This volume contains 28 essays in honor of Abraham J. Malherbe, whose work has been especially influential in exploring modes of cultural interaction between early Jews and Christians and their Graeco-Roman neighbours. Following an introductory essay on the problems inherent to such comparative studies in the history of New Testament scholarship, the essays are grouped into five topic areas: Graphos -- semantics and writing, Ethos -- ethics and moral characterization, Logos -- rhetoric and literary expression, Ethnos -- self-definition and acculturation, and Nomos -- law and normative values. Some key examples are studies dealing with The Greek Idea of "Divine Nature" and its relation to the "Divine Man" tradition; Compilation of Letters in Cicero's collection; Radical Altruism in Paul; Greek Ideas of Concord and Cosmic Harmony in 1 Clement; The Rhetorical Use of Friendship Motifs in Galatians in comparison with Second Sophistic Orators; Wills and Testaments in Graeco-Roman perspective.

L. Michael White, Ph.D. (1982) in Religious Studies, Yale University, is R.N. Smith Professor of Classics and Christian Origins at The University of Texas at Austin. He has published extensively on archaeology and social history in early Christianity as well as on the moralist tradition in relation to the New Testament.
Thomas H. Olbricht, Ph.D. (Iowa), S.T.B. (Harvard Divinity School) is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California. He has published extensively in Biblical theology, rhetoric and church history. He lives in retirement in South Berwick, Maine.
John T. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. (1984) in New Testament, Yale University, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Miami and co-editor of Philodemus and the New Testament World (Brill, 2004).