Philosophy

This volume contributes to the reconstruction of the history of ancient Christians on the basis of an exemplary selection of Greek inscriptions. Fifteen essays discussing inscriptions from Asia Minor and Greece offer striking insights into the lives, beliefs, and diversity of Christian communities that literary sources largely pass over.

Amelie Rüppel analyses church interpretations of the financial crises of 1929 and 2008 based on empirical digital text analysis. Through three guiding narratives - sin, trust, and creation - she demonstrates how religious interpretive patterns shape economic action and inform theological-ethical reflections on responsibility and trust.

In the present volume, the manifold practice of biblical exegesis is taken up methodically and transferred into an integrative overall model of textual interpretation. Students receive the fundamental “tools” for a scholarly, reflective treatment of New Testament texts and their receptions.

Do God's emotions, desires, and commands determine what is morally good? And if so, must we take the idea of a potentially cruel God seriously? The contributors discuss these questions by dealing with the divine command theories, alternative approaches to a decidedly religious metaethics, and fundamental questions of theological ethics as a whole.