Interpretation articles from July 2002

Interpretation archives from July 2002

The parables of Jesus.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... I was invited by this volume's editor to revisit my earlier work on the parables of Jesus and to give my "sense of where we are in parable interpretation today, and its significance for apprehending the message of Jesus." That specific mandate...

Editorial.
July 1, 2002... The figure of Jesus looms large on the contemporary scene, from heated christological debates in the churches--what does it mean to affirm that "Jesus is Lord" in a religiously plural context?--to provocative portraits of the historical Jesus...

Resisting and imitating the empire: imperial paradigms in two Matthean parables.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... Exciting work on Jesus' parables in the twentieth century has drawn attention to their performative language, their world-challenging and world-constructing functions, and their engagement of the imagination. (1) But these insights have also...

Encountering the Sower; Mark 4:1-20.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... This century has witnessed such significant development in the interpretation of the parables that a student might wonder if interpreters are reading the same texts. The differences between Julicher and Jeremias, on the one hand, and Funk and...

Beyond petty pursuits and wearisome widows: three Lukan parables.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... The Gospel of Luke is remarkable for the number of episodes that feature female characters, including three parables. In one, a woman hides yeast in bread dough (13:20-21); in another, a woman searches diligently for a lost coin (15:8-10); and...

Body language: Jesus' parables of the Woman with the Yeast, the Woman with the Jar, and the Man with the Sword.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... In the Gospel of Thomas three of the very shortest parables attributed to Jesus--ones that might be titled the Woman with the Yeast, the Woman with the Jar, and the Man with the Sword--are linked together as a group. (1) What might happen if...

Matthew 25:14-30. (Between Text and Sermon).(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... MATTHEW'S COMMUNITY REMEMBERS Jesus Christ and awaits Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Matthew serves as guide for this twofold endeavor. By its teachings the community knows what to remember and therefore how to wait. Tucked in the middle of...

Mark 4:30-34. (Between Text and Sermon).
July 1, 2002... "WHAT KIND OF MUSTARD DO YOU WANT? Honey? Spicy? Horseradish?" the kid behind the counter at our local coffee shop asked. Ordering my standard bagel, muenster cheese, veggie sandwich had suddenly gone up-scale with a change in ownership....

Luke 12:13-23. (Between Text and Sermon).
July 1, 2002... SOMETIMES A BIBLICAL TEXT CAN BE TOO RELEVANT to preach. Such is the case with the story of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-23). Fortunately, this text was assigned for August 5, 2001, more than a month before the attacks on the World Trade Center...

Luke 18:1-8. (Between Text and Sermon).
July 1, 2002... ONE THING IS CERTAIN. THIS IS A PARABLE of the real world and no fairy tale. Jesus' story about the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8) emerges straight from the ugly and oppressive socio-legal world of first century Palestine, a world of...

Isaiah 1-39: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. (Major Reviews).
July 1, 2002... Isaiah 1-39: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by Joseph Blenkinsopp Anchor Bible 19. Doubleday, New York, 2000. 548 pp. $50.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-385-49716-4. BLENKINSOPP'S COMMENTARY, THE FIRST of a projected...

With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology. (Major Reviews).
July 1, 2002... With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology Stanley Hauerwas Brazos, Grand Rapids, 2001. 249 pp. $22.99 (cloth). ISBN 1-58743-016-9. Is THERE A GOD? This question has haunted modernity for over two...

Deuteronomy. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Deuteronomy by Walter Brueggemann Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries. Abingdon, Nashville, 2001. 305 pp. $34.00. ISBN 0-687-8471-1. THIS SERIES, to which Bruggemann's volume makes an outstanding contribution, addressees a...

Joshua. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Joshua by L. Daniel Hawk Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative & Poetry. Liturgical, Collegeville, 2000.303 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-814-65042-2. HAWK CONTINUES TO ESTABLISH his reputation as one of the leading practitioners...

Habakkuk: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Habakkuk: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by Francis I. Andersen Anchor Bible 25. Doubleday, New York, 2001. 409 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-385-08396-3. AFTER INTRODUCING the book as a whole, Andersen covers...

Hope Amid the Ruins: The Ethics of Israel's Prophets. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hope Amid the Ruins: The Ethics of Israel's Prophets by Carol J. Dempsey Challce, St. Louis, 2000. 160 pp. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-1439-1. THIS THEMATIC INTRODUCTION to prophetic ethics seeks to retrieve a moral vision rooted in the...

Matthew and Empire: Initial Explorations. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Matthew and Empire: Initial Explorations by Warren Carter Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2001. 249 pp. $25.00. ISBN 1-56338-342-4. IN HIS MOST RECENT BOOK, Carter rejects the commonplace interpretation that Matthew is...

The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary by Ben Witherington III Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2001. 463 pp. $35.00. ISBN 0-8028-4503-7. WITHERINGTON READS the Gospel of Mark as an ancient biography composed significantly of...

Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2001, 384 pp. $20.00. ISBN 1-56338-362-4. THIS BOOK CHALLENGES many of the assumptions of traditional...

Jesus and the Village Scribes: Galilean Conflicts and the Setting of Q. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Jesus and the Village Scribes: Galilean Conflicts and the Setting of Q by William E. Arnal Fortress, Minneapolis, 2001. 290 PP. $26.00. ISBN 0-8006-3260-5. ARNAL OPPOSES THE PRESUMPTION that Jesus and his disciples conducted an...

Acts.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Acts by Paul W. Walaskay Westminster Bible Companion. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1998. 262 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-664-25261-3. THIS VOLUME BELONGS TO a series offered to church laity, especially church school teachers, to help...

The Letter to Philemon: A New Translation and Commentary.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Letter to Philemon: A New Translation and Commentary by Joseph A. Fitzmyer Anchor Bible 34C. Doubleday, New York, 2000. 138 pp. $21.95. ISBN 0-385-49629-X. FITZMYER'S NEW COMMENTARY on Philemon is divided into three sections:...

Cruciformity: Paul's Spirituality of the Cross.
July 1, 2002... Cruciformity: Paul's Spirituality of the Cross by Michael J. Gorman Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2001. 429 pp. $28.00. ISBN 0-8028-4795-1. GORMAN IDENTIFIES A NARRATIVE SPIRITUALITY in the experience of the apostle Paul, centered, he...

What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... What did the Biblical Writers Know and When did They Know It? What Archaeology can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel by William G. Dever Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2001. 326 pp. $17.50. ISBN 0-8028-4794-3. DEVER'S VOLUME is...

On the Interpretation and Use of the Bible with Reflections on Experience.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... On the Interpretation and Use of the Bible with Reflections on Experience by Ronald S. Wallace Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999. 137 pp. $12.00. ISBN 0-7073-0775-9. WALLACE PRESENTS AN APPROACH to biblical interpretation primarily for...

The Trinity.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Trinity by Philip W. Butin Foundations of Christian Faith. Geneva, Louisville, 2001. 126 pp. $11.95. ISBN 0-664-50140-0. As ONE OF THE VOLUMES in a series designed primarily for laypersons, Butin's introduction to Christian...

Unprecedented Choices: Religious Ethics at the Frontiers of Genetic Science.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Unprecedented Choices: Religious Ethics at the Frontiers of Genetic Science by Audrey R. Chapman Theology and Science Series. Fortress, Minneapolis, 1999. 261 pp. $22.00. ISBN 0-8006-3181-1. WILL A TIME COME, say, in a society...

The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America by Mark Lewis Taylor Fortress, Minneapolis, 2001. $16.00. 208 pp. ISBN 0-8006-3283-4. TAYLOR CHALLENGES CHRISTIANS to follow the example of the executed Jesus in opposing...

Church Planting: Laying Foundations.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Church Planting: Laying Foundations by Stuart Murray Herald, Scottsdale, 2001. 288 pp. $19.99. ISBN 0-8361-9148-X. THIS BOOK IS NOT a "how to" manual for church planting. It attempts to "lay some theological foundations for church...

The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance by Dorothee Soelle Fortress, Minneapolis, 2001. $20.00. 325 pp. ISBN 0-8006-3266-4. SOELLE MAKES A POWERFUL CASE for her position that the reunification of "the inner light of being at one...

Strategies for Preaching Paul. (Shorter Reviews).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Strategies for Preaching Paul by Frank J. Matera Liturgical, Collegeville, 2001. 186 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-8146-1966-5. Preaching Like Paul: Homiletical Wisdom for Today by James W. Thompson Westminster John Knox, Louisville,...