Israel's God and Rebecca's Children: Christology and Community in Early Judaism and Christianity

Larry W. Hurtado

xiv Introduction Prayer 5 to assess its contribution to our understanding of the character as evidence of the nature of early Syrian Christianity. The distinctive Jewish tone of the prayer (1) controverts the claim that Gnosticism was the primary shaping force for early Christianity in Syria and (2) reveals a community that has not “parted ways” but intentionally maintains its identity within Judaism. Fittingly, we end our tribute to Larry and Alan with an essay by John T. Fitzgerald (chapter 21) on friendship and reconciliation . Fitzgerald considers Matthew’s redaction of the sayings material in Matthew 5:21-26 in light of Hellenistic and Jewish moralists. In the ancient world—and in our own—anger and angry words pose a grave danger to the bonds of friendship that can and must be remedied by seeking reconciliation with others and with God. q We wish to thank Carey Newman and his staff at Baylor University Press (BUP) for publishing these essays as a tribute to Alan and Larry. Carey’s initiative and experience has helped this volume take on the shape needed to appropriately represent and express our gratitude, honor, and respect for these two scholars and friends. BUP has become one of the premiere university publishing houses in the United States, much to the tireless efforts and talents of Carey, and we are glad to have partnered with them in this. We also wish to thank Mr. Ryan Wiley, whose computer expertise and willingness to serve helped us work out many of the technical problems we faced in receiving essays from all over the world. David B. Capes April D. DeConick Helen K. Bond Troy Miller xiv Introduction xv Larry W. Hurtado Larry W. Hurtado was born December 29, 1943, in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies (with highest honors) in 1965 from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. From there he enrolled in Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois) and earned a M.A. in New Testament (cum laude) in 1967. He continued his studies at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) and wrote his dissertation under the supervision of Eldon J. Epp. The title was: “Codex Washingtonianus in the Gospel of Mark: Its Textual Relationships and Scribal Characteristics.” He received the Ph.D. in Religion with an emphasis in New Testament and Christian Origins in 1973. From 1975 to 1978 Larry served as Assistant Professor of New Testament at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1978 he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and took a post in the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba. Ten years later (1988) he was promoted to full professor. He served there with distinction until August 1996 when he moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and became Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at the School of Divinity (New College), University of Edinburgh. In 1997 Larry founded, and today serves as, Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins. In January 2006 he became Director of Postgraduate Studies in Divinity. Larry maintains active memberships in Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, The Society of Biblical Literature and the British New Testament Conference. Larry’s publication record is impressive. As even a casual survey of his full curriculum vitae will show, he has a broad range of academic interests. Among his best known publications are the following: TextCritical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark. “Studies and Documents,” (vol. 43; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981); Mark: A Good News Commentary (New York/San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983); revised and published as Mark: New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1989); One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988; British edition by SCM Press; Second edition, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998; reprint edition, London: T&T Clark [Continuum], 2003); At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion (The 1999 Didsbury Lectures; Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1999; US edition, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000); and Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003). This last title was listed number two in the Academy of Parish Clergy Top Ten Books of 2004 and among the “Books every preacher should read in 2004” in Preaching. Indeed, some have described Lord Jesus Christ as a true magnum opus, a distillation of decades of research and discussion with friends and critics of an early, high...