Ismo Dunderberg

Fair Play: Diversity and Conflicts in Early Christianity:

This collection of essays in honour of Heikki Raisanen, New Testament professor at the University of Helsinki, consists of 22 essays written by his colleagues and students on Jesus, the gospels, Paul, early Christianity, and biblical interpretation. Raisanens own research has been characterized by methodological awareness combined with a keen interest in ethical issues. Both these aspects come to expression in his insistence on fair play as a correct scholarly attitude involving an honest dialogue, a real encounter, and a recognition of diverging opinions. In this spirit, most of the essays in this book lay emphasis on issues related to early Christian diversity and conflicts, and to their challenge in modern society. The book is useful for scholars, academic teachers and students interested in various aspects of the New Testament, early Christianity, and hermeneutics.

Index of Ancient and Medieval Sources

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity offers a collection of essays that deal with perceptions of wisdom, femaleness, and their interconnections in a wide range of ancient sources, including papyri, Nag Hammadi documents, heresiological accounts and monastic literature.

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity offers a collection of essays that deal with perceptions of wisdom, femaleness, and their interconnections in a wide range of ancient sources, including papyri, Nag Hammadi documents, heresiological accounts and monastic literature.

Secrecy in the Gospel of John

Gospel of John provides the reader neither with tthe secret sayings of the living Jesust nor with Jesus secret teachings imparted through a vision, nor is the reader given the privilege of learning what Jesus said to his chosen disciples in private discussions. The idea of messianic secrecy is also far less prominent in John than in Mark and other synoptic gospels. Finally, it should be mentioned that even the most common technical terms related to ancient mysteries and religious secrets are missing in the Gospel of John. The author claims knowledge about tmany other signst of Jesus that are not recorded tin this bookt. The second ending of the gospel likewise affirms that there were tmany other things that Jesus didt which were not included in this gospel. Moreover, it is usually assumed that the implied reader of the Gospel of John is one of the insiders. Keywords:Gospel of John; Jesus; Mark

The Beloved Disciple in John: Ideal Figure in an Early Christian Controversy

This chapter argues that the designation the disciple Jesus loved is closely associated with his role as the authenticator of the Gospel of John. The Beloved Disciples portrayal in the Johannine empty tomb stories involves many difficulties of interpretation. John 20:2-10 is based either directly on the short account of Peters visit in Luke 24:12,41 or on a tradition similar to it. In John 21: l-14, the Beloved Disciple is portrayed as the one who recognizes the risen Jesus before the other disciples (John 21:7). The affinities between the portrayals of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple are strong enough to suggest a deliberate literary device in John. Special disciples are often characterized with language implying a relationship of love between them and their teachers not only in other early Christian writings but also in contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman texts.Keywords: Beloved Disciple; early Christian writings; Gospel of John; Greco-Roman texts; Jesus