Reading James with New Eyes - (Library of New Testament Studies) by Robert L Webb & John S Kloppenborg (Hardcover)

About the Book

This is the first of four volumes looking at current methodological reassessments of the Letters of James, Peter, and Jude. Each volume is a collection of essays that examine the impact of recent methodological developments in NT studies to the letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude, including, for example, rhetorical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, ideological and hermeneutical methods, as they contribute to understanding these letters and their social contexts.

Book Synopsis

The letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude are among the most neglected letters of the New Testament. Thus, methodological advances in New Testament study tend to arise among the Gospels or Pauline letters. But now these letters are beginning to receive increased attention in the scholarly community.

Reading James With New Eyes is the first of four volumes that incorporate new research in this area. The essays collected here examine the impact of recent methodological developments in New Testament studies to the letter of James, including, for example, rhetorical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, ideological and hermeneutical methods, as they contribute to understanding James and its social context. Each essay has a similar three-fold structure, making them perfect for use by students: a description of the methodological approach; the application of the methodological approach to James; and a conclusion identifying how the methodological approach contributes to a fresh understanding of the letter.

Review Quotes

-Mention. The Chronicle of Higher Education/ July 13, 2007

-Mention. The Chronicle ofHigher Education/ July 13, 2007

Reviewed in International Review of Biblical Studies, 2007.

About the Author

Robert L. Webb lectures in the Religious Studies Department of McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. He is the executive editor of the "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus" (Sage) and of the monograph series "Library of Historical Jesus Studies" (a subset of LNTS, T&T Clark). He is the author of "John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study" (Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) and more recently the co-editor with Kathleen Corley of "Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels, and the Claims of History" (Continuum, 2004) and with John Kloppenborg of "Reading James with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of James" (T&T Clark, 2007). John S. Kloppenborg is Professor of Religion at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is well-known for his ground-breaking work on the Sayings Gospel Q. His most recent publication is "Excavating Q: The History and Setting of the Sayings Gospel." He is currently writing a commentary on James for the Hermeneia series.