), attempted to purge the influence of “deprivation theory” from the field of biblical studies, and, more broadly, social anthropology. The present essay makes a fresh study of some central lines of …

Understanding The History Of Ancient Israel (Book Review), Brian R. Doak

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Review of H.G.M. Williamson, ed., Understanding the History of Ancient Israel. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007, xxD432 pp, ISBN 978 0 19 726401 0

Introduction To Part 2: Aspects Of Historicity In John 5-12 In John, Jesus And History, Volume 2, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Aspects Of Historicity In John 5-12: A Response (From John, Jesus And History, Vol. 2), Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

In responding to the eight essays in Part 2 of this volume, I am impressed at the variety of approaches to aspects of historicity in the Gospel of John.

Introduction To Part 1: Aspects Of Historicity In John 1-4 (In John, Jesus, And History, Vol.2), Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

"Distinctive features of the Johannine presentation of the beginning of Jesus' ministry raise questions-- both for and against-- aspects of historicity in John 1-4."

The Calling Of The Christian And The Church (Chapter 3 Of The Call To Authenticity, A Handbook Of Hope For The Church), Irv A. Brendlinger

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

"Were we to focus on Paul's foundational calling, I believe we would find greater longevity and ever increasing flexibility in our programs and approaches. 'Reflecting God' becomes a lifestyle and an awareness rather than a program. Programs and creative ideas will certainly grow out of such awareness, but if the calling is kept in focus the danger of becoming sidetracked, institutionalized and irrelevant (such a bad word in church growth circles) is greatly reduced, or even contradictory. The practice of reflecting God to others and to society and the world will never become old or irrelevant because it responds to …

Blessing As Transformation, Sarita Gallagher, Steven C. Hawthorne

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Revelation 17:1-14, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

MUCH OF REVELATION IS "LITERALLY SYMBOLIC." The question is what the symbolism means— and meant, from literary, political, and religious standpoints. Meaningful interpretation of Rev 17 today hinges upon grasping a sense of what it meant for its original audiences in late first-century Asia Minor. As these apocalyptic messages were read among the churches, how did their original audiences understand the imagery of the woman who rides on the beast, the beast with seven heads and ten horns, and the seven kings and then the eighth? How might they have understood themselves called to receive the text's message then, and …

Atonement In Hosea And The Prodigal Son: Relationality As Personhood And The Being Of God, Steve Sherwood

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt from Introduction: "My project will provide a survey of traditional atonement metaphors, with a particular emphasis upon contrasting penal substitution with a covenantal relational understanding of the atonement, and will then posit that a covenantal relational approach is ideal for resonance with a postmodern audience.

I will seek to determine whether any single biblical metaphor or cluster of metaphors provides an interpretive matrix for all discussion of the atonement in a way that is both biblically faithful and conceptually accessible to a postmodern world. I contend that atonement discussions in typical evangelical contexts may be both biblically insufficient and …

Beyond The Shade Of The Oak Tree: The Recent Growth Of Johannine Studies, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The recent growth within Johannine studies has developed as a result of several factors. First, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls led to an appreciation of the Jewishness of John’s origin. Second, new approaches to John’s composition have emerged, followed by a larger set of inquiries as to the Johannine tradition’s relation to parallel traditions. This has been accompanied by a fourth interest: the history of the Johannine situation. Fifth, new literary studies have posed new horizons for interpretation, and sixth, theories continue to abound on the identity of the Beloved Disciple. A seventh development involves new ways of …