Books by Brad Bitner
This volume examines 1 Corinthians 1-4 within first-century politics, demonstrating the significa... more This volume examines 1 Corinthians 1-4 within first-century politics, demonstrating the significance of Corinth's constitution to the interpretation of Paul's letter. Bradley J. Bitner shows that Paul carefully considered the Roman colonial context of Corinth, which underlay numerous ecclesial conflicts. Roman politics, however, cannot account for the entire shape of Paul's response. Bridging the Hellenism-Judaism divide that has characterised much of Pauline scholarship, Bitner argues that Paul also appropriated Jewish-biblical notions of covenant. Epigraphical and papyrological evidence indicates that his chosen content and manner are best understood with reference to an ecclesial politeia informed by a distinctively Christ-centred political theology. This emerges as a 'politics of thanksgiving' in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and as a 'politics of construction' in 3:5-4:5, where Paul redirects gratitude and glory to God in Christ. This innovative account of Paul's political theology offers fresh insight into his pastoral strategy among nascent Gentile-Jewish assemblies.
Papers by Brad Bitner
Reformed Theological Review, 2023
This article considers the contribution of 1 Corinthians to debates about the nature of πίστις in... more This article considers the contribution of 1 Corinthians to debates about the nature of πίστις in Paul. In conversation with studies of 1 Corinthians that argue for relational, participatory, and communal constructions of πίστις, this article engages in a close exegesis of key passages of the epistle to highlight receiving, boasting, and discerning as important and salient features of faith.
God's Grace Inscribed on the Human Heart: Essays in Honour of James R. Harrison, 2022
Paul is an apostle of grace and of glory. Yet his ministry was marked by opposition, suffering, a... more Paul is an apostle of grace and of glory. Yet his ministry was marked by opposition, suffering, and fragility. In 2 Corinthians 4:15-16 Paul takes courage because he perceives the tangible effects of his Christgospel among the Corinthians. Gratitude in the growing community is the nexus binding gift and glory. Graeco-Roman and Jewish forms of gratitude, and especially the text of 1 and 2 Corinthians, show that these acts of gratitude consisted in sung hymns, prayers, and monetary gifts. Such forms of gratitude were themselves glorifying to God. And they were, for Paul, manifestations of the new creational transformation wrought in and among the Corinthian believers.
Themelios, 2021
Gerhardus Vos’s lesser-known first inaugural address (1888) entailed a theological vision. Its su... more Gerhardus Vos’s lesser-known first inaugural address (1888) entailed a theological vision. Its subject was not biblical theology, but theological method and theological education for Reformed ministry. Vos first identifies cultural, theological, and curricular challenges to the kind of theological formation he thinks students need. Then he exemplifies the kind of confessional framework, theological patterns of thinking, and historical humility that he envisions as necessary for ministry that bears lasting, robust gospel fruit for the church. Vos’s vision provokes us to reconsider the shape and aims of contemporary theological education as well as the relationship between systematic and biblical theology in his theological method.
The First Urban Churches, Vol. 3: Ephesos, 2018
Keter Shem Tov: Essays on the Dead Sea Scrolls in Memory of Alan Crown , 2013
First Urban Churches, Vol 2: Roman Corinth, 2016
The First Urban Churches, Vol. 1: Methodology, 2015
Ancient Documents and their Contexts, 2015
Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 2014
In appealing a decision of a previous provincial governor, the city of Chios was able to exploit ... more In appealing a decision of a previous provincial governor, the city of Chios was able to exploit the existing documentary record and Roman respect for early precedents and persuade the new governor to overturn his predecessor’s finding.
New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, vol. 10, 2012
Book Reviews by Brad Bitner
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
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Books by Brad Bitner
Papers by Brad Bitner
Book Reviews by Brad Bitner