Interpretation articles from October 2002

Interpretation archives from October 2002

Editorial.
October 1, 2002... AUGUSTINE REGARDED SCRIPTURE as a "school" and considered those who studied it to be "students of divine letters" (Sermons, 32.2 and 33a.4). For this exegete from antiquity, interpreting and teaching the Bible constitutes a seamless...

That the world may be redescribed.(teaching the Bible)
October 1, 2002... My natural habitat for teaching is a theological seminary and the church constituency around that seminary. I am thus in a happy circumstance where the requirements of my teaching converge with my own passion about teaching. The task of such...

Teaching the "strange new world" of the Bible.(teaching the unfamiliar parts of the Bible)
October 1, 2002... It was an Advent series on women in the genealogy of Jesus. Pastor Ann came into the chancel dressed as the biblical character Tamar and began to do a first-person rendition of Genesis 38. She was very good. In fact, she was so convincing...

Interpreting and teaching the Bible in Latin America.
October 1, 2002... Based on a liberation hermeneutic, biblical interpretation in Latin America is a constantly growing movement. We will analyze its method and its Future tasks particularly with regard to the pedagogical orientation it provides the Christian Base...

Using multimedia resources in teaching the Bible.
October 1, 2002... Multimedia, in its most basic sense, refers to the simultaneous presentation of sights and sounds through a variety of media. In recent years, the term has most commonly been used to refer to digital media (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, Internet...

Understanding Bible study curricula: theology, hermeneutics, and education in the congregation.
October 1, 2002... Adult Bible study curricula espouse diverse theological views on the nature and authority of scripture, diverse methods of biblical criticism, and diverse educational approaches. Using a set of analytical questions helps the teacher uncover...

Exodus 33:12-23. (Between Text & Sermon).
October 1, 2002... THE BEST OF FRIENDS SOMETIMES GO THROUGH SEASONS of fear, and the same can be true in a friendship with God. Exodus 33:12-23 immediately follows the narrator's affirmation that "the LORD used to speak with Moses face to face, as one friend...

Micah 3:5-12. (Between Text & Sermon).
October 1, 2002... GIVEN OUR TURBULENT TIMES, SOME MIGHT JUMP at the opportunity to preach on Mic 3:5-12 because it invites one to burst forth in fury against false prophets. Others, in a spirit of humility, might avoid this passage altogether and find another...

Matthew 5:17-20. (Between Text & Sermon).
October 1, 2002... THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT in the New Testament. It is loaded with problems that are theological, exegetical, and practical. At least the literary setting of this text is clear. Placed near the beginning of the Sermon on the...

2 Timothy 4:1-5. (Between Text & Sermon).
October 1, 2002... WHEN GOD'S WORD IS PROCLAIMED AND RECEIVED in the power of the Holy Spirit, preaching is faithful to Christian identity and alive to the needs of Christian life. It is, in short, a servant of Christian memory. Let us speak of memory rather than...

Isaiah: A Commentary.(Book Review)
October 1, 2002... By Brevard S. Childs Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2001. 555 pp. $55.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22143-2. IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY COMMON for biblical interpreters to display interest in the unity of the book...

The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Avivah Gottleib Zornberg Doubleday, New York, 2001. 582 pp. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-385-49152-2. ZORNBERG WRITES A BEAUTIFUL and challenging book employing midrash as a tool for reading the book of Exodus. Utilizing a wide array of...

King David: A Biography.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Steven L. McKenzie Oxford University Press, New York. 2000. 232 pp. $25.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-19-513273-4. THIS BOOK EXPLORES biblical narrative "not for its model of David as a religious hero nor for the artistry of its story about...

King Josiah of Judah: The Lost Messiah of Israel.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Marvin A. Sweeney Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 368 pp. $60.00 (cloth). 0-19-513324-2. DESPITE ITS TITLE, THIS BOOK is not a biography. Indeed, Sweeney is rightly cautious concerning Josiah's supposed accomplishments....

Proverbs 1-9: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Michael V. Fox Anchor Bible 18A. Doubleday, New York, 2000. 474 pp. $42.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-385-26437-2. A VOLUME DEVOTED ENTIRELY to the first nine chapters of Proverbs is a welcome addition to the Anchor Bible library; another...

Yahweh is Exalted in Justice: Solidarity and Conflict in Isaiah. .(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Thomas L. Leclerc Fortress, Minneapolis, 2001. 229 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-8006-3255-9. LECLERC OPENS HIS WORK with a discussion of contemporary and ancient biblical justice, and after dealing with the complexity of justice both as a...

Joel and Obadiah: A Commentary. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by John Barton Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox. Louisville, 2001. 189 pp. $39.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-21966-7. WITH CUSTOMARY CLARITY of thought and expression, John Barton demonstrates the particular contributions of these...

The Song of Songs & Song of Songs. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)
October 1, 2002... by Dianne Bergant Berlt Olam: Studies In Hebrew Narrative & Poetry. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2001. 123 pp. $29.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8146-5069-4. Song of Songs by Tremper Longman III New International Commentary on the Old...

Israel in the Biblical Period: Institutions, Festivals, Ceremonies, Rituals. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by J. Alberto Soggin T&T Clark. Edinburgh, 2002. 209 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-567-08811-1 SOGGIN'S BOOK is an accessible introduction to several key features of ancient Israelite religion, and addresses the origin, development, and ideology...

Reading Mark: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Second Gospel. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Sharon Dowd Reading the New Testament Series. Smyth & Helwys, Macon, 2000. $19.00. ISBN 1-57312-288-2. THE SERIES TO WHICH THIS BOOK belongs has as its purpose "to present cutting-edge research in popular form" and "to understand...

A Mystical Portrait of Jesus: New Perspectives on John's Gospel. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Demetrius R. Dumm, OSB Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2001. 198 pp. $16.95. ISBN 0-8146-2760-9. DUMM BELIEVES HISTORICAL-CRITICAL methods are not sufficient in and of themselves to articulate the full meaning of John, but he builds...

The Rhetoric of the Gospel: Theological Artistry in the Gospels and Acts. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by C. Clifton Black Chalice, St. Louis, 2001. 224 pp. $22.99. ISBN 0-8272-3218-7. AMONG THE NUMEROUS NEW methods to captivate biblical scholars in recent years, rhetorical analysis has emerged as one of the most fruitful and "highly...

Power in Weakness: Conflict and Rhetoric in Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Sze-kar Wan The New Testament in Context. Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, 2000. 176 pp. $16.00. ISBN 1-56338-315-2. 2 Corinthians Jerry W. McCant Readings: A New Biblical Commentary. Sheffield Academic Press,...

What Are They Saying About The Pastoral Epistles? (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Mark Harding Paulist, Now York, 2001. 146 pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-8091-3975-8. FOR STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND PASTORS who need an introduction to or update on the study of the Pastoral Epistles, this book is a well-written and invaluable...

The Bible in Translation: Ancient and English Versions. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Bruce M. Metzger Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2001. 200 pp. $14.99. ISBN 0-8010-2282-7. WHILE IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE that the Bible has been translated into many languages, few contemporary readers have any idea of how many...

Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Christopher D. Marshall Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2001. 342 pp. 24.00. ISBN 0-8028-4797-8. THIS BOOK SURVEYS A RANGE of New Testament texts in order to understand what they bring to bear on the study of crime and punishment. It...

Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Stanley J. Grenz and John R. Franke Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2001. 309 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-664-25769-0. TWENTIETH-CENTURY PROTESTANT theology--expressed in revisionist, mainline, or evangelical forms--became culturally...

Fidelity of Heart: An Ethic of Christian Virtue. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by James E. Gilman Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 214 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-19-513662-4. HOW CAN A DISPASSIONATE admirer of Jesus become a passionate and devoted follower? How can a Christian ethic be fashioned so that...

Bound to Sin: Abuse, Holocaust and the Christian Doctrine of Sin. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Alistair McFadyen Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2000. 225 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-521-43868-3. IN RESPONSE TO MODERN THINKERS who consider talk about sin an embarrassing anachronism,...

Evil and the Augustinian Tradition. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Charles T. Mathews Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001. 281 pp. $59.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-80715-8. THERE IS NEED FOR A CHRISTIAN explanation of the paradox that there is evil in a world created and maintained by a good and...

Psychology for Christian Ministry. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Fraser Watts, Rebecca Nye, and Sara Savage New York, Routledge, 2002. 320 pp. $23.95. ISBN 0-415-24037-9 WATTS, NYE, AND SAVAGE present a comprehensive study of psychology as it pertains to those involved in Christian ministry, focusing...

The Word On The Street: Performing the Scriptures in the Urban Context. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by Stanley P. Saunders Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2000. 192 pp. $16.00. ISBN 0-8028-4393-X. Charles L. Campbell THE AUTHORS WROTE THIS collection of sermons and essays out of their experiences serving the poor of Atlanta with the Open...

Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. (Shorter Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... by William A. Dyrness Baker Academic. Grand Rapids, 2001. 188 pp. ISBN 0-8010-2297-5. FROM THE OUTSET, THE PURPOSE of this publication is clear: to "extend and enrich a Christian conversation on the visual arts" (p. 9). The...

Book notes.(Bibliography)
October 1, 2002... Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors Douglas Stuart Third Edition. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 179 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-664-22315-X. This substantial revision of a primer for doing exegesis of the...