In Run Like a Champion, one of America’s most versatile and accomplished runners, Alan Culpepper, reveals the best practices of the best runners. Over his 25-year racing career, Culpepper won national titles from 5K to marathon, a span of race distances so wide that just a few runners can claim the same impressive versatility. Culpepper sets out his approach--and the lessons he learned from his competitors--so that all runners can fully realize their potential. As a two-time Olympic competitor, Culpepper has a unique understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level. His running career has put him on the start line alongside the world’s best runners, and he has found that despite their many differences, talents, and approaches to training, among them they share a common understanding: the best athletes know that the secret to success in running lies in understanding a bigger picture of training. Not everyone has the physiology to run at the highest level, but everyone can benefit from implementing an Olympic approach to training. Run Like a Champion shares a big-picture view of running, looking at not only the essential training elements but also other key pieces of the puzzle: identifying motivation; finding a proper work/life/family balance; and understanding complementary aspects of training such as stretching, how much to drink, diet, and how to avoid and treat injuries. Run Like a Champion reveals all the guidelines, tips and tricks, workouts, mental training, and nutritional practices that Olympic runners use. By making this Olympic approach part of their running, runners of all levels will make their goals achievable from 5K to marathon.
In this new critical commentary for the New Testament Library series, R. Alan Culpepper sets the Gospel of Matthew in the context of the competing Jewish and early Christian voices of the first century, bringing greater clarity to Matthew's own proclamation of the gospel and inviting readers to give up perhaps long-held assumptions about the book. In Culpepper’s treatment, Matthew emerges as a Gospel for a Jewish community, distinguishing itself from the Pharisees on one side and other early Christian traditions and leaders, especially Paul and his followers, on the other side. In this framework, Matthew calls his community to faithful observance of the law, a law-observant mission to both Jews and Gentiles, and repentance and the practice of forgiving in preparation for the coming judgment. Accordingly, Matthew takes readers back to an early period, before the separation of Jewish Christians from the synagogues. By taking seriously Matthew’s Jewishness, this volume also enables readers to hear the historical Jesus more clearly. Excursuses on Matthew’s social setting include Jesus as healer, Sabbath observance, Roman taxation, the Pharisees, the tithes, ancient weddings, and the Sanhedrin, as well as many shorter units on Second Temple Judaism, synagogues, and first-century Galilean society. The New Testament Library series offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, providing fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, careful attention to their literary design, and a theologically perceptive exposition of the biblical text. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminary; John T. Carroll, Union Presbyterian Seminary; and Susan E. Hylen, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
In this volume, R. Alan Culpepper considers both the Gospel and the Letters of John. The book begins with a close look at the relationship between John and the Synoptics and a summary of John's distinctive thought and language. The second chapter addresses the fascinating issues regarding the origins of the Gospel and the letters: authorship, sources, and composition. The history of the Johannine community is reviewed in chapter three. Chapter four interprets the plot of the Gospel and prepares the student to read John as literature by providing a brief orientation to narrative criticism. The fifth chapter turns to more traditional concerns: John as theology. This chapter provides a digest of the Christology, theology, and eschatology of John. The sixth through the eighth chapters, the heart of the book, guide the student through a reading of the Gospel. The ninth chapter serves as an introduction to the Letters, noting especially their relationship to the Gospel. Each letter is treated in turn. The final chapter examines the challenges and potential of the Johannine literature as documents of faith. "In previous writings Alan Culpepper has shown himself to be one of the best Johannine scholars of our time. He not only conveniently draws together his research but also shows himself to be an excellent teacher." --Raymond E. Brown
The essays in this volume, which span four decades, represent sustained reflection on the historical setting, narrative devices, and theology of the Gospel of John. Methodologically, the essays develop a narrative-critical approach to the Gospel, producing insights that have implications for historical and theological issues. Thematically, many of the essays explore the Gospel's ecclesiology, especilly its vision for the church and its mission. As a collection, this volume provides an introduction to the Fourth Gospel, analyses of major issues (including John's anti-Judaism, relationship to 1 John, irony, imagery, creation ethics, evil, and eschatology), and in-depth exploration of key texts, especially John 1:1-18, 2:20; 4:35-38; 5:1-18; 5:21-30; 10:1-18; 12:12-15; 13:1-20; 19:16-30; 20:19-23; and chapter 21.
One of the most important sources of information about the development of Johannine legends as well as one of the most successful efforts to overcome barriers that have traditionally separated New Testament exegesis from the study of church history.
About this Book: Gail R. O’Day’s Revelation in the Fourth Gospel set the stage for a new literary paradigm in Johannine studies, which has carried over into disciplinary advances in gospel criticism overall. With the addition of eight key Johannine essays and a state-of-the-art introduction by Alan Culpepper, this new publication as Volume 9 in the Johannine Monograph Series advances a fuller appreciation of her important work on John and new-literary biblical analyses overall. From the Preface: What becomes apparent in an overview of Gail O’Day’s work is her keen analysis of relations and functions of literary themes and features within the Gospel of John, as they further its rhetorical thrust, elucidating its meaning. Whereas diachronic approaches to John have tended to compartmentalize and divide sections and literary forms, O’Day shows time and again how things worked synchronically within John’s story of Jesus, challenging misinterpretations and opening doors to understanding more fully its message. The present collection highlights the dialectics between narrative and theology, time and space, and characters and plot in the Fourth Gospel, clarifying their tensive presentations within this classic narrative.
In this study in three-dimensional character reconstruction, Cornelis Bennema presents a new theory of character in the New Testament literature. Although character has been the subject of focused literary-critical study of the New Testament since the 1970s, Bennema observes that there is still no consensus regarding how character should be understood in contemporary literary theory or in biblical studies. Many New Testament scholars seem to presume that characters in Greco-Roman literature are two-dimensional,”Aristotelian”; figures, unlike the well-rounded, psychologized individuals who appear in modern fiction. They continue nevertheless to apply contemporary literary theory to characters in ancient writings. Bennema here offers a full, comprehensive, and non-reductionist theory for the analysis, classification, and evaluation of characters in the New Testament.
One of the most important sources of information about the development of Johannine legends as well as one of the most successful efforts to overcome barriers that have traditionally separated New Testament exegesis from the study of church history.
If a blackmail letter drives a man to suicide, is the sender guilty of murder? "Yes," says Oliver Swithin, author of bestselling Finsbury the Ferret children's stories and amateur sleuth, who is on holiday in an ancient village. A midnight streak with his naked girlfriend—Scotland Yard's Effie Strongitham—abruptly ends in the discovery of a corpse. Retired radiobroadcaster Dennis Breedlove has hanged himself from the old gibbet. Evidence suggests blackmail may have driven this celebrity to suicide. Irresistibly intrigued, Oliver believes discovering the dead man's secret will lead to the identity of the blackmailer. But in Britain today, when shame is a ticket to fame, why suicide? What if it wasn't? When the mystery abruptly turns inside out, black-clad strangers attack Oliver in the night. The Vicar behaves strangely. So do the village's five unmarried Bennet sisters, a mysterious monk, the persistent, self-effacing Underwood Tooth, and Oliver's Uncle Tim, Effie's superior at the Yard and a part-time Shakespearean actor. Plus Oliver's aunt and his mother. Who else might play a role in This Private Plot? Two William Shakespeares? It's time to put the laugh back into slaughter with the long-awaited third chapter in the career of Oliver Swithin. Yet under the clever wordplay and bawdy jokes lies an inventive and, yes, scholarly plot.
Drawing from Greco-Roman history, Second-Temple Jewish studies, archaeology, the social world of the New Testament, parable studies, and the burgeoning literature on Galilee, The People of the Parables describes life in first-century Galilee as it was experienced by the characters in Jesus' parables. R. Alan Culpepper assesses both primary literature and recent research on Galilee--including important archaeological discoveries--and fashions a new and insightful social history of Galilee, the people of the parables, and the historical context of Jesus' ministry. Culpepper builds this history by elucidating the lives of first-century Galileans featured in Jesus' parables: children, women, daughters, mothers, widows, fathers, sons, landowners, tenants, day laborers, debtors, farmers, fishermen, shepherds, merchants, travelers, innkeepers, masters, slaves, tax collectors, judges, Pharisees, priests, Levites, Samaritans, bandits, and, finally, Jesus. Who these people were--their place in Galilean society, how they lived, socialized, worshiped, and conducted business; how they were educated--is described in straightforward, nontechnical language. Culpepper brings new meanings to the parables for today's readers by shedding light on the people of Galilee in the time of Jesus.
Through careful reading of the stories at the end of Judges and in 1 Samuel, Reconciling Violence and Kingship demonstrates that events surrounding Saul have significance independent of David and preceding David's kingship. Michelson argues that Saul's kingship is uniquely important in establishing the person of the king, who was inaugurated in order to minimize violence.
This book is a study of the Johannine Christian response to the fall of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 ce. A crucial text in this investigation is Jn 2.13-22 and its context, which provide a lens through which other texts in John are viewed. Kerr's examination of the Temple festivals of Passover, Tabernacles, Dedication suggests that in Jesus fulfils and replaces these, while in the case of the Sabbath he effects a transformation. The overall conclusion is that the Johannine Jesus replaces and fulfils the Jerusalem Temple.
Southern Baptists had long considered themselves a missionary people, but when, after World War II, they embarked on a dramatic expansion of missionary efforts, they confronted headlong the problem of racism. Believing that racism hindered their evangelical efforts, the Convention's full-time missionaries and mission board leaders attacked racism as unchristian, thus finding themselves at odds with the pervasive racist and segregationist ideologies that dominated the South. This progressive view of race stressed the biblical unity of humanity, encompassing all races and transcending specific ethnic divisions. In All According to God's Plan, Alan Scot Willis explores these beliefs and the chasm they created within the Convention. He shows how, in the post-World War II era, the most respected members of the Southern Baptists Convention publicly challenged the most dearly held ideologies of the white South.
In the comprehensive The New Testament: Its Background and Message, the late Thomas Lea presented a clear and concise introduction to the New Testament giving readers the key that unlocks the door to understanding these important texts. This influential work presents the background of the New Testament with broad strokes and with a focus on specific books including the Gospels, Acts, and Paul and his letters. Originally written in an easy-to-understand style and form, Lea’s text continues to unlock the message of the New Testament for both new students and seasoned scholars.
Songs of Resistance: Challenging Caesar and Empire examines New Testament hymns in light of their historical and cultural contexts. Such a reading yields new insights. Rather than finding theological truths alone, one also discovers lyrics that contest and defy Rome's "great tradition." The early Christ followers sang songs that opposed the empire's worldview and offered an alternative vision for society. These songs were a first-century equivalent of modern-day protest songs. But instead of marching and singing in the streets, believers gathered in private spaces where they lifted their voices to Jesus and retold the story of his execution as an enemy of the state and how God raised him from the dead to rule over the universe. As they sang, believers were emboldened to remain faithful to Christ and withstand the temptation to comply with the sociopolitical agenda of the empire.
This is a guide for spiritual mountain climbers. In the Scriptures, connecting with Abba often leads to a mountain. Modern spiritual writers have long recognized this scriptural metaphor and explored the nature of this journey of ascent. Drawing on the text of the Bible, works of literature, and the writings of mystics both old and new, Climbing the Spiritual Mountain speaks of the desires and intentions, discipline, and effort involved in developing our intimacy with Christ. In Jesus' dealings with people in the Gospels, he draws them up the spiritual mountain through dialogue and questions. Like Socrates of old, his teaching method probes our thinking, knowledge, and motives. In the process, he stimulates our longing and desire to reach the summit. There are challenges, hurdles, and difficult choices to make as we climb the spiritual mountain. But the reward--approaching the beautiful One who is our Abba--far outshines any sacrifice we may make on the climb.
Rabies is the most current and comprehensive account of one of the oldest diseases known that remains a significant public health threat despite the efforts of many who have endeavored to control it in wildlife and domestic animals. During the past five years since publication of the first edition there have been new developments in many areas on the rabies landscape. This edition takes on a more global perspective with many new authors offering fresh outlooks on each topic. Clinical features of rabies in humans and animals are discussed as well as basic science aspects, molecular biology, pathology, and pathogenesis of this disease. Current methods used in defining geographic origins and animal species infected in wildlife are presented, along with diagnostic methods for identifying the strain of virus based on its genomic sequence and antigenic structure. This multidisciplinary account is essential for clinicians as well as public health advisors, epidemiologists, wildlife biologists, and research scientists wanting to know more about the virus and the disease it causes. Offers a unique global perspective on rabies where dog rabies is responsible for killing more people than yellow More than 7 million people are potentially exposed to the virus annually and about 50,000 people, half of them children, die of rabies each year New edition includes greatly expanded coverage of bat rabies which is now the most prominent source of human rabies in the New World and Western Europe, where dog rabies has been controlled Recent successes of controlling wildlife rabies with an emphasis on prevention is discussed Approximately 40% updated material incorporates recent knowledge on new approaches to therapy of human rabies as well as issues involving organ and tissue transplantation Includes an increase in illustrations to more accurately represent this diseases’ unique horror
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