Interpretation articles from July 2005

Interpretation archives from July 2005

Editorial.
July 1, 2005... THE LOVE POEM traditionally known as The Song of Solomon or Canticles and commonly referred to as the Song of Songs is unique among the canonical writings. Nowhere else in scripture do we find such a prolonged and unabashed celebration of...

Nature, humanity, and love in Song of Songs.
July 1, 2005... The biblical book of love poetry called Song of Songs assigns arresting roles to nature, to humankind, and to love. The Song's poetic treatment of the physical world and of the dimensions of love experienced by a young man and woman within that...

The arithmetic of eros.
July 1, 2005... "... Let me count the ways." Elizabeth Barrett Browning "If you press me to say why I loved him," writes the great essayist Michel de Montaigne about his friend Etienne de la Beotie, "I can say no more than it was because he was he and...

The delight of beauty and Song of Songs 4:1-7.
July 1, 2005... Beauty is a topic that, while at the center of discussions about the arts and aesthetics for much of history (in the West), has mostly failed to fire the critical imagination of twentieth (and now twenty-first) century thinkers, and as a...

Song of Songs: a metaphorical vision for pastoral care.(Critical essay)
July 1, 2005... Several years ago I attended a conference that focused on the importance of a Lutheran understanding of Scripture for teaching. Much to my surprise and dismay another participant pondered aloud with me about my presence there. This individual...

Psalm 86:11-17.(Between Text & Sermon)
July 1, 2005... IN PSALM 86: 11-17, A FOLLOWER OF GOD FACES an ominous group of opponents and pleads with God for help in this time of need. From the psalmist's viewpoint, this group simultaneously functions as a personal enemy and as an enemy of the Lord (v....

Jeremiah 31:31-34.(Between Text & Sermon)
July 1, 2005... The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to...

Matthew 14:13-21.(Between Text & Sermon)(Critical essay)
July 1, 2005... MY HOMILETICS PROFESSOR USED TO SAY "We need to be reminded more than informed." This is helpful when we come on a passage so familiar that we cannot imagine saying anything new about it. "The Feeding of the 5,000" appears in all four gospels...

The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible by David M. Carr Oxford University Press, New York, 2003. 212 pp. $32.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-19-515652-8. READERS WILL LIKELY PAUSE OVER the title of this book. Given...

The Acts of the Apostles.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Acts of the Apostles by Beverly Roberts Gaventa Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Abingdon, Nashville, 2003. 392 pp. $28.00. ISBN 0-687-05821-X. ONE SEARCHES FOR AN APPROPRIATE metaphor to describe the scholarly activity...

Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder by Richard A. Horsley Fortress, Minneapolis, 2003. 178 pp. $17.00. ISBN 0-8006-3490-X. WRITING IN THE WAKE of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Richard Horsley offers...

In God's Time: The Bible and the Future.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... In God's Time: The Bible and the Future by Craig C. Hill Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2002. 229 pp. $16.00. ISBN 0-8028-6090-7. THIS IS A CLEAR AND ENGAGING ACCOUNT of biblical eschatology aimed at a broad readership. A particular...

Song of Songs/Lamentations.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Song of Songs/Lamentations by Duane Garrett and Paul R. House Word Biblical Commentary. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2004. 479 pp. $39.99 (cloth). ISBN 0-8499-0825-6. TWO OF HUMANKIND'S deepest experiences, love and loss,...

Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition by William Loader Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2005. 296 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-8028-2862-0. SEXUALITY IS NARROWLY rendered in Loader's work. His discussion employs the Synoptic Gospels along with extensive...

Fortress Introduction to the Prophets.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Fortress Introduction to the Prophets by Rodney R. Hutton Fortress, Minneapolis, 2004. 115 pp. $16.00. ISBN 0-8006-3670-8. "THIS VOLUME SEEKS above all else to understand the message of the prophets within the context of their own...

Preaching Judges.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Preaching Judges by Joseph R. Jeter, Jr. Preaching Classic Texts. Chalice, St. Louis, 2003. 162 pp. $18.99. ISBN 0-8272-2977-1. HERE IS A MOST HELPFUL BOOK for any biblical preacher who wishes to take the full measure of the...

Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2003. 222 pp. $14.99. ISBN 0-8010-2610-5. KAISER WRITES THIS BOOK in response to "a distressing absence...

Back to the Well: Women's Encounters with Jesus in the Gospels.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Back to the Well: Women's Encounters with Jesus in the Gospels by Frances Taylor Gench Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2004. 192 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-664-22715-5. THIS SPLENDID BOOK INVITES the reader to drink deeply of the riches...

Journeying Through Acts: A Literary-Cultural Reading.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Journeying Through Acts: A Literary-Cultural Reading by F. Scott Spencer Hendrickson, Peabody, 2004. 278 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-56563-990-1. THIS "UPDATING" (p. 9) of Spencer's 1997 Acts volume offers a commentary on the Acts narrative...

1 Corinthians.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... 1 Corinthians by David E. Garland Baker Exegetical Series. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2003. 870 pp. $49.99 (cloth). ISBN 0-8010-2630-X. COMPREHENSIVENESS is a virtue in major commentaries, and by that measure this volume is...

Revelation: New Cambridge Bible Commentary.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Revelation: New Cambridge Bible Commentary by Ben Witherington III Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003. 307 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-521-00068-8. THIS VOLUME ON REVELATION is the first to be published in the New Cambridge Bible...

Neither Jew Nor Greek?: Constructing Early Christianity.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Neither Jew nor Greek? Constructing Early Christianity by Judith M. Lieu T & T Clark, New York, 2003. 263 pp. $65.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-567-08909-6. THIS BOOK IS A COLLECTION of essays spanning the years 1992-1999, and, unlike many...

Who Is Jesus? An Introduction to Christology.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Who Is Jesus? An Introduction to Christology by Thomas P. Rausch Liturgical, Collegeville, 2003. 217 pp. $23.95. ISBN 0-8146-5078-3. IN THIS SMALL VOLUME, Thomas Rausch, Professor of Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los...

Salvation.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Salvation by Joel B. Green Understanding Biblical Themes. Chalice, St. Louis, 2003. 154 pp. $18.99. ISBN 0-8272-3831-2. THIS IS A FINE BOOK, one that any theologically concerned person would do well to absorb. That is more the...

In the Beginning ... Creativity.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... In the Beginning... Creativity by Gordon D. Kaufman Fortress, Mineapolis, 2003. 152 pp $19.00. ISBN 0-8006-3684-8. FOR MANY YEARS, Gordon Kaufman has sensed that traditional anthropocentric concepts of God no longer fit the world...

God and the Art of Seeing: Visual Resources for a Journey of Faith.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... God and the Art of Seeing: Visual Resources for a Journey of Faith by Richard Kidd and Graham Sparkes Smith & Helwys, Macon, GA, 2003. 226 pp. $18.00. ISBN 1-57312-413-3. THESE TWO BRITISH Baptist ministers and scholars are...

Healing Bodies and Souls: A Practical Guide for Congregations.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Healing Bodies and Souls: A Practical Guide for Congregations by W. Daniel Hale and Harold G. Koenig Fortress, Minneapolis, 2003. 125 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-8006-3629-5. CONGREGATIONAL HEALTH ministries, as a movement, has moved out of...

Secular Steeples: Popular Culture and the Religious Imagination.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Secular Steeples: Popular Culture and the Religious Imagination by Conrad Ostwalt Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2003. 231 pp. $22.00. ISBN 1-56338-361-6. THIS VOLUME ADDS TO the growing library of social theory about the...

Breaking Barriers: The Possibilities of Christian Community in a Lonely World.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Breaking Barriers: The Possibilities of Christian Community in a Lonely World by Lyle D. Vander Broek Brazos, Grand Rapids, 2002. 175 pp. $15.99. ISBN 1-58743-052-5. VANDER BROEK HAS WRITTEN a helpful study that relates problematic...

Postmodern Christianity: Doing Theology in the Contemporary World.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Postmodern Christianity: Doing Theology in the Contemporary World by John W. Riggs Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2003. 192 pp. $19.00. ISBN 1-56338-364-0. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS for Christian theology and proclamation in...

From Preachers to Suffragists: Woman's Rights and Religious Conviction in the Lives of Three Nineteenth-Century American Clergywomen.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... From Preachers to Suffragists: Woman's Rights and Religious Conviction in the Lives of Three Nineteenth-Century American Clergywomen by Beverly Zink-Sawyer Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2003. 246 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-664-22615-9....

Claiming Theology in the Pulpit.(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Claiming Theology in the Pulpit by Burton Z. Cooper and John S. McClure Westminster John Knox, 2003. 143 pp. $18.95. ISBN 0-664-22702-3. THIS BOOK BEGAN as a complaint in a seminary lunchroom conversation: "I have a hard time...

The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden Illuminations and Commentary by Debra Band; Bible Translations by The Jewish Publication Society and David Band Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2005. 144 pp. $75.00 (cloth). ISBN...

Song of Songs.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Song of Songs by Richard S. Hess Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Wisdom and Psalms. Baker, Grand Rapids, 2005. 285 pp. $29.99 (cloth). ISBN 0-8010-2712-8. Geared toward clergy and seminary students, this new series is also...

The Song of Songs: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Song of Songs: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators translated and edited by Richard A. Norris, Jr. The Church's Bible. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2003. 346pp. $40.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-2579-6. This first...

Psalms in Community: Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical and Artistic Traditions.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Psalms in Community: Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical and Artistic Traditions edited by Harold W. Attridge and Margot E. Fassler Symposium. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2004. 480 pp. $49.95. ISBN 1-58983-07804. ...

The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research edited by Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2004. 544 pp. $32.99. ISBN 0-8010-2707-1. In this handbook of New Testament scholarship,...

The Ending of Mark and the Ends of God: Essays in Memory of Donald Harrisville Juel.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Ending of Mark and the Ends of God: Essays in Memory of Donald Harrisville Juel edited by Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Patrick Miller Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2005. 184 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-664-22739-2. Juel's work on...

Navigating Romans through Cultures: Challenging Readings by Charting a New Course.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Navigating Romans through Cultures: Challenging Readings by Charting a New Course edited by Yeo Khiok-khng T & T Clark, Harrisburg, 2004. 326 pp. $35.00. ISBN 0-567-02501-2. Scholars from Europe, Africa, Latin America, North...

Distant Voices Drawing Near: Essays in Honor of Antoinette Clark Wire.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Distant Voices Drawing Near: Essays in Honor of Antoinette Clark Wire edited by Holly E. Hearon Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2004. 258 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-8146-5157-7. The contributors engage the topics of Christian origins and...

The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honor of James D. G. Dunn.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honor of James D. G. Dunn edited by Graham N. Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker, and Stephen C. Barton Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 404 pp. $50.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-2822-1. ...

What's the Matter with Preaching?(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... What's the Matter with Preaching? edited by Mike Graves Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2004. 182 pp. $ 19.95. ISBN 0-664-22632-9. Contemporary preachers take a fresh look at Harry Emerson Fosdick's question from 1928. They...

What About the Soul? Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... What About the Soul? Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology edited by Joel Green Abingdon, Nashville, 2004. 228 pp. $39.00. ISBN 0-687-02345-9. Neurological research presents challenges to the concept of the soul or spirit as...

Loving God with Our Minds: The Pastor as Theologian.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Loving God with Our Minds: The Pastor as Theologian edited by Michael Welker and Cynthia A. Jarvis Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 397 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-2857-4. This volume explores a broad scope of contemporary...

A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony.(Book Notes)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony edited by Leanne Van Dyk Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2005. 175 pp. $15.00. ISBN 0-8028-2854-X. Elements of worship are paired with related Christian teachings in each chapter to...