I am an associate professor of New Testament at Andrews University, Michigan. I completed my PhD in biblical studies at the University of Sheffield on the question of the audience of the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered thems... more Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered themselves to be part of early formative Judaism. Within the context of this debate, this study calls for the recognition of multiple exodus allusions in the midsection of the Gospel. These allusions reveal an Evangelist who either anticipated the possible need for withdrawal from hostile host communities or, equally plausibly, affirmed an ongoing separation process.
Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered thems... more Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered themselves to be part of early formative Judaism. Within the context of this debate, this study calls for the recognition of multiple exodus allusions in the midsection of the Gospel. These allusions reveal an Evangelist who either anticipated the possible need for withdrawal from hostile host communities or, equally plausibly, affirmed an ongoing separation process.
This study argues for a development among the earliest followers of Jesus in their understanding ... more This study argues for a development among the earliest followers of Jesus in their understanding of the significance of his death from an act of murder to a central factor in the solution to the problem of sin. Particular attention is given to the early chapters of Acts.
This article addresses Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins. This concept is to be contraste... more This article addresses Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins. This concept is to be contrasted with therapeutic concepts of forgiveness that prioritize the psychological and emotional experience of the victim and which have become prevalent in the west, including in many western churches, as society has moved away from virtue-based morality in pursuit of the therapeutic goal of inner serenity and freedom from anxiety. In contrast, Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins involves the victim forgoing his or her right to retributive justice in order to enable the restoration of relationship. The sin rather than the person is forgiven. Such forgiveness is not unconditional but requires the perpetrator to recognize their error, express contrition, and seek the cancellation of their legally defined obligations. When these conditions are met, the victim is under the costly obligation to forgive the incurred legal and/or moral debt and forgo restitution. Forgiveness thereby removes a significant barrier to the restoration of relationship.
What pastor hasn't felt discouraged and abandoned while serving the congregation? There is good n... more What pastor hasn't felt discouraged and abandoned while serving the congregation? There is good news: you're not in the journey all by yourself! This article focuses on Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy.
An Introduction to Acts and the General Epistles: Notes and Exercises, 2020
Vine, Cedric E. W. and Leong, Fai, "使徒行传与大公书信导论 笔记与习题 (An Introduction to Acts and the General Ep... more Vine, Cedric E. W. and Leong, Fai, "使徒行传与大公书信导论 笔记与习题 (An Introduction to Acts and the General Epistles: Notes and Exercises)" (2020). All Books. 141. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/books/141
This study argues that Matthew's replacement of Mark's "Gentile of Syrophoenician origin" with a ... more This study argues that Matthew's replacement of Mark's "Gentile of Syrophoenician origin" with a "Canaanite woman" (Mark 7:26; Matt 15:22) is part of a wider narrative strategy to portray the land of Israel and its cities as a new Sodom, a new Canaan, a new Egypt, and a new Babylon. The study employs Dale Allison's six intertextual devices (explicit statement, inexplicit citation or borrowing, similar circumstances, key words or phrases, similar narrative structure, and word order, syllabic sequence, and poetic resonance) to demonstrate a consistent authorial intention while identifying contemporary or near contemporary sources that would affirm the likelihood that a first-century Christian audience would have noted such an intention.
The purpose of this paper is to explore Matthew’s discipleship ideal through the lens of Matt 23:... more The purpose of this paper is to explore Matthew’s discipleship ideal through the lens of Matt 23:34. By discipleship ideal I refer to that gospel character or characters whom Matthew intends to function as the primary typos for readers to imitate..
Jesus and the Nations: Discipleship and Mission in the Gospel of Mathew, 2022
Jesus’s command to disciple all the nations in Matt 28:19 has provided a powerful catalyst for cr... more Jesus’s command to disciple all the nations in Matt 28:19 has provided a powerful catalyst for cross-cultural mission for the past two thousand years. But what does this command mean in the context of Matthew’s narrative? Cedric E. W. Vine proposes an understanding of Matthean discipleship and mission that builds on Richard Bauckham’s open-audience thesis in The Gospels for All Christians (1998) and his own The Audience of Matthew (2014).
Vine argues from a biblical theology perspective that Matthew’s pervasive and consistent application of the nation-directed identities of prophet, righteous person, student-teacher, wise man, and scribe to the followers of Jesus reveals a concern less with defining community boundaries or promoting “church growth” and more with casting a powerful vision of nations transformed through the acceptance of the sovereignty of the risen king.
Matthew’s missiological horizon stretches well beyond defending, as suggested by some commentators, an inferred first-century Matthean community in an acrimonious intramural dispute with other Jewish groups. Rather, Matthew prepares his readers, first century and later, through a multifaceted and nuanced theology of discipleship, for participation in a missiological movement that is national in its focus, breathtaking in its scope, eschatological in its significance, and open in its appeal.
Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered thems... more Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered themselves to be part of early formative Judaism. Within the context of this debate, this study calls for the recognition of multiple exodus allusions in the midsection of the Gospel. These allusions reveal an Evangelist who either anticipated the possible need for withdrawal from hostile host communities or, equally plausibly, affirmed an ongoing separation process.
Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered thems... more Matthean scholarship is divided as to whether the first recipients of the Gospel considered themselves to be part of early formative Judaism. Within the context of this debate, this study calls for the recognition of multiple exodus allusions in the midsection of the Gospel. These allusions reveal an Evangelist who either anticipated the possible need for withdrawal from hostile host communities or, equally plausibly, affirmed an ongoing separation process.
This study argues for a development among the earliest followers of Jesus in their understanding ... more This study argues for a development among the earliest followers of Jesus in their understanding of the significance of his death from an act of murder to a central factor in the solution to the problem of sin. Particular attention is given to the early chapters of Acts.
This article addresses Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins. This concept is to be contraste... more This article addresses Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins. This concept is to be contrasted with therapeutic concepts of forgiveness that prioritize the psychological and emotional experience of the victim and which have become prevalent in the west, including in many western churches, as society has moved away from virtue-based morality in pursuit of the therapeutic goal of inner serenity and freedom from anxiety. In contrast, Luke’s concept of the forgiveness of sins involves the victim forgoing his or her right to retributive justice in order to enable the restoration of relationship. The sin rather than the person is forgiven. Such forgiveness is not unconditional but requires the perpetrator to recognize their error, express contrition, and seek the cancellation of their legally defined obligations. When these conditions are met, the victim is under the costly obligation to forgive the incurred legal and/or moral debt and forgo restitution. Forgiveness thereby removes a significant barrier to the restoration of relationship.
What pastor hasn't felt discouraged and abandoned while serving the congregation? There is good n... more What pastor hasn't felt discouraged and abandoned while serving the congregation? There is good news: you're not in the journey all by yourself! This article focuses on Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy.
An Introduction to Acts and the General Epistles: Notes and Exercises, 2020
Vine, Cedric E. W. and Leong, Fai, "使徒行传与大公书信导论 笔记与习题 (An Introduction to Acts and the General Ep... more Vine, Cedric E. W. and Leong, Fai, "使徒行传与大公书信导论 笔记与习题 (An Introduction to Acts and the General Epistles: Notes and Exercises)" (2020). All Books. 141. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/books/141
This study argues that Matthew's replacement of Mark's "Gentile of Syrophoenician origin" with a ... more This study argues that Matthew's replacement of Mark's "Gentile of Syrophoenician origin" with a "Canaanite woman" (Mark 7:26; Matt 15:22) is part of a wider narrative strategy to portray the land of Israel and its cities as a new Sodom, a new Canaan, a new Egypt, and a new Babylon. The study employs Dale Allison's six intertextual devices (explicit statement, inexplicit citation or borrowing, similar circumstances, key words or phrases, similar narrative structure, and word order, syllabic sequence, and poetic resonance) to demonstrate a consistent authorial intention while identifying contemporary or near contemporary sources that would affirm the likelihood that a first-century Christian audience would have noted such an intention.
The purpose of this paper is to explore Matthew’s discipleship ideal through the lens of Matt 23:... more The purpose of this paper is to explore Matthew’s discipleship ideal through the lens of Matt 23:34. By discipleship ideal I refer to that gospel character or characters whom Matthew intends to function as the primary typos for readers to imitate..
Jesus and the Nations: Discipleship and Mission in the Gospel of Mathew, 2022
Jesus’s command to disciple all the nations in Matt 28:19 has provided a powerful catalyst for cr... more Jesus’s command to disciple all the nations in Matt 28:19 has provided a powerful catalyst for cross-cultural mission for the past two thousand years. But what does this command mean in the context of Matthew’s narrative? Cedric E. W. Vine proposes an understanding of Matthean discipleship and mission that builds on Richard Bauckham’s open-audience thesis in The Gospels for All Christians (1998) and his own The Audience of Matthew (2014).
Vine argues from a biblical theology perspective that Matthew’s pervasive and consistent application of the nation-directed identities of prophet, righteous person, student-teacher, wise man, and scribe to the followers of Jesus reveals a concern less with defining community boundaries or promoting “church growth” and more with casting a powerful vision of nations transformed through the acceptance of the sovereignty of the risen king.
Matthew’s missiological horizon stretches well beyond defending, as suggested by some commentators, an inferred first-century Matthean community in an acrimonious intramural dispute with other Jewish groups. Rather, Matthew prepares his readers, first century and later, through a multifaceted and nuanced theology of discipleship, for participation in a missiological movement that is national in its focus, breathtaking in its scope, eschatological in its significance, and open in its appeal.
Library of New Testament Studies 496 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014). This book seeks to est... more Library of New Testament Studies 496 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014). This book seeks to establish the inadequacy of readings of the Gospel of Matthew as intended for, and a reflection of, a local audience or community. Despite repeated challenges, the local audience thesis continues to dominate a large proportion of Matthean scholarship, and, as such, the issue of determining the Gospel's audience remains an open question.
Cedric E. W. Vine posits four main critiques. The first suggests the assumptions which underpin the text-focused process of identifying the Gospel's audience, whether deemed to be local, Jewish, or universal, lack clarity. Second, local audience readings necessarily exclude plot-related developments and are both selective and restrictive in their treatment of characterisation. Third, Vine argues that many in an audience of the Gospel would have incorporated their experience of hearing Matthew within pre-existing mental representations shaped by Mark or other early traditions. Fourth, Vine suggests that early Christian audiences were largely heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity, age, sex, wealth, familiarity with Christian traditions, and levels of commitment. As such, the aural reception of the Gospel would have resulted in a variety of impacts. A number of these critiques extend beyond the local audience option and for this reason this study concludes that we cannot currently determine the audience of the Gospel.
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https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/books/141
Vine argues from a biblical theology perspective that Matthew’s pervasive and consistent application of the nation-directed identities of prophet, righteous person, student-teacher, wise man, and scribe to the followers of Jesus reveals a concern less with defining community boundaries or promoting “church growth” and more with casting a powerful vision of nations transformed through the acceptance of the sovereignty of the risen king.
Matthew’s missiological horizon stretches well beyond defending, as suggested by some commentators, an inferred first-century Matthean community in an acrimonious intramural dispute with other Jewish groups. Rather, Matthew prepares his readers, first century and later, through a multifaceted and nuanced theology of discipleship, for participation in a missiological movement that is national in its focus, breathtaking in its scope, eschatological in its significance, and open in its appeal.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/books/141
Vine argues from a biblical theology perspective that Matthew’s pervasive and consistent application of the nation-directed identities of prophet, righteous person, student-teacher, wise man, and scribe to the followers of Jesus reveals a concern less with defining community boundaries or promoting “church growth” and more with casting a powerful vision of nations transformed through the acceptance of the sovereignty of the risen king.
Matthew’s missiological horizon stretches well beyond defending, as suggested by some commentators, an inferred first-century Matthean community in an acrimonious intramural dispute with other Jewish groups. Rather, Matthew prepares his readers, first century and later, through a multifaceted and nuanced theology of discipleship, for participation in a missiological movement that is national in its focus, breathtaking in its scope, eschatological in its significance, and open in its appeal.
Cedric E. W. Vine posits four main critiques. The first suggests the assumptions which underpin the text-focused process of identifying the Gospel's audience, whether deemed to be local, Jewish, or universal, lack clarity. Second, local audience readings necessarily exclude plot-related developments and are both selective and restrictive in their treatment of characterisation. Third, Vine argues that many in an audience of the Gospel would have incorporated their experience of hearing Matthew within pre-existing mental representations shaped by Mark or other early traditions. Fourth, Vine suggests that early Christian audiences were largely heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity, age, sex, wealth, familiarity with Christian traditions, and levels of commitment. As such, the aural reception of the Gospel would have resulted in a variety of impacts. A number of these critiques extend beyond the local audience option and for this reason this study concludes that we cannot currently determine the audience of the Gospel.