This thesis attempts to find a date and general context for Mark' s gospel. Scholars are in general agreement that this is the earliest of the gospels. and thus of key importance for our dating of the other Synoptics and valuable for New Testament chronology generally. The focus of my study is Mark 13, the so-called 'eschatological' passage of Mark. Unlike other scholars, I have concentrated less on trying to locate a single set of historical circumstances against which to date it. While it is true that Mark is not a mere copy-and-paste compiler of transmitted traditions, and that his editorial work is likely to reflect the circumstances in which he worked, I argue that existing scholarly attempts at identifying these circumstances have failed to produce a firm consensus. Rather, I attempt to locate Mark’s eschatology within the context of evolving early Christian eschatological expectations as found in other New Testament documents, for which more secure datings have been proposed.

The approach of this thesis is a departure from the traditional philological examination of understanding the variant readings in Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis. The parables of Jesus in Luke are the object of investigation. The witness of the Church Fathers in the form of their allegorical exegesis of the text of the New Testament is employed to explain variant readings of the Bezan text. The notion that the harmonising tendency in the accounts of the Gospels is simply due to embarrassment is challenged. The alternative theory argued here is that the harmonisation, particularly of Luke to Matthew, of the text of the Gospels is interpretative in nature. The ancient practice of mimetic cross-referencing or intertextuality has been utilised in the Bezan text of Luke. The practice of mimetic harmonisation as applied in classical literature is the context assumed in this study. Additionally, the representative mimetic view of the way in which the written text interacts with the reality of life is also considered in the light of a harmonistic approach to the interpretation of the Lukan text and the allegorical interpretation of the parables of Jesus. It is argued that allegorising variants and mimetic readings have moulded the Bezan text of Luke. An anti-Judaic tendency and a faith-seeking theological mimetic representation are embedded in the Bezan text. They become recognisable when evaluated in the light of the patristic exegesis of the Lukan parables in Codex Bezae. Thus, the understanding of the variant readings of the Lukan parables in Bezae should be studied in the light of ancient literary criticism and the early history of Christian exegesis of the Gospel parables.

The salvation-restoration oracle in Joel 1 and 2 depicts the four phases of a spiritual cycle that has economic consequences: backsliding causes Yahweh to progressively remove His blessing, thus creating economic “recession”; disobedience (i.e. deliberate, blatant sin) leads to “depression”; true, heart-felt repentance causes Yahweh to reinstate His blessing, which kick-starts the process of “recovery”; and increasing levels of obedience lead ultimately to full blessing, resulting in “prosperity”. In particular, Joel 2:28 suggests that the outpouring of economic blessing will either precede or occur in close proximity to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And since the apostle Peter used this passage to introduce his Pentecost sermon, I would argue that, when the devout Jews in his audience were hearing about Jesus, they were also thinking about Joel; or, to be more precise, the promises of economic transformation outlined in that book. Furthermore, the early chapters of Acts contain sufficient evidence to suggest that the economic prosperity promised in the OT salvation-restoration oracles was actually experienced by the Primitive Church in the post-Pentecost period. Consequently, it is possible that the persecution experienced by the Hellenistae was motivated primarily by economic factors, although doctrinal issues obviously provided a convenient excuse.

This thesis gathers and analyzes Origen of Alexandria's citations of Romans, 2 Corinthians and Galatians in order to gain a better understanding of the nature of the New Testament text in the second and third centuries. Throughout the transmission process of Origen’s writings, it is possible that the wording of his citations has undergone alteration that relates to changes in the New Testament transmission. Origen’s citations are analyzed to determine whether his citations, as they are found today, first transmit the text quoted by the author, and, second, are likely to be a reflection of his biblical manuscripts. If Origen’s authorial citations can be demonstrated to be from his biblical exemplars, it is only then that his citational text can be compared with New Testament manuscripts for the purposes of establishing textual affinity. If Origen’s citations cannot be used to establish his biblical text, then his use as a witness to specific text-forms should be reconsidered. However, his citations still reveal the transmission history of his writings, specifically how they have undergone alteration in light of the historical and theological environments of his editors. The thesis concludes that Origen, despite often corresponding to the Initial text and Byzantine text agreements, cited freely with little extant manuscript support. This suggests that his authorial citations have been accommodated to a text form similar to that of the Initial text and then the Byzantine text through subsequent transmission.

A complete collation of 1619 Greek minuscule manuscripts of John 18 now supplements the previously completed papyri and majuscule manuscript data for the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP). The full data were evaluated towards selecting minuscules to represent the manuscript tradition for the forthcoming Editio Critica Maior critical text and apparatus. Collaboration between the IGNTP and the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) also allowed a comparison with data collected by the INTF. The same manuscripts were used by both, but the nature of the data was different, with the IGNTP’s total variation in John 18 and the INTF’s sampled variation in John 1-10. The results easily confirm prior known groups of manuscripts, and suggest samples to represent other groups. The total variation of John 18 initially suggested a much higher uniformity of manuscripts than the sampled variation. Deeper examination revealed consistency between both sets of data: the large majority of manuscripts do have a uniform text, and it is easy to represent them with a small selection of both readings and manuscripts, while the minority of more divergent manuscripts are evident from either well-sampled or total variation, and are worth further attention.

The wilderness is an unlikely place for Yahweh to appear; yet some of the most profound encounters between Yahweh and ancient Israel occur in this isolated, barren, arid and marginal landscape. Thus, via John A. Beck's narrative-geography method, which prioritises the role of the geographical setting of the biblical narrative, the question of 'why does Yahweh choose to appear in the wilderness?' is examined in reference to four Exodus theophanic passages (Exodus 3:1-4:17, 19:1-20:21, 24:9-18 and 33: 18-34). First, a biblical working definition of the wilderness is developed, and the specific geographic elements in each passage discussed. Subsequently, the characterisation of Yahweh's appearances is investigated, via the signs Yahweh used to appear, the words Yahweh speaks and the human experience of Yahweh in the wilderness space. In sum, five reasons for why Yahweh appears in the wilderness were considered significant. The wilderness setting allows Yahweh to be (I) actively present and intimately engaged, (2) separate and holy, (3) paradoxically creative, (4) speak transfomative and visionary words and (5) free, risky, and provoking. Finally, the implications of these findings provide new insights to theological considerations of Yahweh. Overall, Yahweh is portrayed as a wild God in the wilderness.

The Apostolos is a corpus of manuscripts containing New Testament and liturgical material. For Byzantines it was the primary form in which the Acts and Epistles were received as Scripture. Lectionary studies were almost abandoned after the mid-twentieth century, and the recent revival of interest in the Greek Lectionary has concentrated exclusively on the Gospel Lectionary. The last study of the Apostolos is five decades old and reflects the methodologies of another era. Building upon the work of recent Lectionary scholarship this thesis takes a new approach to the Apostolos, analysing New Testament and liturgical textual traditions together. The text of Acts and the Pauline corpus as transmitted in the Lectionary is compared with the continuous text. It is shown that one Apostolos witness is not usually copied to another and that consequently there is no ‘Lectionary text’ of Acts and Paul. Instead, Apostolos copies reflect textual variation in the evolving Byzantine tradition. Digital methods allow the present thesis to explore groupings among Apostolos manuscripts combined with detailed attention to the contents of each codex. This study concentrates on the Apostolos in its scribal, monastic, liturgical, and theological context as well as in light of other manuscript traditions.

The present work has two aims. The first aim is to introduce the method of narrative criticism to New Testament scholars and we attempt to do this in Part One. Narrative criticism of the Bible has been practised since the early 1980's, but since that time no one has established the nature and the aims of the method. This thesis is the first work to define what a comprehensive narrative-critical approach to the gospels might entail. It is also the first work to include historical concerns in the narrative-critical programme. The examples of narrative criticism we do have in New Testament studies all assume that narrative criticism must be an a-historical method. We point out the fallacy of this view by drawing attention to the recent sociological studies of the narrative form and to the narrative history debate in History Faculties during the 1960's and 1970's. These two movements in scholarship necessitate an historical dimension to narrative criticism if the narrative form is not to be greatly restricted and over-simplified. In Part One we provide an apology for narrative criticism and we show how future Johannine scholars might examine JOHN as narrative Christology (chapter one), narrative performance (chapter two), community narrative (chapter three) and narrative history (chapter four). In Part Two we provide an illustration of the method at work. Taking the Johannine passion narrative as our text (John 18-19), we show how this part of JOHN might be examined as narrative Christology (chapter five), narrative performance (chapter six), community narrative (chapter seven) and narrative history (chapter eight). This thesis is the first to expose these chapters to a thorough and rigorous literary approach. Our analysis reveals that the fourth evangelist has constructed his passion story with great artistry. We draw particular attention to narrative echo-effects, characterization, tragic mood, the reader's response of "home-coming" and time-shapes in John 18-19. These, and many other narrative strategies, contribute towards the classic, disclosing power of JOHN's story of the death of Jesus.

Setting their sights on the splash thrown up by Leviathan in chapters 3 and 41, many interpreters have argued that the conflict between chaos and order, as embodied in combat mythology, is a theme in the Book of Job. Although I agree that issues related to chaos and order are central to the book, the assumption that any discussion of chaos and order must be related to combat mythology does not stand up to scrutiny. Order and chaos, I maintain, are broader terms. I define them as “how the world ought to be,” and “how the world ought not to be,” respectively. Using these broader, and, I think, more accurate definitions, the Book of Job can be read as a long discussion about chaos and order, without requiring that we identify characters as forces embodying chaos or order who fight each other for control of the world, an interpretation which is an over-simplification of what is going on in the book. As “how the world ought/ought not to be,” order and chaos are container terms, capable of being filled in a number of different ways. That is to say, we cannot look at Leviathan (or Tiamat) and extrapolate characteristics of chaos that are applicable across the board. Rather, what constitutes chaos or order will depend on the particular circumstances and point of view of the person doing the labeling. In this thesis, I identify three pairs of concepts around which chaos and order are commonly conceived: singularity/multiplicity, stasis/change, and inside/outside. Taking these pairs one at a time, I examine how the various characters in the Book of Job describe order and chaos. What emerges is not a dictum as to what constitutes order or chaos, but a number of possible visions of how the world ought and ought not to be, none of which is definitive. At the end of the “conversation about chaos and order” that is the Book of Job, both God and Job make strong bids for their right to “make the world,” by deciding how it ought and ought not to be. In his speeches from the whirlwind, God identifies himself as the world’s creator, presenting an ordered world that is vastly different from what Job presumes order to be. Regardless of how Job’s response to God in 42:6 is understood—and it is interpreted in a great number of ways—in the epilogue Job can be seen to make his own bid for creator status, as he proceeds to inhabit a world that bears no similarity to the world God has just described. Job’s epilogue-world denies the ultimate reality of God’s whirlwind-world, but God’s whirlwind-world casts doubt upon the reality of Job’s epilogue-world. In this way, the book ends ambiguously; it curves back on itself, and the discussion about the nature of chaos and order continues, both within the book and beyond.

Postmodernism in Biblical Studies is characterised by proliferation of methodological and ideological interpretive perspectives, emphasis upon the ethics of interpretation and awareness of the role of interpretive communities. Following Stephen E. Fowl, the underlying motives of interpreters can be understood when approaches are analysed in terms of interpretive interests. The work of David J. A. Clines, J. Cheryl Exum and Stephen D. Moore reveals a strong de-confessional motive and a desire to exclude confessional concerns from academic interpretation. This position is ideologically driven and, in terms of liberal academic values, self-contradictory. The difficulties posed for Christian interpretation by the postmodern context are evident in the narrative criticism of Mark Allan Powell and R. Alan Culpepper, where unresolved conflict of theological, methodological and political interests threatens the coherence of the approach. Recent work by Powell addresses postmodern concerns, but fails adequately to engage theoretical and theological issues. A postmodern understanding of the Bible as Christian scripture which affirms both the validity and legitimacy of multiple interpretive perspectives and a pneumatological understanding of the Bible as the Word of God can be framed using the work of Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Stephen E. Fowl, Roman Jakobson and Daniel Patte. Socio-pragmatic objections to the legitimacy and validity of Christian interpretation beyond the faith community can be resisted by asserting a dialogical relationship between the Bible, the church and the wider academic community, and by following Francis Watson’s argument that the church’s discourse is derived from that of the wider society in which it exists. Christian interpretation will seek to engage constructively with other interpretive approaches. A Christian ethics of interpretation characterised by openness, humility, repentance and forgiveness offers a positive contribution to the culture of postmodern academic interpretation. Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 offers a paradigm for such interpretive practice.