Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies In The Gospels

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T]here is no comparable New Testament scholar who is a native speaker of English and yet who has grown up, lived and taught in the Middle East and been fluent in Arabic. Bailey provides a genuinely unique perspective." James F. McGrath Bailey agrees that those four stages happened between when Jesus said or did something and when the stories became fixed in print in thecanon of the New Testament. Some scholars see this process as deterioration.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the

Kenneth Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is rich with interpretive and cultural insight. He sheds light on what is so often missed in most commentaries and books about Jesus written from a Western perspective. Indeed, Bailey's book provides the much-needed corrective to the dubious results of the Jesus Seminar, whose distorted Jesus is a product of Greco-Roman culture and literature, instead of the Judaic culture and literature of Palestine. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is easy to read—students and pastors will benefit from it tremendously—but there is also much for scholars." Craig A. Evans Shared Intentions? Reflections on Inspiration and Interpretation in Light of Scripture’s Dual Authorship by Jared Compton

Middle Eastern cultures have valued family and hospitality for millennia. When Caesar Augustus decreed that people had to register for the census in their hometown, Joseph went to Bethlehem “because he belonged to the house and line of David” (Luke 2:4). Dr. Bailey provides a perspective into interpreting 1 Corinthians that is different from most other commentaries. The rhetorical approach that sees the Hebrew rhetorical structure is valuable in uncovering meanings that may be missed or undeveloped in the typical linear reading of the epistle. That’s how things go in Open Hearts in Bethlehem: A Christmas Musical Drama, written byKenneth E. Bailey, who, also, by the way, says Jesus was born in summer or fall, not on December 25. I particularly enjoyed his egalitarian insights on men and women as partners in marriage and leadership of the church. In this section, he interspersed deft analysis with personal anecdotes of his experiences working among Mediterranean people. His perspectives on the commands for silence, and what that command did in fact mean were both intelligent, and easy to pass on to others as I teach this passage.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes

Over the past forty years or so as Bailey has worked through this text, he says "at critical points in the text, I have asked, 'How did Middle Eastern Christians across the centuries understand this text?'" Bailey sets out to answer this question throughout his examination of 1 Corinthians. He has three basic concerns in his approach to 1 Corinthians: 1) Paul, a Middle Eastern Jewish Christian, uses rhetorical styles that were available to him in the writings of the Hebrew prophets; 2) Middle Eastern life and literature is of assistance in recovering and bringing to life Paul's metaphors and parables; and 3) he examines 23 representative samples of the long heritage of Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew translations of 1 Corinthians. (19) Beginning with Jesus’ birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus’ relationship to women, and especially Jesus’ parables. Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead Beginning with Jesus’ birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus’ relationship to women, and especially Jesus’ parables. Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead you into a deeper understanding of the person and significance of Jesus within his own cultural context. With a sure but gentle hand, Bailey lifts away the obscuring layers of modern Western interpretation to reveal Jesus in the light of his actual historical and cultural setting. This entirely new material from the pen of Ken Bailey is a must-have for any student of the New Testament. If you have benefited from Bailey’s work over the years, this book will be a welcome and indispensable addition to your library. If you are unfamiliar with Bailey’s work, this book will introduce you to a very old yet entirely new way of understanding Jesus. [119]…more Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E. Bailey – eBook Details This was their sign, a sign for lowly shepherds,” he adds. Luke says the shepherds left Bethlehem “praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.” Bailey explains that the “all” refers to the quality of the hospitality that welcomed Mary, Joseph, Jesus…and the shepherds. Understanding Middle Eastern village life helps Bailey ask fresh questions. He traces answers through early Christian commentaries, medieval Arabic, and Jewish literature. He also argues this outline reveals three principle ideas: the cross and resurrection (I, V); Men and women in the human family and in worship (II, IV); and Christian living among pagans (III).

Bailey’s seven chapters on Jesus and women reveal how the Lord and the Gospel writers elevated women to a place of equality with men. These chapters discuss the woman at the well, the Syro-Phoenicean woman, the woman caught in adultery, and the woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Bailey’s discussion of the woman at the well is intriguing, for he discusses twelve “surprises” in the incident (pp. 202–13). The crux of Bailey's argument is that since Paul was a Jewish Pharisee (rabbi) then it makes sense that he would also use this same style. In other words, if the scripture Paul read was filled with this then it is probably how he thought too. Bailey sees this clearly in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. He says that while scholars have tended to see 1 Corinthians as thrown together in response to problems in the church it is actually a well-thought out, intricately crafted series of essays that is for the whole, universal church, though it is motivated by specific concerns in Corinth. For more than ten centuries, Christians who translate the gospels into Arabic have not seen the prodigal as repenting in the far country. They say he’s returned to his senses. He’s figured out how to play his father and earn money for food and land. He laments that Christians “too often understand Jesus as a simple man, telling simple tales to children. We see him as the perfect example of love, the agent of salvation, the Word made flesh among us, all of which is true. But he’s also a theologian, once you see him as a metaphorical theologian rather than a conceptual theologian. For 20 of those years Dr. Bailey was Professor of New Testament and Head of the Biblical Department of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut where he also founded and directed the Institute for Middle Eastern New Testament Studies. From September 1985 to June 1995, Dr. Bailey was on the faculty of "The Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research" in Jerusalem, with the title of Research Professor of Middle Eastern New Testament Studies.

Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes Review of Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes

Especially since the Enlightenment, people in the Western hemisphere tend to assume that reason is universal. A lay Christian might hear a scholar talking about biblical interpretation and think the scholar is saying that the Word is wrong. His classic text was Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes. These texts helped readers see the parables in the gospel of Luke in a whole different light. Recently, Bailey compiled Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, which offered unique perspectives on prominent passages in the Gospels. Now, in Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, Bailey focuses his considerable intellect on the epistle of I Corinthians. What do you gain or lose by seeing biblical stories, metaphors, or parables as a primary way of creating meaning…rather than as illustrative sugarcoating on a theological pill of logic? Journal for the Study of the New Testament This book could serve as material for an adult or student Sunday school class. Laid out in simple format for easy absorption by readers, the author’s explanations of his findings require no formal training to follow and understand them. Particularly helpful are the summaries provided at the conclusion of each chapter. This book may very well establish Bailey’s legacy beyond dispute. Very dense and complicated study of 1 Cor. Bailey uses his vast knowledge of Middle East culture and writings to show how each section of Corinthians brings of the section into focus. Greek and Hebrew writers of the 1st century A.D. arranged their sequences in writing differently than we in America.

Salvation History, Chronology, and Crisis: A Problem with Inclusivist Theology of Religions, Part 2 by Adam Sparks Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead you into a deeper understanding of the person and significance of Jesus within his own cultural context. With a sure but gentle hand, Bailey lifts away the obscuring layers of modern Western interpretation to reveal Jesus in the light of his actual historical and cultural setting. Paul wrote about Jesus being in the form of God, yet emptying himself and being made in human likeness. “This high Christology is not something dreamed up by the church. It’s at the heart of what Jesus said about himself,” Bailey says. Inspiration a divine process

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey - Waterstones

In chapter 12, it is suggested that Jesus may have been nurtured with a “theological education” in the lay movement of the haberim that sprung up around this time (p.147). The Dead Sea Scrolls are appealed to as shedding light on the Messianic understanding of Isaiah 61 (pp.149-150), and the Targum also helps us contextualize the passage as it was understood in early Judaism (pp.155-156). The complaint that follows Jesus’ reading of that text in Luke’s Gospel is, according to Bailey, to be understood as expressing the community’s feeling that Jesus has departed from their own understanding of the passage. Nazareth was a “settler town” (p.152), and the community took offense at Jesus’ omission of those very lines from Isaiah that gave voice to their expectation that the Messianic age would be glorious for them, while a time when God’s vengeance would deal with their enemies (p.162). Also, PtME's historical scholarship is often outdated or out of touch. Bailey warns at the beginning that his scholarly focus is not Pauline literature. He appeals to older commentaries and older historical works. The result is that some of the same old misunderstandings continue to be propagated.

Again, an interesting methodological position, but also seemingly innovative in comparison to the modern exegetical tradition. That's not to say it's a bad thing. But I think it's a supplemental position, since it does seem to be an unusual one. I read this book in my men's Bible Study and had a very difficult time getting through it. The book is heavily focused on the prose of Paul's letters and conversations relating to prose don't interest me. Significant portion of the book is focused on "homilies" and "two, three or four part cameos." I have tremendous respect for the author Ken Bailey and there is no doubt this is an excellent scholarly work that serves the Christian theological community well. I did really enjoy the author's book "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes." You’ve likely pictured Jesus as born in a stable because English translations of Luke 2:7 say Mary placed baby Jesus “in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” The book is divided into six main sections, each containing several chapters each of which is focused on a particular passage from the Gospels. The introduction should not be skipped, since it emphasizes the importance of the unique perspective Bailey offers and the neglected sources he draws upon. Bailey draws heavily not only on his own experience of life in the Middle East, but also the neglected witness of Christian authors writing in Syriac and Arabic over the centuries. The insights that can be gleaned both from contemporary life in this part of the world, and from the Christians who lived there prior to the modern era (and in particular those who spoke Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language Jesus himself spoke) are extremely important. So too is being aware of the poetic structures in which storytellers and writing authors expressed themselves. The book’s introduction focuses on such materials, not uniformly neglected by scholars, but certainly not the focus of sufficient sustained and detailed attention. At the very least, as far as the awareness of such matters among Christians and other readers of the New Testament more generally is concerned, these sources of knowledge about the cultural context of the New Testament are little known, and Bailey’s book, while certain to be of interest to New Testament scholars, presents matters in a manner accessible to a wider readership. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-01-18 15:08:25 Bookplateleaf 0002 Boxid IA40330814 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier