Ritual Purity

Статья посвящена истории участия старообрядцев в Великой Отечественной вой не и освящает малоизученный вопрос -дезертирство по религиозным мотивам. Статья написана на материалах полевых исследований, проведенных участниками экспедиции Архива РАН и Археографической лаборатории Исторического факультета МГУ им. М. В. Ломоносова среди старообрядцев-беспоповцев в поселке Килинск. Источниковой базой послужили аудиозаписи интервью, собранных в ходе полевых исследований в 2003-2015 гг., фокусирующихся на изучении повседневной религиозности. В статье анализируется случай Митрофана Кондратьевича Козлова -строгого наставника общины старообрядцев-беспоповцев часовенного согласия из Кемеровской области. Всю свою жизнь и жизнь своей семьи Митрофан Кондратьевич выстраивал в соответствии с собственным пониманием христианских правил и строгих запретов. Ключевые слова: Митрофан Кондратьевич Козлов, старообрядцы-беспоповцы, часовенное согласие, биография. Отношения и деятельность: не оказывают влияния на представленный материал.

This article proposes that Christianity has overlooked a central element of Jesus' ethical teaching: a new commandment that surpasses both the Shema and the traditional love commandment. Drawing on biblical exegesis, historical developments in early Christianity, and a philosophical interpretation of altruism, the article argues that Jesus intended to introduce a higher moral law-to love one's neighbour more than oneself. This commandment, the author suggests, was revealed not verbally but through enacted demonstration culminating in the crucifixion, and later recognized by the disciples during Shavuot. The article further contends that the institutional church abandoned this commandment early in its history, necessitating a new global reformation grounded in radical altruism, domestic liturgy, and a renewed understanding of the Holy Spirit as a "holy thought.

This is an English translation of a Czech paper originally published as a chapter in Od Mojžíše k novému Jeruzalému (2021).

The text parallels between Mk and GTh are obvious at first glance. The shared vocabulary of both Gospels is often called tradition-historical baggage by researchers, which supposedly reflects Thomas’ knowledge of the Markan (or more generally Synoptic) tradition. These frequent verbatim agreements can nonetheless be often explained from a different perspective. Such a divergent view is offered in the article: In Thomas’ presentation of some Gospel materials it is possible—with the help of other witnesses—to discover a pre-Markan source completely independent of Synoptics. The reconstruction of such a source is only possible to a certain degree due to all textual witnesses always being influenced by the author’s theological intention. This can be well observed in the multi-layered history of GTh redaction: beside the testimony of the old source, we can also hear the Markan-Pauline and specifically Thomasine traditions in the analysed logia.

This article explores the exceptional character of the law on the suspected adulteress (śôṭâ) within its literary context, the Pentateuchal Priestly History (P). Taking seriously the law’s self-presentation as divine speech, and analyzing it in light of P’s far-reaching commitment to Yahweh’s sovereignty, it provides a new and comprehensive understanding of the text at Num. 5:11–31. The article argues that the law’s outstanding features stem from Yahweh’s treatment of the suspected adulteress as a sovereign threat. In order to neutralize that threat, Yahweh puts in place a unique procedure where he (1) claims jurisdiction over the alleged criminal; (2) stages a choreographed confrontation between himself and the śôṭâ; and (3) stigmatizes the proven adulteress by inflicting on her a peculiar illness (dropsy) that symbolizes her crime and confirms her status as sovereign enemy. That Yahweh goes to such lengths to restrain, subdue, and reinscribe the suspected adulteress into the social order is a product of P’s radical take on the Near Eastern idea of the monarch as true possessor of knowledge and guardian of the patriarchal order.

This document is a practical conversion lexicon, not a fully collated diplomatic concordance of every word in every printed witness of Mendelssohn's Torah translation. The online witnesses available for this workflow confirm the two-script tradition of Mendelssohn's Torah translation and supply partial OCR/transcription evidence, but they do not provide a complete, clean, machine-actionable OCR corpus for the whole Pentateuch. Therefore the 10,000 entries below are selected as frequent German word forms using the wordfreq German frequency list and are rendered into Hebrew letters by the Mendelssohn-style Latin-to-Hebrew conversion rules developed in the preceding documents. The most common Torah/German function words are additionally covered by lexical overrides from the earlier Mendelssohn-style comparison work.

Destro-Pesce, Acts of the Apostles. Greek text, translation, and commentary, Venice, Marsilio 2026, 840 pp. In reading the Acts of the Apostles-which later Christianity regards as a foundational text-we adopted the method we have used in the past for early Christian writings. We interwove two perspectives: historical analysis, which lets us ground our work in concrete events and phenomena, and socio-anthropological analysis and the history of comparative religions (integrated with Roman legal history and ancient philosophy). This clarified that the phenomena appearing in Acts (e.g., prayer, fasting, sacrifice, exorcism, miraculous events) are not distinctive peculiarities of Judaism or of Christian origins, but also appear (in somewhat different forms) in the religions of the time and across multiple cultures. We are aware that we live in a momentous historical turning point in which religions are being questioned-often from within-by a series of radical questions about their very foundations. In this "new era of history," 1 phenomena are analyzed in their epistemic bases and in their components formed in the past to answer issues that no longer exist. Accordingly, our examination of Acts was guided by a set of questions: (a) What type of human being are the principal characters in Acts, and what is the type of their religious experience and social practice? It is a type of person who creates aggregation (AdA, 17) and seeks a supernatural impulse or intervention. From closeness to the divine realm, this type of person expects to acquire the capacity to perform wonders and signs, healings, expulsions of evil or impure spirits. Prayer is the instrument for contacting the supernatural and obtaining the power that enables the production of portents and signs (AdA,(35)(36). The most characteristic occupations of adherents to the movement are crafts and trade. (b) The kind of social aggregation on which the post-Jesus movement was based is that of the voluntary association.

Destro-Pesce, Acts of the Apostles. Greek text, translation, and commentary, Venice, Marsilio 2026, 840 pp. In reading the Acts of the Apostles-which later Christianity regards as a foundational text-we adopted the method we have used in the past for early Christian writings. We interwove two perspectives: historical analysis, which lets us ground our work in concrete events and phenomena, and socio-anthropological analysis and the history of comparative religions (integrated with Roman legal history and ancient philosophy). This clarified that the phenomena appearing in Acts (e.g., prayer, fasting, sacrifice, exorcism, miraculous events) are not distinctive peculiarities of Judaism or of Christian origins, but also appear (in somewhat different forms) in the religions of the time and across multiple cultures. We are aware that we live in a momentous historical turning point in which religions are being questioned-often from within-by a series of radical questions about their very foundations. In this "new era of history," 1 phenomena are analyzed in their epistemic bases and in their components formed in the past to answer issues that no longer exist. Accordingly, our examination of Acts was guided by a set of questions: (a) What type of human being are the principal characters in Acts, and what is the type of their religious experience and social practice? It is a type of person who creates aggregation (AdA, 17) and seeks a supernatural impulse or intervention. From closeness to the divine realm, this type of person expects to acquire the capacity to perform wonders and signs, healings, expulsions of evil or impure spirits. Prayer is the instrument for contacting the supernatural and obtaining the power that enables the production of portents and signs (AdA,(35)(36). The most characteristic occupations of adherents to the movement are crafts and trade. (b) The kind of social aggregation on which the post-Jesus movement was based is that of the voluntary association.

The relationship between the perception of human body and the understanding of freedom was a contentious issue in early Christian churches. This paper examines Paul's reframing of freedom from the lens of the body in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Through a three-tiered methodology-social-historical analysis, rhetorical analysis, and exegetical study of the Corinthian texts-this paper first reconstructs the Corinthians' theology of body and traces its intellectual roots in the dualistic view of body in Stoicism and the similar dualistic traits manifested in Proto-Gnosticism. I argue that Paul, using the rhetoric of diatribe, challenges this dualistic and individualistic view of body, rejecting its disembodied moral implications and articulating instead a holistic and communal vision of freedom grounded in the embodied participation within the body of Christ. Finally, by engaging in a dialogue between Paul's reframing of freedom and the Confucian concept of freedom, this paper proposes a constructive hermeneutical bridge for interpreting Pauline concept of freedom in Chinese cultural contexts.

Rick Howard’s Paul’s Friends and Co-Workers List by Name with Added Comments and Scriptures presents a comprehensive prosopographical study of the individuals associated with the Apostle Paul throughout his epistles and the Book of Acts. The document systematically catalogs more than ninety companions, converts, ministers, supporters, opponents, and fellow laborers connected to Paul’s missionary efforts, while providing exegetical commentary, historical observations, and theological reflections concerning their roles within early Christianity.

The study emphasizes the relational and collaborative nature of Pauline ministry, demonstrating that the spread of early Christianity depended not merely upon apostolic leadership, but upon a broad network of men and women who contributed through hospitality, teaching, financial support, evangelism, pastoral care, sacrificial service, and personal loyalty. Special attention is given to prominent ministry teams such as Priscilla and Aquila, faithful associates such as Timothy, Titus, and Luke, and influential women including Phoebe, Lydia, and Euodia and Syntyche. The paper also highlights examples of doctrinal failure and apostasy, particularly through discussions of figures such as Demas, Hymenaeus, and Alexander the Coppersmith.

Howard’s analysis further situates these individuals within the geographical and ecclesiastical expansion of the early church, tracing connections between Jerusalem, Antioch, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and other strategic centers of apostolic activity. Through harmonization of Pauline references with Acts narratives, the work reconstructs patterns of missionary cooperation, church planting, persecution, discipleship, and doctrinal development in the first-century Christian movement.

Ultimately, the document functions as both a biblical reference resource and a theological reflection on Christian fellowship, illustrating the indispensable role of faithful coworkers in advancing the gospel and preserving doctrinal integrity within the apostolic era.

Thorsten Dietz / Tobias Faix. 2025. Transformative Ethik. Wege zum Leben. Eine Sexualethik zum Selberdenken. Band 2.2: IST - »Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Trans-formation«, hg. Sabrina Müller, Sandra Bils, Tobias Künkler, Thorsten Dietz, Tobias Faix. Neukirchener Verlag.

Gdy Slavoj Z iz ek (2004, s. 501) pisał o "traumatyzujących, heteronomicznych i kontyngentnych" (Z iz ek 2004, s. 501) prawach z ydowskich, sprzecznych z "organiczną samowiedzą i samourzeczywistnieniem" człowieka, najpewniej nie zdawał sobie sprawy z tego, z e w judaizmie eschatologia splata się integralnie z witalizmem. Znaczna częs c halachy, kto rej w Talmudzie odpowiada Traktat Nidda, odnosi się tutaj do z ywotnos ci, zdrowia (takz e reprodukcyjnego), profilaktyki, higieny i dietetyki, wreszcie długowiecznos ci. Promuje ona wzrost jakos ci z ycia jako integralnej całos ci, kto ra obejmuje tez jego kondycję biologiczną. Ludzkie z ycie toczy się takz e na poziomie wegetatywnym i, jako takie, wspo łtworzy bioeschatologiczną toz samos c człowieka, mimo, z e natura sama przez się nie uosabia jeszcze wartos ci najwyz szej eschatologicznej (s więtos ci). Toz samos c ta posiada trzy wymiary: indywidualny, międzypokoleniowy i wspo lnotowy. Trwanie i budowanie własnej toz samos ci przez jednostkę i wspo lnotę wiąz e się najs cis lej z przywilejem wybran stwa. W imię tej mesjanistycznej samowiedzy od najdawniejszych czaso w rygorystyczne przestrzegano praw, w tym kontrowersyjnej Niddy (Hogeterp 2008), kto rej wykładnię aktualizowano zgodnie z rozwojem ludzkiej wiedzy (Popovic 2005). Aby powiązac mesjanizm i etyczny rygoryzm z nauką, do formacji rabinicznej bardzo wczes nie włączano regularne studia naukowe, medyczne, biologiczne itd. Dzisiejszy judaizm, obejmujący liczne formacje konserwatywne i liberalneale takz e ultraortodoksyjne sekty chasydzkie -nie będzie tutaj omawiany, albowiem nie do niego odnosił się spreparowany w połowie XIX w. mit i kontrmit "rasy", kto ra jakoby od tysiącleci stosowała eugeniczne 'techniki siebie', pragnąc zdominowac rodzaj ludzki. Około połowy XIX w. w Europie (a po z niej takz e w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki) scholastyczna antropologia ze swoim prymatem 1 Artykuł powstał w ramach grantu NCN Opus 9 nr 2015/17/B/HS1/02381 pt. "Ewolucja jaźni: przyczynek do rewizji posthumanizmu". Autorka składa podziękowania Narodowemu Centrum Nauki za wsparcie prowadzonych przez nią badań. Abyście się wzmacniali i przedłużali życie na ziemi. Eschatologia doskonałości, rygory Nidda… 104 ducha nad ciałem ustępować poczęła bardziej naturalistycznej wizji człowieka w miarę rozwoju nauk biologicznych, medycznych i eksperymentalnych, zwłaszcza tak rozległych doktryn, jak teoria ewolucji, teoria dziedziczności, bakteriologia i epidemiologia, serologia itd. Wiedzę o funkcjonowaniu i potencjonowaniu żywego organizmu szybko przekuwano na zalecenia profilaktyczne, higieniczne, prozdrowotne, i dietetyczne, promujące długowieczność i przekazywanie życia w jak najlepszej kondycji. Jednocześnie powszechna obecność oświeconej diaspory, która za sprawą asymilacji porzucała getta i angażowała się w działalność naukowobadawczą, sprzyjała wglądowi w żydowskie reguły życia. Europejskim naukowcom wydały się one uderzająco racjonalne i celowe, do tego stopnia, że dostrzegano w nich zgoła antycypację wiedzy i praktyki, jaką europejskie towarzystwa higieniczne dopiero definiowały i instytucjonalizowały. W umysłach zaskakująco wielu nieżydowskich naukowców zaświtało oto podejrzenie, że owe rytualne i skrzętnie skrywane przed światem zabiegi, praktyki i techniki służą wzmacnianiu tożsamości "ludu Izraela" w rozumieniu rasy semickiej w imię wspomnianej już dominacji. Interesowano się zwłaszcza zaleceniami dotyczącymi zdrowia reprodukcyjnego, dzietności żydowskich par i zdrowotności ich potomstwa. W świetle statusu wybraństwa, który w myśl "mitologii hebraistycznej" (Derrida 1985, s. 297) nie przysługuje żadnemu innemu ludowi, okoliczności te wzbudzały wśród Europejczyków niepokój. Korzenie nowożytnej teorii ras sięgają pionierskich taksonomii stworzonych przez Berniera (ur. 1620), Buffona (ur. 1707) i współczesnego mu Karla Linneusza. Dzieło Systema naturae per regna tria naturae. Secundum: classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, sinonimis, locis wyróżnia cztery rasy homo sapiens, odwołując się do kryteriów kosmograficznych i morfologicznych, w tym przede wszystkim do odcienia ludzkiej skóry: Europaeus albus, Americanus rubescus, Asiaticus luridus i Afer niger. Oddzielny katalog ras przedstawił Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (ur. 1752) w De generis humani varietate nativa (1775). Obejmował on pięć ras, wyodrębnionych na podstawie analogicznych kryteriów: kaukaską, mongolską, etiopską, malajską i amerykańską (Buffon i inni wymieniali ich jeszcze więcej). U żadnego z tych badaczy nie pojawia się rasa "semicka", które to określenie wiąże się etymologicznie z imieniem biblijnego Sema, najstarszego z synów Noego. Słowo "semicki" pojawia się w użyciu ok. 1770 r. za sprawą getyńskiej szkoły historycznej. W owym czasie Żydów zaliczano do ludów kaukaskich lub Ariów; wszelako, od osiadłych Ariów miała ich różnić nomadyczność, dowodził w 1887 r. -w historycznym apogeum mitu rasy semickiej -Adolf Wahrmund (Das Gesetz des Nomadenthums und die heutige Judenherrschaft). Pionierzy biologicznej teorii ras nie podważali jedności rodzaju ludzkiego; uczynił to dopiero Joseph-Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882) 2 . Przed

Mishneh Torah (מִשְׁנֵה תוֹרָה), also known as Sefer Yad HaChazaka (ספר יד החזקה), is a monumental work of Jewish law authored by the medieval rabbi, philosopher, and physician, Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides. Completed in 1178, the Mishneh Torah is a comprehensive code of Jewish law, halakah (הֲלָכָה), which aims to cover all aspects of Jewish life. The structure of the Mishneh Torah is highly organised, consisting of fourteen books subdivided into sections and chapters, although this paper provides a summary without diving into chapter divisions.

La literatura fantástica expresa al monstruo y lo monstruoso no solo como figura sino como modo de construcción de un relato. En este sentido, el relato fantástico construye al monstruo mediante un tipo de relato y de articulación interna que llamamos intertextualidad fantástica. Así las cosas, el artículo estudia la relación entre el concepto de relato e intertextualidad y su aplicación en narrativas míticas como las de la figura del mesías, un salvador o liberador futuro durante el periodo del segundo Templo. La figura del mesías que asciende desde el abismo es una figura monstruosa y que se inscribe en el registro de la época del fin del mundo. En otras palabras, el articulo estudia la relación entre relato y el uso de una intertextualidad fantástica caracterizada por el uso de escritos fragmentarios e incoherentes de escritos de una época pasada para construir un futuro fantástico.

That a man should not lose his male supremacy in a patriarchal social order by not dressing like an ordinary woman is a plausible interpretation of the biblical ban on cross-dressing under the postulate of a hierarchical gender relationship to the disadvantage of women. However, Deuteronomy 22:5 does not mention a man’s wish to wear women’s clothing for his own pleasure or to arouse the sexual desires of other men. A woman should perhaps not wear a man’s weapons, lest she take the place of a male warrior. The Babylonian Talmud Nazir 59a and Rashi do not prohibit cross-dressing per se. Neither the biblical verse Deut. 22:5 nor such rabbinical interpretations have any particular relevance for today’s queer people.
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Dass ein Mann in einer patriarchalen Gesellschaftsordnung seine männliche Vorrangstellung nicht verlieren soll, indem er sich nicht wie eine gewöhnliche Frau anzieht, ist eine plausible Interpretation des biblischen Crossdressingverbots unter dem Postulat eines hierarchischen Geschlechterverhältnisses zu Ungunsten von Frauen. Vom Wunsch eines Manns, Frauenkleider zum eigenen Lustgewinn oder zwecks Erweckung von Begierden anderer Männer tragen zu wollen, ist in Deuteronomium 22,5 jedoch nicht die Rede. Eine Frau sollte möglicherweise nicht die Waffen eines Manns tragen, sodass sie nicht den Rang eines männlichen Kriegers einnimmt. Der babylonische Talmud Nazir 59a und Raschi verbieten Crossdressing an sich nicht. Weder der Bibelvers Dtn 22,5 noch solche rabbinischen Auslegungen haben eine besondere Relevanz für heutige queere Personen.

The Urantia Book claims to be a divine revelation and that it's historical information would stand the test of time. I tested that claim by randomly pulling all the historical facts in 8 consecutive papers in Part IV of the book. There were 46 claims all of which scholars considered wrong in 1955 when The Urantia Book was published but which were later found to be correct as a result of archeological excavations and modern research into obscure ancient texts. How can this be explained?

Je remercie vivement Pierluigi Piovanelli ainsi que Katell Berthelot pour les encouragements qu' ils m' ont prodigués dans ce travail. Depuis quelques décennies, la nécessité d' étudier les textes bibliques et l' histoire ancienne des Israélites et Judéens1 au prisme des échanges culturels qu' ils ont entretenus avec les cultures voisines est largement reconnue. L' intitulé de la chaire « Milieux bibliques » du Collège de France, créée en 2007, a consacré cette orientation de la recherche. Dans ce tableau d' ensemble, les contacts entre les textes judéens de l' époque hellénistique et la culture grecque représentent une double singularité. D' une part, ces contacts représentent, du point de vue de la confrontation entre les colons hellénistiques et les peuples conquis par l' expédition d' Alexandre, la « rencontre » dont les implications culturelles nous sont le mieux documentées. Un des indicateurs de cette singularité, c' est que les termes hellenismos et ioudaismos sont tous deux apparus dans un texte judéen de l' époque hellénistique, le Second livre des Maccabées2. Alors 1 En-dehors de certaines citations en français, nous préférons employer l' adjectif « judéen, judéenne », plutôt que « juif, juive », et ainsi pour les noms correspondants. Le terme « judéen » nous semble plus proche du grec et nous semble mieux refléter la dimension d' abord ethnique de l' identité du groupe de personnes appelées Ioudaioi, identité dont la dimension religieuse n' était pas pour autant absente, alors que le terme « juif » a en français une connotation surtout religieuse qui nous semble légèrement anachronique dans le contexte de l' époque du Second temple. Nous renvoyons sur ce point à l' exposé de synthèse de S. C. Mimouni (2012, p. 22-24). DHA, supplément 29, 2025 -CC-BY un pas supplémentaire pour résorber une opposition qui apparaissait désormais comme artificielle ; ce sera le dernier développement de notre contribution. I-La fixation de l' opposition entre judaïsme et hellénisme 1-Droysen et l' hellénisme comme rencontre entre la Grèce et l' Orient En 1833, un jeune historien prussien de vingt-cinq ans, Johann Gustav Droysen, publie une Histoire d' Alexandre le Grand de Macédoine, conçue comme « travail préparatoire » à un plus vaste projet d' « histoire de l' hellénisme ». L' originalité de J. Droysen est d' avoir donné pour signification à ce terme l' influence reçue par toutes les populations conquises par Alexandre 4 . On lit ainsi, dans l' édition remaniée de l' Alexandre : Le nom d' Alexandre marque dans l' histoire du monde la fin d' une époque et le début d' une ère nouvelle. Les combats livrés durant deux siècles par les Hellènes contre les Perses, la première grande lutte entre l' Orient et l' Occident que connaisse l' histoire, Alexandre y met fin par l' anéantissement de l' empire des Perses, par la conquête poussée jusqu' au désert africain et au-delà de l' Iaxarte et de l' Indus, par l' extension de la domination et de la civilisation grecques sur les peuples qui ont épuisé leur culture, par le commencement de l' hellénisme. L' histoire ne connaît pas d' autre événement d' une nature aussi surprenante 5 . La définition de l' hellénisme dépend de plusieurs hypothèses générales. Droysen postule une différence essentielle entre Orient et Occident (ce dernier étant en fait exclusivement représenté par la Grèce), différence qui a donné lieu à une série de conflits. L' hellénisme représente le moment de la rencontre entre ces deux forces, qui entraîne 4 Sur l' existence de semblables thèses dès avant l' oeuvre de Droysen, voir Bichler 1983, p. 110-124. En français, l' adjectif « hellénistique » était employé pour désigner la langue de la Septante (références chez Préaux 1978, p. 5).

In this paper I identify Mary the Mother of Jesus and Judas Iscariot as siblings – children of High Priest Simon ‘Cantheras’ Boethus. I explain the term Cantheras and both why it was used and why some Jews corrupted it to Pantheras, thereby explaining calumnies aimed at Mary.

I identify Simon the Leper as their full brother Simon and Lazarus as their half-brother. I go on to propose that Judas Iscariot was in fact murdered.

Luke 17:11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 But Jesus responded and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they? 18 " 1 Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this

Financial assistance from the NRF to attend the meeting is gratefully acknowledged. Paul's concern with identity, and in particular the identity of the believer in relation to Jesus Christ, is an important concern in his writings. In the midst of an important section dedicated to advice and instruction on marriage in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul encouraged his audience in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 to remain in the calling by, or position in, which they were called. Concerning these circumstances he refers to circumcision (1 Cor 7:18-19) and slavery (1 Cor 7:21-23) by name. These Pauline instructions are investigated against the backdrop of both the 1st century CE context and post-apartheid South Africa, where issues of identity and marginality rub shoulders with claims to ownership and entitlement, on the one hand, and issues of human dignity, on the other.

Financial assistance from the NRF to attend the meeting is gratefully acknowledged. Paul's concern with identity, and in particular the identity of the believer in relation to Jesus Christ, is an important concern in his writings. In the midst of an important section dedicated to advice and instruction on marriage in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul encouraged his audience in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 to remain in the calling by, or position in, which they were called. Concerning these circumstances he refers to circumcision (1 Cor 7:18-19) and slavery (1 Cor 7:21-23) by name. These Pauline instructions are investigated against the backdrop of both the 1st century CE context and post-apartheid South Africa, where issues of identity and marginality rub shoulders with claims to ownership and entitlement, on the one hand, and issues of human dignity, on the other.

Paul’s concern with identity, and in particular the identity of the believer in relation to Jesus Christ, is an important concern in his writings. In the midst of an important section dedicated to advice and instruction on marriage in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul encouraged his audience in 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 to remain in the calling by, or position in, which they were called. Concerning these circumstances he refers to circumcision (1 Cor 7:18–19) and slavery (1 Cor 7:21–23) by name. These Pauline instructions are investigated against the backdrop of both the 1st century CE context and post-apartheid South Africa, where issues of identity and marginality rub shoulders with claims to ownership and entitlement, on the one hand, and issues of human dignity, on the other.

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This doctoral seminar paper offers an assessment of Jacob Milgrom's thesis concerning the function of the חַטָּאת offering and the nature of biblical impurity specifically as it relates to the Septuagint version of the Pentateuch. Given the fact that Milgrom  traced the origins of what he considered to be a mistranslation of חַטָּאת as “sin offering” back to the LXX rendering of Leviticus which consistently renders חַטָּאת using the Greek ἁμαρτία, this paper will seek to consider what the translators of the LXX Leviticus might have made of Milgrom’s “purification offering” hypothesis. To do so, I first examine more fully the three main pillars of Milgrom's argument in conversation with some of his contemporary critics. I then test the individual components of his argument against the natural reading of the Greek version of the Hebrew texts he argues from. Along the way, reference is also be made to early Jewish and Christian interpreters of LXX Leviticus in an effort to understand what they, as readers of these texts in Greek and without reference to the Hebrew Vorlage, understood the natural reading of the Greek text to be. In the end, we are able to determine what it looks like to “Read Dorian Gray in Greek” and the extent to which the LXX Pentateuch, which John Wevers described as “the earliest exegetical source that we have for understanding the Pentateuch” supports or challenges the broad consensus of modern scholarship on this question.

Although Jewish immigration to the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the expulsions from Spain, Portugal, and southern Italy have been subject to numerous publications, the case of the Ottoman port of Valona (Vlorë) is relatively little known. The present article attempts to fill in this lacuna by reliance on Jewish sources, the literary compilation of R. David ben Judah Messer Leon, and rabbinic Responsa. A sixteenth century responsum provides detailed information on the individuals and families came from Apulia (southern Italy) and settled in Valona. The responsum is rendered in the Hebrew original along with an English translation with annotations and commentary.
The second author of this article, Rabbi David ben Zazon used his scholarship and halakhic expertise in order to clarify and explain the rabbinic responsum.

This paper identifies elements in the text of "The Acts of the Apostles" to demonstrate that it is a book of two halves, the latter written contemporaneously by a colleague of St Paul. The two separate books seem to have been cobbled together at the beginning of chapter 13. The books were then heavily edited/rewritten, perhaps by Marcion (and, if not by him, then by one of his immediate entourage) probably in the 140s AD. This rewrite underwent a further mangling post 180 to make it consistent with the newly emerging "Christian" religion. The inept execution of this last edition by "Luke", who had just completed his work on the gospel attributed to Luke, suggests inordinate haste. Amongst other things Acts betrays (i) that it was the Jews who stoned Jesus, not the Romans who crucified him and (ii) that there were those who took the view that Jesus had a legitimate claim to be the King of Israel.