P.B.A. Smit

Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology

These studies in honour of Martinus C. de Boer offer important backgrounds and new insights by leading New Testament scholars on Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology.

Truth and Relevance: Catholic Theology in French Quebec since the Quiet Revolution

While an individual Quebecquois thinker, such as James Taylor, has become a ‘household name’ in religious studies (and the philosophy of religion), the broader narrative of religion in Quebec and i...

Reaching for the tree of life : the role of eating, drinking, fasting, and symbolic foodstuffs in 4 Ezra

This paper considers the role of foodstuffs and their (non-)consumption in 4 Ezra. While foodstuffs figure prominently in 4 Ezra, no prior research has been conducted on food and 4 Ezra. The paper argues that both the narrative progression of the work and significant parts of 4 Ezra are expressed through foodstuffs.

Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity

Abstract This opening article offers an introduction to the theme of this special issue of Exchange: Jesus traditions and masculinities in world Christianity. Highlighting the historical trajectory of feminist theological debates on the maleness of Jesus Christ and its implications for configurations of gender (read: the position of women) in Christian traditions, the article particularly explores two recent developments: first, the critical discussion in academic, theological and ecumenical circles of men and masculinities in contemporary Christian contexts, and second, the growing body of scholarship on the masculinity (or better, masculinities) of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in relation to masculinities in the early Christian era. Building on these debates and this scholarship, the article identifies a new and critical field of inquiry that explores the complex and productive relationships between the ambiguous and unstable masculinity/ies of Jesus Christ and the multiple and changing masculinities that are found today in the local contexts of an increasingly diverse global Christianity.

Old Catholic and Philippine Independent Ecclesiologies in History

This study researches the development of the self-understanding of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente during the 20th century, with special attention for their ecclesiologies of the local and national church.

Masculinity and the Bible

Most characters in the Bible are men, yet they are hardly analysed as such. Masculinity and the Bible provides the first comprehensive survey of approaches that remedy this situation. These are studies that utilize insights from the field of masculinity studies to further biblical studies. The volume offers a representative overview of both fields and presents a new exegesis of a well-known biblical text (Mark 6) to show how this approach leads to new insights.

Ecumenical Dialogue as Intercultural Encounter The Dialogue between the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht as an Example of Intercultural Theological Dialogue

This paper provides an overview of a recent ecumenical dialogue, the one between the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht (2011-2014) and analyses the dialogue through the lens of intercultural theology, arguing that the fields of ecumenical dialogue and intercultural theology can be brought into conversation with each other fruitfully, even if this is not currently being done in appertaining scholarship.

St. Thecla: Remembering Paul and Being Remembered Through Paul

This paper interprets the Acts of Thecla, as they are part of the non-canonical Acts of Paul (and Thecla) as a piece of literature that seeks to make the Pauline heritage meaningful in a new context and a for a new kind of audience, specifically through a renewed accentuation of his apostleship and his teaching on self-control. By remembering Paul as Thecla’s mentor and subsequent colleague in the apostolic ministry, the Acts of Thecla make the Pauline ministry relevant and accessible for those whose unmasculine bodies would not otherwise have presented them as plausible, or even viable candidates for this “job.” The papers uses the notion of cultural memory to achieve its aim.

A Symposiastic Background to James

The Epistle of James is not commonly seen in relation to early Christian common meals. At the same time, the work is preoccupied with the common life of an early Christian community, which in turn was, generally speaking, closely related to the way in which it celebrated its meals. In other words, ethics, ecclesiology, and etiquette were closely related. Based on this consideration, this essay attempts to relate aspects of the epistle to symposiastic conventions as they were known in the first-century Mediterranean world.

Man or Human? A Note on the Translation of Ἄνθρωπος in Mark 10.1-9 and Masculinity Studies

The past decades have seen an increased sensitivity among Bible translators when it comes to matters of gender, in particular in relation to inclusive and exclusive aspects of language and their rendering in translation. Building on this feminist agenda, it can also be asked, following the lead of masculinity studies in general and its use in biblical studies in particular, what role masculinity plays in texts and their translation. This will be explored in this contribution using the example of the meaning and translation of ἄνθρωπος in Mark 10.7 and 9, which, it will be proposed, is, for gender-sensitive exegetical reasons, best translated as “man” (in the exclusive sense of the word), rather than as “human” (as an inclusive expression).