De-Introducing the New Testament: Texts, Worlds, Methods, Stories

by Todd Penner; Davina Lopez

Publisher:

John Wiley

, 2015

Overview

In De-Introducing the New Testament, the authors argue for a renewed commitment to the defamiliarizing power of New Testament studies and a reclaiming of the discipline as one that exemplifies the best practices of the humanities.

A new approach that asks us to ‘defamiliarize’ what we think we know about the New Testament, articulating themes and questions about its study that encourage further reflection and engagement

Looks behind the traditional ways in which the NT is “introduced” to critically engage the conceptual framework of the field as a whole

Provides a critical intervention into several methodological impasses in contemporary NT scholarship

Offers an appraisal of the relationship between economics and culture in the production of NT scholarship

Written in a style that is clear and concise, ideal for student readership

Key Features

• Argues for a renewed commitment to the defamiliarizing power of New Testament studies.
• Provides a critical intervention into several methodological impasses in contemporary NT scholarship.
• Offers an appraisal of the relationship between economics and culture in the production of NT scholarship.

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• (De-)Introduction
• Seeing Old Stones Anew
• Introducing the New Testament as Introducing Traditional New Testament Scholarship
• Introducing Criticisms of Traditional New Testament Scholarship
• Introducing De-Introducing the New Testament
• 1 The Order of New Testament Things: Questioning Methods and Meanings
• The Bone-Box of James, “the Brother of Jesus”
• Ways of Knowing a Subject of Study
• Ordering Principles in the Study of the New Testament
• Ways of Knowing New Testament “Things”
• 2 Foregrounding New Testament Backgrounds: Contextualizing Interpretation
• “Jew” or “Judean”? The Present Confronts the Past
• Introducing the New Testament: Making Meaning with the Context
• Backgrounding the Backgrounds Approach
• Backgrounding the Character of Early Christianity: Liberty against Tyranny
• Contexts Matter, Ancient and Modern
• 3 Objects, Objectives, and Objectivities: Material and Visual Culture and New Testament Studies
• Of Fragments and Forgeries
• Archaeology and the Making of Objects
• Excavating Discourses that Produce Ancient Objects
• What Do We Do with Ancient Objects?
• What Do We Want with Ancient Objects?
• 4 Brand(ish)ing Biblical Scholars(hip): New Testament Studies and Neoliberal Subjectivity
• Who Can Be a “New Testament Scholar?”
• Neoliberalism and the Politics of Identity
• Branding as a Practice of Neoliberal Subjectivity
• Branding New Testament Scholars(hip)
• The One-Dimensional New Testament Scholar?
• Back to the Future: Concluding Observations on History, Method, and Theory in New Testament Studies
• “Think, McFly! Think!”
• The Role of the Critic and the Critical Impulse
• Revisiting the Role of the New Testament Historical Critic
• Concluding De-Introductory Thoughts
• Index

Praise for De-Introducing the New Testament

Lopez, associate professor of religious studies at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg FL, suggest that part of the radical potential of de-introducing the NT lies in the refusal to give up on history, and historical criticism, while continuing to think through methodological questions and issues in the discipline.

—New Testament Abstracts 2016

Product Details

• Title: De-Introducing the New Testament: Texts, Worlds, Methods, Stories
• Authors: Todd Penner, Davina Lopez
• Publisher: John Wiley
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• ISBNs: 9781405187688, 9781118432808, 1405187689, 1118432800
• Resource ID: LLS:DNTRDCNGNWMSTRS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-01-25T00:05:19Z