Jeremy Corley – författare

The infancy narratives represent some of the most beautiful and intriguing passages in the Gospels. The stories they relate are also arguably the most well-known in the Christian tradition, from the child in the manger to the Magi paying homage to the infant Jesus. However there have been relatively few attempts to consider the stories of the Nativity from modern academic perspectives, examining them from feminist perspectives, poltical standpoints, in cinematic representations as well as more standard but up-to-date academic approaches. New Perspectives on the Nativity attempts to redress this providing a fresh insights on these crucial Christian texts from a cast of distinguished contributors. At the outset, Henry Wansbrough surveys scholarship on the infancy narratives since Raymond Brown's landmark study, The Birth of the Messiah (2nd edition, 1993). Thereafter, four chapters deal with Luke's infancy story. Ian Boxall demonstrates how the narrative offers subtle foreshadowings of the passion and resurrection. Barbara Reid surveys Luke's portrayal of three female prophets (Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna), who prepare for the later presentation of Jesus as a prophet. Leonard Maluf suggests a new understanding of Zechariah's canticle (the Benedictus), by situating it firmly in its Jewish background. Finally, Nicholas King indicates how the "inn" of the nativity prefigures the later journey of the gospel message. The next four contributions are concerned with Matthew's narrative. Warren Carter shows how the conflict between the infant Jesus and the ruling powers is repeated more dramatically in the life and death of the adult Christ. Benedict Viviano proposes that the three stages in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus belong within a grand scheme of seven ages of salvation history. Bernard Robinson investigates Matthew's nativity story within the context of biblical and Greco-Roman history-writing. Christopher Fuller highlights the carnivalesque approach to the Magi story in Pasolini's classic film, The Gospel According to St Matthew. Three final essays focus on the religious value of the infancy stories. Ann Loades reflects on late-20th-century poems dealing with the nativity. John Kaltner explores the references to Jesus' birth found in Islamic tradition. Finally, Thomas O'Loughlin argues that contemporary preoccupations with historical investigation can blind us to the mystery presented in the nativity stories.

The infancy narratives represent some of the most beautiful and intriguing passages in the Gospels. The stories they relate are also arguably the most well-known in the Christian tradition, from the child in the manger to the Magi paying homage to the infant Jesus. However there have been relatively few attempts to consider the stories of the Nativity from modern academic perspectives, examining them from feminist perspectives, political standpoints, in cinematic representations as well as more standard but up-to-date academic approaches. "New Perspectives on the Nativity" attempts to redress this providing a fresh insights on these crucial Christian texts from a cast of distinguished contributors.

The book of Sirach praises the study of the law, the wisdom of the men of old and their prophecies. Its author is well-read and rearticulates traditional Jewish wisdom for his generation, centering it on fear of the Lord, and clearly asserting that wisdom is a gift from God. He encourages his audience to remain steadfast in following the law of Moses rather than following the ways of the dominant pagan Greek culture.

Although our human emotions greatly influence our lives, there have been few studies of emotions in biblical texts. Hence the 2010 meeting of the International Society for the Study of Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature in Salzburg (Austria) was devoted to the topic of “Emotions, Feelings, and Affects within Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature”. This pioneering volume arising from the conference includes medical, musical, philosophical, historical, archaeological, literary, and theological studies of emotions, with a major focus on biblical and related texts.

Old Testament texts frequently offer a theological view of history. This is very evident in the Books of Chronicles and in the final section of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus). Today there is renewed interest in both these works as significant theological and cultural Jewish documents from the centuries before Jesus. Both Chronicles and Ben Sira aim to recreate a national identity centered on temple piety. Some chapters in this volume consider the portrayal of Israelite kings like David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, while others deal with prophets like Samuel and Elijah.

This volume explores the fundamentals of intertextual methodology and summarizes recent scholarship on studies of intertextuality in the deuterocanonical books. The essays engage in comparison and analysis of text groups and motifs between canonical, deuterocanonical and non-biblical texts. Moreover, the book pays close attention to non-literary relationships between different traditions, a new feature of research in intertextuality.

Beauty is an unexplored theme in studies of Second Temple Jewish texts. Yet disclosing the aesthetic beauty in literary works has affinities with current methodologies such as reader response criticism and explorations of emotion and affectivity in prose and poetry. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, aesthetic analyses enhance the reader’s subjective experience of the text and thereby are capable of reaching an audience beyond that of biblical specialists.This volume explores Hebrew Scriptures, deuterocanonical texts, and extra-canonical Jewish literature. To disclose the aesthetics in the texts, the 20 essays apply a variety of interpretive methodologies, including literary-critical, cultural-historical, linguistic, and art-historical. Essays will examine beauty in postexilic Hebrew Bible texts, apocryphal/ deuterocanonical writings, and other Second Temple texts such as Qumran. Besides literary aesthetics, the essays will explore the beauty of female figures and the natural world, as well as spiritual beauty. While this volume is intended primarily for scholars in the fields of Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, and ancient society, it will also be of interest to students in their classrooms.