Timothy A. Brookins – författare

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 insights.

This work re-examines the divisive wisdom that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians. Challenging the recent consensus that the Corinthians' wisdom was rooted primarily in the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition, Timothy A. Brookins offers a revisionary thesis centered on discourse similarities between the perspective of the Corinthian 'wise' and the Stoic system of thought. Brookins argues that several members of the church, after hearing Paul's initial gospel message, construed that message in terms of Stoic philosophy and began promoting a kind of 'Stoic-Christian' perspective that helped to precipitate divisions in the church. Being apprised of their views, Paul then exploited the 'Stoic' discourse of his opponents in order to sustain common discursive ground. In addition to providing a fresh synthesis of the data in 1 Corinthians, Brookins brings in cutting-edge research on the ancient economy as he explores questions related to philosophical education and social status within the church community.

This work re-examines the divisive wisdom that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians. Challenging the recent consensus that the Corinthians' wisdom was rooted primarily in the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition, Timothy A. Brookins offers a revisionary thesis centered on discourse similarities between the perspective of the Corinthian 'wise' and the Stoic system of thought. Brookins argues that several members of the church, after hearing Paul's initial gospel message, construed that message in terms of Stoic philosophy and began promoting a kind of 'Stoic-Christian' perspective that helped to precipitate divisions in the church. Being apprised of their views, Paul then exploited the 'Stoic' discourse of his opponents in order to sustain common discursive ground. In addition to providing a fresh synthesis of the data in 1 Corinthians, Brookins brings in cutting-edge research on the ancient economy as he explores questions related to philosophical education and social status within the church community.

In these volumes, Timothy Brookins and Bruce Longenecker provide a foundational analysis of the Greek text of 1 Corinthians. Distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the Greek text, 1 Corinthians is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical questions, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, 1 Corinthians also reflects the most recent advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. By filling the gap between popular and technical commentaries, these handbooks become indispensable tools for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text.

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 insights.

Previous scholarship that has examined Paul''s letters in light of Greco-Roman rhetoric has focused predominantly on their argumentative strategies (inventio) and overall arrangement (dispositio). In this book Brookins turns attention to the heretofore underexplored area of style (elocutio). With complete coverage of ten of the thirteen letters in the Pauline corpus, the book evaluates these letters according to the standards of the major stylistic virtues taught in rhetorical theory: correctness, clarity, and ornament. Treating ornament most extensively, the book includes a full inventory of tropes, figures of speech, and figures of thought contained in these letters. This work results in a synopsis of stylistic tendencies that not only illustrates differences in letter type within the Pauline corpus but also enables a fresh means of comparing style in the disputed and undisputed letters. This analysis also furnishes new evidence for consideration in the debate about the extent of Paul''s rhetorical education. Finally, it helps illuminate the process of exegesis and thus the meaning of the text itself.

In these volumes, Timothy Brookins and Bruce Longenecker provide a foundational analysis of the Greek text of 1 Corinthians. Distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the Greek text, 1 Corinthians is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical questions, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, 1 Corinthians also reflects the most recent advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. By filling the gap between popular and technical commentaries, these handbooks become indispensable tools for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text.