Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the Arts
edited by Mark Roncace and Patrick Gray
Resources for Biblical Study. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2007. 393 pp. $37.95. ISBN 978-1-5898-3244-2.
Ten contributors provide a compendium of classroom strategies for incorporating popular culture and the arts in teaching the Bible in undergrad-uate, seminary, church, and synagogue settings. Chapters are devoted to various media (e.g., music, film, art, literature, cartoons, television, and internet websites) that can serve as texts for study alongside the biblical writings.
This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies
edited by Hector Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper
Semeia Studies. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2007. 256 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-1-5898-3186-5.
These groundbreaking essays engage biblical studies in conversation with the burgeoning field of disability studies. Contributors examine the presentation of “disability” in biblical and Near Eastern texts to discern how notions of disability shape human life. The book includes responses by established disability activists and scholars working in the social sciences and humanities.
Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ
edited by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2007. 527 pp. $32.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-6287-7.
This fine collection of twenty essays proposes a new paradigm for understanding the doctrine of the atonement in the twenty-first century. A wide variety of perspectives, including biblical-exegetical, theological-philosophical, and theological-political, provides alternatives to the sacrificial model. N. T. Wright, Marcus Borg, Rowan Williams, and Miroslav Volf are among the contributors.
The New Perspective on Paul,
Revised Edition
by James D. G. Dunn
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 551 pp. $36.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-4562-7.
First published in 2005, this collection of essays by a leading Pauline scholar documents his groundbreaking contributions to “the new perspective on Paul.” This new edition includes a revised and expanded introductory chapter: “The New Perspective: Whence, What, and Whither?”
Paul and the Anatomy of Apostolic Authority
by John Howard Schütz. New Introduction by Wayne A. Meeks
The New Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2007. 307 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22812-5.
This reissued edition of a classic work, first published in 1975, addresses concerns that continue to bear significance: the meanings, functions, and interactions of gospel and tradition, authority and power in relation to both the Apostle Paul and the community called into being through his proclamation.
In Quest of the Historical Pharisees
edited by Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton
Baylor University Press, Waco, 2007. 512 pp. $34.95. ISBN 978-1-932792-72-0.
This collection of essays sketches the many portraits of the Pharisees that emerge from ancient sources (the Gospels, the writings of Paul, Josephus, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and archaeology). The distinct pictures that emerge stand side by side, inviting readers to engage the complexity of the sources and grasp the contours of scholarly debate.
For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry
edited by Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 380 pp. $26.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-3744-8.
Academic practical theologians, joined by pastors and theological educators from other fields, reflect on the significance of practical theology in the classroom, in the wider academy, and in ministry settings. The essays emphasize the importance of educating and forming ministers who can contribute to a community’s capacity to take up a “life-giving way of life” grounded in God’s gift of abundant life in Jesus Christ.
Always Being Reformed: Faith for a Fragmented World
by Shirley C. Guthrie
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2008. 184 pp. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23159-0.
This second edition of the volume first published in 1996 addresses topics such as the Trinity, worldly spirituality, and the freedom of God as it explores the role of Reformed faith in a pluralistic world. The expanded edition includes new essays by Daniel Migliore and Amy Plantinga Pauw, and George Stroup’s commentary on the original text.
From Exorcism to Ecstasy: Eight Views of Baptism
by Russell Haitch
Westminster John Knox, 2007. 185 pp. $22.95. ISBN 978-0-664-23000-5.
An accessible and respectful overview of eight influential understandings of baptism, ranging from the Eastern Orthodox, with its attention to exorcism, to the Pentecostal, with its concern for ecstatic utterance. Eight chapters present the views of Alexander Schmemann, John Howard Yoder, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Karl Barth, and Aimee Semple McPherson.
The Folly of Preaching: Models and Methods
edited by Michael P. Knowles
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008. 286 pp. $18.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-2465-3.
Eminent preachers, scholars, and professors of homiletics offer theoretical and practical insights into preaching and argue for its centrality within the life and mission of the church. The volume concludes with twelve exemplary sermons. Among the many contributors are Elizabeth Achtemeier, David Buttrick, Cleophus LaRue, Thomas Long, and John Stott.
Reframing Theology and Film: New Focus for an Emering Discipline
edited by Robert K. Johnston
Cultural Exegesis. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2007. 336 pp. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-800-3240-0.
The study of religious imagery in film has expanded exponentially in recent years, with a groundswell of scholarship exploring both the collusion and the clash of theology and cinema. These three books reflect recent studies.
Flesher and Torry, teachers in the field for over ten years, explore in their introduction the use of religious metaphors. Sections of the book include: 1) movies from the 1950s and the cultural climate of the Cold War; 2) cinematic portrayals of Jesus; 3) a comparison of how different movie genres treat the same metaphors; and 4) non-Christian religions and their impact on cinema, including Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.
Staley and Walsh provide a detailed analysis of particular movies that refer to Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. The book is designed as a resource for instructors in need of cross references between film and the Gospels in order to optimize their use of media in the classroom.
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