History

This handbook brings together both classic and cutting-edge methods for interpreting the New Testament. Chapters on historical-critical, literary, and reader-response approaches showcase the wide methodological range through which the text's original setting and its contemporary significance can be explored.

Oscar Weller looks at the life of Norman Bentwich, the first Attorney General in the British League of Nations Mandate of Palestine. Bentwich was a committed Zionist and at the same time the highest legal official in the British Mandate administration. This conflict of interests renders Bentwich a fascinating figure in legal history.

The author provides the first legal-historical analysis of the restitution law provisions of the Soviet Occupation Zone and the GDR from 1945 onwards. These were aimed at returning property - seized or »aryanised« between 1933 and 1945 - that was formerly owned by Jewish communities, and which was of central importance for their revival.

Sophie Kultzen's comparative study of Claudian and Prudentius sheds new light on pagan-Christian interactions in poetic works. Beyond ideological differences and the individual characterization of literary figures, both authors are united by the importance they attach to the idea of Roma aeterna .