Torrey, Seland – författare

Neotestamentica et Philonica is a collection of eighteen essays by an international group of scholars in honor of Peder Borgen. They treat aspects of the study of the historical Jesus, Paul and his Letters, the Gospel of John and Philo of Alexandria. These essays represent the cutting edge of New Testament and Philonic scholarship and will be important resources for students of these subject areas.

Establishment Violence in Philo and Luke deals with nonconformity to the Jewish Torah and violent counter reactions as discussed in the works of Philo of Alexandria and narrated in the Lukan Acts of the Apostles. The author works with several social science models in vogue in recent research, but especially applies a model of establishment violence (or vigilantism) as worked out by H.J. Rosenbaum and P.C. Sederberg (1976). The study contains five chapters, focusing on three often neglected texts from Philo, and the texts of the Lukan Acts concerning Stephen and Paul in Jerusalem.

The author of the present work wants to throw new light on the intended readers of 1 Peter by investigating what it could possibly mean that they were to live as Strangers in the Light. It is argued that the author of 1 Peter considers his readers as living a life influenced by social circumstances very much comparable to those of the Diaspora proselytes to Judaism. Hence similar discussions in Jewish Diaspora works can illuminate his descriptions and exhortations. Among these Diaspora works, the works of Philo of Alexandria should be drawn into the discussions in a much more comprehensive way than has been done so far. In addition to a study of the role of Silvanus in the making of the letter, this volume contains four studies that carry out what the author calls 'philonic readings' of central issues of 1 Peter 2,5-11. The study will demonstrate the usefulness of Jewish diaspora works for understanding the social life of the early Christians.