All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, ’behavior affects and reinforces or undoes belief.’Having completed commentaries on all of the New Testament books, a remarkable feat in itself, Witherington now offers the second of a two-volume set on the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. The first volume looks at the individual witnesses, while the second examines the collective witness.The New Testament, says Ben Witherington, is ’like a smallish choir. All are singing the same cantata, but each has an individual voice and is singing its own parts and notes. If we fail to pay attention to all the voices in the choir, we do not get the entire effect. . . . [If the first volume was] about closely analyzing the sheet music left to us by which each musician's part is delineated, [this second volume attempts] to re-create what it might have sounded like had they ever gotten together and performed their scores to produce a single masterful cantata.’What the New Testament authors have in mind, Witherington contends, is that all believers should be conformed in thought, word and deed to the image of Jesus Christ–the indelible image.
Innehållsförteckning
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
REWIND: A Brief Synopsis of Volume One
PROLEGOMENA: Is New Testament Theology or Ethics Possible
1 Preliminary Considerations: From Symbolic Universe to Story to Theology
2 The Symbolic Universe of Jesus and the New Testament Writers
3 The Narrative Thought World of Jesus and the New Testament Writers
4 The New Testament Consensus of the Christ
5 The New Testament Consensus on God the Father
6 The New Testament Consensus on the Person of the Holy Spirit
7 The New Testament Consensus on Salvation and the End of All Things
8 New Testament Ethics: Preliminary Considerations
9 The Ethics of Jesus and its Influence on New Testament Writers
10 Ethics for Jewish Christians: Matthew, John, James, Jude, Hebrews, 1-3 John, 1 Peter, Revelation
11 Ethics for Gentile Christians Part One: Paul’s Letters
12 Ethics for Gentile Christians Part Two: Mark, Luke, and 2 Peter
13 Coda: Integrating the Old and New Testament Thought Worlds and Moving Forward to Biblical Theology
SUBJECT INDEX
SCRIPTURE INDEX
Om författaren
Ben Witherington III is Amos Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary and a well-known expert in his field. He is the author of over forty books, including Conflict and Community in Corinth and a two-volume New Testament theology, The Indelible Image. He speaks widely, is a frequent guest on radio and television, and blogs at patheos.com.