Religious Studies

Discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, the Coptic Gospel of Thomas ranks among the most significant apocryphal writings of early Christianity. Long regarded as a loose collection of sayings, Stephanie Janz adopts a new approach: tracing catchwords and recurring motifs to interpret the logia within the context of the whole text.

The problem of natural theology has become more acute in late modernity. With impulses from the philosophy of religion, problem-historical analyses and contemporary systematic-theological reflections, the contributors to this volume undertake a reassessment of the problem field of natural theology.

Melissa J. Barciela examines the place of the suffering body in Paul's letter to the Philippians. She brings together three key angles of inquiry - Paul among ancient philosophers, embodiment in antiquity, and the theme of suffering - to offer a new reading of the embodied language in the letter.

Ruben van Wingerden explores how early Christians interpreted Jesus' call to »carry one's cross« and shows how early Christian readers, operating within diverse cultural and theological contexts, expanded and reshaped the meaning of cross-bearing from its New Testament origins into a rich and multifaceted tradition.