Francis Watson Livres

The book presents a revised examination of Paul, addressing E.P. Sanders's perspectives and seeking to bridge the divide between "new" and "old" interpretations. It portrays Paul as a complex figure—both an agent and a theologian—whose understanding of Christian identity remains influential in the church today. The narrative highlights his role in establishing predominantly Gentile communities while maintaining a connection to Jewish scripture and tradition, emphasizing his multifaceted nature and resistance to simplistic categorization.

The book explores the detrimental effects of the isolation between biblical studies and systematic theology, positing that their separate development leads to a limited understanding of both the Old and New Testaments and systematic theology itself. Francis Watson advocates for an integrated approach, suggesting that collaboration among these disciplines can enrich their insights and improve the study of their shared subject matter.

A history of India, beginning in the 3rd millennium BC with the Indus Valley civilization and ending with the rise of modern India. It also looks at the pastoral nomads who established the Vedic religion, the Moghul incursions and the British influence.

The exploration of the four canonical gospels reveals that their differences offer rich opportunities for theological reflection rather than posing contradictions to faith. Francis Watson argues that the formation of these texts represents a pivotal moment in understanding early gospel literature and Jesus. The interplay among the gospels creates a complex textual entity, emphasizing their interconnectedness and transforming their meanings. Watson proposes a new paradigm for gospel studies that integrates noncanonical material to enhance the historical and theological significance of the canonical texts.

Exploring the intersection of gender and sexuality within a Christian framework, the book examines the relationship between eros (human love) and agape (divine love) as central to the New Testament. It aims to articulate a Christian perspective on male/female dynamics, emphasizing the supremacy of agape over eros. Key Pauline scriptures are analyzed alongside modern thinkers like Virginia Woolf, Freud, and Irigaray, highlighting the relevance of these themes across disciplines.

The narrative chronicles India's evolution from the ancient Indus Valley civilization through various invasions and the establishment of the Vedic tradition, which shaped its cultural and social structures, including caste and language. It highlights the impact of British colonial rule and India's emergence as a modern nation-state. The revised edition features a new chapter by Dilip Hiro, detailing developments from the 1980s to today, emphasizing India's unique blend of diversity and unity shaped by its geographical and historical complexities.

What role does the interpretation of Scripture play in theological construction? In Reading the Decree David Gibson examines the exegesis of election in John Calvin and Karl Barth, and considers the relationship between election and Christology in their thought. He argues that for both Calvin and Barth their doctrine of election and its exegetical moorings are christologically shaped, but in significantly different ways. Building on Richard A. Muller's conceptual distinction between Calvin's soteriological christocentrism and Barth's principial christocentrism, Gibson carefully explores their exegesis of the topics of Christ and election, and the election of Israel and the church. This distinction is then further developed by showing how it has a corresponding hermeneutical form: extensive christocentrism (Calvin) and intensive christocentrism (Barth). By focussing on the reception of biblical texts Reading the Decree draws attention to the neglected exegetical foundations of Calvin's doctrine of election, and makes a fresh contribution to current debates over election in Barth's thought. The result is a study which will be of interest to biblical scholars, as well as historical and systematic theologians alike.

This groundbreaking approach to the study of the fourfold gospel offers a challenging alternative to prevailing assumptions about the creation of the gospels and their portraits of Jesus. How and why does it matter that we have these four gospels? Why were they placed alongside one another as four parallel yet diverse retellings of the same story? Francis Watson, widely regarded as one of the foremost New Testament scholars of our time, explains that the four gospels were chosen to give a portrait of Jesus. He explores the significance of the fourfold gospel's plural form for those who constructed it and for later Christian communities, showing that in its plurality it bears definitive witness to what God has done in Jesus Christ. Watson focuses on reading the gospels as a group rather than in isolation and explains that the fourfold gospel is greater than, and other than, the sum of its individual parts. Interweaving historical, exegetical, and theological perspectives, this book is accessibly written for students and pastors but is also of interest to professors and scholars.

"A collection of essays, new and old, from noted biblical scholar Francis Watson on viewing early gospel literature as a unified genre that transcends conventional categories of canonical, noncanonical, and heretical"-- Provided by publisher

This book is intended for scholars and students of the New Testament and early Christianity, and highlights the significance of an early gospel-like text that has been neglected owing to the inadequacy of previous translations. A new translation is provided, and links with other early Christian literature are explored.