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..