When Paul wrote First Thessalonians shortly after the recipients had accepted the Gospel, many significant issues had already arisen among them. Of great concern was the social complexity, and even persecution, they encountered because they had turned to God from idols (1:9). The countercultural stance of those earliest believers, and especially the impact that may have had for women, is addressed throughout this commentary. While Paul directs no remarks only to women in this letter, the ramifications of his preaching on their daily lives emerge vibrantly from the application of a feminist hermeneutics of suspicion to the text. While Second Thessalonians is a shorter letter, it has been disproportionately influential on Christian thought, especially apocalyptic doctrine and the Protestant work ethic. From a feminist perspective, it is androcentric, rhetorically manipulative, and even violent. In this commentary, Mary Ann Beavis and HyeRan Kim-Cragg explore this text from many angles to expose both constructive and destructive implications in the text. Notably, they suggest a perspective on the afflictions endured by the Thessalonian church that neither glorifies suffering nor wishes for revenge but rather sees the divine presence in womens acts of compassion and care in circumstances of extreme duress and inhumanity.
From the Wisdom Commentary series
Feminist biblical interpretation has reached a level of maturity that now makes possible a commentary series on every book of the Bible. It is our hope that Wisdom Commentary, by making the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to ministers, preachers, teachers, scholars, and students, will aid all readers in their advancement toward Gods vision of dignity, equality, and justice for all.
The aim of this commentary is to provide feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. A central concern is the world in front of the text, that is, how the text is heard and appropriated by women. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text, to explicate the world behind the text, where appropriate, and not impose contemporary questions onto the ancient texts. The commentary addresses not only issues of gender (which are primary in this project) but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism, which all intersect.
Each volume incorporates diverse voices and differing interpretations from different parts of the world, showing the importance of social location in the process of interpretation and that there is no single definitive feminist interpretation of a text.
Arvustused
"The Wisdom Commentary is no ordinary commentary. It brings together gender, feminism, and the voices of diversity in a completely new way. Both firmly historical and methodological, this commentary on the Thessalonian correspondence combines traditional exegesis with surprising new insights to present a refreshingly new reading of these Pauline letters."Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Charles Fischer Professor of New Testament Emerita, Brite Divinity School "Overall this is an important summary of feminist contributions to the interpretation of 1-2 Thessalonians. It will be useful not only for teachers of the Bible but for women groups in the churches today."James Zeitz, Catholic Books Review "The critical approach taken often centers on what is perceived as power domination and abuse detected in the letters, particularly emphasized in the case of 2 Thessalonians. Although inevitably such an approach to specific passages will be contested, these commentaries on the Thessalonian letters open new paths of interpretation."Donald Senior, CP,The Bible Today "This commentary will not only be useful for readers interested in feminist biblical scholarship. On any measure, it is full of fascinating new angles on these texts. It will also set you thinking about ways in which you could bring some of the fell of the work here into other types of study."Journal for the Study of the New Testament
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| Foreword: "Come Eat of My Bread... and Walk in the Ways of Wisdom" |
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Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza |
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| Editor's Introduction to Wisdom Commentary: "She Is a Breath of the Power of God" (Wis 7:25) |
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3 | (2) |
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Author's Introduction: Context and Musing about Women and Thessalonica |
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5 | (90) |
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1 Thessalonians 1 The Women and Men Who "Turned to God from Idols" (1:9) |
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23 | (18) |
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1 Thessalonians 2 Your Abandoned Nursing Goddess Has Been Replaced |
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41 | (16) |
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1 Thessalonians 3 Forget Demeter and Isis---Even if Most Women Rely on Them |
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57 | (12) |
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1 Thessalonians 4 Exhortations for the Living and about the Dead |
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69 | (14) |
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1 Thessalonians 5 A Warning about Coming Destruction: As Sudden and Inescapable as Labor Pains |
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83 | (12) |
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Afterword: Courage and Complexities in Believing in "the Gospel of God" (2:2) |
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95 | (6) |
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2 Thessalonians 1 Authors' Introduction: Feminism, Apocalyptic, and 2 Thessalonians |
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101 | (18) |
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2 Thessalonians 1 Resistance and Suffering |
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119 | (22) |
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2 Thessalonians 2 Eschatological Birth Pangs |
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141 | (22) |
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2 Thessalonians 3 Idle No More |
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163 | (22) |
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Afterword: Finding Hope in 2 Thessalonians |
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185 | (16) |
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1 Thessalonians Works Cited |
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187 | (6) |
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2 Thessalonians Works Cited |
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193 | (8) |
| Index of Scripture References and Other Ancient Writings |
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201 | (4) |
| Index of Subjects |
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Florence Morgan Gillman is professor of biblical studies, coordinator of the Classical Studies Program, and former chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. Following completion of the BA and MA at The Catholic University of America, she received her STL, PhD, and STD from the Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Belgium). The author of numerous books and articles, she is especially interested in the Pauline churches, women in early Christianity, and the world behind the text of New Testament literature.
Mary Ann Beavis is professor emerita of religion and culture at St. Thomas More College (Saskatoon, Canada). She received MA degrees from the University of Manitoba and the University of Notre Dame; she holds a PhD from Cambridge University (UK). Her areas of interest and expertise include Christian origins, feminist biblical interpretation, Christianity and Goddess spirituality, and religion and popular culture. She is the author of several single-author and edited books as well as many peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews. HyeRan Kim-Cragg (ThD, University of Toronto) is Lydia Gruchy Professor of Pastoral Studies at St. Andrews College, Saskatoon, Canada. Her academic interests include postcolonial theory, feminist theology and liturgy, anti-racist education, and intercultural ministry. Her most recent book is The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture in The United Church of Canada and her most recent articles appear in Liturgy in Postcolonial Perspectives, and Church in the Age of Migration: A Moving Body. Barbara E. Reid, general editor of the Wisdom Commentary series, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies, and president emerita of Catholic Theological Union (the first woman who held the position). She has been a member of the CTU faculty since 1988 and also served as vice president and academic dean from 2009 to 2018. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America and was president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 20142015. Her most recent publications are Luke 19 and Luke 1024, co-authored with Shelly Matthews (WCS 43A, 43B; Liturgical Press, 2021); and At the Table of Holy Wisdom: Global Hungers and Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Paulist, 2023).
Mary Ann Beavis is professor emerita of religion and culture at St. Thomas More College (Saskatoon, Canada). She received MA degrees from the University of Manitoba and the University of Notre Dame; she holds a PhD from Cambridge University (UK). Her areas of interest and expertise include Christian origins, feminist biblical interpretation, Christianity and Goddess spirituality, and religion and popular culture. She is the author of several single-author and edited books as well as many peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews. Maria A. Pascuzzi, CSJ, STD, teaches Scripture at the University of San Diego.
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