How can biblical texts be read ethically? Do they serve as a source of stimulation for current ethical debates, for forming a moral character, or for an orientation for the moral statements of Christian communities and beyond? This volume is focused on the purview and relevance of biblical, particularly New Testament, texts on several levels: intratextual signals of moral significance and socio-historical contexts as well as the impact of the texts by their reading throughout the centuries in different ethical debates.

The authors of this volume discuss the relevance and influence of various Old and New Testament documents, and early Christian and Jewish texts in terms of their impact in shaping the moral character, identity, and behaviour of the specific communities in which they were produced as well as their ethical application throughout the centuries. Against a narrow understanding of ethics, the term "application" is not used to analyse the texts of the Bible as step-by-step manuals for moral conduct. Rather, the contributors engage with biblical texts within the framework of a complex hermeneutical process of application of the relevance of these texts in contemporary ethical discourse. It is only when we understand more precisely what the texts themselves offer in terms of their self-understanding that we can reflect critically upon such hermeneutical processes and the appropriation of these biblical texts in contemporary ethical debates in different cultures as well as in current ethical theories and moral philosophy.

Autorentext
Born 1968; 1999 Dr. theol. from the University of Heidelberg; 2003 Habilitation from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University München; currently Professor of New Testament and Ethics at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany and research associate at the Department of Old and New Testament Studies of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Born 1958; 1986-90 Minister in the Dutch Reformed Church; 1990-97 Assistant Professor in Biblical Studies, University of Pretoria; 1997-2002 Professor in New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria; 2005-09 Extraordinary Professor in New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria; since 2011 Research Fellow, Radboud University, The Netherland; since 2013 Extraordinary Professor, Contemporary Ecclesiology, University of the Free State, South Africa.

Inhalt
Stephan Joubert/Ruben Zimmermann: Biblical Ethics and Application: Introduction - Ellen van Wolde: God's Covenant with the Living Beings on Earth: An Eco-ethical Reading of Genesis 9:8-17 - Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte: Protection against Evil: Jesus Christ as Shield and Buckler (Psalm 91) - Ben Witherington, III: The Ethic of Jesus Revisited: An Essay in Honor of Jan van der Watt - Jan Willem van Henten: Negative Peace Re-Assessed: The Case of Herod the Great - Tobias Nicklas: "Let the Dead Bury their Own Dead" (Matt 8:22 par. Luke 9:60): A Commandment without Impact for Christian Ethos? - Joseph Verheyden: Disqualifying the Opponent: The Catalogue of Vices in Matt 15:19 as Characterisation and Criticism - Cilliers Breytenbach: Das Wissen und Nicht-Wissen um die Zeit als Verhaltensregel: Eine textpragmatische Analyse der Endzeitrede in Markus 13 - Robert L. Brawley: Jesus as the Middle Term for Relationships with God in the Fourth Gospel - R. Alan Culpepper: The Ethics of the Shepherd - Mirjam Zimmermann/Ruben Zimmermann: Freundschaftsethik im Johannesevangelium: Zur öffentlichen und politischen Reichweite eines ethischen Konzepts - Ulrich Busse: Die johanneische Abschiedsrede , die soziale Lage der Leserschaft und ethische Implikationen - Udo Schnelle: Ethik und Kosmologie bei Paulus - Michael Wolter: "Gebt allen, was ihr schuldig seid " (Röm 13,6-7): Was die Verpflichtung von Christen, sich den über sie herrschenden "Obrigkeiten" unterzuordnen, begrenzt - Bart J. Koet: Ethics or Halacha? "Calling" as a key to the dynamics of behaviour according to Paul in 1 Cor 1:1-11 243 - Rainer Hirsch-Luipold: "Ich bete, dass ihr ": Impliziter und grammatischer Imperativ im Philipperbrief vor dem Hintergrund zeitgenössischer Literatur zum Gebet - Stephan Joubert: The Kenotic of Christ and Character Formation in Paul's Ethical Discourse in Philippians 2:5-11 - D. Francois Tolmie: John Chrysostom and the "Implicit Ethics" of the Letter to Philemon - Michael Theobald: "Lauter Milde allen Menschen gegenüber!" (Tit 3,2): Grenzüberschreitendes Ethos in den Pastoralbriefen - Paul N. Anderson: Identity and Congruence : The Ethics of Integrity in the Johannine Epistles - Craig R. Koester: Babylon and New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation: Imagery and Ethical Discernment - Michael Labahn: Der Konflikt zwischen Gut und Böse und seine ethische Dimension für frühchristliche Gemeinden in der römischen Provinz Kleinasien: Überlegungen zur Begründungsstrategie der Ethik in der Johannesoffenbarung