Current methodological discussion within the field of New Testament studies focuses today on the influence of the work and its history, and is often motivated by newer findings in linguistics and literary criticism. Such inquiry is broadened through its correlation to reception theory, i.e. that inquiry that focuses on how readers understood the work during the course of its transmission or reception. By contrast to the above, textual criticism is that science that tries to discover the ‘original text’ as exactly as possible. Here I would like to ask, to what extent do the ‘witnesses’ (e.g. manuscripts, versions, quotations, etc.) of textual criticism also function as interpreters and ‘receivers’ of the text. In all three of the topics handled here we have been aware of an interaction between text and reader.

The recent interest in social memory theories among NT scholars promises a new framework for the study of the social dynamics reflected in the Gospels. This essay employs Eviatar Zerubavel's ‘sociomental typography’ of the ‘sociobiographical memory’ in order to conceptualize the contours of the Sitz im Leben of the Gospel of Matthew. The perspective of social memory as described by Zerubavel reveals the mnemonic character of the Sitz im Leben and discloses how those participating in it related to and used the Gospel of Mark, identified with the scribal traits of the Matthean disciples, cherished Peter, and situated themselves in history.

This article proposes to interpret the appearance of the risen Jesus to the community of the disciples on Easter evening in terms of a Johannine theology and spirituality and as integral to the Johannine resurrection narrative as a whole. The scene is a narrative exploration of Johannine ecclesiology, that is, the establishment of the New Covenant with the New Israel and the raising of the New Temple, the body of Jesus, in it midst.

Röm 2 ist kein antijudaistischer Text, sondern zunächst Teil des innerjüdischen Israel-Diskurses, von dem er sich aber zugunsten einer universalen Verurteilung der Menschheit vor Gottes Forum fortentwickelt und damit universal-anthropologische Dimensionen annimmt. Die Heftigkeit der Polemik gegen bestimmte Juden resultiert aus der unerhörten These des Paulus, auch gesetzestreue Juden, die im Bund leben, seien vor Gott nicht gerecht, sondern schuldig. Um die Leserschaft von dieser These zu überzeugen, bedient Paulus sich einer so starken diatribischen Polemik, dass diese ethischen Schuhtexte trotz ihrer anthropologischen Intention antijudaistisch wirken. Weiterhin führt Paulus in Röm 2 nicht das Gericht nach Werken neu ein, sondern beschreibt den Ist-Zustand des Verhältnisses zwischen Gott und den Menschen in der adamitischen Welt, dies aber im Horizont der neuen Existenz in Christus, die Inhalt seines Evangeliums ist. Daraus entwickelt sich eine neue christliche Universalanthropologie.

Two sources, the Acts of the Apostles and the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, inform us of the arrival, sojourn and activity of Paul in Thessalonica (Acts 17.1–9; 1 Thess 1.6–2.12), but they hardly tally with each other. Evidence of the Lukan redactor's hand in Acts 17.1–9 invites us to see this narrative as secondary, perhaps, in relation to the account Paul himself gives in 1 Thessalonians, particularly in 1 Thess 2.1–12. It would be of interest, then, to analyse this passage in Paul's letter to detect how he himself portrays the first

Quel est le genre rhétorique du discours devant l'Aréopage (Ac 17.22–31)? Après avoir examiné et évalué les propositions précédentes en la matière, on est amené à y reconnaître le genre démonstratif, et particulièrement celui de l'éloge divin, dont ce discours partage les traits essentiels. Une lecture détaillée du discours selon les élements de sa dispositio permet alors de comprendre la portée des arguments et la pertinence d'un tel genre en un tel lieu.

Vom ‘Sehen des Herrn’ vor Damaskus durch Paulus ist sowohl in Apg 9.1–9; 22.4–11 und 26.9–18 als auch in Gal 1.13–15 und 1 Kor 9.1; 15.8–9 die Rede. Was bedeutet die Aussage: Jesus erschien Paulus? Das Resultat der Untersuchung der angeführten Textstellen unter Berücksichtigung der Wortfeldanalyse der drei Worte von Sehen – βλεπω = ‘Ansicht’ in Apg 9.8c, 9a; θεωρεω = ‘Durchsicht’ in Apg 9.7e oder οραω = ‘Einsicht’ in Apg 22.15; 26.16 – und die Notiz von der ‘Stimme’ aus dem Himmel lassen eine Steigerung der Darstellung des so genannten Damaskusereignisses in der Apg feststellen. Auf der Grundlage dieser Vision bzw. Erscheinung ist die Missionstätigkeit des ‘Zeugen’ respektive ‘Apostel’ Paulus aus der Sicht von Apg 26 und Gal 1.13–15 eine von Gott selbst gewollte.

According to the natural sense of the Greek, Phil 1.3 should be translated something like, ‘I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you’. Scholars have rejected this interpretation without explanation, presumably because the thought of Paul thanking God for pleasant memories seems too odd even to be considered. Philippians, however, is a letter of consolation, and pleasant memories were a common source of consolation in Hellenistic–Roman antiquity. Read in the context of ancient consolation, from which there compelling parallels, the natural sense of 1.3 makes excellent sense. Accepting this interpretation solves other outstanding exegetical problems in Phil 1.3–11.

Is Rom 12.4–8 to be read as one sentence or as two sentences – do verses 12.6–8 form a different sentence from Rom 12.4–5, or does the sentence begun in v. 4 continue all the way through to the end of v. 8? One initial difficulty when considering this problem is that grammarians and commentators discussing this issue usually comment on one or two (or none) of the seven or so pertinent issues in the passage and then offer their opinion as to whether this is one sentence or two. Romans 12.4–8, however, features a number of difficult issues that must be held together in order to arrive at an adequate understanding of what Paul intends. The goal of this short study is to consider each of these issues and to argue that a one-sentence reading is the most satisfying option.