Religious Studies

This volume sheds light on the intellectual engagement with wealth in the various literary genres of the Hebrew Bible, Greek philosophical and Greek poetic literature, Jewish writings from the Hellenistic-Roman period, Qumran, the writings of the New Testament and the Early Church.

For Christian authors of the second century, Paul's criticism of wisdom (1 Cor 1-4) stands in a tense relationship to the positive image of wisdom from the book of Proverbs, as well as to their own self-image as intellectuals. Johanna Brankaer analyses how they dealt with this criticism.

David Wyman examines documentary and literary sources to compose a detailed description of civic benefaction, including the phenomenon of benefactors who risk their lives. He then analyzes how Paul's letter to the Galatians incorporates the language, motifs, and relational dynamics of benefaction.

This volume investigates the topic of Jesus's passion and resurrection with a broad scope, ranging from apocryphal gospels, such as the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Nicodemus, to Manichean texts and Coptic apocrypha from the sixth and seventh centuries. The ancient texts reinterpret Jesus's passion and resurrection in creative and diverse ways, for example by dramatizing the story or by emphasizing the cross as part of the divine plan of salvation.