Interpretation articles from October 1994

Interpretation archives from October 1994

Toward a narrative-critical understanding of Luke. (Gospel of Luke)
October 1, 1994... THE LITERARY QUALITY of the Gospel of Luke has long been appreciated. Excerpts from it, such as the account of the baby in the manger or the parable of the Good Samaritan, are regarded as masterpieces of ancient literature and continue to capture...

"Cornelius" and "Tabitha" encounter Luke's Jesus. (hypothetical persons from two different time periods interpret Jesus as seen by the evangelist Luke)
October 1, 1994... THIS ARTICLE IS influenced by two concerns: (1) the desire to recognize the value of reader-response criticism; and (2) the need to integrate literary approaches to the Gospels with traditional historical criticism and the new social-scientific...

"Expecting nothing in return": Luke's picture of the marginalized. (evanglist's social policy)
October 1, 1994... It has often been observed that the author of Luke-Acts depicts socially disadvantaged individuals and groups in a sympathetic and compassionate way.(1) Robert Tannehill, for example, notes that in Luke's Gospel: . . . Jesus intervenes on...

The plot of Luke's story of Jesus.
October 1, 1994... THE GOSPEL OF LUKE is a narrative(1) that tells the story of Jesus. Like other narratives, it has a plot with a recognizable beginning, middle, and end.(2) As with the other canonical Gospels, the plot of Luke revolves around conflict. At...

The social context of Luke's community. (evangelist)
October 1, 1994... From Text to Context How can we move from the text of Luke's Gospel to the social situation of his first readers? This problem in Gospel research has so far not been solved. Form criticism tried to find a Sitz im Leben for Gospel passages...

Luke 1:46-55. (New Testament) (Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1994... The Magnificat does not receive the liturgical attention it deserves. It is the Gospel reading for two lesser festivals, Mary, Mother of Our Lord, August 15, and The Visitation, May 31 (only the two introductory verses). It also appears as an...

Luke 2:1-20. (New Testament) (Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1994... Mark I. Wegener, Pastor Mount Olive Lutheran Church Minneapolis, Minnesota THE STORY of Mary and Joseph, the angels and sheepherders, and the infant birthed at Bethlehem works so well no one can forget it. Even if it were not the centerpiece...

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22. (New Testament) (Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1994... Sheila Klassan-Wiebe Assistant Professor of New Testament Canadian Mennonite Bible College THINGS are not always what they appear to be upon first encounters, and that is true for biblical texts as well. On the surface, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22...

Luke 21:25-36. (New Testament) (Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1994... Elizabeth Achtemeier Adjunct Professor of Biole and Homiletics Union Theological Seminary in Virginia THE SEASON OF ADVENT in the church year looks in two directions. It not only looks back on the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but it also...

The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus.
October 1, 1994... By Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover; and The Jesus Seminar. A Polebridge Book, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1993. 553 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-02-541040-8. "Leading scholars," a self-designation of The Jesus Seminar, have here cast...

The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols.
October 1, 1994... Edited by David Noel Freedman. Doubleday, New York, 1992. Vol. I: A-C, 1232 pp.; Vol. II: D-G, 1100 pp.; Vol. III: H-J, 1135 pp.; Vol. IV: K-N, 1162 pp.; Vol. V: O-Sh, 1230 pp.; Vol. VI: Si-Z, 1176 pp. $360.00. ISBN 0-385-19351-3. One...

Matthew.
October 1, 1994... By Douglas R.A. Hare. Intrepretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 338 pp. $22.00. ISBN 0-8042-3126-5. After many years of relative neglect, the Gospel of Matthew is finally receiving...

Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the First Gospel.
October 1, 1994... By David E. Garland. Crossroad, New York, 1993. 269 pp. $27.50. ISBN 0-8245-1275-8. After many years of relative neglect, the Gospel of Matthew is finally receiving its just homage in commentaries, both critical and popular. Since the work...

The Gospel of Mark as a Model for Action: A Reader-Response Commentary.
October 1, 1994... By John Paul Heil. Paulist Press, New York and Mahwah, 1992. 396 pp. $19.95 (paper). ISBN 0-80913148-X. Hooker offers us a useful commentary of a traditional type. Heil departs from tradition by opting for reader-response criticism as his...

The Gospel According to Saint Mark.
October 1, 1994... By Morna D. Hooker. Black's New Testament Commentary. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1991. 424 pp. n.p. ISBN 1-56563-010-6. Hooker offers us a useful commentary of a traditional type. Heil departs from tradition by opting for...

Structure, Role, and Ideology in the Hebrew and Greek Texts of Genesis 1:1-2:3.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by William P. Brown. SBL Diss. Series 132. Scholar Press, Atlanta, 1993. 268pp. $29.95 (paper). ISBN 1-5554-760-9. IN THIS INTERESTING and important volume, Brown argues that the precursor or Vorlage of the Greek Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis...

Genesis, Creation, and Creationism.
October 1, 1994... by Lloyd R. Bailey. Paulist Press, New York and Mahwah, 1993. 259 pp. $14. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-80913255-9. DESPITE the oxymoronic character of "scientific creationism," the movement has proved to be a stubborn modern phenomenon in religious,...

Purity and Monotheism: Clean and Unclean Animals in Biblical Law.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Walter Houston. JSOT Sup. Series 140. JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, 1993. 320 pp. $70.00. ISBN 1-85075-368-7. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT BOOK. It is an in-depth reading of Leviticus, chapter 11, which succeeds in assembling relevant data from...

Numbers 1-20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Baruch A. Levine. The Anchor Bible 4A. Doubleday, New York, 1993. 528 pp. $40.00. ISBN 0-385-15651-0. THE OLD TESTAMENT Book of Numbers recounts a young Israel's wilderness sojourn from Mount Sinai to the edge of the promised land. Its...

The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... edited by J. Clinton McCann. JSOT Sup. Series 159. JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1993. 130 pp. $35.00ISBN1-85075-396-2. CLASSICAL PSALM-CRITICISM has approached psalms individually; here is a welcome attempt at a new line, the...

The Psalms and Their Readers: Interpretive Strategies for Psalm 18.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... Series 153. JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1993. 160 pp. $40.00. ISBN 1-85075-399-7. THE AUTHOR engages in a textual, form-critical, rhetorical, and reader-oriented analysis of a Hebrew poem that continues to fascinate biblical...

Land Tenure and the Biblical Jubilee: Uncovering Hebrew Ethics Through the Sociology of Knowledge.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Jeffrey A. Fager. JSOT Sup. Series 155. JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 1993. 135 pp. $32.50. ISBN 1-85075-398-9. FAGER'S STUDY draws from an earlier dissertation project (1987) to interact with the sociology of knowledge that he...

The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and Historical Criticism: Jews and Christians in Biblical Studies.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Jon D. Levenson. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 192 pp. $14.99 (paper). ISBN 0-66425407-1. THIS BOOK COLLECTS six previously published essays that explore the relationship between traditional methods of biblical exegesis...

Jesus and the Reign of God.
October 1, 1994... by C. S. Song. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 304 pp. $16.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2671-0. WRITING FROM A WEALTH of years of experience in Asia, Europe, and North America, the Taiwanese theologian Song continues his trilogy on christology...

We are Home: A Spirituality of the Environment.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Shannon Jung. Paulist Press, New York and Mahwah, 1993. 170 pp. $12. 95 (paper). ISBN 0-8091-3364-4. "HOW DID WE GET HERE?" asks Shannon Jung, in reference to our current environmental crisis. A number of factors have contributed to the...

Classical Beginnings, 1519-1799.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... edited by William Stacy Johnson and John H. Leith. Reformed Reader: A Sourcebook in Christian Theology, Vol. 1. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. 397 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-664-21957-8. "RESOURCE AND COMPANION IS the description...

War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Susan Niditch. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 1993. 180 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-19-507638-9. AT LEAST SINCE WELLHAUSEN, biblical scholars have noticed the fundamental importance of warfare to ancient Israel's life and thought....

The Human Factor: Evolution, Culture, and Religion.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Philip Hefner. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1993. 317 pp. $17.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8006-2579-X THE LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN Philip Hefner has spent much of his career in dialogue with scientists, particularly biologists, on the theological...

The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1994... by Douglas Burton-Christie. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 1993. 336 pp. $55.00. ISBN 019-506614-6. HOW DO persons obtain meaning from a text? Burton-Christie has addressed this fundamental but intractable question historically by...