Interpretation articles from April 2005

Interpretation archives from April 2005

Editorial.(Editorial)
April 1, 2005... DICTIONARIES DEFINE "vocation" as a "call" (from the Latin, vocatio) or a "summons" to perform a certain function or to enter a certain career. Dictionary definitions are seldom adequate for the language of faith. In this case, however, the...

The priestly vocation.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... The origin of the priestly vocation in the Bible is the holiness of God. If God were not holy, there would be no priestly vocation. For this reason our interpretation must begin with reflection on the nature of holiness, noting especially its...

The prophet Jeremiah and exclusive loyalty to God.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... During these times of national and international turmoil, reflection on the prophetic calling is more than an historical inquiry. It is an urgent matter of critical importance for the Christian church in its worship, its ministry, and its...

"Follow me": the imperious call of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... The familiar evangelical chorus, "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"--originating among new believers in the Garo tribe of India and now sung by Christians throughout the world--pithily captures the cost and commitment of discipleship demanded in...

"The one who called you ...": vocation and leadership in the Pauline literature.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... I am astonished," writes Paul to the Galatians, "that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you..." (1) Although Paul's language was apparently crafted to have the strongest possible rhetorical shock value in a time of crisis, his...

The called life: an essay on the pastoral vocation.
April 1, 2005... I have a friend who is a carpenter. Although he delights in satisfying his customers, his real joy is in the wood itself and the shaping of it into cabinets, chairs, or other pieces of fine furniture. He understands that the texture of yellow...

Genesis 1:26-28.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... VERY EARLY IN OUR CHRISTIAN education, we learn that human beings are somehow special among all things created because, according to Genesis 1:26-28, we have been made in the image of God. Yet, this claim has puzzled theologians throughout the...

Exodus 3:1-12.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... THE STORY OF THE CALL OF MOSES has captured the imagination of artists, authors, film makers, story tellers, and people of faith for generations. It is a gripping, inspiring story of God's power and compassion, and of an unsuspecting man whom...

Jeremiah 1:4-18.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... "WELL, HOW DO YOU KNOW?" was the question my mother voiced as she looked me in the eyes. It was August 19, 1972. Within a week, I would return to college for my sophomore year. I had just shared with my parents my affirmation of God's call on...

Colossians 3:1-17.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2005... "RAISED WITH CHRIST" Perhaps the most essential and unifying premise of the various documents included in the New Testament canon is that the resurrection of Jesus the Christ fundamentally altered the reality of the cosmos, whether or not...

Ecclesiastes: The JPS Bible Commentary.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Ecclesiastes: The JPS Bible Commentary by Michael V. Fox The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2004. 87 pp. $34.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8276-0742-3. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LIKE OTHERS IN THIS SERIES, the commentary by...

1 Peter, Jude and 2 Peter.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... 1 Peter, Jude and 2 Peter by Donald P. Senior, C. P. and Daniel J. Harrington, S. J. Sacra Pagina, 15. Liturgical, Collegeville, 2003. 315 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8146-5817-2. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE TWO AUTHORS OF THIS...

Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society by Philip A. Harland Fortress, Minneapolis, 2003. 399 pp. $22.00 ISBN 0-8006-3589-2. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PHILIP HARLAND ARGUES...

America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln by Mark A. Noll Oxford University Press, New York, 2002. 622 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-19-515111-9. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES has often been...

Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life by Douglas Schuurman Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 204 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-8028-0137-4. A COUPLE OF YEARS ago I taught a class called "God and Mammon: Christian Reflections on Economic...

How the Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... How the Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel by William M. Schniedewind Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004. 257 pp. $28.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-82946-1. IN THIS SLIM but significant volume, William...

1-2 Chronicles: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... 1-2 Chronicles: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries by Steven L. McKenzie Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2004. 381 pp. $36.00. ISBN: 0-687-00750-X. THE ABINGDON Old Testament Commentary provides a compact, critical commentary for...

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther: New International Biblical Commentaries.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther: New International Biblical Commentaries by L. Allen and T. Laniak Hendrickson, Peabody, MA, 2003. 290 pp. $14.95. ISBN 1-56563-218-4. THIS SERIES EXEMPLIFIES the challenge of biblical scholarship for...

The Singers of Lamentations: Cities Under Siege, From Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Singers of Lamentations: Cities Under Siege, From Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo by Nancy C. Lee Brill, Leiden, 2002. 231 pp. $81.00 (cloth). ISBN 90-04-123121. USING ORAL POETIC analysis, Lee provides a careful study of the...

Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma by Janet Howe Gaines Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2003. 179 pp. $26.95. ISBN 1-58983-077-6. AFTER REVIEWING introductory concepts, Gaines devotes each chapter in this...

Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible by Gale A. Yee Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2003. 298 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8006-3457-8. YEE FOCUSES on the problem of "the symbolization of woman as the incarnation of...

Love and Violence: Marriage as Metaphor for the Relationship between YHWH and Israel in the Prophetic Books.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Love and Violence: Marriage as Metaphor for the Relationship between YHWH and Israel in the Prophetic Books by Gerlinde Baumann Liturgical, Collegeville, 2003. 271 pp. $39.95. ISBN 0-8146-5147-X. READERS OF SCRIPTURE have long...

Reading Mark, Engaging the Gospel.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Reading Mark, Engaging the Gospel by David Rhoads Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2004. 240 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-8006-3649-X. THIS COLLECTION of essays represents three decades of reading and reflecting on the Gospel of Mark by David...

Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting by Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2003. 176 pp. $24.00. ISBN 1-56338-405-1. ART HISTORIAN Hornik and New...

Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story by Kenneth E. Bailey Intervarsity, Downer's Grove, 2003. 232 pp. $17.00. ISBN 0-8308-2727-7. THIS EXTENDED exposition of the well-known Parable of the Prodigal Son makes two...

What's Good About This News? Preaching from the Gospels and Galatians.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... What's Good About This News? Preaching from the Gospels and Galatians by David L. Bartlett Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, 2003. 136 pp. $16.95. ISBN 0-664-22526-8. DESPITE THE MOUNTAINS of books available to today's...

Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian by Thomas G. Long Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2004. 179 pp. $21.95. ISBN 0-7879-6832-3. IN THIS FINE ADDITION to The Practices of Faith Series, master homiletician Thomas G. Long...

The Book that Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Book that Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology by Walter Brueggemann Augsburg Fortress, Grove City, 2004. 228 pp. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8006-3667-8. Brueggemann's essays offer new and deeper critical...

The People's New Testament Commentary.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The People's New Testament Commentary by M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2004. 827 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22754-6. This one-volume commentary makes accessible essential information...

Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12, revised and expanded edition.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12, revised and expanded edition. by Frederick Dale Bruner Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 652 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-1118-3. Volume 2: The Church, Matthew 13-28...

Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist by Warren Carter Hendrickson, Peabody, Mass., 2004. 287 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-56563-985-5. A revision of Carter's earlier volume on Matthew, this edition contains updated material from...

Reading the Gospels Today.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Reading the Gospels Today edited by Stanley E. Porter Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 228 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8028-0517-5. Eight different authors take various approaches to the reading of the Gospels. In addition to examining...

Literary Encounters with the Reign of God.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Literary Encounters with the Reign of God edited by Sharon H. Ringe and H. C. Paul Kim T & T Clark, Harrisburg, 2004. 384 pp. $70.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-567-02590-X. This collection of nineteen articles is written in honor of Robert...

Paul and the Roman Imperial Order.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Paul and the Roman Imperial Order edited by Richard A. Horsley Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2004. 224 pp. $25.00. ISBN 1-56338-421-3. This collection of essays relocates Paul in resistance to Roman Imperialism rather...

Christianity at Corinth: The Quest for the Pauline Church.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Christianity at Corinth: The Quest for the Pauline Church edited by Edward Adams and David G. Horrell Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2004. 332 pp. $39.95. ISBN 0-664-22478-4. The examination of First Corinthians affords a rich...

The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin edited by Donald McKim Cambridge University Press, New York, 2004. 352 pp. $24.99. ISBN 0-521-01672-X. Major international historians and theologians come together in this volume to present...

Till the Heart Sings: A Biblical Theology of Manhood and Womanhood.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Till the Heart Sings: A Biblical Theology of Manhood and Womanhood by Samuel Terrien Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 274 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8028-2237-1. An extensive foreword by Phyllis Trible reintroduces the reader to the work of...

The Future of Hope: Christian Tradition amid Modernity and Postmodernity.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... The Future of Hope: Christian Tradition amid Modernity and Postmodernity edited by Miroslav Volf and William H. Katerberg Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 249 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-8028-2752-7. Scholars from the fields of theology, the...

Spirit in the Cities: Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscapes.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Spirit in the Cities: Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscapes edited by Kathryn Tanner Fortress, Minneapolis, 2004. 144 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-8006-3682-1. The Workgroup on Constructive Theology visited and evaluated five urban...

Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels, and the Claims of History.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels, and the Claims of History edited by Kathleen E. Corley and Robert L. Webb Continuum, New York, 2004. 192 pp. $17.95. ISBN 0-8264-7781-X. An international team...