Interpretation articles from January 2009

Interpretation archives from January 2009

Editorial.(Editorial)
January 1, 2009... This issue of Interpretation focuses on the book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of John, and the issues faced by Christians living in the complicated religious and political environment of imperial power. Together these essays...

Revelation's visionary challenge to ordinary empire.(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... Revelation is known for its pointed critique of imperial Roman power. Through satirical imagery, it portrays the city that rules the world as a tawdry harlot on a horrific beast, whose seven heads recall Rome's traditional seven hills (Rev...

John's ironic empire.(John of Patmos)(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... The Book of Revelation is often read as a guide to the future, as coded prediction of what will happen at the end of history. Read this way it is remains obscure, mysterious, and malleable to the political and social views of the interpreter....

Accommodating "Jezebel" and withdrawing John: negotiating empire in revelation then and now.(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... Revelation is a polemical text, a site of struggle and contest. It enjoins battle with other Jesus-followers over a key issue among late first-century churches in the Roman province of Asia. How should followers of Jesus, who was crucified by...

Babylon Boycott: the book of Revelation.(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... His name was John. His heritage was the literature and lore of ancient Israel. But his culture was the urban Hellenism of the Eastern Mediterranean, his citizenship that of a provincial subject of the Roman Empire, and his language an Asian...

Revelation 4:1-11.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... THE APOCALYPTIC VISIONARY JOHN WROTE the book of Revelation a long time ago, in a culture very different from our own. Yet even in its historical particularity, as a late first-century writing addressed to Christian congregations faced with the...

Revelation 17:1-14.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... MUCH OF REVELATION IS "LITERALLY SYMBOLIC." The question is what the symbolism means--and meant, from literary, political, and religious standpoints. Meaningful interpretation of Rev 17 today hinges upon grasping a sense of what it meant for...

Revelation 21:9-27.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
January 1, 2009... ACCORDING TO THE OPENING LINE OF A RECENT NEWS story, "The apocalypse came early to the Cannes Film Festival this year, filling screening rooms with snarling dogs, bursting bombs, shouting men and screaming women" (New York Times, May, 16,...

A critical and exegetical commentary on Isaishisalah 40-55.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A critical and exegetical commentary on Isaishisalah 40-55, Vol. 1 by John Goldingay and David Payne International Critical Commentary. T & T Clark, New York, 2006. 368 pp. $120.00. ISBN 978-0-567-04461-0. A Critical and Exegetical...

Mark: A Commentary.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Mark: A Commentary by Adela Yarbro Collins Hermeneia. Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 894 pp. $80.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-080066-078-9. THIS COMMENTARY, MAINTAINING the strict historical-critical tradition of the Hermencia series,...

Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study by Gordon D. Fee Hendrickson, Peabody, Mass., 2007. 707 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-1-59856-035-0. GORDON FEE, IN THIS MAJOR work devoted to Paul's understanding of the person of Jesus...

The Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus by Benjamin Fiore, S.J. Sacra Pagina. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 2007. 253 pp. $39.95 ISBN 978-0-8146-5814-7. THE CURRENT PROLIFERATION of commentaries...

Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children's Spiritual Lives.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children's Spiritual Lives by Karen-Marie Yust Family and Faith. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2004. 210 pp. $21.95. ISBN 978-0-7879-6407-8. Cover Image courtesy of John Wiley & Sons, Inc....

Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times by Joerg Rieger Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 334 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-2038-7. ON THE THEORY THAT pastors should always be reading at least one work that stretches the mind...

The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 280 pp. $29.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3833-7. THIS MOST RECENT VOLUME by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza continues her...

John and Empire: Initial Explorations.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... John and Empire: Initial Explorations by Warren Carter T & T Clark, New York, 2008. 423 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-567-02840-2. "DOES JOHN'S GOSPEL have anything to do with the Roman Empire?" (p. 3). Warren Carter's book John and...

The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content by Stephen L. McKenzie and John Kaltner Abingdon, Nashville, 2007. 382 pp. $32.00. ISBN 978-0-687-03901-2. AS THE TITLE SUGGESTS, this introduction examines the content,...

The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-historical Study of Genesis 2-3.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-historical Study of Genesis 2-3 by Tryggve Mettinger Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Ind., 2007 165 pp. $29.50 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-57506-141-2. IN HIS MOST RECENT publication, Tryggve Mettinger...

Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture by James W. Watts Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007. 257 pp. $85.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-521-87193-8. FOR WHATEVER REASONS, currently there seems to be a slight...

Dinah's Lament: The Biblical Legacy of Sexual Violence in Christian Interpretation.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Dinah's Lament: The Biblical Legacy of Sexual Violence in Christian Interpretation by Joy A. Schroeder Fortress, Minneapolis, 2007. 317 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3843-6. THIS VOLUME BY CHURCH historian Joy Schroeder gathers up a...

Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel by Wilda C. Gafney Fortress, Minneapolis, 2008. 222 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-6258-5. DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM is the first treatment of the biblical women prophets in the broader...

Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea by Richard A. Horsley Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 262 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22991-7. RICHARD HORSLEY'S latest book explores the social context of...

The New Testament with Imagination.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The New Testament with Imagination by William Loader Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 206 pp. $16.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-2746-3. THIS IS AN INTRIGUING BOOK. The first chapter begins with this question: "What would be the first thing you...

And I Turned to See the Voice: The Rhetoric of Vision in the New Testament.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... And I Turned to See the Voice: The Rhetoric of Vision in the New Testament. by Edith M. Humphrey Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2007. 238 pp. $22.49. ISBN 978-0-8010-3157-1. ALTHOUGH A STAPLE OF biblical discourse, reports of...

An Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God's New Work.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... An Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God's New Work by Charles B. Cousar Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006. 216 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22413-4. NEW PUBLICATIONS OFTEN attract the interest of avid readers....

Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels by Pheme Perkins Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. 2007. 328 pp. $28.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-1770-9. HERE IS AN INTRODUCTION with a difference. In this volume, Pheme Perkins does more than offer a...

Following God through Mark: Theological Tension in the Second Gospel.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Following God Through Mark: Theological Tension in the Second Gospel by Ira Brent Driggers Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 148 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23095-1. IRA DRIGGERS STATES THAT the goal of his book is "to...

Acts in its Ancient Literary Context: A Classicist Looks at the Acts of the Apostles.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Acts in its Ancient Literary Context: A Classicist Looks at the Acts of the Apostles by Loveday C. A. Alexander T & T Clark International, London, 2006. 290 pp. $49.95. ISBN 978-0-567-08219-0. At a time when many fewer NT scholars...

Lukas' Schweigen: Dekonstruktive Relekturen der "Wir-Stucke" in Acta.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Lukas' Schweigen: Dekonstruktive Relekturen der "Wir-Stucke" in Acta by Henning Hupe Passagen, Vienna, 2008. 288 pp. $48.00. ISBN 978-3-8516-5766-1. HENNING HUPE'S DISSERTATION, Luke's Silence, was published by the foremost German...

At the Heart of the Gospel: Suffering in the Earliest Christian Message.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... At the Heart of the Gospel: Suffering in the Earliest Christian Message by L. Ann Jervis Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 147 pp. $14.00, ISBN 978-0-8028-3993-0. IN THIS CONCISE AND lucid book, L. Ann Jervis charts new ground by...

Speaking Conflict: Stories of a Controversial Jesus.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Speaking Conflict: Stories of a Controversial Jesus by David Buttrick Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 222 pp. $24-95. ISBN: 978-0-664-23089-0. THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS contain episodes that have usually been called cither...

Reading Paul.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Reading Paul by Michael J. Gorman Cascade Companions. Cascade, Eugene, Ore., 2008. 196 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-1-55635-195-2. Two RELATED PRESUPPOSITIONS inform Michael J. Gorman's choice of what materials to include in a book on the...

Recovering Paul's Mother Tongue: Language and Theology in Galatians.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Recovering Paul's Mother Tongue: Language and Theology in Galatians by Susan Eastman Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 220 pp. $25-00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3165-1. IN THIS BOOK SUSAN Eastman undertakes a careful study of the complex...

Ephesians: Empowerment to Walk in Love for the Unity of All in Christ.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Ephesians: Empowerment to Walk in Love for the Unity of All in Christ by John Paul Heil Studies in Biblical Literature. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2007. 357 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-1-58983-267-1. ALTHOUGH FT IS NOT...

Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church by James W. Aageson Hendrickson, Peabody, Mass., 2008. 235 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-1-59856-041-1. THIS FASCINATING BOOK provides a different approach to the Pastoral Epistles and...

The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship by Megan Hale Williams University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2006. 315 pp. $45,00. ISBN 978-0-226-89900-8. THE LONG LEGACY OF centuries of committed Christian...

Love That Does Justice.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Love That Does Justice by Thomas L. Schubeck Orbis, Maryknoll, N.Y. 2007. 244 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-1-57075-746-4. MANY CONTEMPORARY books on love and justice are dense, unreadable, and maddeningly abstract. But Thomas Schubeck, a...

A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming by Michael S. Northcott Orbis, Maryknoll, N.Y., 2007. 336 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-1-57075-711-2. At the heart of this rich, hard-hitting, detailed overview of global warming and...

Calvin's Theology of the Psalms.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Calvin's Theology of the Psalms by Herman J. Selderhuis Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2007. 304 pp. $29.99. ISBN 978-0-8010-3166-3. THE CHIEF ARGUMENT OF Herman Selderhuis' book is that Calvin's doctrine of God is the center-piece...

Transforming Leadership: New Vision for a Church in Mission.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Transforming Leadership: New Vision for a Church in Mission by Norma Cook Everist and Craig L. Nessan Fortress, Minneapolis, 2008. 235 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-2048-6. ALL CONGREGATIONS ARE in the process of being transformed,...

What Language Shall I Borrow? The Bible and Christian Worship.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... What Language Shall I Borrow? The Bible and Christian Worship by Ronald P. Byars Eerclmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 202 pp. $18.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-4014-1. RONALD BYARS BRINGS his liturgical expertise, breadth of biblical knowledge,...

Troubled Waters: Rethinking the Theology of Baptism.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Troubled Waters: Rethinking the Theology of Baptism by Ben Witherington III Baylor University Press, Waco, 2007. 153 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-60258-004-6. WITH WIT AND INSIGHT, Ben Witherington III offers a commentary on previous...

The Joy of Ministry.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Joy of Ministry by Thomas W. Currie III Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 126 pp. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23109-5. THOMAS CURRIE IS true to his word. From the first page of this book, he is clear about what he sets out...

The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit by Craig Van Gelder Baker, Grand Rapids, 2007. 204 pp. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8010-9139-1. THE FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE of Craig Van Geldcr's book is that in the...

Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the Arts.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the Arts edited by Mark Roncace and Patrick Gray Resources for Biblical Study. Society of Biblical Literature. Atlanta, 2007. 393 pp. $37.95. ISBN 978-1-5898-3244-2. Ten contributors...

This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies edited by Hector Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper Semeia Studies. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2007. 256 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-1-5898-3186-5. ...

Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ edited by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 527 pp. $32.00. ISBN 978-0-S028-62S7-7. This fine collection of twenty essays proposes a...

The Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries: From the Early Church to John Paul II.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries: From the Early Church to John Paul II edited by Jeffrey P. Greenman, Timothy Larsen, and Stephen R. Spencer Brazos, Grand Rapids. 2007. 288 pp. $24.99. ISBN 978-1-58743-205-7. ...

Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year by Raymond E. Brown; edited by Ronald D. Witherup Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 2008. 437 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-8146-1860-8. Shortly before his death, Raymond E. Brown...

The New Perspective on Paul, Revised Edition.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The New Perspective on Paul, Revised Edition Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 551 pp. $36.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-4562-7. First published in 2005, this collection of essays by a leading Pauline scholar documents his groundbreaking...

Paul and the anatomy of apostolic authority.(Book Notes)(The New Testament Library)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The New Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 307 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22812-5. by John Howard Schutz. New Introduction by Wayne A. Meeks This reissued edition of a classic work, first published in 1975,...

In Quest of the Historical Pharisees.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... In Quest of the Historical Pharisees edited by Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton Baylor University Press, Waco, 2007. 512 pp. $34.95. ISBN 978-1-932792-72-0. This collection of essays sketches the many portraits of the Pharisees...

For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry edited by Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 380 pp. $26.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3744-8. Academic practical theologians,...

Always Being Reformed: Faith for a Fragmented World.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Always Being Reformed: Faith for a Fragmented World by Shirley C. Guthrie Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 184 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23159-0. This second edition of the volume first published in 1996 addresses topics...

From Exorcism to Ecstasy: Eight Views of Baptism.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... From Exorcism to Ecstasy: Eight Views of Baptism by Russell Haitch Westminster John Knox, 2007. 185 pp. $22,95. ISBN 978-0-664-23000-5. An accessible and respectful overview of eight influential understandings of baptism, ranging...

The Folly of Preaching: Models and Methods.(Book Notes)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Folly of Preaching: Models and Methods edited by Michael P. Knowles Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 286 pp. $18.00. ISBN 978-0-S028-2465-3. Eminent preachers, scholars, and professors of homiletics offer theoretical and...