Turley begins by surveying the history of the interface between ritual studies and Pauline scholarship, identifying the scholarly gaps in both method and conclusions and a ritual theory adequate to address such gaps. The focus of the work is then on the two rituals that identified the Pauline communities: ritual washings and ritual meals. Turley explores Galatians and 1 Corinthians, two letters that present the richest spread of evidence pertinent to ritual theory. By exploring Paul's reference to ritual washings and meals with a heuristic use of ritual theory, Turley concludes that rituals in early Christianity were inherently revelatory, in that they revealed the dawning of the messianic age through the bodies of the ritual participants. This bodily revelation established both a distinctly Christian ethic and a distinctly Christian social space by which such an ethical identity might be identified and sustained.

In John within Judaism Wally V. Cirafesi offers a reading of the Gospel of John as an expression of the fluid and flexible nature of Jewish ethnic identity in Greco-Roman antiquity.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with 'social world' forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul's theology and ethics. Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz's systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord's Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul's underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are likely more basic for the church than you think. When Jesus inaugurated the new covenant by his death on the cross, he established baptism as the new covenant sign of entry and the Lord's Supper as the new covenant sign of participation. These signs identify believers with Christ and his people. They are integral to the existence, membership, and discipline of the local church. In answer to the question "Who can take the Lord's Supper?" this book catalogues four major positions in the broad Baptist tradition. While proponents of various views have appealed to the necessity of circumcision for participation in Passover as evidence for their position, none have adequately worked out the covenantal relationships between circumcision and baptism or Passover and the Lord's Supper. By contrast to Reformed pedobaptist covenantal theology and in distinction from Baptist covenantal theology and dispensational theologies, this book develops the relation of these covenantal signs from a progressive-covenantal perspective. It presents an unprecedented comparison of the continuities and discontinuities between the covenant signs across the storyline of Scripture to demonstrate a biblical-theological principle that the sign of entry should precede the sign of participation.

Ever Wonder? What Americas' Horoscope reveals of our future destiny? What the Constellations of the Zodiac convey esoterically? How Freemasonry relates to the Mysteries of ancient Egypt and the founding of America? What magical significance does our Great Seal present in its' arcane symbolism? Where Jesus was for the missing 20 years of Biblical history? What the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in 1947-reveal about Jesus? What is Israel's role is in the 'Last Days' scenario? What became of the lost Ten Tribes of Israel? Will Jesus really return to Earth in our lifetime? Who the Lord and Master of the Universe, really is? How accurate the Holy Bible is according to historical events? Wonder no more... We are now at the precipice of a new Age of spiritual awakening. Great Ages seem to produce mighty accomplishments in the arts and sciences, and as well penetrating visions from the prophets of the time. The Age of Aquarius starts off the seventh historical Millennium of our Creator God, His symbolic "day of rest," His Sabbath. Encoded in the circle of the Zodiac, is a story of a Redeemer, the Redemption, and the Redeemed; as the Zodiac intimately reflects Bible prophecy and is in complete accordance with prophecies of the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets. Soon the Angels trumpets will sound and call us to prophesy and collect our Legacy..