Interpretation articles from October 1998

Interpretation archives from October 1998

Serving the food of full-grown adults: Augustine's interpretation of Scripture and the nurture of Christians.
October 1, 1998... Augustinian exegesis affirms that God's sole intention is to restore all human beings to their proper dignity. If modernity's "hermeneutics of suspicion" represents our futile attempt to nourish ourselves, Augustine offers us a "hermeneutics of...

The search for sola scriptura in the early Church.
October 1, 1998... As important as the principle of sola scriptura is to Protestant evangelical theology, it was never intended to function in isolation from the historical tradition of the church. Biblical interpretation on the grounds of the Bible alone becomes...

Access to scripture: experiencing the text.
October 1, 1998... The scriptures, if they are to be understood, must be lived. In the writings of John Cassian, heir of the desert fathers, we find a method for gaining ever greater access to the riches of scripture by entering ever more deeply into the experience...

Scripture as sacramental word: rediscovering scripture's compelling power.
October 1, 1998... Scripture is best understood as a sacramental word that is meant to be read aloud, in community, and for memorization. These practices, key to the church's worship, might save us from simply using scripture as an ideological weapon, and, instead,...

Proverbs 1:1-19.(Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1998... A basic assumption of the book of Proverbs is that it is possible to acquire the knowledge and practical principles that will help people to achieve success and happiness in life. Prov 1:1-19 not only builds on that assumption but suggests,...

Jonah 3:10-4:11.(Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1998... "Him of the great fish." That's how the Koran describes the prophet Jonah. The phrase depicts one scene of the prophet's story that has found its way to canvas and song as it captured the imaginations of poets, artists, musicians, and biblical...

Micah 4:1-5.(Between Text and Sermon)
October 1, 1998... As I write this, we have just narrowly avoided a major bombing attack on Iraq. By the time you read it, another armed confrontation may be grabbing the headlines. Certainly there will be news of two or three conflicts somewhere in the world...

Galatians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
October 1, 1998... J. Louis Martyn. Anchor Bible 33A. Doubleday, New York, 1997. 614 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-395-08838-8. This long-awaited commentary reflects the meticulous labor and mature insight of one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of...

Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological Agenda.
October 1, 1998... Nancey Murphy. Trinity Press International, Valley Forge, 1996. 162 pp. $20.00. ISBN 1-56338-176-1. In the first half of this book, Murphy describes how and why "modern theologians managed to develop two quite different theological paradigms":...

Joshua.
October 1, 1998... Richard D. Nelson. Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1997. 310 pp. $40.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-21941-1. Few biblical books raise such daunting challenges as the book of Joshua. The commentator must address discrepancies...

Israel's Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading.
October 1, 1998... Dianne Bergant. Fortress, Minneapolis, 1997. 194 pp. $19.00. ISBN 08006-2875-6. As wisdom literature enjoys increased attention in both academy and church, it is high time that a work such as Bergant's makes its mark on the theological scene....

Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... John J. Collins. Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1997. 275pp. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22109-2. In this deft survey and analysis of hellenistic Jewish wisdom, Collins focuses on the two major wisdom texts of the...

Matthew.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... Thomas G. Long. Westminster Bible Companion. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1997. 331 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-664-25257-5. The stated purpose of the Westminster Bible Companion is "to help the laity of the church read the Bible more clearly and...

Matthew's Narrative Portrait of Disciples: How the Text-Connoted Reader Is Informed.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... Richard A. Edwards. Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 1997. 151 pp. $15.00. ISBN 1-56338-205-9. Edwards applies a variety of what is usually called "narrative criticism" to examine the disciples as a character group in Matthew. He...

Mark's Gospel.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by John Painter. New Testament Readings. Routledge, New York, 1997. 245 pp. $22.99. ISBN 0-415-11365-2. As the series title indicates, Painter's book is not so much a commentary as it is an individual reading of the Gospel of Mark. Like a...

Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by Joachim Gnilka. Translated by Siegfried S. Schatzmann. Hendrickson, Peabody, 1997. 346 pp. $24.95 (cloth). ISBN 1-56563-164-1. It is fitting that Gnilka's detailed work on the Gospels, distilled in a number of excellent commentaries, should...

Text and Truth: Redefining Biblical Theology.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by Francis Watson. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1997. 344 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-3846-4. In the same week I received two books. One was Walter Brueggemann's Theology of the Old Testament, from which I learned that I am one of the four...

Systematic Theology, vol. 3.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... Volume 3, by Wolfhart Pannenberg. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1998. 713 pp. $49.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-3708-5. The late 20th century's most formidable systematician here rounds off his treatment of the standard...

A Future for Truth: Evangelical Theology in a Postmodern Age.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by Henry H. Knight III. Abingdon, Nashville, 1997. 253 pp. $17.95. ISBN 0-687-00960-X. A surprising development in the theological world is the emergence of a group of self-described evangelicals as astute commentators on that amorphous...

Some Chose to Stay: Faith and Ethics in a Time of Plague.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by Alan C. Mermann. Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands, N.J., 1997. 221 pp. $17.50. ISBN 0-391-04029-4. In time of plague human beings are assailed by the powerful temptation to flee the city and save themselves. What is different about...

Under God, Indivisible: 1941-1960.(Brief Article)
October 1, 1998... by Martin E. Marty. Modern American Religion, Volume 3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1996. 548 pp. $32.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-226-50898-6. This is the third volume in Marty's history of religion in twentieth-century America. Its main...