Interpretation articles from April 2003

Interpretation archives from April 2003

Editorial.(Editorial)
April 1, 2003... History matters! Such a slogan cannot replace the ubiquitous clarion call "Theology matters," but historical inquiry can complement, if not enhance, the theological study of scripture. To state the obvious, biblical faith is as much...

The voice of the historian in the ancient Near Eastern and mediterranean world.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... We all do history. We record it as we live and have lived it by telling, writing, or otherwise communicating stories about our particular pasts, sometimes against the larger pasts of family, society, and world in which our particulars are...

Historiography "hazards," and the study of ancient Israel.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... In her 1975 address before the Massachusetts Historical Society entitled "Hazards on the Way to the Middle Ages," Barbara Tuchman explored some of the many difficulties that challenge the would-be student of any pre-modern culture. (1) Her list...

Assisting the word by making (up) history: Luke's project and ours.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... My early theological position was shaped largely by that ecumenical family of interpretive strategies that came to be known as the Biblical Theology Movement, and at its center was the conviction that history was the primary medium through...

Mapping early Christianity: Acts and the shape of early church history.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... The perception that we need a map to understand Luke's history of the church is hardly new. Every Sunday School Bible has its map of the "Missionary Journeys of Saint Paul." But recent developments in the field of cognitive geography have drawn...

The believer and the historian: theological interpretation and historical investigation.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... The question we have been asked to address is "How is history relevant to the work of biblical interpretation in theology?" I admit that when I first received notice of this topic, I was tempted to respond in the words of St. Paul, "Greatly in...

Psalm 105. (Between Text and Sermon).(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... PSALM 105 IS THE CLIFF NOTES OF THE TORAH. In only a few verses, the psalmist recites the gracious acts of God from Abraham to the Promised Land, a history detailed in the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. In poetic praise of God's covenant...

Amos 5:18-24. (Between Text and Sermon).(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... IN THE NEAR-LEGENDARY "I HAVE A DREAM" SPEECH he delivered at the 1963 March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., quoted from, or otherwise alluded to, many of the iconic texts of Western civilization: the Gettysburg Address, the plays of...

Mark 11:1-11. (Between Text and Sermon).(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... MARK'S URGENCY TO TELL THE STORY OF JESUS and alert his community to the gospel message of Christ before it was too late is well known. It is evidenced in the brevity of his words and the repeated use of "immediate" language throughout his...

John 6:1-15. (Between Text and Sermon).(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2003... ALL FOUR GOSPELS NARRATE THE STORY of a miraculous feeding with bread and fish, Matthew and Mark telling some version of it twice (Matt 14:13-21; 15:32-39; Mark 6:32-44; 8:1-10; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15). It is a story that merits multiple...

Glimpses of a Strange Land: Studies in Old Testament Ethics & Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Ethically. (Major Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... Glimpses of a Strange Land: Studies In Old Testament Ethics Cyril S. Rodd T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 2001. 402 pp. $49.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-567-08753-0. Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Ethically Gordon J. Wenham T &...

What is New Testament Theology? (Major Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... bY Dan O. Via Guides to Biblical Scholarship. New Testament Series. Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, 2002. 148 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-8006-3263-X. THIS VOLUME BEGINS BY NOTING THAT IN 1979 Hendrikus Boers published a volume in this same...

The Biblical World. (Major Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... edited by John Barton New York, Routledge, 2002. 1120 pp. (2 vol.). $225.00. ISBN 0-415-16105-3. THIS RICHLY ILLUSTRATED INTRODUCTION to the world of the Bible begins with chapters describing what the Bible is: Old Testament/Hebrew...

The Character of God in the Book of Genesis: A Narrative Appraisal. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by W. Lee Humphreys Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2001.284 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-664-22360-5. IN THIS EMINENTLY READABLE yet never simplistic book, Humphreys reads Genesis sequentially, examining the ways God is characterized. He...

Holiness to the LORD: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Allen P. Ross Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2002. 496 pp. $29.99 (cloth). ISBN 0-8010-22851-1. ROSS INTENDS TO MAKE the book of Leviticus accessible and valuable for contemporary Christian readers. His methodology is...

Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... by Stephen K Sherwood Berit Olam. Liturgical, Collegeville, 2002. 306 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8146-5046-5. THE BERIT OLAM SERIES of commentaries is directed toward a broad audience of readers, from interested lay persons to...

Preaching the Psalms & Journey through the Psalms. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by J. Clinton McCann, Jr., and James C. Howell Abingdon, Nashville, 2001.144 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-687-04499-5. Journey through the Psalms by Denise Dombkowski Hopkins Revised and Expanded. Chalice, St. Louis, 2002. 176pp. 26.99...

The Prophetic Literature: An Introduction. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by David L. Petersen Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 260 pp. $34.95. ISBN 0-664-25453-5. BIBLICAL PROPHETIC LITERATURE is an enigmatic and complex terrain. A good map should therefore possess authority and exhibit clarity and...

Re-Imagine the World: An Introduction to the Parables of Jesus. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Bernard Brandon Scott Polebridge Press, Santa Rosa, 2001.167 pp. $18.00. ISBN 0-944344-86-0. THE PARABLES, ACCORDING to Scott, give us a glimpse into the alternative manner of living that Jesus presented to his followers. The...

What Did Jesus Mean? Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Anna Wierzbicka Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 533 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-19-513733-7. THIS BOOK APPLIES the study of semantics to the texts of Jesus' preaching. Using the idea of "conceptual primes," that "all explanations...

The Quest for Home: Household in Mark's Community. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Michael F. Trainor Liturgical, Collegeville, 2001. 201 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-8146-5087-2. THE POWERFUL EXPERIENCE of family and belonging in the contemporary world has created for Trainor a "preoccupation, almost obsession with houses...

Paul in Acts. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Stanley E. Porter Library of Pauline Studies. Hendrickson, Peabody, 2001. 242 pp. $24.95. ISBN 1-56563-613-9. PORTER INVITES US to consider "a depiction of one character, Paul, as he is presented and appears in various ways in the...

Ephesians & Ephesians. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Ephesians by John Muddiman Black's New Testament Commentaries. Continuum, New York, 2001. 338 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-8264-5203-5. Ephesians by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld Believer's Church Bible Commentary. Herald, Waterloo,...

Paul and the New Perspective: Second Thoughts on the Origin of Paul's Gospel. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Seyoon Kim Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2002. 351 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0-8028-4974-1. IN WHAT MAY BE THE MOST comprehensive critique to date of the New Perspective on Paul, Seyoon Kim presents a thorough reworking of the traditional view of...

In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Oskar Skarsaune InterVarsity, Downers Grove, 2002. 444 pp. $30.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8308-2670-X. SKARSAUNE PRESENTS a broad and inclusive examination of the Jewish roots of pre-Nicean Christianity for the general reader. He maintains...

The Making of Sages: Biblical Wisdom and Contemporary Culture. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Donn F. Morgan Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2002. 207 pp. $22.00. ISBN 1-56338-3284. MORGAN DEFTLY JUXTAPOSES biblical and contemporary perspectives on what makes a "sage." Morgan cleaves to his goal of urging the...

The Christian Myth: Origins, Logic, and Legacy. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Burton L. Mark Continuum, New York, 2001. 237 pp. $25.95. ISBN 0-8264-1355-2. THIS BOOK, IN THREE MAJOR PARTS, presents the origins of Christianity, its inner social logic, and its historical and cultural legacy. Mack begins with a...

The Control of Biblical Meaning: Canon as Semiotic Mechanism. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by George Aichele Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2001. 259 pp. $26.00. ISBN 1-56338-333-0. THIS BOOK DECONSTRUCTS conventional presentations of the Christian Bible as an expression of a single truth or meaning. Aichele...

Heroism and the Christian Life: Reclaiming Excellence. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Brian S. Hook and R. R. Reno Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2000. 253 pp. $23.95. ISBN 0-664-25812-3. IN THIS FASCINATING QUERY into Christian heroism, Friedrich Nietzsche poses the book's problem. Can a religion that places so...

Evil and Christian Ethics. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Gordon Graham New Studies in Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2001.241 pp. $64.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-77109-9. NEVER BEFORE HAVE I read a book where I have been so sympathetic to the author's conclusions yet...

Calvin: A Biography. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Bernard Cottret Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2000. 367 pages. $28.00. ISBN 0-8028-4289-5. BY DESIGN, Cottret's account is an historian's Calvin. Cottret declares that he is neither a theologian nor a minister, meaning that he will be...

Theology and Modern Science: Quest for Coherence. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by James A. Wiseman Continuum, New York, 2002. 175 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-8264-1381-1. THE TITLE OF THE BOOK fairly describes its contents. Wiseman takes us on an urbane tour of the now lively and even crowded territory known as "science...

Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God's Openness. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... by Clark H. Pinnock Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2001. 202 pp. $16.99. ISBN 1-84227-0141. THROUGHOUT HIS PROLIFIC CAREER, evangelical theologian Clark Pinnock has battled for his (changing) view of biblically centered faith against...

The Systematic Thought of Hans Urs von Baithasar: An Irenaean Retrieval & The Ethical Thought of Hans Urs von Baithasar. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Kevin Mongrain Crossroad, New York, 2002. 232 pp. $29.95 ISBN 0-8245-1972-2. The Ethical Thought of Hans Urs von Baithasar by Christopher W. Steck, S.J. Crossroad, New York, 2001. 205 pp. $35.00. ISBN 0-8245-19159. HANS...

Christian America? What Evangelicals Really Want. (Shorter Review).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... by Christian Smith University of California Press, Berkeley, 2002. 267 pp. $18.95. ISBN 0-520-23470-7. THE GREAT CONTRIBUTION of Christian Smith's work is that it provides a careful empirical grounding in what we know about American...

Preaching to Every Pew. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... by James R. Nieman and Thomas G. Rogers Fortress, Minneapolis, 2001. 159 pp. $16.00. ISBN 0-8006-3234-5. THE NEED FOR A TEXT THAT addresses cross-cultural issues in homiletics prompted Nieman and Rogers to produce this in-depth yet...

Preaching is Believing: The Sermon as Theological Reflection. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Ronald J. Allen Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 162 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-664-22330-3. RON ALLEN TEACHES New Testament and Preaching at Christian Theological Seminary. His latest book is a gem, reflecting his expertise as a...