Reconstructing the First-Century Synagogue: A Critical Analysis of Current Research (The Library of New Testament Studies)

Catto, Stephen

ISBN 10: 0567045617 / ISBN 13: 9780567045614

Published by T&T Clark, 2008

About this Item

In English.

Seller Inventory # ria9780567045614_new

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Reconstructing the First-Century Synagogue: A Critical Analysis of Current Research (The Library of New Testament Studies)
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567045617
• ISBN 13: 9780567045614
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The form and function of the 'synagogue' in the first century CE has been the focus of a great deal of recent scholarly discussion. A previous generation of scholars would have perceived a reference to a synagogue in a New Testament text as a monolithic institution with clearly defined functions principally involving worship. More recent scholarship has questioned many of these assumptions, pointing out that in the first century CE 'synagogue' should be understood as a reference to a gathering and not a building. Similarly, it is noted that many of the reconstructions of what happened in a 'synagogue' are built on evidence that dates to a period much later than the first century.

The purpose of this work is to engage with primary material, both literary and archaeological, in order to assess the positions of current scholarship in the debate. It addresses the literary and archaeological evidence; the range of sacred activities that could have taken place within a first-century synagogue; and finally, the presentation of the 'synagogue' in Luke-Acts by means of case studies, to draw conclusions not only useful to NT studies in general, but also historical Jesus studies.

About the Authors

Dr Stephen K. Catto lectures at Moorlands College, Dorset, UK.

Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.