John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life
by Herman J. Selderhuis
InterVarsity, Downers Grove, Ill., 2009. 304 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-0-8308-2921-7.
This biography aims to present John Calvin as a whole person rather than merely as a theologian and church leader. Calvin emerges first and foremost as a believer who struggled with God and with the way God governed both the world and his own life. Selderhuis draws on Calvin’s correspondence and Calvin’s commentary on the biblical figures with whom he strongly identified to describe Calvin’s theology in the context of his personal development.
Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers
by Michael J. Gorman
Hendrickson, Peabody, Mass., 2009. 286 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-59856-311-5.
First published in 2001, this widely used guide provides students, teachers, and ministers with a practical approach to biblical exegesis that is built on a strong theoretical foundation. This revised and expanded edition addresses more fully the meaning of theological interpretation that attends to the biblical text as a vehicle of divine revelation and address. Updated print and Internet resources are also provided.
In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance
edited by Richard A. Horsley
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 199 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23232-0.
The Bible developed against the context of empires (Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman), providing concrete meaning to the countercultural claims of Jews and Christians that their God was the true King, the real Emperor. Nine experts provide introductory essays to key sections of the OT and NT, sketching how a particular empire determines the historical situation addressed, and how the people (or God) adjust to or resist the empire. Contributors include Walter Brueggemann, Warren Carter, John Dominic Crossan, and Norman Gottwald.
Sharper Than a Two-Edged Sword: Preaching, Teaching, and Living the Bible
edited by Michael Root and James J. Buckley
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 103 pp. $16.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-6271-6.
In collected papers that were delivered at a conference for clergy and laity at Duke Divinity School, eight distinguished theologians and exegetes discuss how to preach and teach the Bible in the parish in our contemporary con-text, and how to live the sacred story in faith. Among the contributors are Ellen Davis, Amy Plantinga Pauw, and Richard Hays.
From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings
edited by Allan Hugh Cole Jr.
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 348 pp. $24.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-4002-8.
Twenty-five distinguished ministers, scholars, and theological educators reflect on the transition from being a seminarian to becoming a minister, addressing the two related but differ-ent “worlds” of theological school and ministry setting, each with its own set of expectations, values, challenges, focal points, and rewards.
Torture Is a Moral Issue: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and People of Conscience Speak Out
edited by George Hunsinger
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 272 pp. $26.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-6029-3.
Two dozen scholars, activists, military officers, and religious leaders call for an immediate end to the practice of torture, paying particular attention to its use in the American war on terror. This volume aims to underscore that torture is a moral issue, beyond partisan politics, and to help religious communities mobilize against it. Perspectives include Christian, Jewish, and Muslim arguments against torture.
Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics
edited by Norman C. Habel and Peter Trudinger
Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2008. 183 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-158983346-3.
This collection of essays on the emerging field of ecological hermeneutics enriches eco-theo-logy with eco-exegesis, presenting readings of texts from the perspective of Earth. Sixteen scholars seek ways to identify with Earth as they read and retrieve the role or voice of Earth, a voice that previously has been unnoticed or suppressed within the biblical text and its interpretation.
Teaching Preaching as a Christian Practice: A New Approach to Homiletical Pedagogy
edited by Thomas G. Long and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 239 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23254-2.
Fourteen professors of homiletics call for a radical change in how Christian preaching is taught. They encourage the field of homiletics to move away from a teacher-centered and learner-centered pedagogy and move toward a learning-centered methodology—one that understands the ministry of preaching as Christian practice with a centuries-long tradition to which new preachers deserve to be introduced.
Medieval Christianity, A People’s History of Christianity, Vol. 4
edited by Daniel E. Bornstein
Fortress, Minneapolis, 2009. 409 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-0-8006-3414-8.
This volume of from the series explores the range of cultural and religious experience within medieval Christianity and the ways in which religious life structured all aspects of the daily lives of ordinary Christians. Twelve distinguished historians probe handbooks and registers, sermons and confessional manuals, illuminated manuscripts, and altarpieces to understand popular religion and its fascinating array of art and architecture, ascetic and devotional practices, pilgrimages and relics, heresies and revivals, as well as its crusades and pogroms.
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