Paul was a mystic. So claimed scholars from Adolf Deissmann to Albert Schweitzer. Others disagreed, figures no less significant than Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth and Ernst Käsemann. The pro-mystic group argued that Paul's theological message was best understood if set within the context of Hellenistic or Jewish mysticism. The anti-mystic group could not tolerate any similarity of that sort, which, in their opinion, would damage Paul's uniqueness. The disagreement among biblical scholars can be traced back to more general misgivings about mysticism in European thought. After surveying the reception history of Paul's mysticism, and relying on the ideological critique of religious studies, I argue that the discomfort with a ‘mystical’ Paul may be attributed to the construction of a rational Christian self, where the ‘mystical’ is othered altogether. In addition to a historical reading of Paul in the context of Jewish mysticism, it may be helpful to read him in comparison with Islamic mysticism. Hence some Pauline passages are compared with passages from Sufi literature.

The article analyses the Epistle to the Galatians with regard to textual elements that can be related to language or political performances in the imperium Romanum. To this end, political interpretations in research are first presented and critically discussed: the alleged persecution in Gal 6.12; gods, elements and the calendar in Gal 4.8–10; and the νόμος as Roman law. In a second step, political models of language and thought from the Roman imperial period in the Epistle to the Galatians are considered: the ‘present evil age’ in Gal 1.4; the idea of a new world-view through the concepts of the ‘Gospel’ and the ‘Son of God’; the cross of Christ as a break from the world; the turn of the ages in Gal 4.1–7; the new community according to Gal 3.28. A conclusion summarises the resulting new world-view and its consequences.

The Johannine commandment of love aims not only in an ethical-ecclesial sense at the cohesion in the church, but in a mission-theological sense at the winning of new church members. Jn 15.1–17 explains how the mutual immanence of God, Jesus and his disciples enables his followers to gain new fruit in the sense of new church members through mutual love. This continues the christological-ecclesial interpretation of Jesus’ foot-washing from John 13. The symbolic action illustrates how Jesus’ mission leads to the foundation of a community of disciples as a community of love, which becomes the place where the love of God can be permanently experienced (13.1–20, 34–5). The disciples are commissioned to make love present in the world. They are equal among themselves in their immediacy to Jesus, as members of the community of discipleship. A mission-theological use of the harvest metaphor is already found prominently in John 4.35–8 and 12.24–6 and thus in two texts, each of which describes the mission of the followers in correspondence to the mission of Jesus. The vine metaphor deepens that and how Jesus’ followers are to contribute to the enlargement of the community of followers even after his departure, whereby the pre-Easter community of followers is the model for the post-Easter community.

Simon Magus is a key figure in the earliest apocryphal Acts of Peter. He is a sorcerer and confidant of the emperor who clashes with Peter and, in later apocryphal texts, with both Peter and Paul. However, this is not simply the villain of the Acts of the Apostles. In this article I will argue that the apocryphal Simon is a composite figure drawn substantially, but not necessarily wholly, from the Simon of Acts 8 and the Elymas/Bar-Jesus figure who opposes Paul in Acts 13.

In the course of the transmission of the text of the New Testament variants in the text emerged many times and in different ways. This article shows the importance of the study of corrections in the course of building theories about the emergence of specific variants. It presents some exemplary results of the examination of corrections of a few manuscripts of Acts. The article shows that examining all the corrections in a work in an individual manuscript can give important hints on the emergence of specific variants because it allows to make judgement about the character of the copying and the correcting.

The Wyman Fragment, or 0220, has been a chief and early witness to the text of Romans 4.23–5.3 since the initial publication of the recto in 1952. A 2005 edition of the verso, containing Rom 5.8–13, rendered most of that portion of the manuscript legible for the first time, but has not been widely circulated. In this article I present a new edition and analysis of 0220, a third- or fourth-century manuscript of Rom 4.23–5.13, in light of multispectral imaging and radiocarbon testing performed on the fragment. This edition resolves tensions between previous editions, contextualises the radiocarbon and palaeographic dates, transcribes previously illegible traces, securing additional lines of text, and reveals more work by a second hand than previously noted.

The Acts of Paul have received the most diverse and contradictory interpretations. Do the ActPl intend to promote the veneration of Paul or a particular theology? Do they offer transparent fiction or do they claim factuality? Are they a collection of oral traditions or a designed literary construction? From the perspective of cultural memory theory, however, the key question is rather how the text allows the reader to participate in a community-generating past. In this view, the opposites turn out to be complementary aspects of an integrative textual strategy. This becomes manifest especially in the technique of metaleptic narration, which transcends the boundary between the world of the text and the reader, between past and present.

In the ongoing discussions of Gal 3.10–14, interpreters have underappreciated the connection between Paul's argument in 3.10 and his use of Ps 143.2 in 2.16. This article argues that Paul bases his denial of justification by works in 2.16 on the confession of humanity's universal sinfulness in Ps 143.2. Given the rhetorical function of 2.15–21 as well as the close verbal and logical ties between 2.16 and 3.10, it contends the same thought underlies Paul's charge in 3.10 that those of works are under a curse. On this basis, the article assesses various interpretations of Gal 3.10.

Matthew's didactic teaching blocks often present the terms of salvation as an uncompromising dichotomy, envisioning either complete loyalty or faithlessness (e.g. 10.37–9; 16.25; 24.13). However, the characters in his narrative sections, especially Peter, nuance this harsh binary to allow for a significant degree of failure. After a brief survey recent works on Matthean soteriology and the use of Peter, it is argued that two features of Peter, when combined, widen the scope of salvation. First, Matthew portrays him as occupying a ‘middle ground’ between complete obedience and absolute failure, with all indications pointing to Peter remaining in that space, as emphasised by the last references to him (27.25; 28.16). Second, this failing Peter will not only be allowed in the kingdom, but will have a position of greatness there, as demonstrated by both Matthew's overall theology of status variation within the kingdom (e.g. 19.28; 20.26–7; 5.19) and his unique Petrine accounts (14.22–33; 16.17–19; 17.24–7). Though the way to salvation is narrow (i.e. 7.14), the character of Peter widens it to allow for more failure than some texts in the didactic sections might initially suggest.