Teresa Lee McCaskill (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) is a New Testament scholar whose research focuses on how gifts in Pauline literature were received by their original audiences.

• Chapter 1: An Introduction to the ?a??sµata of Rom 12:6–8Chapter 2: Rom 12:6: From “Prophecy in Proportion to Faith” (NRSV) to “Prophecy in Accordance with What has been Entrusted” (p??f?te?a? ?at? t?? ??a????a? t?? p?ste??)Chapter 3: Rom 12:7: From “Ministry, in Ministering” (NRSV) to “A Mission, in Accordance with What it Requires” (d?a????a? ?? t? d?a?????)Chapter 4: Rom 12:7: From “The Teacher, in the Teaching” (NRSV) to “The One who Teaches, in Accordance with What the Teaching Requires” (? d?d?s??? ?? t? d?das?a???)Chapter 5: Rom 12:8: From “The Exhorter, in Exhortation” (NRSV) to “The One who Invokes and Invites, in Accordance with What the Opportunities Require” (? pa?a?a??? ?? t? pa?a???se?)Chapter 6: Rom 12:8: From “The Giver, in Generosity” (NRSV) to “The One Who Shares with Generosity, Simplicity, or Sincerity, as Required” (? µetad?d??? ?? ?p??t?t?)Chapter 7: Rom 12:8: From “The Leader, in Diligence” (NRSV) to “The One Who Champions with Zeal as Required” (? p???st?µe??? ?

McCaskill offers a convincing new take on the gifts or charismata enumerated in Romans 12. Taking her lead from Paul’s remarks about sacrifice as the chapter opens, she situates gift language in a ritual setting, namely worship and the practice of reciprocity that defined divine-human relations in the ancient Mediterranean world. The mostly Gentile recipients of the letter would have understood gifts in that context, even as Paul redirected the language to articulate and advance the mission he advocated. Gifts, McCaskill demonstrates, have more to do with practices defining and propagating a new belief system than with community-structuring actions or offices.