Biblica - Vol 90 (2009) Callan, Terrance, Comparison of Humans to Animals in 2 Peter 2,10b-22 (2009)

A striking feature of 2 Peter 2,10b-22 is the author’s multiple references to similarities and differences between humans and animals. This essay illuminates this aspect of 2 Peter 2,10b-22 by investigating comparison of humans to animals by writers older than, and (roughly) contemporary with, 2 Peter. Comparison of humans to animals is very common in the ancient world. Such comparison can be neutral, positive, or negative. 2 Peter’s comparison of humans with animals is of this last kind. Although 2 Peter’s negative comparison of humans to animals is generally similar to comparisons made by others, the specific ways 2 Peter compares them are unique.

Biblica - Vol 97 (2016) Williams, Travis B., Reciprocity and Suffering in 1 Peter 2,19-20: Reading "caris" in Its Ancient Social Context. (2016)

Scholars have long debated whether "caris" in 1 Pet 2,19-20 should be understood as the unmerited favor which is divinely bestowed upon those who please God, or whether it represents a human action that secures a favorable response from God. What interpreters have continued to overlook, however, are the ancient social dynamics which underlie this passage. By interpreting "caris" within the framework of reciprocity and gift-exchange in the Greco-Roman world, this study brings fresh perspective to a problem which has long divided scholarship, and also suggests a new direction for understanding the letter's theology of suffering.

Biblica - Vol 96 (2015) Peters, Janelle, Crowns in 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, and 1 Corinthians (2015)

The image of the crown appears in 1 Thess 2,19, Phil 4,1, and 1 Cor 9,25. However, the crowns differ. While the community constitutes the apostle’s crown in 1 Thessalonians and Philippians, the crown in 1 Corinthians is one of communal contestation. In this paper, I compare the image of the crown in each of the letters. I argue that the crown in 1 Corinthians, available to all believers even at Paul’s expense, is the least hierarchical of the three crowns.

Biblica - Vol 89 (2008) Rastoin, Marc, Simon-Pierre entre Jésus et Satan (2008)

In the history of research, Luke 22:31-34 has been on the whole judged to be a rather awkward composition consisting of traditional material and Lucan wording. This article intends to show the completely Lucan character of the passage as well as the theological meaning Luke attached to it. In these verses, Luke reveals his literary mastery as well as his theological overall project in Luke-Acts: the primacy of Peter is rooted in the prayer of Jesus Christ himself during His Passion.

Biblica - Vol 96 (2015) Böhler, Dieter, Liebe und Freundschaft im Johannesevangelium. Zum alttestamentlichen Hintergrund von Joh 21,15-19 (2015)

This article argues that Jesus' threefold question to Peter in John 21,15-17 is not the same question posed three times but, rather, three different questions of which only the last one gets a clear "Yes". Jesus asks Peter if by now he had reached that love which is ready to give one's life for a friend. In John 13,37 Peter had professed loudmouthed that he was ready. In John 21,15-17 he acknowledges that he is not ready yet.

Biblica - Vol 93 (2012) Callan, Terrance, Reading the Earliest Copies of 2 Peter (2012)

An examination of the three earliest extant copies of 2 Peter (namely those found in Papyrus 72, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) is made in order to determine how the meaning of 2 Peter is affected by differences among the three copies, especially the textual variations among them. These textual variations produce significantly different understandings of Jesus in the three copies of 2 Peter, as well as other less prominent differences in meaning.