New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC)

Peter David's study on the Epistle of James is a contribution to The New International Greek Testament Commentary, a series based on the UBS Greek New Testament, which attempts to provide thorough exegesis of the text that is sensitive to theological themes as well as to the details of the historical, linguistic, and textual context.

The letters of Paul to the newly founded Christian community at Thessalonica hold a special place within the Christian tradition as possibly the earliest extant Christian writings. They are also of special interest not only for their theological value but for their sociological context. Among the communities established by Paul, the church at Thessalonica appears to have been the only one to have suffered serious external oppression. These two important epistles, then, speak uniquely to contemporary Christians living in a society often ideologically, if not politically, opposed to Christian faith. In this innovative commentary Charles A. Wanamaker incorporates what may be called a social science approach to the study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, taking into full account the social context that gave rise to Paul's correspondence. While Wanamaker in no way ignores traditional historical-critical, linguistic, literary, and theological approaches to writing a commentary-in fact, at several points he makes a significant contribution to the questions raised by traditional exegesis-at the same time he goes beyond previous commentaries on the Thessalonian correspondence by taking seriously the social dimensions both of Christianity at Thessalonica and of the texts of 1 and 2 Thessalonians themselves. In blending traditional exegetical methods with this newer approach, Wanamaker seeks to understand Pauline Christianity at Thessalonica as a socio-religious movement in the first-century Greco-Roman world and attempts to grasp the social character and functions of Paul's letters within this context. A significant and original addition to the literature on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, this commentary will be valuable to scholars, pastors, and students alike.

Paul's Epistle to the Colossians merits detailed study for at least two reasons. First, it provides an unexpectedly interesting window into the character of Christianity in Asia Minor in the second half of the first century. With the information it gives about the religious tensions within which emergent Christianity was caught up, not least those between Christianity and diaspora Judaism, we begin to gain more insight into the influences and factors that shaped the transition from apostolic to subapostolic Christianity in the region. Second, Colossians represents a crucial stage in the development of Pauline theology itself. Whether it was written at the end of Paul's life or soon after his death, it indicates how Pauline theology retained its own vital character and did not die with Paul. In this volume in the celebrated New International Greek Testament Commentary, James D. G. Dunn, author of numerous well-received works on the historical origin and theological interpretation of the New Testament, provides detailed expositions of the text of Paul's letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Dunn examines each of these letters within the context of the Jewish and Hellenistic cultures in the first century and discusses the place of Colossians and Philemon in the relationship between the Pauline mission and the early churches that received these letters. Particular stress is also placed on the role of faith in Jesus Christ within and over against Judaism and on the counsel of these two important letters with regard to the shaping of human relationships in the community of faith.

Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia was for many years a document of special interest and study for renowned New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce. This excellent volume in the New International Greek Testament Commentary series contains Bruce's mature work on that important early epistle. Through phrase-by-phrase exegesis of the Greek text, consistent awareness of the historical and geographical context, and balanced dialogue with scores of other scholars, Bruce successfully bridges the hermeneutical gap and makes the text of Galatians come alive for both scholars and students. Based on careful historical-critical-linguistic exegesis yet primarily theological in character, this commentary places special emphasis throughout on Paul's insistence on justification before God by faith apart from works of the law, and on Paul's presentation of the Spirit as the principle of the new life in Christ.