Ben Witherington

Discussing both its present and future dimensions, Witherington brings out at length the implications of kingdom thinking for both theology and ethics, both praxis and worship.

The Living Legacy is a resource for spiritual formation that involves original Christian poetry, theological analysis, and spiritual formation exercises following the lectio divina. Following the seasons of the Church Year, Witherington and Hare provide a guide to help those of us on spiritual journeys as we seek to explore 'the living legacy, ' which is our faith in the biblical God.

The Living Legacy is a resource for spiritual formation that involves original Christian poetry, theological analysis, and spiritual formation exercises following the lectio divina. Following the seasons of the Church Year, Witherington and Hare provide a guide to help those of us on spiritual journeys as we seek to explore 'the living legacy, ' which is our faith in the biblical God

This volume completes Ben Witherington's contributions to the set of Eerdmans socio-rhetorical commentaries on the New Testament. In addition to the usual features of these commentaries, Witherington offers an innovative way of looking at Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon as interrelated documents written at different levels of moral discourse. Colossians is first-order moral discourse (the opening gambit), Ephesians is second-order moral discourse (what one says after the opening salvo to the same audience), and Philemon is third-order moral discourse (what one says to a personal friend or intimate). Witherington successfully analyzes these documents as examples of Asiatic rhetoric, explaining the differences in style from earlier Pauline documents. He further shows that Paul is deliberately engaging in the transformation of existing social institutions. As always, Witherington's work is scholarly and engaging. With detailed -Closer Look- sections, The Letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians is perfect for the libraries of clergy, biblical scholars, and seminaries.

Strange theories about Jesus seem to ooze from our culture with increasing regularity. Ben Witherington, one of the top Jesus scholars, will have none of it. There were no secret Gnostic teachings in the first century. With leading scholars and popular purveyors of bad history in his crosshairs, Witherington reveals what we can--and cannot--claim to know about the real Jesus. The Bible, not outside sources, is still the most trustworthy historical record we have today. Utilizing a fresh "personality profile" approach, Witherington highlights core Christian claims by investigating the major figures in Jesus's inner circle of followers: Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Peter, James the brother of Jesus, Paul, and the mysterious "beloved disciple." In each chapter Witherington satisfies our curiosities and answers the full range of questions about these key figures and what each of them can teach us about the historical Jesus. What Have They Done with Jesus? is a vigorous defense of traditional Christianity that offers a compelling portrait of Jesus's core message according to those who knew him best.

Paul's two letters to the Thessalonians stand as some of the very earliest Christian documents, yet they appear well into Paul's missionary career, giving them a unique context well worth exploring. In this first full-scale socio-rhetorical commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Ben Witherington gleans fresh insight from reading Paul's text in the light of rhetorical concerns and patterns, early Jewish theology, and the first-century historical situation in Macedonia. Witherington's distinctive socio-rhetorical approach helps unearth insights that would otherwise remain hidden using only form criticism, epistolary categories, and traditional criticism. Witherington details Thessalonica's place as the "metropolis" of Macedonia, and he carefully unpacks the social situation of Paul and his recipients. Scholars will appreciate the careful analysis and rhetorical insights contained here, while Witherington's clear prose and sensitivity to Paul's ideas make this work ideal for all who desire a useful, readable commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

Ben Witherington III confronts the claims of The Da Vinci Code with the sure-footedness of a New Testament scholar, yet in the plain language that any interested reader can follow.

Continuing his series of socio-rhetorical commentaries on the New Testament, Ben Witherington now tackles Romans. Witherington shows that the interpretation of Romans since the Reformation has been far too indebted to Augustinian readings of the text as filtered through Luther, Calvin, and others.

Like Ben Witherington's previous commentary Conflict and Community in Corinth, this commentary breaks fresh ground in providing a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of Acts. Written in a readable style, with more detailed interaction with scholarly discussion found in the various excursuses, this commentary draws on the best new insights from a number of disciplines (narratological studies of Luke-Acts, archaeological and social scientific study of the New Testament, rhetorical analysis of Acts, comparative studies in ancient historiography) to provide the reader with the benefits of recent innovative ways of analyzing the text of Acts. In addition there is detailed attention to major theological and historical issues, including the question of the relationship of Acts to the Pauline letters, the question of early Christian history and how the church grew and developed, the relationship between early Judaism and early Christianity, and the relationship between Christianity and the officials of the Roman Empire. Acts is seen as a historical monograph with affinities with the approaches of serious Greek historians such as Thucydides and Polybius in terms of methodology, and affinities with some forms of Jewish historiography (including Old Testament history) in terms of content or subject matter. The book is illustrated with various pictures and charts, which help to bring to light the character and setting of these narratives.

This book offers the first sustained attempt to read the Gospel of Mark both as an ancient biography and as a form of ancient rhetoric. Ben Witherington applies to Mark the socio-rhetorical approach for which he is well known, opening a fresh new perspective on the earliest Gospel. Written when the fledging Christian faith was experiencing a major crisis during the Jewish war, Mark provides us with the first window on how the life and teachings of Jesus were presented to a largely non-Jewish audience. According to Witherington, the structure of Mark demonstrates that this Gospel is biographically focused on the identity of Jesus and the importance of knowing who he is--the Christ, the Son of God. This finding reveals that Christology stood at the heart of the earliest Christians' faith. It also shows how important it was to these earliest Christians to persuade others about the nature of Jesus, both as a historical figure and as the Savior of the world.

Grace in Galatia is an innovative socio-rhetorical study of Paul's most polemical letter. Ben Witherington breaks new ground by analyzing the whole of Galatians as a deliberative discourse meant to forestall the Galatians from submitting to circumcision and the Jewish law. The commentary features the latest discussion of major problems in Pauline studies, including Paul's view of the law and the relationship between the historical data in Galatians and in Acts. Yet the narrative character of Witherington's work allows it to remain exceedingly accessible. The volume also includes sections following the major divisions of the commentary that point to the relevance of the text for believers today, making Grace in Galatia of special value to pastors and general readers as well as students and scholars.

In this volume the noted scholar Ben Witherington, III discusses in chronological order the New Testament evidence of what the historical Jesus did, what he said, and what those around him believed. Jesus was a complex figure and, like light shining through a prism, reflections on the man who fits no one formula have produced a variety of colors and depths of shade that cannot and should not be all blended into some monochromatic image.

This unprecedented commentary applies an exegetical method informed by both sociological insight and rhetorical analysis to the study of 1 and 2 Corinthians. In addition to using traditional exegetical and historical methods, this unique study also analyzes the two letters of Paul in terms of Greco-Roman rhetoric and ancient social conditions and customs to shed fresh light on the context and content of Paul's message. Includes 21 black-and-white photos and illustrations.

Presents an exposition of Paul's letter following an introduction to the background and foreground of Paul and the Philippine letter. Applies insights from the social sciences and from Greco-Roman rhetoric to Philippians, distilling the benefits of these new disciplines for the study of this letter.>