James Waddell
Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Biblical Studies, Faculty Member
- Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Hebrew Bible, Roman Religion, Ancient myth and religion, New Testament and Christian Origins, and 64 moreSecond Temple Judaism, Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, Apostle Paul and the Pauline Letters, Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Historical Jesus, Early Christian Apocryphal Literature, Greek/Roman History, Greek religion (Classics), Reception History, Dead Sea Scrolls (Religion) (Religion), Philosophy, Biblical Studies, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Christology, Apocalypticism, Dead Sea Scrolls Nag Hammadi Codices, Enoch literature, Enoch Seminar, Second Temple Studies, Second Temple Judaism (Religion), 4QMMt, James D.G. Dunn, Enochic Judaism, Dead Sea Scrolls, 1 Enoch, Qumran Manuscripts of 1 Enoch, Social Context, Babylonian priesthood, Jewish Aramaic Literature, Babylonian Scholarship, Qumran, Pseudepigrapha OT, Aramaic, Aramaic Levi Document, Visions of Levi, Aramaic Astronomical Book, Old Testament, New Testament, Sociology, History, Biography, Academic Writing, Early Judaism, Paul, The Synoptic Gospels, Parting of the Ways, Ritual Purity, Conversion In Antiquity, Ethnicity In Antiquity, Early Judaism (2nd Temple, Greco-Roman), Minor Prophets, Biblical Hebrew poetry, Syriac Studies, Septuagint, Hebrew Bible / Old Testament, Synoptic Gospels, Paul Ricoeur, Michel Foucault, Early Christianity, Coptic Studies, Gnosticism, Ethiopic Manuscripts, Classical Ethiopic, and Ancient Greek and Roman Artedit
- My specialization is Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins. Research interests include comparative study of the... moreMy specialization is Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins. Research interests include comparative study of the Enoch literature and the New Testament, the origins and development of Pauline christology, christology in canonical and non-canonical gospels, and soteriolgical developments in the first and second centuries CE (Adam and Eve traditions, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, for example). I am particularly interested in the ways in which Jewish literature in the first and second centuries CE indicates points of sociological and ideological intersections between the early Jesus movement and various other Jewish groups, such as scribal communities, early Rabbinic communities, synagogues, churches, etc.edit
In the first century CE Jewish identity was defined in a context of significant religious diversity. This presents those who read Paul’s Letters with a problem: how to locate Paul’s thought within the complicated matrices of Jewish... more
In the first century CE Jewish identity was defined in a context of significant religious diversity. This presents those who read Paul’s Letters with a problem: how to locate Paul’s thought within the complicated matrices of Jewish intellectual traditions of this period. This study locates Paul within the matrix of Jewish messianic thought between the second century BCE and the first ccentury CE by comparing conceptual elements of messianic traditions in the Parables of Enoch and the undisputed Letters of Paul. Comparative analysis of the nature and functions of the messiah figures in the Parables and the Letters of Paul demonstrates a remarkable combination of shared elements, indicating that Paul was familiar with the Enochic messiah traditions. The extraordinary combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Parables and Paul constituted independent developments. The evidence indicates that Paul developed his concept of the Kyrios out of the Enochic Son of Man traditions, or that Paul was at least influenced by these traditions.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Theology, New Testament, Apocalypticism, and 53 moreDead Sea Scrolls (Religion), Academic Writing, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Gospels, Pauline Literature, Synoptic Gospels, Wisdom, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Biography, Enoch literature, Second Temple Judaism, Apocalypticism In Literature, Christology, Dead Sea Scrolls Nag Hammadi Codices, Angels, Wisdom Traditions, New Testament and Christian Origins, Apostle Paul and the Pauline Letters, Matthew's Gospel, Messianism, Historical Jesus, Book of Daniel, Jewish Messianism, Second Temple Studies, Wisdom Literature, The Book of Daniel, Book of Ezekiel, Gospel of John, Enoch Seminar, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Gospel of Mark, Jesus Parables, Q, Historical Jesus, and Biblical Hermeneutics for Ethico-Political Interpretation of New Testament, The relation between Theology and Ethics in Pauline Letters, Parting of the Ways, New testament exegesis, Dead Sea Scrolls, Enochic Judaism, Early Judaism, Apocalypticism and Apocalyptic Literature, Paul, Ezekiel the Tragedian, New Testament Studies, Son of Man Problem, Christology of New Testament, Ritual Purity, Biblical Studies, Early Christianity, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East; Second Temple period; Apocalypticism, Doctrine of God, Christology, Soteriology, Historical Theology, Biblical Studies, Dogmatic Theology, Analytic Theology, Continental Theology, Biblical Theology, Thomas F. Torrance, Karl Barth, John Calvin, Systematic Theology, Book of Daniel, early Judaism, Dura Europos, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, The Synoptic Gospels, Conversion In Antiquity, and Ethnicity In Antiquity
Research Interests: Gnosticism, Cognitive Science, Jewish Law, Jewish Law, Jewish Studies, and 84 moreJewish Studies, New Testament, Ritual, Talmud, Jewish Mysticism, Early Judaism (2nd Temple, Greco-Roman), Early Judaism (2nd Temple, Greco-Roman), Hermeneutics, Early Christianity, Water Purification, Jewish History, Second Temple Judaism, History of Religions, Christology, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish - Christian Relations, Doctrine of God, Humor/Satire, Humor/Satire, Infancy Narratives, Infancy Narratives, Early Christian Apocryphal Literature, Infancy Gospels, Infancy Gospels, Jewish Thought, Jewish Thought, Rabbinic Literature, Jewish Philosophy, Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Jewish Literature, Historical Jesus, Bible, Kabbalah, Judaism, Jewish Cultural Studies, Jewish Ritual Purity Law, Satire & Irony, Satire & Irony, Sacrifice, Emotions, Mishnah, Mishna, Satire, Satire, Irony, Parody, Satire, Irony, Parody, Parting of the Ways, Qumran, Dead Sea Scrolls, Early Judaism, Paul, Purity, Greco-Roman World, Son of Man Problem, Rabbinic Judaism, First century Judaism and Christianity, Torah, Ritual Purity, FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF SATIRE, New Testament Apocrypha, Tanakh, Doctrine of God, Christology, Soteriology, Historical Theology, Biblical Studies, Dogmatic Theology, Analytic Theology, Continental Theology, Biblical Theology, Thomas F. Torrance, Karl Barth, John Calvin, Systematic Theology, Religious symbolism, Rabbinical literature (The Mishnah, Babylonian and Palestinian Talmudim, aggadic midrashim), Christian Apocryphal Literature, Infancy and Preschool Years, Purification, The Synoptic Gospels, Jews In the Roman and Byzantine Empire, Jewish Epigraphy and Archaeology, Jewish and Christian Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, Orthodox Monasticism and Mt. Athos, Lecha Dodi, Origins of Rites & Rituals, Base Elements, Eucharist Traditions, Roman and Byzantine Social and Economic History, Ethiopian Christianity, Mishnah. Midrash, History of Judaism In Antiquity, Conversion In Antiquity, Ethnicity In Antiquity, Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity, Jewish and Christian Apocryphal Texts, and Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism
The Parables of Enoch is one of the most extraordinary sources for our understanding of the development of Jewish thought in the Second Temple period. This is the first Jewish text to have as its protagonist a messiah figure that is both... more
The Parables of Enoch is one of the most extraordinary sources for our understanding of the development of Jewish thought in the Second Temple period. This is the first Jewish text to have as its protagonist a messiah figure that is both heavenly and human, a messiah figure that is also given the divine function of universal judgment. But the Parables also suggest that those who were responsible for its composition and redaction were members of an ecstatic scribal community. This paper will explore evidence in the Parables indicating the practice of a community of Enochic scribes who were open to ecstatic, revelatory experiences that directly informed their understanding and use of wisdom.
"The Enochic Son of Man and Pauline Christology" A comparative analysis of the Messiah in the Book of the Parables of Enoch and the Letters of Paul, this study locates one aspect of Paul’s thought, his christology, in the context of... more
"The Enochic Son of Man and Pauline Christology"
A comparative analysis of the Messiah in the Book of the Parables of Enoch and the Letters of Paul, this study locates one aspect of Paul’s thought, his christology, in the context of Jewish intellectual traditions of the first century BCE and the first century CE. Conceptual elements of messianic traditions are identified in these documents by examining the nature and functions of the divine figure and the nature and functions of the messiah figure. This has implications for understanding divine and human agency and the relationships between mediatorial figures and the one God in Jewish literature from the Second Temple period. Comparative analysis demonstrates that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul share specific conceptual elements of messianic traditions. The combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul constituted independent, parallel developments. The evidence indicates that Paul was familiar with the conceptual elements of the Enochic messiah, and that Paul developed his concept of Jesus as the Kyrios out of the Son of Man traditions in the Book of the Parables of Enoch. This study argues that at least one facet of Paul’s thought, his christology, was heavily influenced by Enochic Son of Man traditions.
A comparative analysis of the Messiah in the Book of the Parables of Enoch and the Letters of Paul, this study locates one aspect of Paul’s thought, his christology, in the context of Jewish intellectual traditions of the first century BCE and the first century CE. Conceptual elements of messianic traditions are identified in these documents by examining the nature and functions of the divine figure and the nature and functions of the messiah figure. This has implications for understanding divine and human agency and the relationships between mediatorial figures and the one God in Jewish literature from the Second Temple period. Comparative analysis demonstrates that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul share specific conceptual elements of messianic traditions. The combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul constituted independent, parallel developments. The evidence indicates that Paul was familiar with the conceptual elements of the Enochic messiah, and that Paul developed his concept of Jesus as the Kyrios out of the Son of Man traditions in the Book of the Parables of Enoch. This study argues that at least one facet of Paul’s thought, his christology, was heavily influenced by Enochic Son of Man traditions.
Research Interests: Christianity, History, Sociology, Jewish Studies, Theology, and 76 moreHebrew Language, New Testament, History of Christianity, Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism (2nd Temple, Greco-Roman), Apocalypticism, Academic Writing, Early Christianity, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Jewish History, Pauline Literature, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Biography, Enoch literature, Origins of Christianity, Second Temple Judaism, History of Religions, Apocalypticism In Literature, Christology, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Thought, Rabbinic Literature, New Testament and Christian Origins, Apostle Paul and the Pauline Letters, Messianism, Eschatology, Literary Approaches to Biblical Studies, Bible, Judaism, Jewish Messianism, The Book of Daniel, Jewish apocalyptic literature, Book of Ezekiel, Enoch Seminar, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Jesus Parables, Q, Historical Jesus, and Biblical Hermeneutics for Ethico-Political Interpretation of New Testament, The relation between Theology and Ethics in Pauline Letters, Formative Judaism, Second Temple Period, Biblical Literature and Hermeneutics (esp. New Testament), Parting of the Ways, Qumran, The Christ Hymn in Philippians, Early Judaism, Social Context, Paul, Second Temple Judaim, Early Christianity, Pseudepigrapha, Greco-Roman World, Christology of New Testament, Pauline studies, Ritual Purity, Early Jewish Exegesis, 1 Enoch, Greek Patristics, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, History of Reception of Biblical Texts, The Synoptic Gospels, Babylonian priesthood, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetics, Early Christian Papyri and Inscriptions, Pseudepigrapha OT, Qumran Manuscripts of 1 Enoch, Jewish Aramaic Literature, Babylonian Scholarship, Jews In the Roman and Byzantine Empire, Jewish Epigraphy and Archaeology, Jewish and Christian Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, Orthodox Monasticism and Mt. Athos, New Testament and Archaeology, Material Culture and Religioin, Theories of Religiion and Culture, Aramaic and Targum, Roman and Byzantine Social and Economic History, History of Judaism In Antiquity, Conversion In Antiquity, and Ethnicity In Antiquity
Intertextual links between First Enoch and the Gospel of Matthew have been widely recognized for over a century. These connections suggest conceptual relationships regarding messianic beliefs both in terms of their difference and their... more
Intertextual links between First Enoch and the Gospel of Matthew have been widely recognized for over a century. These connections suggest conceptual relationships regarding messianic beliefs both in terms of their difference and their similarities. To understand these intertextual relationships between the Enoch literature and Matthew, one must also include Paul’s views of the messiah, developed in the period between the Book of the Parables of Enoch and the composition of the Gospels. Older critical approaches to Pauline christology once drove a wedge between Paul’s views of a crucified and risen messiah as Apostle to the Gentiles and the kinds of Jewish intellectual messianic traditions we have in First Enoch and Matthew. More recent critical approaches have a renewed appreciation for reading Paul in his Jewish context. This study explores the connections between First Enoch, Paul, and the Gospel of Matthew by examining these three messianic systems on the basis of both intertextuality and conceptual developments of Jewish messianic belief in the first century CE.
Research Interests:
""In the first century CE Jewish identity was defined in a context of significant religious diversity. This presents those who read Paul’s Letters with a problem: how to locate Paul’s thought within the complicated matrix of Jewish... more
""In the first century CE Jewish identity was defined in a context of significant religious diversity. This presents those who read Paul’s Letters with a problem: how to locate Paul’s thought within the complicated matrix of Jewish intellectual traditions of this period. A comparative analysis of the Messiah in the Book of the Parables of Enoch and the Letters of Paul, this study locates one aspect of Paul’s thought, his christology, in the context of Jewish intellectual traditions of the first century CE.
Conceptual elements of messianic traditions are identified in these documents by examining the nature and functions of the divine figure and the nature and functions of the messiah figure. This has implications for understanding divine and human agency and the relationships between mediatorial figures and the one God in Jewish literature from the Second Temple period. The literature demonstrates a complex variety of expressions for describing interactions between the divine figure and all other created beings.
Comparative analysis demonstrates that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul share specific conceptual elements of messianic traditions. The combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul constituted independent, parallel developments. It cannot be claimed, however, that Paul was familiar with the text of the Book of the Parables; there are no direct quotes of the Book of the Parables anywhere in Paul’s Letters. We can say, however, that Paul was familiar with the conceptual elements of the Enochic messiah, and that Paul developed his concept of the Kyrios out of the Son of Man traditions in the Book of the Parables of Enoch. This study argues that at least one facet of Paul’s thought, his christology, was heavily influenced by Enochic Son of Man traditions.""
Conceptual elements of messianic traditions are identified in these documents by examining the nature and functions of the divine figure and the nature and functions of the messiah figure. This has implications for understanding divine and human agency and the relationships between mediatorial figures and the one God in Jewish literature from the Second Temple period. The literature demonstrates a complex variety of expressions for describing interactions between the divine figure and all other created beings.
Comparative analysis demonstrates that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul share specific conceptual elements of messianic traditions. The combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Book of the Parables and the Letters of Paul constituted independent, parallel developments. It cannot be claimed, however, that Paul was familiar with the text of the Book of the Parables; there are no direct quotes of the Book of the Parables anywhere in Paul’s Letters. We can say, however, that Paul was familiar with the conceptual elements of the Enochic messiah, and that Paul developed his concept of the Kyrios out of the Son of Man traditions in the Book of the Parables of Enoch. This study argues that at least one facet of Paul’s thought, his christology, was heavily influenced by Enochic Son of Man traditions.""
“The Shadow and the Substance: Early Reception of Paul the Jew in the Letter to the Colossians.” The Early Reception of Paul the Second Temple Jew: Text, Narrative and Reception History. Isaac Oliver and Gabriele Boccaccini, editors. The... more
“The Shadow and the Substance: Early Reception of Paul the Jew in the Letter to the Colossians.” The Early Reception of Paul the Second Temple Jew: Text, Narrative and Reception History. Isaac Oliver and Gabriele Boccaccini, editors. The Library of Second Temple Studies 92. Lester Grabbe, editor. London: Bloomsbury T.&T. Clark, 2018. 75–87.
Research Interests:
This essay explores messiah traditions in Second Temple Judaism and their connection to messiah traditions of the early church. Much of the essay is given to a critique of Daniel Boyarin's book, The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish... more
This essay explores messiah traditions in Second Temple Judaism and their connection to messiah traditions of the early church. Much of the essay is given to a critique of Daniel Boyarin's book, The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ (New York: New Press, 2012).
This paper explores examples of satire in the Hebrew Bible and how interpretation and meaning of these narratives changed over time.
Traces the development of Jewish ideas about judgment and afterlife, beginning with pre-exilic traditions in the Torah, apocalyptic ideations and other traditions during the Second Temple period, Rabbinic views from late antiquity into... more
Traces the development of Jewish ideas about judgment and afterlife, beginning with pre-exilic traditions in the Torah, apocalyptic ideations and other traditions during the Second Temple period, Rabbinic views from late antiquity into the medieval period, and today.
The Second Temple period witnessed a remarkable diversity of biblical (Torah) interpretation. This paper offers a brief survey of biblical history leading up to and including the Second Temple period. The paper then offers three examples... more
The Second Temple period witnessed a remarkable diversity of biblical (Torah) interpretation. This paper offers a brief survey of biblical history leading up to and including the Second Temple period. The paper then offers three examples of diverse biblical interpretations in Zadokite and Enochic priestly and scribal communities with an examination of texts that touch on the liturgical calendar from this period, the biblical figures Adam and Eve, and divergent traditions about the flood. This paper was the annual Philip Markowicz Lecture on Jewish Biblical Studies, a public lecture delivered at the University of Toledo's Law School auditorium on 25 October 2010. It was the second lecture in the 2010-2011 series from the UT Initiative for Religious Understanding.
Recent analysis has attempted to locate the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT) in a context of developing Christian thought about Jesus’ childhood, and has suggested that the author(s) imitated a popular children’s stories genre of late... more
Recent analysis has attempted to locate the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT) in a context of developing Christian thought about Jesus’ childhood, and has suggested that the author(s) imitated a popular children’s stories genre of late antiquity. The function of this genre, when applied to the infancy of Jesus, is to embellish the status of Jesus in terms of his power, wisdom, and authority. What appears to be an earlier strand of tradition in IGT, however, suggests an ideological stance that is much less complimentary of Jesus and raises a number of questions about its original context and purpose.