Interpretation articles from October 1997

Interpretation archives from October 1997

'The word purely preached and heard.'(The listeners and the homiletical endeavor.)
October 1, 1997... The Listeners and the Homiletical Endeavor Throughout Christian history, preachers have been mindful of the awesome responsibility of mediating the sacred space between pulpit and pew. The most recent homiletical move toward the listeners...

Limping away with a blessing. (Biblical studies and preaching at the end of the second millenium)
October 1, 1997... Biblical Studies and Preaching at the End of the Second Millennium Recent attention to the context of biblical texts and to their literary dimension has been fruitful for preachers. But on the eve of a new millennium, biblical studies and...

African-American preaching. (The future of a rich tradition)
October 1, 1997... The Future of a Rich Tradition The powerful preaching of the African-American pulpit has great value for the wider church. The cross-cultural enrichment of today's preaching will contribute to the survival and revival of America's many...

Principalities, powers, and preaching: learning from William Stringfellow.
October 1, 1997... In the face of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst babel, I repeat, speak the truth. Confront the noise and verbiage and falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the...

Mark 12:28-34.(Between text and sermon.)
October 1, 1997... Down the hallway from my study at the church, once a week for about an hour, I overhear a man teaching another how to read. The reason I hear them is that the tutor has grown a little hard of hearing, and his student is a challenged learner....

2 Corinthians 6:1-13.
October 1, 1997... Corinth is not so far from where we do ministry. Our churches today wrestle with issues of pastoral authority and integrity. Conflict regarding the goals and expectations of ministry can destroy community. The trauma caused by abusive clergy and...

2 Samuel 23:1-7.
October 1, 1997... This pericope has a second liturgical setting; with minor changes, it is included in the readings for Ash Wednesday. This would be an opportune time to recognize the constant conflict between the cross and the criteria of this age, a conflict...

The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word That Moved America.
October 1, 1997... Recently I showed students a videotape of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. I wanted the students to appreciate the cadences of King's oratory, and the ways in which, both in content and style, he was able to move people. I also...

Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.
October 1, 1997... The aim of this book is "to demonstrate that the idea of character constitutes the unifying theme or center of the wisdom literature, whose raison d'etre is to profile ethical character" (p. 21). The threefold method for accomplishing this goal...

The Postmodern Bible.
October 1, 1997... This is an unusual book. It was not written by an individual author or even by a group of individual authors, nor was it written by a community as a consensus statement. It comes from a "collective" composed of ten biblical scholars: George...

A God of Vengeance? Understanding the Psalms of Divine Wrath.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples . . . to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. When...

Jesus in the Gospels: A Biblical Christology.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... For Pastoral purposes this is a welcome change from a plethora of historical Jesus studies. Beginning with Mark, Schnackenburg analyzes the individual Gospel pictures of Christ with the conviction that each has something to say to us. "The...

Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Carter invites us to join the "authorial audience" of Matthew's Gospel in this grand tour of the book's historical, literary, and contemporary contributions. The concept of authorial audience, developed by literary critic P. J. Rabinowitz,...

What Really Happened to Jesus?(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Acknowledging that the resurrection of Jesus is central to the Christian faith, Ludemann seeks to make the resurrection intelligible to a twentieth-century worldview. He begins by examining the various reports of the resurrection found in the...

Romans.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Morgan provides an engaging reading of Romans and helpful reflections on the theology and religious significance of the letter. Using Galatians as a lens for reading Romans, Morgan thinks that Paul's main concern was to answer objections to his...

1 and 2 Thessalonians.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Elias provides a brief introduction to the Thessalonian letters, offers a lucid textual commentary and pastorally oriented thematic discussion of each, and concludes the volume with a lengthy compendium of outlines, informative "essays," and...

Cultural Interpretation: Reorientating New Testament Criticism.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... This book presents an apology for political interpretation of the Bible by marginalized and revolutionary groups, a program for improving the quality of that interpretation, and a suggestion that mainline exegetes learn from the work of...

Interpreting God and the Postmodern Self: On Meaning, Manipulation, and Promise.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... Thiselton has argued forcibly against postmodern hermeneutical theories in earlier publications; in this book he advances against postmodernism in theology. He divides his argument into four parts. The first part concedes to postmodern theorists...

The End of the World: A Theological Interpretation.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... This book offers a theological interpretation of the apocalyptic character of the contemporary world in which humanity has the unprecedented ability to annihilate itself. For his interpretation of our situation Kortner turns to philosophers in...

With Roots and Wings: Christianity In An Age of Ecology and Dialogue.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... In this lively, non-technical treatment, McDaniel aims to enable conservative Christian students, and spiritual seekers who want to learn from Christianity, to "envision a way of living [with] nourishing roots and unbound wings" - a "life path...

Stewards of Life: Bioethics and Pastoral Care.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... This small book attempts to introduce an ever-expanding and urgent topic. It is laid out more or less as a handbook for those involved in biomedical ethical decision making. The writer at the outset points out that Christian ethics grows out of...

The Gift of Anger.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... This book is worth reading. Saussy begins with a description of the difficulties women and men face in making creative use of anger, and discusses the problems women develop when they are denied opportunities to express it. She explores anger's...

Proclaim jubilee: A Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1997... The approach of the turn of the millennium has inspired Harris to choose biblical jubilee as the organizing theme of her latest book. In a thorough and thoughtful way she explores the implications of Leviticus 25, where the Israelites are told...