Interpretation articles from January 1996

Interpretation archives from January 1996

Toward the ecological reformation of Christianity.
January 1, 1996... THE TITLE of this essay is appropriately passive, indeed prosaic. Yet, it also has radical undertones. It implies that some significant flaws are present in Christian perspectives on, and responses to, the ecological crisis--else a reformation...

The Bible and ecology.
January 1, 1996... The Bible and Science CHRISTIANS AND JEWS do not turn to the Bible to learn natural science. Four centuries of developing modern science underscore what Galileo insisted with the launching of astronomy: The Bible teaches how to go to...

The future of nature.
January 1, 1996... Will the Wolf Live With the Lamb or Will Dog Continue to Eat Dog? WITH WORDS the sixth century B.C.E. Judean prophet Ezekiel mediated God's promise about the new age that lies ahead: "I will make with them a Covenant of peace and banish...

Re-imaging nature: shifts in Biblical interpretation.
January 1, 1996... Shifts in Biblical Interpretation IN DISCUSSIONS about theology and ecology, the Bible has been characterized in very different ways. By some, generally environmentalists without biblical training, the Bible is viewed as the ultimate source of...

Psalm 121.
January 1, 1996... THE CLASSIC FILM, "The Sound of Music," set in Austria at the beginning of World War II, reaches its denouement when Baron von Trapp, a prominent officer in the Austrian navy, and his family flee their homeland because he receives orders to apply...

Joel 2:1, 12-17.
January 1, 1996... CHRISTIANITY CLAIMS to provide a fallen world with hope. The church affirms that God offers salvation to individuals and society at large, both of which face death and destruction. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 stands well within this tradition, warning of...

Romans 8:6-11.
January 1, 1996... THIS IS A POWERFUL PASSAGE from Paul's letter to the Romans; lovers of logic and order will appreciate Paul's clear and easy-to-follow line of thought in these six verses. It is amazing that the Paul who can write sentences that go on for an...

John 9.
January 1, 1996... Believing is Seeing A TRAGEDY, A PROBLEM, a peculiarity--some things are unexpected and, inherently, inexplicable--but there is this human tendency to try to explain anyway. Regret alone--pure regret, regret all by itself--is not...

Wisdom and Creation: The Theology of Wisdom Literature.
January 1, 1996... Wisdom & Creation: The Theology of Wisdom Literature, by Leo G. Perdue. Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1994. 420 pp. $21.95. ISBN 0-687-45626-6. PERDUE's long-awaited magnum opus is a comprehensive treatment of a long-neglected part of the...

Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel.
January 1, 1996... Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, by John J. Collins. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 499 pp. $46.00. ISBN 0-8006-60640-4. SPECIALISTS AND PERUSERS of apocalyptic...

New Testament Foundations for Christian Ethics.
January 1, 1996... New Testament Foundations for Christian Ethics, by Willi Marxsen. Translated by O. C. Dean, Jr. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 319 pp. $17.00 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2749-0. MCDONALD, reader in Christian ethics and New Testament studies at the...

Biblical Interpretation and Christian Ethics.
January 1, 1996... Biblical Interpretation and Christian Ethics, by J.I.H. McDonald. New Studies in Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Pres,, Cambridge, 1993. 305 pp. $54.95. ISBN 0-521-43059-3. MCDONALD, reader in Christian ethics and New Testament studies...

Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction.
January 1, 1996... Christian Ethics: A Historic Introduction, by J. Philip Wogaman. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. pp. $19.99 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25163-3. THIS HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION to Christian ethics steps into a huge void and for the most...

Caring for Creation: An Ecumenical Approach to the Environmental Crisis.
January 1, 1996... Caring for Creation: An Ecumenical Approach to the Environmental Crisis, by Max Oelschlaeger. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994. 285 pp. $30.00 ISBN 0-300-05817-9. THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, particularly Christianity and Judaism, has a...

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology.
January 1, 1996... In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology, by Gordon Kaufman. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1993. 509 pp. $39.95. ISBN 0-674-44575-9. NO CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGIAN has devoted more attention than has Gordon Kaufman to what it means to...

A Guest in the House of Israel: Post-holocaust Church Theology.
January 1, 1996... A Guest in the House of Israel: Post-Holocaust Church Theology, by Clark M. Williamson. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 344 pp. $19.95 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25454-3. THE AUTHOR BEGINS with a commonly accepted judgment, that...

Creator and Creation: Nature in the Worldview of Ancient Israel.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Creator and Creation: Nature in the Worldview of Ancient Israel, by Ronald A. Simkins. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1994. 306 pp. $14.95 (paper). ISBN 1-56563-042-4. SIMKINS'S STUDY OF CREATION is part of a growing body of literature aimed...

Christians and the New Creation: Genesis Motifs in the New Testament.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Christians and the New Creation: Genesis Motifs in the New Testament, by Paul Sevier Minear. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, 1994. 142 pp. $14.99 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25531-0. PAUL MINEAR, professor emeritus of biblical theology at Yale...

Moses or Jesus: An Essay in Johannine Christology.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Moses or Jesus: An Essay in Johannine Christology, by Marie-Emile Boismard. Translated by B. T. Viviano. Fortress press, Minneapolis, 1993. 144 pp. $12.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2751-2. BOISMARD, emeritus professor of New Testament at the Ecole...

Non-retaliation in Early Jewish and New Testament Texts: Ethical Themes in Social Contexts.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Non-Retaliation in Early Jewish and New Testament Texts: Ethical Themes in Social Contexts, by Gordon M. Zerbe. JSPSup 13. JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1993. 307 pp. $55.00. ISBN 1-85075-389-X. IN THIS REVISED DISSERTATION, Zerbe...

What is Social-Scientific Criticism?(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... What is Social-Scientific Criticism? by John H. Elliott. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 174 pp. $12.00 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2678-8. BEST KNOWN for his A Home for the Homeless: A Social-Scientific Criticism...

Folklore and the Hebrew Bible.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Folklore and the Hebrew Bible, by Susan Niditch. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 117 pp. $9.00 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2590-0. THE APPEARANCE of this volume in the familiar series on methods in biblical...

Gnosticism and the New Testament.
January 1, 1996... Gnosticism and the New Testament, by Pheme Perkins. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 261 pp. $17.00 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2801-2. IT HAS BEEN ALMOST FIFTY YEARS since the discovery of the library of fifty-two Coptic gnostic texts at Nag...

Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith, by Wolfhart Pannenberg. Edited by Ted Peters. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 166 pp. $19.95 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25384-9. PAUL TILLICH DISTINGUISHED between kerygmatic and...

A Sense of the Divine: The Natural Environment from a Theocentric Perspective.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... A Sense of the Divine: The Natural Environmental from a Theocentric Perspective, by James M. Gustafson. Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, 1994. 176 pp. $15.95. ISBN 0-8298-1003-X. GUSTAFSON HAS ESTABLISHED HIMSELF as the leading...

Nature, Reality, and the Sacred: The Nexus of Science and Religion.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Nature, Reality, and the Sacred: The Nexus of Science and Religion, by Langdon Gilkey. Theology and the Sciences. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 266 pp. $17.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2754-7. ONE OF THE TRULY CREATIVE THEOLOGIANS of our time...

Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology, by Denis Edwards. Ecology and Justice Series. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, 1995. 208 pp. $16.95 (paper). ISBN 1-57075-002-5. EDWARDS, a diocesan priest and pastoral theologian, draws in this book on...

God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life.
January 1, 1996... God as Trinity: Relationship and Temporarility in Divine Life, by Ted Peters. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 239 pp. $14.99 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25402-0. PETERS, professor of theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary,...

The Metaphor of God Incarnate: Christology in a Pluralistic Age.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... The Metaphor of God Incarnate: Christology in a Pluralistic Age, by John Hick. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 180 pp. $16.99 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25503-5. THIS IS VINTAGE HICK--well-written, often well-argued, rather wrong. He...

Reckoning with Apocalypse: Terminal Politics and Christian Hope.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Reckoning with Apocalypse: Terminal Politics and Christian Hope, by Dale Aukerman. Crossroad Publishing Co., New York, 1993. pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8245-1243-X. THIS BOOK DEVELOPS a political ethic based on a pacifist reading of biblical...

How To Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology.
January 1, 1996... How To Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology, by George Hunsinger. Oxford University Press, New York, 1993. 298 pp. $14.95 (paper). ISBN 0-19-508369-5. ALTHOUGH ACKNOWLEDGED as the greatest theologian of this century, Berth is little...

Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Missionary Conuest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide, by George E. Tinker. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 182 pp. $10.00 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2576-5. RACISM is most oppressive when people actually believe that they are...

Taking the Bible Seriously: Honest Differences About Biblical Interpretation.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Taking the Bible Seriously: Honest Differences About Biblical Interpretation, by J. Benton White. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 177 pp. $12.99 (paper). ISBN 0-664-254527. IN THIS VOLUME White attempts to engage fundamentalists...

All is Forgiven: The Secular Message in American Protestantism.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... All is Forgiven: The Secular Message in American Protestantism, by Marsha G. Witten. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993. 179 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-691-03280-7. HOW HAVE PREACHERS SHAPED their speech about God, the human self, Christian...

Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology, by Gordon W. Lathrop. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 236 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8006-2727-X. THOSE WHO REGARD THE BIBLE as the source of the church's theology might find Lathrop's approach in this book...

African American Christian Worship.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1996... African American Christian Worship, by Melva Wilson Costen. Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1993. 160 pp. $12.95 (paper). ISBN 0-687-00931-6. COSTEN, professor of worship and music at the Interdenominational Theological Center and chair of the...