Interpretation articles from July 1993

Interpretation archives from July 1993

Something to believe: a theological perspective on infant baptism.
July 1, 1993... Our know-it-alls, the new spirits, assert that faith alone saves and that works and external things contribute nothing to this end. We answer: It is true, nothing that is in us does it but faith, as we shall hear later on. But these...

The Reformed doctrine of believers' baptism.
July 1, 1993... On January 5, 1527, at three o,clock on a Saturday afternoon, Felix Manz was drowned in the icy waters of the Limmat River by order of the city council of Zurich. He had been identified as "one of the real beginners and chief promoters" of the...

The role of baptism in Paul's thought.
July 1, 1993... Baptism did not originate with Paul s ministry. Paul himself was not only baptized but also assumed that baptism was a common experience for Christians whether or not they first heard the gospel from him (cf. Rom. 6:1-4; I Cor. 12:12-13; Gal....

How books of worship say and do baptism.
July 1, 1993... It is the purpose of this article to examine the liturgies of baptism of nine denominations as published more or less recently in their hymnals or books of worship. To accomplish this, I shall first present a comparative exposition of the...

Psalm 87. (Between Text and Sermon)
July 1, 1993... "PHILISTIA AND TYRE, also the Nubian race...." As our minister concludes baptism with the prescribed prayer of thanksgiving, the congregation responds in song. I follow the words along faithfully. Psalms are the most frequently used resource for...

Matthew 3:13-17. (Between Text and Sermon)
July 1, 1993... THE GOSPEL NARRATION begins the public ministry of Jesus with his baptism by John in the Jordan. The old criticism trained us to plunge our spades deeply into a text until they reached bedrock at the most primitive tradition. Were Christian...

Acts 8:14-25. (Between Text and Sermon)
July 1, 1993... THIS REMARKABLE PASSAGE poses some sharp challenges to the church today. If part of the task of the preacher is "to comfort the afflicted, and to afflict the comfortable," then this unsettling passage is well suited for afflicting the comfortable...

Romans 6:3-14. (Between Text and Sermon)
July 1, 1993... William J. Fogleman, Synod Executive Synod of the Sun, Presbyterian Church (USA) Denton, Texas HUMAN LIFE holds many rites of passage, both major and minor. Some are clamorous, merely curious, and quickly passed; others go to the heart of...

The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant.
July 1, 1993... By John Dominic Crossan. HarperSanFrancisco HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1991. 507 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-0061607-5. As the twentieth century draws to a close, it is fascinating to watch the scholarship of the New Testament period splinter...

A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 1, The Roots of the Problem and the Person.
July 1, 1993... By John P. Meier. Vol. I: The Roots of the Problem and the Person. The Anchor Bible Reference Library. Doubleday, New York, 1991. 484 pp. $25. 00. ISBN 0-38525425-9. As the twentieth century draws to a close, it is fascinating to watch the...

Types of Christian Theology.
July 1, 1993... By Hans W. Frei. Edited by George Hunsinger and William C. Placher. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1992. 180 pp. $26.50. ISBN 0-300-05104-2. When Hans Frei died in 1988 at the age of sixty-six, he left behind a number of manuscripts in...

Systematic Theology, vol. 1.
July 1, 1993... By Wolfhart Pannenberg. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1991. 473 pp. $39. 95. ISBN 0-8028-3656-9. The new outpouring of works in systematic/constructive theology continues apace with twenty...

A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals.
July 1, 1993... PRACTICAL THEOLOGY iS commonly understood to mean the application of theology to the ordinary activities of a congregation. This book is an effort to redefine theology so that the "practical" becomes a part of theological inquiry. Many...

Deuteronomy 1-11: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Moshe Weinfeld. The Anchor Bible, Vol. 5. Doubleday, New YorK, 1991. 458 pp. $34.00. ISBN 0-385-1 7593-0. WEINEELD is an Israeli Jewish scholar who has been involved in Deuteronomic studies ever since the publication of his 1972 book...

2 Kings: The Forms of Old Testament Literature, vol. 10.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Burke O. Long. The Forms of Old Testament Literature, Vol. 10. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1991. 324 pp. $29.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8028-0535-3. WITH THIS VOLUME Long completes his contribution on Kings to this valuable...

Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Henry Wansbrough. JSNT Sup. Series 64. JSOT/Sheff eld Academic Press, Sheffield, 1991. 469 pp. $52.50. ISBN 1-85075-329-6. THIS ANTHOLOGY contains an introduction and fourteen articles from an ongoing study of Christian origins. An earlier...

Matthew: A Commentary, vol. 1, The Christbook: Matthew 1-12.
July 1, 1993... by Frederick Dale Bruner. Matthew. A Commentary, Vol. 1. Word Books, Publisher, Waco, 1987. 475 pp. $24.99. ISBN 0-8499-0526-5. THIS COMMENTARY was born out of a frustration Bruner felt in making church doctrine come alive for his students at...

Matthew: A Commentary, vol. 2, The Churchbook: Matthew 13-28.
July 1, 1993... by Frederick Dale Bruner. Matthew: A Commentary, Vol. 2. Word Publishing, Dallas, 1990. 650 pp. $27.99. ISBN 0-8499-061 7-2. THIS COMMENTARY was born out of a frustration Bruner felt in making church doctrine come alive for his students at...

Social History of the Matthean Community: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... edited by David L. Balch. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991. 286 pp. $29.95. ISBN0-8006-2445-9. OF THE SEVERAL new approaches to biblical studies that have come to the fore in the last decade, social history is one of the most promising. The...

The Son of the Man in the Gospel of John.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Delbert Burkett. JSNT Sup. Series 56. JSOT/Shefield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1991. 199 pp. $39.50. ISBN 1-85075-292-3. IN A REVISION of his 1989 dissertation (Duke University), Burkett offers new possibilities for the Johannine "Son of...

Imitating Paul: A Discourse of Power.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Elizabeth A. Castelli. Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1991. 176 pp. $15.95 (paper). ISBN 0-664-25234-6. HERE IS A BOOK as provocative in its argumentation as it is challenging in its...

The Theology of the Johannine Epistles.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... Theology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1991. 130 pp. n. p. ISBN 0-521-35246-0. THESE THREE BRIEF VOLUMES, in a series edited by James D.G. Dunn, attempt to bridge the gap between the overview of a writing presented in...

The Theology of the Letter to the Hebrews.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Barnabas Lindars. New Testament Theology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1991. 155 pp. n. p. ISBN 0-52135487-0. THESE THREE BRIEF VOLUMES, in a series edited by James D.G. Dunn, attempt to bridge the gap between the...

The Theology of the Second Letter to the Corinthians.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, O.P. New Testament Theology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1991. 166 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-521-35379-3. THESE THREE BRIEF VOLUMES, in a series edited by James D.G. Dunn, attempt to bridge the gap...

Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Ralph P. Martin. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. John Knox Press, Louisville, 1991. 156 pp. $17.95. ISBN 0-8042-3139-7. THOUGH MARTIN is a distinguished Pauline scholar, this is not an academic commentary...

Pauline Theology, vol. 1, Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... edited by Jouette M Bassler. Pauline Theology, Vol. I. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991. 289 pp $29.95. ISBN0-800-2488-2. THIS COLLECTION of essays invites the reader to look over the shoulders of a group of New Testament scholars as they...

Reading in Communion: Scripture and Ethics in Christian Life.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Stephen E. Fowl and L. Gregory Jones. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1991. 166 pp. $13. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-8028-0597-3. FOWL AND JONES argue that the search for a "context-independent method for either ethics or...

Possessions and the Life of Faith: A Reading of Luke-Acts.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by John Gillman. Zacchaeus Studies: New Testament. Glazier/Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1991. 120 pp. $6.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8146-5675-7. FOWL AND JONES argue that the search for a "context-independent method for either ethics or...

The Bible as a Problem for Christianity.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Robert P. Carroll. Trinity Press International, Philadelphia, 1991. 160 pp. $14. 95 (paper). ISBN 1-56338-024-2. Carroll has spent nearly two decades in biblical studies at Glasgow University, teaching primarily the Hebrew Bible. Each of...

Judaism Without Christianity: An Introduction to the System of the Mishnah.
July 1, 1993... by Jacob Neusner. KTAV Publishing House, Hoboken, 1991. 138 pp. $16. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-8812-5333-2. In this book, Neusner intends to make accessible to the general reader the substance of his well-known and watershed scholarly work Judaism:...

Women as Interpreters of the Bible.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Patricia Demers. Paulist Press, New York and Mahwah, 1991. 181 pp. $12.95 (paper). ISBN 0-80913291-5. Demers states: "This study is an attempt to sketch and explain some of the variety of women's accomplishments as interpretive readers of...

The Music of the Bible Revealed: The Deciphering of a Millenary Notation.
July 1, 1993... by Suzanne Haik-Vantoura. Translated by Dennis Weber, edited by John Wheeler. BIBAL Press, Berkeley/ King David's Harp, Inc., San Francisco, 1991. 547 pp. $29. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-941037-10-X For centuries it has been assumed that the symbols...

The Reformation and Liberation Theology: Insights for the Challenges of Today.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Richard Shaull. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1991. 136 pp. $11.95 (paper). ISBN 0-644-25222-2. Shaull's remarkably accesible book comes as a welcome contribution to students of Reformation and liberation theology, and...

The Freedom of God and Human Liberation.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Alexander J. McKelway, SCM Press, London/Trinity Press International, Philadelphia, 1990. 128 pp. $10. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-334-02466-8. Most liberation theology is theology written "from below," beginning with human experience of...

A Philosophical Introduction to Theology.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by J. Deotis Roberts. SCM Press, London/Trinity Press International, Philadelphia, 1991. 182 pp. $15.95 (paper). ISBN 1-56338-006-4. The stated purpose of this slender volume is to equip beginning students of Christian theology with a...

Eros Toward the World: Paul Tillich and the Theology of the Erotic.
July 1, 1993... by Alexander C. Irwin. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991. 204 pp. $12.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2494-7. One of the most lamentable aspects of the contemporary theological situation is its fragmentation into insulated schools and movements,...

Loving Nature: Ecological Integrity and Christian Responsibility.
July 1, 1993... by James A. Nash. The Churches, Center for Theology and Public Policy, Washington, DC/Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1991. 256 pp. $16. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-687-228247. Well before the first Earth Day in 1970, the North American theological...

The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by H. Paul Santmire. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1985 and 1991. 274 pp. $14.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-1806-8. This important study recognizes that both the critics and the protagonists of Christian thought about nature need a much more...

From Apocalypse to Genesis: Ecology, Feminism, and Christianity.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1993... by Anne Primavesi. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, l991. 324 pp. $14.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2522-6. As the subtitle suggest, ecology, feminism, Christianity, and their interrelationships are explored in this book. As the title suggests,...