The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature
by Roland E. Murphy
Third Edition. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2002. 291 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8028-3965-7.
With a new preface and supplementary material, the third edition of this classic remains a standard introduction to the wisdom literature of the Bible. The book contains individual chapters on each book as well as new insights on interpretation.
Symbols of Jesus: A Christology of Symbolic Engagement
by Robert Cummings Neville
Cambridge University Press, New York, 2002. 291 pp. $23.00. ISBN 0-521-00353-9.
Robert Cummings Neville applies systematic theology to a range of symbols for Jesus. His focus upon what makes Jesus important in Christianity makes this an essential volume for students, scholars, and clergy.
The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels
Edited by Wolfgang Stegemann, Bruce J. Malina, and Gerd Theissen
Fortress, Minneapolis, 2002. 404 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8006-3452-7.
This collection of essays presents a comprehensive overview of the contribution of social sciences to the study of Jesus and the gospels. First-century psychological, political, and economic concerns are addressed.
The Problem of Markan Genre: The Gospel of Mark and the Jewish Novel
by Michael E. Vines
Academia Biblica. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2002. 220 pp. $24.95. ISBN 1-58983-090-X.
In his study of literary genre and the Gospel of Mark, Vines argues that Mark was heavily influenced by the Jewish novelistic literature of the Hellenistic period.
Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey
by Douglas J. Moo
Encountering Biblical Studies. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2002. 230 pp. $24.99. ISBN 0-8010-2546-X.
This book is designed for classroom use and points the reader toward various methods of interpretation. A useful resource for students, it contains a bibliography, key terms, chapter objectives and outlines, and study questions.
The Galatians Debate: Contemporary Issues in Rhetorical and Historical Interpretation
Edited by Mark Nanos
Hendrickson, Peabody, 2002. 517 pp. $34.95. ISBN 1-56563-468-3.
This collection of essays gathers into one comprehensive volume the major thrust of contemporary scholarship on Galatians. Also included are previously unpublished essays that enhance the conversation.
Epistle to the Philippians: 40th Anniversary Edition
by Karl Barth
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 128 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-664-22420-2.
In this fortieth-anniversary edition, Barth’s treatment of Philippians is again available. Introductory essays by Bruce L. McCormack and Francis B. Watson provide a thorough understanding of Barth’s approach to interpretation.
The Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches
Edited by Anthony J. Blasi, Jean Duhaime, and Paul-André Turcotte
Altamira, Lanham, Md., 2002. 800 pp. $100.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-7591-0015-2.
With twenty-seven chapters by different authors and a comprehensive bibliography, this book is a resource for biblical scholars as well as social scientists. Various approaches from a wide range of fields explore the implications of social science understandings on Christianity’s origins.
The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity
by Huub van de Sandt and David Flusser
Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2002. 431 pp. $58.00 (cloth). ISBN 90-232-3763-3.
The late David Flusser’s goal to write a monograph on the Didache and its Jewish background comes to fruition in this book. This work offers an important resource for understanding the interweaving of Christianity’s founding and its Jewish traditions.
Reading a New Testament Document Ethically
by Elna Mouton
Academia Biblica. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2002. 290 pp. $37.95. ISBN 1-58983-028-8.
Mouton’s revised doctoral dissertation explores the book of Ephesians from various interpretive standpoints: literal, historical, and rhetorical. The book challenges contemporary communities to engage with Paul’s theology in new ways.
An Introduction to Christian Theology
by Justo L. Gonzalez and Zaida Maldonado Perez
Abingdon, Nashville, 2002. 166 pp. $18.00 ISBN 0-687-09573-5.
In a clear and direct style, this book shares a broad understanding of Christian tradition developed through the centuries. Its authors intend to inspire readers of all levels to reflect upon, and gain an understanding of, the fuller spectrum of Christian theology.
The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission
by Donald G. Bloesch
Christian Foundations. InterVarsity, Downers Grove, 2002. 351 pp. $27.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8308-1416-7.
The sixth in a seven-volume set on systematic theology, Bloesch brings evangelical Christianity to bear on tough issues facing today’s church. He seeks to draw meaning out of the reality of today’s world within the framework of orthodoxy.
Ethics: Systematic Theology, Volume 1
by James W. McClendon, Jr.
Second edition. Abingdon, Nashville, 2002. 394 pp. $34.00. ISBN 0-687-09087-3.
This volume represents the first of a three-volume work in a second edition, revised and expanded. McClendon’s vision of ethics is filtered through the lens of biblical faith.
Worship: Reformed According to Scripture
by Hughes Oliphant Old
Revised edition. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 195 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-664-22579-9.
This classic in revised and expanded form takes the reader through the history of worship from Israel to the Reformation and beyond. Grounded in scripture, the book covers various forms of worship, from daily personal prayer to Baptism to Sunday services, and much more.
Prayer: 50th Anniversary Edition
by Karl Barth
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 144 pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-664-22421-0.
The fiftieth-anniversary edition of Barth’s classic lectures on the Lord’s Prayer also includes essays by three Barth scholars.
Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace
by Jane E. Vennard
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2003. 145 pp. $18.95. ISBN 0-7879-5887-5.
Written to help guide readers through types of prayer that enable action on many levels, from personal concerns to worldwide issues. Vennard has included practical advice as well as personal stories.
Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann
Edited by Edwin Searcy
Fortress, Minneapolis, 2002. 174 pp. $14.00. ISBN 0-8006-3460-8.
Renowned Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggeman, shares prayers gleaned from more than forty years of teaching.
Common Prayer: Faith, Family, and a Christian’s Journey Through the Jewish Year
by Harvey Cox
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2001. 320 pp. $24.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-618-06743-4.
For Jews and Christians alike, Cox offers an illuminating journey through a year of prayer and reflection.
Struggling with Scripture
by Walter Brueggemann, William C. Placher, and Brian K. Blount
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 69 pp. $9.95. ISBN 0-664-22485-7.
This volume features three essays by well-known biblical scholars who present their own profound thinking about biblical interpretation. They were originally presented in November, 2000, as part of a conference titled “Biblical Authority and the Church.”

Luther in Context
by David C. Steinmetz
Second edition. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2002. 195 pp. $19.99. ISBN 0-8010-2609-1.
In its second edition, church history scholar David Steinmetz presents three additional essays to the original book, which constituted a series of lectures marking the five-hundredth year of Martin Luther’s birth.
A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions
Edited by Denis R. Janz
Fortress, Minneapolis, 2002. 386 pp. $31.00. ISBN 0-8006-3473-X.
Janz’s anthology of the Reformation and its voices offers an array of personal letters, narratives, and sermons by major thinkers from the sixteenth-century Reformation. An accompanying CD-Rom adds twelve additional essays with searchable text, images, and bibliographies.

Dialogues of Paul Tillich
by Mary Ann Stenger and Ronald H. Stone
Mercer University Press, Macon, 2002. 276 pp. $22.00. ISBN 9-780865-548336.
Bridging Tillich’s engagement with past religious thinkers and contemporary themes, Stenger and Stone achieve the tenet of Tillich’s life—“conversation seeking understanding.”
Karl Barth and the Strange New World within the Bible: Barth, Wittgenstein, and the Metadilemmas of the Enlightenment
by Neil B. MacDonald
Paternoster Biblical and Theological Monographs. Paternoster, Carlisle, 2000. 403 pp. $27.99. ISBN 0-85364-970-7.
MacDonald integrates Barth’s context with contemporary issues, thereby making Barth’s ideas relevant for today’s readers.

Charles Hodge Revisited: A Critical Appraisal of His Life and Work
Edited by John W. Stewart and James H. Moorehead
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2002. 385 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0-8028-4750-1.
The essays in this volume reach previously-untapped sources for a critical discussion of the controversial, nineteenth-century theologian Charles Hodge. Historians from various fields offer new perspectives on Hodge’s life and work. Power in the Pulpit: How America’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare their Sermons
Edited by Cleophus J. LaRue
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 191 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-664-22481-4.
Twelve African-American preachers’ sermons and expository essays make up this collection. Together, the volume explores the unique qualities of black preaching as it has developed through the past centuries.
The Future of the Universe: Chance, Chaos, God?
by Arnold Benz
Continuum, New York, 2000. 176 pp. $24.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8264-1220-3.
Benz, an astrophysicist and Christian, proposes that science and religion are two different approaches to experiencing reality. He seeks to mediate between the two and describes the process as “the greatest intellectual adventure of our time.”

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