298 research outputs found
The methods of historical reconstruction in the scholarly "recovery" of Corinthian Christianity
No full textA somewhat self-critical discussion of the role played by socio-historical information (e.g. about money in social relations) in historical interpretation of ancient and early Christian history, and of the standpoints of Gerd Theissen, Justin Meggitt and Eckehard and Wolfgang Stegemann in this area. The article also explores the role of sociological or social-scientific models in historical reconstruction, connecting to the methodological dispute between David Horrell and Philip Esler (in JSNT 2001) concerning how every model and every use of it presupposes a certain understanding of reality and ideas concerning the character of human action
Eschatological Visions of the New Testament: From a Premillennial Dispensationalist Interpretation towards a Contextual Korean Christian Environmental Ethic
No full textThis thesis applies the hermeneutical approach developed by Ernst M. Conradie, and by David G. Horrell, Cherryl Hunt, and Christopher Southgate, to understanding the eschatological visions of the New Testament in relation to the environment, taking into particular account South Korea’s environmental situation and the traditions of biblical interpretation in the Korean Protestant Church
Reconfiguring the Universe: The Contest for Time and Space in the Roman Imperial Cults and 1 Peter
No full textEvaluations of the stance of 1 Peter toward the Roman Empire have for the most part concluded that its author adopted a submissive or conformist posture toward imperial authority and influence. Recently, however, David Horrell and Travis Williams have argued that the letter engages in a subtle, calculated (“polite”) form of resistance to Rome that has often gone undetected. Nevertheless, discussion of the matter has remained largely focused on the letter’s stance toward specific Roman institutions, such as the emperor, household structures, and the imperial cults.
Taking the conversation beyond these confines, the present work examines 1 Peter’s critique of the Empire from a wider angle, looking instead to the letter’s ideology or worldview. Using James Scott’s work to think about ideological resistance against domination, I consider how the imperial cults of Anatolia and 1 Peter offered distinct constructions of time and space—that is, how they envisioned reality differently. Insofar as these differences led to divergent ways of conceiving the social order, they acquired political valences and generated potential for conflict. 1 Peter, I argue, confronted Rome on a cosmic scale with its alternative construal of time and space.
For each of the axes of time and space, I first investigate how it was constructed in cultic veneration of the emperor, and then read 1 Peter comparatively in light of the findings. Although both sides employed similar strategies in conceptualizing time and space, they parted ways on fundamental points. We have evidence that the Petrine author consciously, if cautiously, interrogated the imperial imagination at its most foundational levels, and set forth in its place a theocentric, Christological understanding of the world.University of Exeter, College of Humanities - International Student Doctoral Award
Christology, eschatology and the politics of time in 1 Peter
No full textA paper first presented by David Horrell at Christology and Eschatology: A Day Symposium in Honour of Dr Andrew Chester, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, 11 June 2015.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordAbstract: Taking a point of departure from Andrew Chester’s linking of messianism and eschatology, this essay explores the Christology of 1 Peter as presented in 1.18-19, 2.21-25, and 3.18-22, linking this with 1 Peter’s eschatology. This is then analysed as a construal of time, a feature of social life to which recent social theory has given new attention. Like other examples in different times and places, the restructuring of the calendar in Asia to begin the new year with Augustus’ birthday is a politically significant act which structures the rhythms of human life according to the cardinal points of Roman imperial domination. The first letter of Peter’s eschatological Christology may thus be seen as a form of significant political challenge which structures its readers’ lives according to a different time. Assessing the significance of the letter’s construction of time offers a new way to consider its political stance vis-à-vis the Roman empire
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No full textFor decades the Horrell brothers of Lampasas, Texas, have been portrayed as ruthless killers and outlaws, but author David Johnson paints a different picture of these controversial men. The Horrells were ranchers, but some thought that they built their herds by rustling. Their initial confrontation with the State Police at Lampasas in 1873 marked the most disastrous shootout in Reconstruction history. The brothers and loyal friends then fled to New Mexico, where they became entangled in what would later evolve into the violent Lincoln County War. The brothers returned to Texas, where in time they became involved in the Horrell-Higgins War. The family was nearly wiped out following the feud when two of the brothers were killed by a mob. Only one member of the family, Sam, Jr., lived to old age and died of natural causes
A People Called: Narrative Transportation and Missional Identity in 1 Peter
No full textConversations concerning the missional posture of 1 Peter have been dictated largely by the now (in)famous debate between David Balch’s assimilationist position over and against John Elliott’s more sectarian position. More recent work has sought to bridge the gap between Balch and Elliott with a variety of more nuanced positions such as Miroslav Volf’s “Soft Difference”. Most of the discussion revolves around the practicalities of cultural engagement and what it might mean for church members to interact with the world as “Christians” in an increasingly hostile environment. The present thesis takes a step back from the coal face of missional engagement to focus on how that mission is shaped. More particularly, I am concerned with how 1 Peter utilises the language of divine calling (καλέω) that appears in five specific instances (1:13–21; 2:4–10; 2:18–25; 3:8–17; 5:6–14), alongside central events and motifs from the Old Testament, to cultivate a narrative that forges a distinct Christian identity and mission, that has its basis in Israel’s history and the life of Christ. Our concern with narrative and cultural interaction leads us to consider the relevant Petrine texts, through the dual lenses of Social Identity and Narrative Transportation theories which reveal how various groups interact, and how narratives shape actions and beliefs respectively. I argue that through the language of calling, and with the assistance of key OT motifs, 1 Peter seeks to develop a Christian identity that might be best described as “elect sojourners”; that believers are those who are elect of God and yet rejected by the world. This identity manifests itself in a life of “resident-alien-ness”—in the world, yet no longer of the world—that consequently leads to various forms of suffering. Amid such suffering, 1 Peter calls the church to a priestly ministry—representing God to the people, and the people to God—through a life geared towards blessing, even when such a life leads to suffering. This is the life to which the Anatolian believers have been called: a life of holiness as a priestly community, committed to the gracious endurance of suffering, and of blessing those who would oppose them.University of Exeter, College of Humanities International Student Doctoral Awar
Review of Larry W. Hurtado, Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Waco: Baylor UP, 2016)
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this record
Call for Papers: British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies, 10-12 July, 2023. "Race in Jewish Worlds, Antiquity to the Present"
No full textKeynote speakers: Miri Rubin, Richard Benjamin, David Horrell, Satnam Virdee. Edge Hill University, West Lancashire, UK Deadline for submissions: 15 December 2022. More Informatio
Ecological Hermeneutics: Reflections on Methods and Prospects for the Future
No full textnotes: A discussion article followed by responses from Elaine Wainwright and Steven Bouma-Prediger© 2014 David G. HorrellOriginally published in Colloquium: The Australian and New Zealand Theological Review
Land, Rest & Sacrifice: Ecological Reflections on the Book of Leviticus
No full textThe socio-religious regulations of Leviticus offer little-explored perspectives from which to reflect on the relationship between humanity and the non-human creation. The cosmological framework upon which the worldview expressed in Leviticus is constructed places humanity at the fragile interface between creation (order) and chaos (destruction), ever struggling to discern, define and delineate the sacred and the profane.
Several texts in Leviticus portray the land as an active character; capable of vomiting, resting and maintaining a ritualistically demanding relationship with God. Not only does the land appear to have a distinct relationship with YHWH, but in fact that relationship predates YHWH’s commitment to Israel. When the people sin, they risk not only the retreat of YHWH’s presence from the sanctuary, but also the land ejecting them in order that it might fulfill its ritual obligations.
Each member of the community is responsible for maintaining the well-being of the lived-in world as expressed through obedience to teachings concerning the body, the social group, and cultic behaviour. Within this system, the manifested symbols of created order are those essential elements which enable the sustenance of the whole community: the people, the land, its vegetation and its animals.
Responsible human care for this divinely-established ecology is thus ingrained in, and carefully detailed through, the regulations in Leviticus. Important examples include prescriptions for a sabbatical year for the land to rest and to restore its fertility; the Sabbath day as a space of economic disruption and regeneration; agricultural festivals as cultic boundaries of the life of the community; and dietary and cultic laws regulating the killing of animals for humans (as food) or for God (as sacrifice). Disobedience, or sin, renders both the human community, and the land upon which it lives, polluted and unclean.
A particularly significant measure of controlling or cleansing the resulting pollution, of both the community and the land, is animal sacrifice – the killing of a perfect animal for God has the potential to restore the delicate balance between chaos and creation. Given these observations, Leviticus' conceptions of the land, animal sacrifice and ritualized rest can be perceived as a fruitful biblical locus of reflection from which to engage contemporary ecological ethics and praxis.AHR
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