Does the History of the Canon Matter? Contextualizing the Debate over the Authority of the New Testament Canon

The Da Vinci Code created a great popular interest in the question of the history of the canon of the New Testament, arguing for a late date for the establishment of canon, with a suppression of apocryphal gospels. This position has become popular among many scholars, but has been met by protests from Protestant evangelical scholars. The positions on both sides appear to be constrained to a religious context; therefore an attempt is made to place the discussion in a broader context by comparing it to the discussion of the canon in American literature. In that discussion, the issue of the content of the canon could not be separated from the question of the interpretation of canonical literature. I argue in this article that also regarding the New Testament the canon has been challenged by the development of interpretations with focus on e.g. minorities, women and post-colonial situations. The conclusion is that how we read texts, both canonical and extra-canonical ones, is more important than how the canon came into being

Social Science Perspectives in Early Christian Studies in a Nordic Context

This homage to Bruce Malina describes his visit to Norway in 1986, and reviews Nordic scholarship using social science criticism in New Testament and Early Christian studies in the last 40 years. Based on a common history and collaboration in academic politics, the Nordic countries make up a unity that has made it possible to establish Nordic studies in Early Christianity as a central player in international scholarship. Nordic scholars have especially been active in the second phase of social science criticism with its focus on social identities and ritual. Their most significant contribution has been in the exploration of socio-cognitive perspectives, where Helsinki University has had a leading role. A major discussion has been the relation between social-science criticism emphasizing the difference between antiquity and the modern world, and cognitive studies that focus on similarity. However, instead of absolute contrasts they may be regarded as supplementary approaches in historical studies of Early Christianity

Household and gender: Interpretation in dialogue between the contexts of the New Testament and contemporary cultures

In this paper, I will try to engage with African positions on gender and households and respond with a reading of New Testament texts from my position in a Nordic context within Europe. The terms “household” and “gender” refer to central issues in social and historical studies of societies. Household signifies a central social unit in a society whereas gender is an analytical category when discussing the social and ideological roles of men and women. The question of the forms of household and of the roles of men and women respectively, is part of the larger context of worldviews, political ideologies and ethics. The specific forms of household and gender play a large part in the societies that make up the contexts of New Testament texts, as well as in contemporary societies where these texts play important roles. In this essay, I seek a “dialogue” between the New Testament context and the church in Africa, focusing especially on the understanding of gender roles within Pentecostal churches

From canon to context: Reading Paul in a time of cultural complexity

This article traces the development of my own scholarly work on Paul from the individualism of “justification by faith” as the theological canon during my student period, to studies of Paul within his historical context and his efforts to unite Jews and non-Jews. The changes in my own studies took place within the larger shift in New Testament studies from a German, Protestant hegemony to an American, non-confessional scene. The historical-critical method was supplemented with other methods, illustrated here by studies of honour and shame societies. In conclusion, I outline how these changes have influenced my own teaching of Paul, as a contextual theologian