Interpretation articles from April 2008

Interpretation archives from April 2008

Guest editorial: who is my neighbor? Introductory explorations.(Editorial)
April 1, 2008... Many years ago during my time as an undergraduate at Howard University, an urban institution in the heart of northwest Washington, D.C., a philosophy of religion professor posed these questions: "Why should we care about other human beings?...

Loving one's (Israelite) neighbor: election and commandment in Leviticus 19.(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as...

Under the gaze of the empire: who is my neighbor?(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... But whether colonized or colonizing, Christianity has not existed in abstraction from empire. Catherine Keller, "The Love of Postcolonialism" (1) But I was her slave, and I supposed she did not recognize me as her neighbor....

Becoming the neighbor: virtue theory and the problem of neighbor identity.(Essay)
April 1, 2008... The commandment to love the neighbor "as oneself" presumes that the neighbor has been properly identified. This essay will argue that of the three broadly recognized methods of moral reasoning--utilitarian ethics, duty ethics, and virtue...

Who is my neighbor?(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... The question posed by the young lawyer to Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29), is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. So long as we define the neighbor negatively as a person who is foreign and alien, our humanity is in...

Luke 10:25-37.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... PAUL RICOEUR EMPHASIZES THAT STORIES constitute the identity of a community. Stories inspire life lived when they "reveal universal aspects of the human condition." ... the sense or significance of a narrative stems from the ...

Romans 13:8-14.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... ... not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Rom 13:13b-14) ...

James 2:1-13.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
April 1, 2008... My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? (Jas 2:1) THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY regularly hear such foundational phrases as "created equal," "justice for...

The Trial of Innocence: Adam, Eve and the Yahwist.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Trial of Innocence: Adam, Eve and the Yahwist by Andre LaCocque Wipf & Stock, Eugene, Ore., 2006. 299 pp. $30.00. ISBN 978-1-59752-620-3. IF THERE IS A TEXT IN THE OT that has shaped the Christian understanding of the...

The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and His Children.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and His Children by James L. Kugel Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2006. 278 pp. $24.95 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-691-12122-2. AUTHOR OF THE ACCLAIMED...

Opening the Sealed Book: Interpretations of the Book of Isaiah in Late Antiquity.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Opening the Sealed Book: Interpretations of the Book of Isaiah in Late Antiquity by Joseph Blenkinsopp Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2006. 312 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-4021-9. JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP PUBLISHED his three Anchor Bible...

Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists.(Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists. by Richard I. Pervo Polebridge, Santa Rosa, Calif., 2006. 513 pp. $47.50. ISBN 0-944344-73-9. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle by...

Romans: A Commentary.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Romans: A Commentary by Robert Jewett Hermeneia. Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 1140 pp. $90.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-8006-6084-0. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ROBERT JEWETT, WHO SINCE 2000 has served as Guest Professor at the...

Hebrews: A Commentary.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Hebrews: A Commentary by Luke Timothy Johnson New Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006.430 pp. $49.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22118-1. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THIS NEW VOLUME, the celebrated author of many...

I Was a Stranger: A Christian Theology of Hospitality.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... I Was a Stranger: A Christian Theology of Hospitality by Arthur Sutherland Abingdon, Nashville, 2006. 100 pp. $12.00. ISBN 978-0-687-06324-6. IN THIS HIGHLY READABLE volume, Arthur Sutherland offers a theological account of...

Good News from the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Good News from the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church by Harold J. Recinos Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006. 124 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22940-5. HAROLD RECINOS' BOOK is a bracing call for the renewal of the...

A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue by Mahmoud Ayoub.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue by Mahmoud Ayoub edited by Irfan A. Omar Orbis, Maryknoll, N.Y., 2007. 264 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-1-57075-690-0 MAHMOUD AYOUB, Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion...

The Literature of Islam: A Guide to the Primary Sources in English Translation.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Literature of Islam: A Guide to the Primary Sources in English Translation by Paula Youngman Skreslet and Rebecca Skreslet Scarecrow, Lanham, Md., 2006. 243 pp. $45.00. ISBN 978-0-8108-5408-6. IN RECENT YEARS, there has been a...

Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible by John H. Walton Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2006. 368 pp. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8010-2750-5. USING COMPARATIVE STUDIES as...

Old Testament Theology, Vol. 2: Israel's Faith.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Old Testament Theology, Vol. 2: Israel's Faith by John Goldingay InterVarsity, Downers Grove, Ill., 2006. 891 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-83082561-2. THIS IS THE SECOND in a projected three-volume OT theology by John Goldingay...

2 Samuel.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... 2 Samuel by Anthony F. Campbell Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2005. 242 pp. $50.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-2813-2. THIS VOLUME IS THE continuation of Anthony Campbell's 1 Samuel (Eerdmans, 2003) from the...

Wisdom Literature: A Theological History.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Wisdom Literature: A Theological History by Leo G. Perdue Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 415 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22919-1. IN THIS LENGTHY STUDY, Leo Perdue treats not only the canonical and deuterocanonical wisdom...

Hear O Heavens and Listen O Earth: An Introduction to the Prophets.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Hear O Heavens and Listen O Earth: An Introduction to the Prophets by Joan E. Cook Michael Glazier/Liturgical, Collegeville, Minn., 2006. 323 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-8146-5181-0. CONSISTING OF ELEVEN chapters, various indices, and...

The Roman Empire and the New Testament: An Essential Guide.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Roman Empire and the New Testament: An Essential Guide by Warren Carter Abingdon, Nashville, 2006. 148 pp. $16.00. ISBN 978-0-687-34394-2. WARREN CARTER HAS BEEN at the forefront of an emerging area of NT scholarship that views...

Lazarus, Mary and Martha: Social-Scientific Approaches to the Gospel of John.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Lazarus, Mary and Martha: Social-Scientific Approaches to the Gospel of John by Philip F. Esler and Ronald Piper Fortress, Minneapolis, 2006. 201 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3830-6. CONTRARY TO THE SUBTITLE, Philip Esler and...

Of Widows and Meals: Communal Meals in the Book of Acts.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Of Widows and Meals: Communal Means in the Book of Acts By Reta Halteman Finger Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 326 pp. $28.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3053-1. A PRIMARY ASSERTION OF this book is that some scholars' social contexts preclude...

Solving the Romans Debate.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Solving the Romans Debate by A. Andrew Das Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 324 pp. $24.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3860-3. ONE OF THE KEY CONCERNS in the long-running dispute over the purpose of Romans (the "Romans Debate") is whether Paul...

Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church by James K. A. Smith Baker, Grand Rapids, 2006. 156 pp. $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8010-2918-9. JAMES K. A. SMITH, a professional philosopher and confessional...

Liberal Theology: A Radical Vision.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Liberal Theology: A Radical Vision by Peter C. Hodgson Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 134 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3898-6. THIS BOOK BY THE RESPECTED historical and constructive theologian Peter Hodgson is at once a call for the...

Theology and Slavery: Charles Hodge and Horace Bushnell.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Theology and Slavery: Charles Hodge and Horace Bushnell by David Torbett Mercer University Press, Macon, Ga., 2006. 230 pp. $49.95. ISBN 978-0-88146-032-2. NOT WITHOUT REASON have subsequent generations remembered Charles Hodge...

John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian: The Shape of His Writings and Thought.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian: The Shape of His Writings and Thought by Randall C. Zachman Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2006. 277 pp. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8010-3129-8. RANDALL ZACHMAN, Associate Professor of...

Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin by Bonnie L. Pattison Princeton Theological Monograph. Wipf & Stock/Pickwick, Eugene, Ore., 2006. 380 pp. $37.00. ISBN 978-1-59752-691-3. FOR A CONTEMPORARY church struggling with materialism,...

A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church by Calvin R. Stapert Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 232 pp. $18.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3219-1. CALVIN STAPERT'S BOOK, which appears in the Calvin Institute of Christian...

Honest Patriots: Loving a Country Enough to Remember Its Misdeeds.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Honest Patriots: Loving A Country Enough To Remember Its Misdeeds by Donald W. Shriver, Jr. Oxford University Press, New York, 2005. 348 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-515153-4. DONALD W. SHRIVER is Emeritus President of the Faculty and William...

Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies by Don S. Browning Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 428 pp. $34.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-0756-4. NO ONE IN THE FIELD of...

Lord, Have Mercy: Praying for Justice with Conviction and Humility.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Lord, Have Mercy: Praying for Justice with Conviction and Humility by Claire E. Wolfteich Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2006. 215 pp. $21.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-7879-8269-5. "IF SOCIAL ACTION IS TO spring from and reflect Christian...

Preaching as Testimony.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Preaching as Testimony by Anna Carter Florence Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 177 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22390-8. PERHAPS THE MOST ACCURATE description of the earliest Christian preaching would be "testimony." The...

Whatever Happened to Delight? Preaching the Gospel in Poetry and Parables.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Whatever Happened to Delight? Preaching the Gospel in Poetry and Parables by J. Barrie Shepherd Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006. 146 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22781-4. THE PREMISE OF BARRIE Shepherd's book is that there...

A Time to Laugh: The Religion of Humor.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... A Time to Laugh: The Religion of Humor by Donald Capps Continuum, New York, 2005. 198 pp. $18.95 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-8264-1641-4. THE CORE IDEA OF this book is that humor is a good thing because of its central role in the...

Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers by Elizabeth Newman The Christian Practice of Everyday Life. Brazos, Grand Rapids, 2007. 240 pp. $22.99. ISBN 978-1-58743-176-0. This book offers a fresh look at Christian...

The Ten Commandments for Jews, Christians, and Others.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Ten Commandments for Jews, Christians, and Others edited by Roger E. Van Harn Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 236 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-2965-8. Interfaith dialogues typically avoid the exploration of dogmatics. This volume...

Scrolls of Love: Ruth and the Song of Songs.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Scrolls of Love: Ruth and the Song of Songs edited by Peter S. Hawkins and Lesleigh Cushing Stahlberg Fordham University Press, New York, 2006. 382 pp. $26.00. ISBN 978-0-8232-2571-9. This volume gives new life to the tradition of...

Engaging Biblical Authority: Perspectives on the Bible as Scripture.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Engaging Biblical Authority: Perspectives on the Bible as Scripture edited by William P. Brown Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 158 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23057-9. Sixteen scholars who use the Bible as the word of God...

Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity Il; Biblical Interpretation in The Reformed Tradition.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity Il; Biblical Interpretation in The Reformed Tradition edited by Wallace M. Alston Jr. and Michael Welker Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 463 pp. $49.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-0386-5. This...

Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible edited by Melody D. Knowles, Esther Menn, John Pawlikowski, Timothy J. Sandoval Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 229 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-8006-3842-9. ...

The Way of the Lord: Essays in Old Testament Theology.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Way of the Lord: Essays in Old Testament Theology by Patrick D. Miller Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 351 pp. $30.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3272-6. This volume contains twenty-one of Patrick Miller's best essays on OT theology. They...

Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church by Walter Brueggemann Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 215 pp. $29.99. ISBN 978-0-664-23121-7. Reminding readers that the faithful Christian walk is not about...

Preaching the Sermon on the Mount: The World It Imagines.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Preaching the Sermon on the Mount: The World It Imagines edited by David Fleer and Dave Bland Chalice, St. Louis, 2007. 177 pp. $19.99. ISBN 978-0-827230-04-0. Scholars from a variety of disciplines reflect upon the countercultural...

Feminist Theologies: Legacy and Prospect.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Feminist Theologies: Legacy and Prospect edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 175 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3894-8. Essays presented at the 2005 conference at The Center for Women and Religion at the...

For Today.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... For Today This series seeks to provide easily accessible study tools for key biblical texts, theological manuscripts, and Christian practices. It is intended for use in Christian education classes as a part of spiritual formation and for...

The Parables for Today.(Book Notes)(Book review)(Brief review)
April 1, 2008... The Parables for Today by Alyce M. McKenzie For Today. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 107 pp. $14.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22958-0.

The Apostles Creed for Today.(Book Notes)(Book review)(Brief review)
April 1, 2008... The Apostles Creed for Today by Justo L. Gonzalez For Today. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 100 pp. $14.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22933-7.

The Life of Jesus for Today.(Book Notes)(Book review)(Brief review)
April 1, 2008... The Life of Jesus for Today by Ronald J. Allen For Today. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 115 pp. $14.95. ISBN 978-0-664-2388-0.

The Psalms for Today.(Book Notes)(Book review)(Brief review)
April 1, 2008... The Psalms for Today by Beth LaNeel Tanner For Today. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 93 pp. $14.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22935-1.