In Word and Deed

The Author: H. Wayne Merritt is an associate professor of New Testament and Chair of the Area of Biblical Studies and Languages at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. Professor Merrit presented the Charles B. Copher Lectures at the ITC in 1989 and has contributed articles and papers for publication in scholarly journals. Currently, he is preparing an English translation of the Greek fragments of Antisthenes.

"Wayne Merritt's study not only enhances Pauline research, but also provides a daring hermeneutic which posits innovative access to Paul's understanding of transcendence in relation to immanence and moral integrity." (J.C. Beker, Princeton Theological Seminary)
"With great discernment, the culminating focus on 2 Corinthians 10-13 cuts below the surface of Paul's defense and shows how the deeper intent of his language moves away from a heteronomous guarantee of the coherence of word and deed toward an autonomy which sees the transcendent in immediate daily life." (William A. Beardslee, The Center for Process Studies)
"Merritt's study offers provocative arguments for Paul's ethic as generated and sustained by an autonomous moral vision in solidarity with classical and Hellenistic antiquity. This approach to Pauline ethics challenges long cherished positions promoted by Pauline scholarship and lays the groundwork for a still closer alliance between rhetoric and ethics." (Wilhelm Wuellner, Pacific School of Religion)
"...this is a work that merits reading by those concerned with the Corinthian correspondence and its contemporary relevance." (John T. Fitzgerald, Journal of Biblical Literature)
"Merritt's survey provides a valuable rhetorical context for the exegesis of 2 Corinthians 10-13." (Raymond F. Collins, Louvain Studies)