Contagious Holiness: Jesus' Meals With Sinners (New Studies in Biblical Theology) (Paperback)

by Craig L. Blomberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
One of humanity's most basic and common practices--eating meals--was transformed by Jesus into an occasion of divine encounter. In sharing food and drink with his companions, he invited them to share in the grace of God. He revealed his redemptive mission while eating with sinners, repentant and unrepentant alike. Jesus' "table fellowship" with sinners in the Gospels has been widely agreed to be historically reliable. However, this consensus has recently been challenged, for example, by the claim that the meals in which Jesus participated took the form of Greco-Roman symposia--or that the "sinners" involved were the most flagrantly wicked within Israel's society, not merely the ritually impure or those who did not satisfy strict Pharisaic standards of holiness. In this excellent and thorough study, Craig L. Blomberg engages with the debate and opens up the significance of the topic. He surveys meals in the Old Testament and the intertestamental period, examines all the Gospel texts relevant to Jesus' eating with sinners, and concludes with contemporary applications. Features & Benefits

* Excellent examination of a key theme in the Gospels

* Accessible scholarship, engaging with current debates

* Concludes with application to contemporary Christian meals and lifestyles

* Author is a prominent NT scholar and IVP author

About the Author
Craig L. Blomberg (Ph.D., Aberdeen) is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado. His numerous books include Interpreting the Parables, Neither Poverty nor Riches, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel, and commentaries on Matthew and 1 Corinthians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830826203
• ISBN-13: 978-0830826209
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #545,924 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Applying Jesus' example in reaching the lost, January 13, 2006

By	Christian Book Previews.com "Christian Book P... - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Not a book for cuddling into a comfy chair with tea and cookies, Contagious Holiness is a scholarly treatise which explores deeply into its subject. And if you think this subject is settled and unchanging, think again. Higher criticism- which isn't so high after all- has taken aim at Jesus and His eating habits. Blomburg sets out, most successfully, to show that Jesus quite deliberately ate with sinners-like you and me, and even better and worse folk-lovingly inundating them with His contagious holiness.

Number 19 in IVP's New Studies in Biblical Theology series, Contagious Holiness first looks at meals in the Old Testament, then during the intertestamental period, and how these meals impacted the New Testament era. The meat of this book is next considered, a deep discussion of the why's and wherefore's of Jesus' eating with sinners, and what His pervasive purity accomplishes. The conclusion discusses how the church, in a world where eating is degenerating into lonely fast food pig outs, can apply all these lessons to reach people for Christ. All of the footnotes appear conveniently within the text. An exhaustive bibliography and a couple of relevant indices helpfully close this volume.

Distinguished professor of New Testament and prolific author, Craig Blomburg capably keeps strictly to his subject and, while sometimes sending the lay reader to a dictionary, manages to keep his audience very interested. - Donna Eggett, Christian Book Previews.com

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Articulate, serious, but perhaps dry., May 16, 2008

By	William Petruzzo (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Contagious Holiness by Craig Blomberg is the third book from the New Studies in Biblical Theology series that I've read. The series has proven very challenging, but equally as rewarding. This installment was no exception.

The previous two books, Adopted into God's Family and Slave of Christ dealt with theological threads appearing all throughout the New Testament; namely the metaphors of adoption and slavery. After reading them, large portions of scripture gained a great deal of new meaning, simply because the metaphors used suddenly had more meaning. In Contagious Holiness the effect has not been as dramatic, or exciting.

Blombergs intent in writing was to explore Jesus' meals with sinners; who was he dining with? What was the dining experience like? Most specifically, his intention was to investigate recent claims that Jesus' mealtimes with sinners would have reflected the Hellenistic tradition of symposium. A social party or club, often characterized by excessive eating, drinking, sleeping, philosophical conversation and sometimes sexual entertainment--even orgies. If this were the case then Jesus' meals with sinners were not only with the worst of the worst, but in the worst of the worst scenarios, and what's more that would not demand repentance or life change.

Blomberg effectively searches the scriptures through the Old Testament, as well as non-canonical text, to investigate whether or not the Jewish culture of Jesus' day had become Hellenized to the point of participating in symposium. From there he moves to a thorough exegesis of all synoptic gospel accounts of Jesus sharing meals with others.

Blomberg's writing is dry, and sometimes slow, but this has been characteristic of this series thus far, and is worth putting up with.

While I didn't leave this book with a new perspective on scripture, I did leave with a more complete perspective on scripture--more specifically on Jesus' ministry. I wouldn't recommend this book to an average reader, but to someone wishing to delve more deeply into scripture, this book will be an encouragement, if you stick with it!

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Those that are not sick have no need of a Physician, July 24, 2008

By	Dick B. "Dick B." (Kihei, HI USA) - See all my reviews

I come from the A.A. tradition and its historical roots in the Bible.The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible (Bridge Builders Edition). And if anything is missing from the recovery scene today, that is the an adequate knowledge of A.A.'s Biblical roots and Christian origins.God and Alcoholism: Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century. The early AAs studied, and were urged to study, all kinds of materials about Jesus and his ministry. The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th Edition. And some of the reading was tough sledding. But I'm not persuaded that this book contributes much to an understanding of what Jesus meant when he talked about who needed a physician. Jesus was called the Great Physician for centuries.The First Nationwide Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference, 2d ed.. Bill Wilson called on the Great Physician for deliverance when Bill was at the bottom of the well.The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator's Role in Early A.A.. A drunk? Yes. A sinner? Definitely? Someone looking for symposium or some such. No. A.A.'s founders--both of them--were like atheists in fox holes looking for God for deliverance, except that neither was an atheist. Both were sinners in more ways than one. And they needed the services of the Great Physician because they were sinners and wanted out. They wanted what Psalm 103 was talking about--the benefits of God, healing of all disease, forgiveness for all iniquities, redemption of their lives from destruction. And the consequent showing of loving kindness and tender mercies. So rather than looking for some Hellenistic custom on the subject of who Jesus ate with, forgave, and healed, I'd rather focus on the love of God and what His son accomplished for the whole world and made available to those who confessed Him as Lord and believed God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).Why Early A.A. Succeeded: The Good Book in Alcoholics Anonymous Yesterday and Today .