In this significant and innovative contribution, Warren Carter explores John's Gospel as a work of imperial negotiation in the context of Ephesus, capital of the Roman province of Asia. Carter employs multiple methods, rejects sectarian scenarios, and builds on other Christian writings and recent studies of diaspora synagogues that combined participationist lifestyles with observance of distinctive practices to argue that imperial negotiation was a contested issue for late first-century Jesus-believers. While a number of Jesus-believers probably lived societally-accommodated lives, John's Gospel employs a "rhetoric of distance" to urge much less accommodation and to create an alternative "anti-society" for followers of Jesus crucified by the empire but vindicated by God. In addition to establishing this tense historical setting, chapters identify various arenas and strategies of imperial negotiation in wide-ranging discussions of the gospel's genre, plot, Christological titles, developing traditions, eternal life, the image of God as father, ecclesiology, Jesus' conflict with Pilate, and resurrection and ascension.
 Carter has explored interactions between the emerging Christian movement and the Roman Empire in various articles and book-length studies such as Matthew and the Margins (Orbis), Matthew and Empire (Trinity Press International/Continuum), Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a Roman Governor (Liturgical), and The Roman Empire and the New Testament (Abingdon).

John and Empire: Initial Explorations

Religion & Spirituality

Carter, Warren

Christian Books & Bibles

T&T Clark

This detailed commentary presents the gospel of matthew as a counter-narrative, showing that it is a work of resistance written from and for a minority community of disciples committed to Jesus, the agent of God's saving presence. It was written and functions to shape the identity and lifestyle of the early community of jesus' followers as an alternative community that can resist the dominant authorities both in rome and in the synagogue. The Gospel anticpates the time when Jesus will return and establish God's reign over all, including the powers in Rome.

Matthew and the Margins (Academic Paperback)

Israel and Empire: A Postcolonial History of Israel and Early Judaism

Israel and Empire introduces students to the history, literature, and theology of the Hebrew Bible and texts of early Judaism, enabling them to read these texts through the lens of postcolonial interpretation. This approach should allow students to recognize not only how cultural and socio-political forces shaped ancient Israel and the worldviews of the early Jews but also the impact of imperialism on modern readings of the Bible. Perdue and Carter cover a broad sweep of history, from 1300 BCE to 72 CE, including the late Bronze age, Egyptian imperialism, Israel's entrance into Canaan, the Davidic-Solomonic Empire, the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Maccabean Empire, and Roman rule. Additionally the authors show how earlier examples of imperialism in the Ancient Near East provide a window through which to see the forces and effects of imperialism in modern history.

History

Perdue, Leo G.

Ancient Civilizations

Israel and Empire introduces students to the history, literature, and theology of the Hebrew Bible and texts of early Judaism, enabling them to read these texts through the lens of postcolonial interpretation. This approach should allow students to recognize not only how cultural and socio-political forces shaped ancient Israel and the worldviews of the early Jews but also the impact of imperialism on modern readings of the Bible. 
Perdue and Carter cover a broad sweep of history, from 1300 BCE to 72 CE, including the late Bronze age, Egyptian imperialism, Israel's entrance into Canaan, the Davidic-Solomonic Empire, the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Maccabean Empire, and Roman rule. Additionally the authors show how earlier examples of imperialism in the Ancient Near East provide a window through which to see the forces and effects of imperialism in modern history.

1, 2, and 3 John: An Introduction and Study Guide: Multiple Readings, Deconstructing Constructions (T&T Clark’s Study Guides to the New Testament)

This insightful study engages the debates and interpretations of the brief and somewhat elusive writings known in the Christian canon as 1, 2, and 3 John. Chapter 1 identifies six unknowns about the origins of the three writings: authors, relationship to John's Gospel, order, date and location of the writings, and their audiences. Chapters 2 and 3 delineate the debate concerning the relationship of these writings to a purported "Johannine tradition" and "Johannine community" in which a schism is claimed to have occurred. An alternative view recognizes that while there are some connections with John's Gospel, it is more compelling to see the writings as independent rather than derivative, as internally not externally directed, as pastoral not polemical, and as schism-free. Chapters 4-7 discuss important aspects of 1 John. Chapter 4 argues that its structure or organization is based on rhetorical and conceptual links among the writing's small units. Chapter 5 reads 1 John as a pastoral "in-house" writing, rather than a polemical attack on opponents. Chapter 6 identifies the genre of I John as not a letter or sermon but an epideictic speech that seeks to strengthen the identity, commitments, and practices of its believing recipients. Chapter 7 outlines theological understandings that underpin the writing's pastoral work. Chapters 8 and 9 focus on 2 and 3 John as writings that provide two different approaches to itinerant teachers. The narrative fiction in 2 John presents the elder's warning and skepticism about itinerant teachers whereas the author of 3 John, by contrast, advocates reception and welcome for itinerant teachers.

An indispensable introduction to Roman society, culture, law, politics, religion, and daily life as they relate to the study of the New Testament. The Roman Empire formed the central context in which the New Testament was written. Anyone who wishes to understand the New Testament texts must become familiar with the political, economic, societal, cultural, and religious aspects of Roman rule. Much of the New Testament deals with enabling its readers to negotiate, in an array of different manners, this pervasive imperial context. This book will help the reader see how social structures and daily practices in the Roman world illumine so much of the content of the New Testament message. For example, to grasp what Paul was saying about food offered to idols one must understand that temples in the Roman world were not “churches,” and that they functioned as political, economic, and gastronomic centers, whose religious dealings were embedded within these other functions.Brief in presentation yet broad in scope, Roman Backgrounds to the New Testament will introduce students to the information and ideas essential to coming to grips with the world in which early Christianity was born.

The Roman Empire and the New Testament: An Essential Guide

ABINGDON PRESS *

Introduces readers to the contours and issues of contemporary interpretation of Matthew's Sermon.

What Are They Saying About Matthew's Sermon on the Mount?

Paulist Pr

This book explores the diverse portraits of Pontius PIlate in the Gospels. Pontius Pilate focuses on reading the Gospels not only as personal religious text but also as narratives shaped by their sociopolitical contexts. It identifies aspects of Roman imperial power that is assumed by each Gospel's presentation of Pilate, the Roman governor. It analyzes each Gospel's critical attitude to the empire and outlines how that Gospel shapes Christian discipleship in a world dominated by Roman power.

Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a Roman Governor (Interfaces series)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Exercise & Fitness

Liturgical Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carter, Warren. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Carter, Warren

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carter, Warren. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

John and Empire: Initial Explorations

John and Empire: Initial Explorations

Matthew and the Margins (Academic Paperback)

Israel and Empire: A Postcolonial History of Israel and Early Judaism

Israel and Empire: A Postcolonial History of Israel and Early Judaism

1, 2, and 3 John: An Introduction and Study Guide: Multiple Readings, Deconstructing Constructions (T&T Clark’s Study Guides to the New Testament)

1, 2, and 3 John: An Introduction and Study Guide: Multiple Readings, Deconstructing Constructions (T&T Clark’s Study Guides to the New Testament)

The Roman Empire and the New Testament: An Essential Guide

What Are They Saying About Matthew's Sermon on the Mount?

Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a Roman Governor (Interfaces series)