Interpretation articles from January 1995

Interpretation archives from January 1995

Sexual ethics: a feminist Biblical perspective.
January 1, 1995... When seeking biblical guidance for sexual morality, authors commonly focus on specific rules about sexual behavior, such as homosexuality, adultery, and divorce. The critical task for today is then defined in terms of establishing the original...

The Bible as foundational document.
January 1, 1995... Whether the bible speaks authoritatively for our own time is a question that cannot be decided by a single issue, even as crucial a one as sexuality. Rather, the problem of the Bible's understanding of sexuality is but one among many issues that...

The Holy Bible and sanctified sexuality: an evangelical approach to Scripture and sexual ethics.
January 1, 1995... I am an evangelical. Now, I am usually happy to be called such, for I take the term to identify me as one who longs to think and to live my life - including my sexual life - in the light and power of the gospel, the good news, the evangel....

Church documents on human sexuality and the authority of Scripture.
January 1, 1995... The past four years have witnessed unprecedented productivity on the part of Protestant denominations in the generation of papers on human sexuality. Four such documents, that of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. (ECUSA), the United...

Deuteronomy 26:1-11. (Between Text and Sermon)
January 1, 1995... When Karl Barth commented that all sin is basically ingratitude, he may have had the Book of Deuteronomy in mind. This fifth book of the Torah portrays the gracious acts of the God who set the Hebrew people free from bondage, and it calls the...

Psalm 51. (Between Text and Sermon)
January 1, 1995... According to a rabbinic proverb, we go through life carrying a stone in each hand. On one stone is written, "I am dust and ashes." The second reads, "For me this world was created." This proverb encapsules the tension, the challenge, and the...

Luke 15:11-32. (Between Text and Sermon)
January 1, 1995... These verses are usually referred to as "the parable of the Prodigal Son." Just as legitimately, however, they can be designated "the parable of the Elder Brother." Whereas many of us identify with the wandering ways of the younger son, many...

Philippians 3:7-15. (Between Text and Sermon)
January 1, 1995... I never read scripture alone; I always bring those who have been my most important teachers to "sit" with me as I ponder a text. When I read the text from Philippians, I was reminded of one of my favorite Western Christian theologians from the...

Narrative in the Hebrew Bible.
January 1, 1995... If someone were to ask me for a book that introduces literary criticism of biblical narrative, showing how it relates to and contrasts with traditional historical criticism, Narrative in the Hebrew Bible would be my top recommendation. Conforming...

After Eden: Facing the Challenge of a Gender Reconciliation.
January 1, 1995... This handy volume is the product of an interdisciplinary team from five different schools working at the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship at Calvin College in 1989-1990. One context is the debate over the issue of the role of women in the...

History and Prophecy: The Development of Late Judean Literary Traditions.
January 1, 1995... In this latest and bulkiest addition to the Anchor Bible Reference Library, Peckham sets out to trace the development of the literary tradition of ancient Israel with respect to the interconnected genres of historiography and prophecy and to the...

The History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest.
January 1, 1995... Ahlstrom was trained in Uppsala under Ivan Engnell and joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1962. At that time, two schools of thought dominated studies in the history of ancient Israel. The approach and views initiated by W. F. Albright...

Judaism: Practice and Belief 63 B.C.E.-66 C.E.
January 1, 1995... After setting the context (44 pp.), Sanders divides this work into two major sections: "Common Judaism" (259 pp.) and "Groups and Parties" (179 pp.). In this way, the author presents Judaism as a functioning religion in the early Roman period,...

Basic Christian Doctrine.
January 1, 1995... This latest in a series of Leith's resourceful and competent books provides a compelling, comprehensive, and contemporary statement of the Christian faith. It is compelling, insofar as its author writes with passion and humility in defense of a...

Renaissance and Reformation and the Rise of Science.
January 1, 1995... Nebelsick's two decades as professor of doctrinal theology at Louisville Theological Seminary and his two previous volumes (Theology and Science in Mutual Modification [New York: Oxford University Press, 1981]; Circles of God: Theology and...

Ernst Troeltsch: His Life and Thought.
January 1, 1995... AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY is always an extremely daunting and difficult task, but Drescher's work is a masterful achievement that will likely stand for at least a generation as the definitive biography of Troeltsch. The book is exhaustively...

Facing the Abusing God: A Theology of Protest.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1995... Blumenthal, of Emory University, has written a thoroughly Jewish and poignantly important book on the character of God in Hebrew scriptures. The book is divided into four unequal and uneven parts. In the first part, Blumenthal presents an...

Church in the Round: Feminist Interpretation of the Church.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1995... The kitchen table, the round table, and the welcome table are images Russell uses in this latest book on the church to develop further her feminist theology of partnership. Continuing familiar themes of partnership of humans with God in the work...

Written Also For Our Sake: Paul and the Art of Biblical Interpretation.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1995... Aageson's claim is that Paul's mode of interpreting scripture, which he terms a "conversational model," can serve as an example for modern interpreters. This hermeneutical model, designed to be a bridge between literary-critical and...

The Orphan Gospel: Mark's Perspective on Jesus.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1995... The aim of this book is to test a set of assumptions about the Gospel of Mark. Among these assumptions are the claims that Mark was a conservative Jew, probably from near Jerusalem, who belonged to a persecuted sect that saw itself as chosen by...

The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins.
January 1, 1995... This book has four parts. Part One, "The Discovery of a Lost Gospel," presents a critique of recent discussion of Q and sketches Mack's own perspective, which concentrates on a sociological reconstruction of life in pre-70 Galilee and a...

The Great Commission: Biblical Models for Evangelism.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1995... Within discussions of the evangelistic and mission efforts of the church, the "Great Commission" of Matthew 28 is often quoted and used out of context as a standard proof-text to undergird the orator's crusade. Arias suggests we broaden this...