Books by James F McGrath
Cutting through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic Bible passages, McGrath opens u... more Cutting through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic Bible passages, McGrath opens up expert knowledge to laypeople in his friendly introduction to New Testament studies. Each chapter in this fresh, accessible volume begins with a provocative anecdote or fact and then pulls back the curtain to inform curious readers about how scholars approach the issue. Along the way, McGrath explains unfamiliar terminology and methodology to nonspecialists with humor and clarity.
The Mandaean Book of John Critical Edition, Translation, and Commentary, 2020
This is an Open Access Version. The full version includes a critical apparatus, scholarly footnot... more This is an Open Access Version. The full version includes a critical apparatus, scholarly footnotes, and a full commentary.
Given the degree of popular fascination with Gnostic religions, it is surprising how few pay attention to the one such religion that has survived from antiquity until the present day: Mandaism. Mandaeans, who esteem John the Baptist as the most famous adherent to their religion, have in our time found themselves driven from their historic homelands by war and oppression. Today, they are a community in crisis, but they provide us with unparalleled access to a library of ancient Gnostic scriptures, as part of the living tradition that has sustained them across the centuries. Gnostic texts such as these have caught popular interest in recent times, as traditional assumptions about the original forms and cultural contexts of related religious traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have been called into question. However, we can learn only so much from texts in isolation from their own contexts. Mandaean literature uniquely allows us not only to increase our knowledge about Gnosticism, and by extension all these other religions, but also to observe the relationship between Gnostic texts, rituals, beliefs, and living practices, both historically and in the present day.
Monotheism, the idea that there is only one true God, is a powerful religious concept that was sh... more Monotheism, the idea that there is only one true God, is a powerful religious concept that was shaped by competing ideas and the problems they raised. Surveying New Testament writings and Jewish sources from before and after the rise of Christianity, James F. McGrath argues that even the most developed Christologies in the New Testament fit within the context of first century Jewish "monotheism." In doing so, he pinpoints more precisely when the parting of ways took place over the issue of God's oneness, and he explores philosophical ideas such as "creation out of nothing," which caused Jews and Christians to develop differing concepts and definitions about God.
James McGrath offers a convincing explanation of how and why John arrived at a christological por... more James McGrath offers a convincing explanation of how and why John arrived at a christological portrait of Jesus that is so different from that of other New Testament authors, and yet at the same time clearly has its roots in earlier tradition. McGrath suggests that as the author of the Fourth Gospel sought to defend his beliefs about Jesus against the objections brought by opponents, he developed and drew out further implications from the beliefs he inherited. The book studies this process using insights from the field of sociology.
Papers by James F McGrath
Inexact quotations are a common phenomenon in Biblical intertextuality, and some suspected allusi... more Inexact quotations are a common phenomenon in Biblical intertextuality, and some suspected allusions are so fleeting and/or imprecise as to leave interpreters wondering whether an allusion was intended or not. But in at least one instance, Matthew 2:23, we have a reference to something unspecified prophets are supposed to have said, namely that “He shall be called a Nazorean,” which may not in fact have any intertext at all.
This digital copy is based on the paper “Intertextuality without an Intertext? Musings on Matthew and Method” presented in the Intertextuality in the New Testament consultation at the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting in Atlanta, November 22nd, 2010.
Articles by James F McGrath
The moral and ethical challenges of living in community pertain not only to the intersection of h... more The moral and ethical challenges of living in community pertain not only to the intersection of human beings one with another, but also our interactions with our machine creations. This article explores the philosophical and theological framework for reasoning and decision-making through the lens of science fiction, religion, and artificial intelligence (both real and imagined). In comparing the programming of autonomous machines with human ethical deliberation, we discover that both depend on a concrete ordering of priorities derived from a clearly defined value system.
Despite the extensive attention that has been given to Philippians 2:6-11 in relation to its Chri... more Despite the extensive attention that has been given to Philippians 2:6-11 in relation to its Christology, the possibility that v8 alludes to the story about Jesus in Gethsemane has received only cursory mention when it has been considered at all. Philippians 2:8 and the Gospel tradition converge in depicting Jesus choosing to be obedient to God even to the point of death, in the absence of an interpretation of that death as itself salvific The historical allusion, offered in the midst of a heavily theologized Christological statement, offers an excellent test case for an approach to history which accepts that fact and interpretation are inseparable, and yet still proceeds under the conviction that critical historiography remains possible.
It is unclear whether there is anything of historical usefulness that can be gleaned from the det... more It is unclear whether there is anything of historical usefulness that can be gleaned from the details of the depictions of figures such as John the Baptist, Miriai, and Jesus in the Mandaean Book of John. This does not mean, however, that the text cannot provide useful information about the history of the Mandaeans, and of their interactions with other religious communities. By analyzing the evidence for redaction in certain key sections, and by distinguishing between core elements and peripheral additions to the stories recorded in it, it is possible to draw conclusions about the tradition history of the material, which provides evidence of a chronological development in the focuses of its polemic. In so doing, it will be shown that the Mandaean Book of John reflects a tradition which originates within a Jewish context, with either a tangential or chronologically later interest in Christianity, and only later still does an interest in interacting with Islam become a focus.
Published in ARAM Periodical 2013, Volume 25, pp.375-382.
"Monotheism" entry in the reference work Vocabulary for the Study of Religion.
This article was originally published in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics, edited ... more This article was originally published in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics, edited by Robert L. Brawley, 2014, pages 57-64. Published by Oxford University Press, all rights reserved.
Since the publication of J. Louis Martyn's Decisive Study, History and Theology in the in the Fou... more Since the publication of J. Louis Martyn's Decisive Study, History and Theology in the in the Fourth Gospel (1979), there has been a growing consensus among Johannine scholars that the Gospel of John was composed in the context of conflict with the synagogue, and that it is thus best understood and interpreted against the background of Judaism and Jewish Christianity'. However, several recent studies have sought to challenge this position, primarily on two fronts: Johannine Christology (Casey 1991 :23-38) and the Johannine attitude towards the Torah (Schnelle 1992:31-36). These recent challenges to the growing consensus have also pointed to the Johannine attitude toward 'the Jews' as corroborating evidence to support their case.
The purpose of this paper is to review different models of development which have been suggested,... more The purpose of this paper is to review different models of development which have been suggested, and to suggest a way out of the impasse between the two major views which have predominated this field of study.
This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies tha... more This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies that place Jesus into the social category of an illegitimate child. After surveying the evidence with respect to the situation of such individuals in first century Mediterranean and Jewish society, we shall proceed to examine whether Jesus' implied social status (as evidenced by accounts of his adult social interactions) coheres with what one would expect in the case of someone who bore the stigma of that status. Our study suggests that the scandal caused by Jesus' association with the marginalized clearly implies that he did not himself fall into that category.
A solution to the difficult question of how to interpret John 5.18 appeared to have been provided... more A solution to the difficult question of how to interpret John 5.18 appeared to have been provided with the publication of Hugo Odeberg's monumental work, The Fourth Gospel, published in 1929. Odeberg cited a rabbinic expression which characterized a rebellious son as one who 'makes himself equal with his father, and thus suggested that 'the Jews' are here making a similar accusation: they regard Jesus as rebelling against the divine authority. Subsequent scholarship for a long time cited Odeberg as a definitive demonstration of the background and meaning of John 5.18, and thus of the entire passage.
This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies tha... more This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies that place Jesus into the social category of an illegitimate child. After surveying the evidence with respect to the situation of such individuals in first century Mediterranean and Jewish society, we shall proceed to examine whether Jesus' implied social status (as evidenced by accounts of his adult social interactions) coheres with what one would expect in the case of someone who bore the stigma of that status. Our study suggests that the scandal caused by Jesus' association with the marginalized clearly implies that he did not himself fall into that category.
Uploads
Books by James F McGrath
Given the degree of popular fascination with Gnostic religions, it is surprising how few pay attention to the one such religion that has survived from antiquity until the present day: Mandaism. Mandaeans, who esteem John the Baptist as the most famous adherent to their religion, have in our time found themselves driven from their historic homelands by war and oppression. Today, they are a community in crisis, but they provide us with unparalleled access to a library of ancient Gnostic scriptures, as part of the living tradition that has sustained them across the centuries. Gnostic texts such as these have caught popular interest in recent times, as traditional assumptions about the original forms and cultural contexts of related religious traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have been called into question. However, we can learn only so much from texts in isolation from their own contexts. Mandaean literature uniquely allows us not only to increase our knowledge about Gnosticism, and by extension all these other religions, but also to observe the relationship between Gnostic texts, rituals, beliefs, and living practices, both historically and in the present day.
Papers by James F McGrath
This digital copy is based on the paper “Intertextuality without an Intertext? Musings on Matthew and Method” presented in the Intertextuality in the New Testament consultation at the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting in Atlanta, November 22nd, 2010.
Articles by James F McGrath
Published in ARAM Periodical 2013, Volume 25, pp.375-382.
Given the degree of popular fascination with Gnostic religions, it is surprising how few pay attention to the one such religion that has survived from antiquity until the present day: Mandaism. Mandaeans, who esteem John the Baptist as the most famous adherent to their religion, have in our time found themselves driven from their historic homelands by war and oppression. Today, they are a community in crisis, but they provide us with unparalleled access to a library of ancient Gnostic scriptures, as part of the living tradition that has sustained them across the centuries. Gnostic texts such as these have caught popular interest in recent times, as traditional assumptions about the original forms and cultural contexts of related religious traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have been called into question. However, we can learn only so much from texts in isolation from their own contexts. Mandaean literature uniquely allows us not only to increase our knowledge about Gnosticism, and by extension all these other religions, but also to observe the relationship between Gnostic texts, rituals, beliefs, and living practices, both historically and in the present day.
This digital copy is based on the paper “Intertextuality without an Intertext? Musings on Matthew and Method” presented in the Intertextuality in the New Testament consultation at the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting in Atlanta, November 22nd, 2010.
Published in ARAM Periodical 2013, Volume 25, pp.375-382.