Theology

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.

The Pericope Adulterae (John 7,53-8,11) has long puzzled scholars due to its contested textual status. Rayan J. Lobo shows that it can nonetheless be read meaningfully within its literary context as part of the Gospel of John - as a wisdom tale rooted in oral tradition and a Jewish trial of Jesus that summarizes John 7-8.

How did the book of Kings come to have its present shape? Samson Olanrewaju examines the formulas used to evaluate each Israelite and Judean king and argues that their variations reflect the work of successive scribes, from the ninth century BCE through the post-exilic period. The result is a new, stratified model of the composition of Kings.

In the Bible, God appears visibly and audibly to particular people. This volume, a contribution to the Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum, considers textual witnesses to epiphanies in the Septuagint — the most important texts of Hellenistic Judaism — and the New Testament, asking: How are these experiences presented? And what patterns of influence can be traced?