Now Available in Paperback!
One of the most exciting of Paul's letters, First Corinthians offers a vantage point from which modern readers can reflect on the diversity in Christian Churches today. InFirst Corinthians, Raymond Collins explores that vantage point as well as the challenge Paul posed to the people of his time 'and continues to pose in ours 'to allow the gospel message to engage them in their daily lives.

Pal introduces us to a flesh-and-blood community whose humanness was al too apparent. Sex, death, and money were among the issues they had to face. Social conflicts and tension within their Christian community were part of their daily lives. Paul uses al of his diplomacy, rhetorical skill, and authority to exhort the Corinthian community to be as one in Christ.

In examining Paul's message and method, Collins approaches First Corinthians as a Hellenistic letter written to people dealing with real issues in the Hellenistic world. He cites existing Hellenistic letters to show that Paul was truly a letter writer of his own times. Collins makes frequent references to the writings of the philosophic moralists to help clarify the way in which Paul spoke to his beloved Corinthians. He also comments on some aspects of the social circumstances that shaped the Christians of Corinth.

Raymond Collins, PhD is a priest of the Diocese of Providence and is the dean of the School of Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. He is the author ofJohn and His Witness and Divorce in the New Testament published by Liturgical Press.

2008 Catholic Press Association Award Winner!

Scarcely any book of the New Testament (with the possible exception of Revelation) is so perplexing as the Letter to the Hebrews. Not really a letter, but a sermon with some features of a letter added to it, not really by its putative author,Paul, but by an anonymous Christian who wrote some of the most elegant Greek in the Bible, not really addressed to the Hebrews, but to Christians, probably in Rome 'this is the work that Alan Mitchell explains in this commentary.

Many scholars have written fine commentaries on Hebrews, and Mitchell stands on their shoulders, noting where he proposes alternate interpretations. Mitchell pays particular attention to the reliance of the author of Hebrews on the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). He also compares the language of Hebrews with similar usage and ideas of first-century Hellenistic Jewish authors, notably Flavius Josephus and Philo of Alexandria. Furthermore, he situates Hebrews against the background of the tradition of Hellenistic Moral Philosophy, where that is appropriate. Mitchell thus locates Hebrews in its proper thought-world, something that is essential for the modern reader in dealing with some of the thornier questions raised by this biblical book. Chief among these are the role of sacrificial atonement, the question of second repentance, and the spiritual and moral formation of the Roman Christians who were its recipients.

Like al the volumes in the Sacra Pagina series, this work examines the text in detail, with careful attention to the words and phrasing, and then brings those individual insights together into a coherent summary. The bibliography and special lists appended teach chapter cover the best of recent scholarship on the Letter to the Hebrews.

Alan C. Mitchell, PhD, is Associate Professor of New Testament Studies and Christian Origins at Georgetown University and is Director of the Annual Georgetown University Institute on Sacred Scripture. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and Catholic Biblical Association.

Paul's Letter to the Galatians has played a major role in the history of theology, especially in the Church's teaching on grace, faith, and justification. This commentary argues that Paul's doctrine of justification by faith is essentially social in nature and has important ecumenical implications for the Church today. In its original setting, Galatians established a foundation for the unity of Jewish and Gentile Christians: al are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ.

In addition to illuminating the historical situation that led Paul to write his Letter to the Galatians, this commentary pays careful attention to the rhetorical structure of this letter and its theological message. The author provides a fresh translation of Galatians, critical notes on each verse of the text, and a careful commentary of the letter in light of Paul's theology.

Theories abound on the question of Galatians, why it was written, what it says, and what the implications of that message are. Yet few scholars have devoted themselves at length to this letter. What sets this work apart is the extent and detail of its scholarship. Includes an updated bibliography as an appendix.

Frank J. Matera is the Andrews-Kelly-Ryan Professor of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America. A past president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, he is the author of Strategies for PreachingPaul (Liturgical Press); New Testament Ethics: The Legacies of Jesus andPaul; New Testament Christology; and a commentary on Second Corinthians in the New Testament Library Series.

Now Available in Paperback!
What makes this commentary on Luke stand apart from others is that, from beginning to end, this is a literary analysis. Because it focuses solely on the Gospel as it appears and not on its source or origin, this commentary richly and thoroughly explores just what Luke is saying and how he says it.

Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Now available in paperback!
No other book of the New Testament has attracted as much attention from commentators as the Fourth Gospel. It has stirred minds, hearts, and imaginations from Christianity's earliest days. InThe Gospel of John, Francis Moloney unfolds the identifiable "point of view" of this unique Gospel narrative and offers readers, heirs to its rich and widely varied interpretative traditions, relevance for their lives today. Includes an updated bibliography as an appendix.

Francis J. Moloney, SDB, is Foundation Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Member of the Order of Australia. He is the author of numerous books includingThe Gospel of the Lord, Beginning the Good News, and A Hard Saying: The Gospel and Culture published by Liturgical Press.

Now available in paperback!
In The Gospel of Mark Fathers Donahue and Harrington use an approach that can be expressed by two terms currently used in literary criticism: intratextuality and intertextuality. This intratextual and intertextual reading of Mark's Gospel helps us to appreciate the literary character, its setting in life, and its distinctive approaches to the Old Testament, Jesus, and early Christian theology. Includes an updated bibliography as an appendix.

Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, is a professor of New Testament at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and general editor of New Testament Abstracts. He is a past-president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America and is the author of The Gospel of Matthew and co-author of 1 Peter, Jude and 2 Peter in theSacra Pagina series published by Liturgical Press.

John Donahue, SJ, PhD, is the Raymond E. Brown Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore. He is the author ofLife in Abundance: Studies of John's Gospel in Tribute to Raymond E. Brown, S.S., andHearing the Word of God: Reflections on the Sunday Readings, Year A published by Liturgical Press.

In The Gospel of Mark Fathers Donahue and Harrington use an approach that can be expressed by two terms currently used in literary criticism: intratextuality and intertextuality. This intratextual and intertextual reading of Mark's Gospel helps us to appreciate the literary character, its setting in life, and its distinctive approaches to the Old Testament, Jesus, and early Christian theology.

Intratextuality" means we read Mark as Mark and by Mark. Such a reading expresses interest in the final form of the Gospel (not its source or literary history) and in its words and images, literary devices, literary forms, structures, characterization, and plot. Reading Mark by Mark gives particular attention to the distinctive vocabulary and themes that run throughout the Gospel and serve to hold it together as a unified literary production.

"Intertextuality" comprises the relation between texts and a textual tradition, and also referring to contextual materials not usually classified as texts (e.g., archaeological data). "Intertextuality" is used to note the links of the text of Mark's Gospel to other texts (especially the Old Testament) and to the life of the Markan community and of the Christian community today.

Chapters are "The Prologue: The Beginning of the Good News (1:1-13)," "Transitional Markan Summary: Proclamation of the Kingdom (1:14-15)," "The Cal of the First Disciples (1:16-20)," "A Paradigmatic Day Begins the Ministry of Jesus (1:21-34)," "Highpoints of Jesus' Work in Galilee (1:35-45)," "The Healing of the Paralyzed Man (2:1-12)," "The Call of Levi and Meals with Tax Collectors and Sinners (2:13-17)," "Fasting, Torn Garments, and New Wineskins (2:18-22)," "Plucking Grain of the Sabbath (2:23-28)," "Healing on a Sabbath (3:1-6)," "Transitional Markan Summary: Healing Beside the Sea (3:7-12)," "Choosing the Twelve (3:13-19)," "The Beelzebul Controversy and the True Family of Jesus (3:20-35)," "The Parable of the Sower, Sayings on the Mystery of the Kingdom of God, and the allegory of the Seeds (4:1-20)," "Four Sayings on Revelation and Two Kingdom Parables (4:21-34)," "Jesus 'Power Over the Wind and Waves (4:35-41)," "The Exorcism of the Gerasene Demoniac (5:1-20)," "The Daughter of Jairus and the Woman with the Hemorrhage (5:21-43),""The Rejection at Nazareth (6:1-6a)," "The Mission Charge to the Twelve (6:6b-13)," "The Identity of Jesus and the Execution of John the Baptist (6:14-29)," "The Feeding of the 5000 by the Sea of Galilee (6:30-44)," "Jesus Walks on the Water and Astounds the Disciples (6:45-52)," "A Markan Summary of the Healing Power of Jesus (6:53-56)," "The Dispute over Clean and Unclean (7:1-23)," "The Syrophoenician Woman (7:24-30)," "Jesus Restores Hearing and Speech to a Suffering Man (7:31-37)," "The Second Feeding Narrative: The 4000 (8:1-10)," "Pharisees and Scribes Seek a Sign (8:11-13)," "A Further Misunderstanding by the Disciples and the Conclusion of the Bread Section (8:14-21)," "The Gradual Healing of a Blind Man (8:22-26)," "Peter's Confession, the First Passion Prediction, Peter's Misunderstanding, and the Demands of Discipleship (8:27-38)," "The Transfiguration (9:1-13)," "Healing a Possessed Boy (9:14-29)," "A Second Passion Prediction and More Instructions for Disciples (9:30-50)," "Marriage and Divorce (10:1-12)," "Jesus Blesses Children (10:13-16)," "Riches and Poverty (10:17-31)," "A Third Passion Prediction and More Instructions for Disciples (10:32-45)," "The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52)," "Jesus 'Entry into Jerusalem