CONTENTS

List of Tables and Figures

Rewind: A Brief Synopsis of Volume 1

Prolegomena: Is New Testament Theology or Ethics Possible?

The New Testament as the Word of God: Critical Reflections on Joel B. -
B. -Green’s Seized by Truth

The Plan of This Book

1 Preliminary Considerations: From Symbolic Universe to Story to Theology

Prolegomena: The Question of Method

The Social World of Christian Belief and Behavior

From Old Testament Theology and Ethics to New Testament Theology
and Ethics: A Historical Perspective

A Concise Review of Key Literature

Frank Thielman
I. Howard Marshall

Philip Esler

G. B. Caird

2 The Symbolic Universe of Jesus and the New Testament Writers

What Is the Symbolic Universe of Jesus and the New Testament Writers?

Glossary of Terms Significant in the Symbolic Universe of Jesus and the-
and the- New Tes Writers

God

Jesus

The Cross/Tree

The Substitutionary Sacrifice of a Human Being

Sin/Transgression

The Risen Lord
The New/True People of God

The Eschatological Spirit and the Spirit’s Gifts

The Sacred Scriptures

Summary

3 The Narrative Thought World of Jesus and the New Testament Writers

The Narrative Thought World of Jesus

The Narrative Thought World of Paul

Early Christian Prayers and Confessions in the Pauline Letters

The Narratological Approach to Paul’s Thought in Contemporary Schol-
arship

Five Stories That Shaped Paul’s Worldview

Paul’s Hermeneutics of the Old Testament

The Narrative Thought World of the Author of Hebrews
The Narrative Thought World of Luke–Acts

The Narrative Thought World of Matthew and John

The Narrative Thought World of Mark

The Narrative Thought World of 1-2 Peter

1 Peter

2 Peter

The Narrative Thought World of Revelation

Summary

4 The New Testament Consensus on Christ

Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega of New Testament Theology

Jesus Christ as the Basis of New Testament Thought

The Christological Consensus of the New Testament Documents

Paul’s Letters: The Narratological Shape of Paul’s Christology Revisited
Hebrews: Jesus as the Perfection of the Old Covenant

The Gospel of Mark: The Secret Son of Man

1 Peter: The Suffering Messiah

Luke–Acts: Jesus as the Hinge of History

Matthew: The Gospel for Jewish Christians

Were the Synoptic Gospels Written for All Christians?

The Gospel of John: A Unique Tradition Among the Evangelists

Revelation: Jesus as Slain Lamb and Roaring Lion

5 The New Testament Consensus on God the Father

God’s Will and the Salvation-Historical Plan

God as Father in the New Testament

The Primacy of Eschatology over Protology in the New Testament

God as One Who Answers Prayer
The Father, Election, and Salvation

God the Father and Election

Is God Unjust to Israel?

The Difference Between Salvation and Election

God Is Love

What Does It Mean to Say That God Is Love?

Substitutionary Atonement and Propitiation

Who Shall See God?

God’s Impartiality

God Is Spirit

God’s Will

The Father’s Election of the Son

The Perfections of God
6 The New Testament Consensus on the Person of the Holy Spirit

God’s Spirit, the Human Spirit, and Unclean Spirits

The Holy Spirit in Matthew

The Holy Spirit in Luke–Acts

The Holy Spirit at Pentecost

The Holy Spirit in the Life and Work of the Disciples

The Paraclete as Agent and Advocate in John’s Gospel

The Holy Spirit in the Pauline Corpus

The Holy Spirit in the General Epistles and Revelation

Conclusions for Chapters 4–6: God-Talk in the New Testament

7 The New Testament Consensus on Salvation and the End of All Things

Salvation in the New Testament: Conversion, Sanctification, Glorification

Eschatology in the New Testament
Eschatological Commonalities Between Jesus and Paul

Otherworldly Versus This-Worldly Eschatologies in the New Testament

The “End of the World” in New Testament Eschatology

Summary

8 New Testament Ethics: Preliminary Considerations

The Place of Ethics in New Testament Theology

The Shared Moral Vision of the New Testament Writers

Levels of Moral Discourse

Matters of Conscience and the Body of Christ in New Testament Ethics

Christian Ethics: Performance or Journey?

9 The Ethics of Jesus and Its Influence on the New Testament Writers

Revisiting the Ethics of the Kingdom

The Ethics of Marriage, Divorce, Children, and Singleness
The Ethics of Wealth and Eternal Life

Jesus and the Rich Young Man in Mark 10:17-31

Jesus’ Teaching on Wealth in Luke 16

Rendering unto Caesar: Matthew 22:15-22

Paying the Temple Tax: Matthew 17:24-27

Summary

The Ethics of Ritual Purity and the Law

Oaths

Jesus’ Ritual Purity

Jesus’ Teaching on Ritual Purity in Mark 7

Jesus and the Pharisees

Jesus and Violence

Jesus’ Summary of the Law
The Ethic of Love

The Impact of Jesus’ Ethic on His Disciples

10 Ethics for Jewish Christians: Matthew, John, James, Jude, Hebrews, 1-3 John,
1 Peter, Revelation

James: Adapting the Ethical Legacy of Jesus

James’s Social Setting

James’s Theological Ethics

Hebrews: Exhortation Based on Exposition

Matthew: Wisdom for Jewish Christians

The Gospel of John and 1 John: The Ethics of the Beloved Disciple

Revelation: Ethics for a Persecuted Minority

Comfort for the Afflicted and Hope for the Future in Revelation 2–3

The Sectarian and Communitarian Ethics of Revelation
1 Peter: The Ethics of Suffering Servants

Submitting to the Authority of the Suffering Servant in 1 Peter 1–3

Concluding Thoughts on the Ethics of 1 Peter

Summary

11 Ethics for Gentile Christians Part One: Paul’s Letters

Paul’s Ethical Teaching: A General Introduction

Paul and the Ethical Imperative

The Social Character of Paul’s Ethics

Paul and the Law

Paul’s Theological Framework for his Ethics

The Social Character of Paul’s Ethics Revisited

Pauline Anthropology and Pauline Ethics

The Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 5–6
Paul’s View of the Body and the Religious Roles of Women and Men

Paul and the Household Codes

The Colossian Household Code (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

The Ephesian Household Code (Ephesians 5:21–6:9)

Summary

Paul’s Views on Slavery

Paul, the Authorities, and Pacifism

Paul on Singleness and Marriage

Summary

12 Ethics for Gentile Christians Part Two: Mark, Luke, 2 Peter

Mark: The Apocalyptic Ethics of the Coming Son of Man

Luke–Acts: The Ethics of the Salvation Historian

2 Peter: Ethics for All Christian Converts at the End of the Apostolic Age
Summary

Final Surmises and Synopsis

Coda: Integrating the Old and New Testament Thought Worlds and Moving For-
ward to Biblical Theology

Differentiating the Old Testament and the New Testament Thought Worlds

The Necessity of a Narratological Approach to New Testament Theology and
Ethics

The Narrative Thought World of the Old Testament and Its Relevance to
Christian Thought

The Necessity of Progressive Revelation

Relating the Old Testament and the New Testament Thought Worlds

New Testament Theology and Ethics in Light of Postmodern Epistemology

Reader-Response Theory and the Meaning of the New Testament Texts

Moving Beyond the Bible to Later Theological Formulations
he Unity of the New Testament

Critical Reflections on Some Recent Attempts at Biblical Theology

Frank Mead

Sandra Richter

Charles Scobie

Subject Index

Scripture Index

Notes

Praise for New Testament Theology and Ethics

About the Author

More Titles from InterVarsity Press

All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, "behavior affects and reinforces or undoes belief." Previously published as The Indelible Image, Volume 1, Witherington offers the first of a two-volume set on the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. The first volume looks at the individual witnesses, while the second examines the collective witness. The New Testament, says Ben Witherington, is "like a smallish choir. All are singing the same cantata, but each has an individual voice and is singing its own parts and notes. If we fail to pay attention to all the voices in the choir, we do not get the entire effect. . . . If this first volume is about closely analyzing the sheet music left to us by which each musician's part is delineated, the second volume will attempt to re-create what it might have sounded like had they ever gotten together and performed their scores to produce a single masterful cantata." What the New Testament authors have in mind, Witherington contends, is that all believers should be conformed in thought, word and deed to the image of Jesus Christ―the indelible image.