Interpretation articles from July 2000

Interpretation archives from July 2000

Editorial.
July 1, 2000... Paul's letter to the Galatians spoke with passion and urgency to its first century audience, and it has continued to do so across the centuries. The apostle engages in spirited defense of the gospel he proclaims, and of the ways in which the...

Galatians in Perspective: Cutting a New Path through Old Territory.
July 1, 2000... A new perspective on Paul has challenged traditional views of Galatians and justification by faith. Has the new perspective made it impossible to preach "the truth of the gospel"? In Paul's words, "Certainly not!" Paul's letter to the...

The Apocalyptic Gospel in Galatians.
July 1, 2000... Galatians is a clear witness to a basic conviction of Paul: the gospel is not about human movement into blessedness, but about God's liberating invasion of the cosmos. Christ's love enacted in the cross has the power to change the world because...

IS GALATIANS JUST A "GUY THING"? A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION.
July 1, 2000... Is there "good news" for women in Galatians? The letter points to God's new creation, which liberates both women and men from their worlds of achievement and identity. The most important thing to be said about us is that we are "in Christ." ...

Preaching to Galatians.
July 1, 2000... In Galatians, Paul points to a God who reaches out to all of humankind in Jesus Christ. It is not what we work but what God works in us that shapes faithful Christian living. Some years ago, writing on a similar theme for this journal, Fred...

Galatians 4:1-31.
July 1, 2000... A WOMAN OF MY ACQUAINTANCE, WHEN she went off to college, received only one admonition from her mother: "Remember whose daughter you are, and act like it!" Similarly, Paul offers the same admonition as a primary theme of chapter four of his...

Galatians 5:1-15.
July 1, 2000... FREEDOM IS AND IS NOT Freedom is a word tossed about a lot in the United States. We tout freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion, and even the right to bear arms. As children of the enlightenment, we believe all people have an...

Galatians 6:1-10.
July 1, 2000... GALATIANS 6:1-10 IS A DIFFICULT TEXT TO PREACH since it is not a logical unit in Paul's outline. Rather than standing by itself, it is best understood as the conclusion of 5:13-26 and his thoughts about dogs (5:15) and the Spirit (5:16-26)....

The Book of Amos: A Commentary.(Review)
July 1, 2000... by Jorg Jeremias Translated by Douglas W. Stott. Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1998. 188 pp. $26.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22086-X. THIS VOLUME IS AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO an already strong list of commentaries...

The Women in the Life of the Bridegroom: A Feminist Historical-Literary Analysis of the Female Characters in the Fourth Gospel.(Review)
July 1, 2000... by Adeline Fehribach Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1998. 222 PP. $19.95. ISBN 0-8146-5884-9. TAKING SERIOUSLY INTO ACCOUNT the literary nature of the Fourth Gospel and consequently the literary function of the women as characters in...

Revelation.(Review)
July 1, 2000... by David E. Aune Word Biblical Commentary, volumes 52A, B, and C. Word, Dallas, 1997-1998. 1354 pp. $32.99 (each, cloth). ISBN 0-8499-0251-7; 0-8499-0786-1; 0-8499-1545-7. IN THE INCREASINGLY POPULOUS and complex world of biblical...

Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by James W. Watts The Bible Seminar, 59. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1999. 189 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-85075-997-9. ALL TOO OFTEN Christian studies of the Pentateuch focus exclusively on Pentateuchal narratives, with law treated as...

The Covenant Formula: An Exegetical and Theological Investigation.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Rolf Rendtorff T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1998. 105 pp. $35.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-567-08605-4. ALTHOUGH THE NOTION OF "COVENANT" in the Old Testament has been widely studied in the field of Old Testament theology, Rendtorff argues that one...

The Israelites in History and Tradition.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Neils Peter Lemche Library of Ancient Israel. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1998. 246pp. $29.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-281-05227-1. WHILE THE JESUS SEMINAR MAKES HEADLINES, historians of ancient Israel are engaged in their own...

A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading of Ecclesiastes.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Michael V. Fox Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 440 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-8028-4292-5. IN THIS FULLY REVISED AND EXPANDED VERSION of his Qohelet and His Contradictions (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1989), Fox, a notable Jewish scholar,...

Invitation to the Apocrypha.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Daniel J. Harrington, S. J. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 222 pp. $16.00. ISBN 0-8028-4633-5. THIS MODEST VOLUME offers a basic introduction to the collection of intertestamental Jewish writings termed "apocrypha" by Protestants,...

Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity: Conflict or Confluence?(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Lee I. Levine Hendrickson, Peabody, 1998. 227 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-56563-488-8. THIS WELL-WRITTEN BOOK, by a scholar of Jewish history and archaeology, attempts to shed light on the nature of Jewish identity in the Greco-Roman world....

The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Ekkehard W. Stegemann and Wolfgang Stegemann Fortress, Minneapolis, 1999. 532 pp. $45.00. ISBN 0-8006-3009-2. THIS VOLUME TAXES ON A MONUMENTAL TASK: to present an "overview of the economic and social living conditions of the groups...

Conversion in the New Testament: Paul and the Twelve.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Richard V. Peace Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 397 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0-8028-4235-6. THIS BOOK COMBINES INSIGHTS from the fields of New Testament studies and practical theology to produce an understanding of Christian conversion that...

Galatians.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by L. Ann Jervis New International Biblical Commentary. Hendrickson, Peabody, 1999. 172 pp. $11.95. ISBN 1-56563-007-6. THIS VOLUME IS PART OF A SERIES based on the NIV translation and intended primarily for lay readers. Jervis...

The Triumph of Abraham's God: The Transformation of Identity in Galatians.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Bruce W. Longenecker Abingdon, Nashville, 1998. 236 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0-687-03537-6. LONGENECKER HAS WRITTEN an exceptionally lucid, non-technical exploration of major themes in Galatians. He summarizes recent trends in Pauline...

Paul and the Discourse of Power.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Sandra Hack Polaski Gender, Culture, Theory 8. The Bible Seminar 62. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1999. 151 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-85075-934-0. POLASKI BLENDS THEORETICAL interrogations of power and ideology, exegetical...

Paul, Judaism, and Judgment According to Deeds.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Kent L. Yinger SNTSMS 105. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. 318 pp. $64.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-63243-9. READERS OF PAUL'S LETTERS often puzzle over the apparent tension between the apostle's statements regarding judgment...

Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Material Possessions.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Craig L. Blomberg Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 300 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-8028-4401-4. BLOMBERG ATTEMPTS TO STEER BETWEEN the Scylla of those liberation theologians who advocate peasant revolution and the Charybdis of thinkers who...

Thinking Through Our Faith: Theology for 21st Century Christians.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by C. David Grant Abingdon, Nashville, 1998. 128 pp. $16.95. ISBN 0-687-01727-0. Resurrection Knowledge: Rediscovering the Gospel for a Postmodern Church W Stephen Gunter Abingdon, Nashville, 1999. 104 pp. $13.00. ISBN...

The Shaping of Rationality: Toward Interdisciplinarity in Theology and Science.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by J. Wentzel van Huyssteen Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 303 pp. $35.00. ISBN 0-8028-3868-5. VAN HUYSSTEEN SEEKS TO FOSTER interdisciplinary engagement between theology and science in the face of a twofold challenge. On one side...

Preaching and the Challenge of Pluralism.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Joseph M. Webb Chalice Press, St. Louis, 1998. 176 pp. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2952-6. THAT TIME IN OUR HISTORY IS GONE when the church was the primary place where people sought answers for the existential questions of their lives....

The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... by Lawrence A. Hoffman 2nd edition. SkyLight Paths Publishing, Woodstock, 1999. 270 pp. $17.95. ISBN 1-893361-06-3. THIS HANDBOOK HELPS Jews and Christians to understand ritual as necessary time structuring, to develop worship as...

Adam and Eve in Seventeenth-Century Thought.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Phillip C. Almond New York, Cambridge University Press, 1999. 240 pp. $54.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-66076-9. Sources as diverse as theology, botany, geology, and vegetarianism contribute to this study of the way the story of the Garden...

Deuteronomistic Work.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Enzo Cortese Translated by Silas Musholt O.F.M. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Analecta 47. Franciscan Printing Press, Jeusalem, 1999. 178 pp. $15.00. This thesis upholds the view that Deuteronomy- 2 Kings is a literary whole, and...

The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Charles E. Carter JSOTSupp 294. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1999. 386 pp. $85.00 (cloth). ISBN 1-84127-012-1. Using physical evidence such as archeological surveys, this study re-examines the size and status of Yehud...

Psalm 119: The Exaltation of Torah.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by David Noel Freedman with Jeffrey C. Geoghegan and Andrew Welch Biblical and Judaic Studies 6. Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 1999. 101 pp. $19.50. ISBN 1-57506-038-8. These essays explore the nature of alphabetic acrostic psalms and...

Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Victor Tcherikover Peabody, Hendrickson, 1999 (1959). 563 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-56563-476-4. Hendrickson Publishers has reprinted this classic work first published in English by the Jewish Publication Society of America.

Making Sense of Paul: A Basic Introduction to Pauline Theology.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Virginia Wiles Peabody, Hendrickson, 2000. 160 pp. $16.95. ISBN 156563-117-X. This introduction to Paul's Jewish and GrecoRoman context, and his thought and contributions, is written especially for an undergraduate audience.

Limited and Universal Salvation: A Text-Oriented and Hermeneutical Study of Two Perspectives in Paul.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Sven Hillert Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1999. 272 pp. No Price. ISBN 91-22-01858-1. This study argues that Pauline texts exist that support various perspectives on the salvation question, opening the possibility of...

Paul's Servant-Lord Analogy for the Relationship of a Believer to Christ.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by William D. Sprague University Press of America, Lanham, 2000. 211 pp. $42.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-7618-1537-6. This book argues that Pad's use of the servant-lord analogy is crucial both to understanding Paul's view of the human...

Conflicts and Challenges in Early Christianity.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by C.K. Barrett Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 1999. 112 pp. $14.00. ISBN 1-56338-291-1. Martin Hengol Hengel and Barrett offer essays on early Jewish-Christian relations and Pauline doctrine; the book concludes with a...

Vision and Persuasion: Rhetorical Dimensions of Apocalyptic Discourse.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... ed. Greg Carey and L. Gregory Bloomquist St. Louis, Chalice Press, 1999. 203 pp. $22.99. ISBN 0-8272-4005-8. These essays offer readers guidance in interpreting the often bewildering features of apocalpytic literature and explore the...

The Bible as Book: The First Printed Editions.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... ed. Kimberly Van Kampen and Paul Saenger Oak Knoll, New Castle, 1999. 208 pp. $55.00 (cloth). ISBN 1-884718-92-2. This collection of essays follows the early history of printed Bibles (to the sixteenth century). A section of...

Living Traditions of the Bible: Scripture in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Practice.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... ed. James E. Bowley St. Louis, Chalice Press, 1999. 206 pp. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2127-4. Scholars from Islamic, Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions discuss the history and practice of Scripture in their respective...

Bible Interpreters of the 20th Century: A Selection of Evangelical Voices.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... ed. Walter A. ElwelIand J.D. Weaver Grand Rapids, Baker, 1999, 445 pp. $24.99, ISBN 0-8010-2073-5 Thirty-five historical and contemporary evangelical scholars are briefly profiled in this collection.

Historical Dictionary of Reformed Churches.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... ed. Robert Benedetto, Darrell L. Guder, and Donald K. McKim Scarecrow Press, Lanham, 1999. 544 pp. $79.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-8108-3628-9. A detailed chronology; dictionary entries on important persons, places, and concepts; and an...

Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Clifford J. Green Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999. 410 pp. $28.00. ISBN 0-8028-4632-7. This new edition adds to the 1975 study of Bonhoeffer's early works a section on his Ethics and on his letters from prison.

God Encountered: A Contemporary Catholic Systematic Theology, vol. 2-4.(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... by Frans Josef van Beeck Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1999. 257 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-8146-5501-7. Part of a large publishing project, this volume treats the reality of sin and reaffirms that sin cannot nullify God's promises.

The Trinity.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Ed. Stephen Davis, Daniel Kendall S.J., and Gerald O'Collins S.J. Oxford University Press, New York, 2000. 393 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-19-826993-5. Scholars of theology, philosophy, biblical studies, patristics, and preaching...