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Kathryn B. Alexander argues that natural beauty is a source of religious insight into the need and way of salvation, and this project develops a theological aesthetics of nature and beauty with an aim toward cultivating a theological and ethical framework for redeemed life as participation in ecological community. With interdisciplinary verve, engaging systematic, philosophical, and art theory systems of aesthetics, the volume fosters the cultivation of the sense of beauty through creative, religious, and sacramental experience.

Important ecclesiastical documents have stressed the urgency of world hunger and put in the foreground its natural and historical causes, from famine to global austerity measures and warfare. Here biblical scholars take readings of the Old and New Testaments, exploring the dynamics of hunger and its causation in ancient Israel and the Greco-Roman world and revealing the centrality of hunger concerns to the Bible.

Increasingly, scholars recognize that prophetic traditions, expressions, and experiences stand at the heart of most religions in the ancient Mediterranean world. This is no less true for the world of Judaism and Jesus. Ben Witherington III offers an extensive, cross-cultural survey of the broader expressions of prophecy in its ancient Mediterranean context, beginning with Mari, moving to biblical figures not often regarded as prophetsBalaam, Deborah, Moses, and Aaronand to the apocalyptic seer in postexilic prophecy, showing that no single pattern describes all prophetic figures. The consequence is that different aspects of Jesus' activity touch upon prophetic predecessors: his miracles, on Elijah and Elisha; his self-understanding as the Son of Man, on Daniel and 1 Enoch; his warnings of woe and judgment, on the "writing prophets" in Judean tradition; and his messianic entry into Jerusalem, on Zechariah 9. Witherington also surveys the phenomenon of apocalyptic prophecy in early Christianity, including Paul, Revelation, the Didache, Hermas, and the Montanist movement. Jesus the Seer is a worthy complement to Witheringtons other volume on Jesus, Jesus the Sage (Fortress Press, 2000).

It is a commonplace today that Paul was a Jew of the Hellenistic Diaspora, but how does that observation help us to understand his thinking, his self-identification, and his practice? Ronald Charles applies the insights of contemporary diaspora studies to address much-debated questions about Pauls identity as a diaspora Jew, his complicated relationship with a highly symbolized homeland, the motives of his daily work, and the ambivalence of his rhetoric.Charles argues for understanding a number of important aspects of Pauls identity and work, including the ways his interactions with others were conditioned, by his diaspora space, his self-understanding, and his experience among the nations. Diaspora space is a key concept that allows Charles to show how Pauls travels and the collection project in particular can be read as a transcultural narrative. Understanding the dynamics of diaspora also allows Charles to bring new light to the conflict at Antioch (Galatians 12), Pauls relationships with the Gentiles in Galatia, and the fraught relationship with leaders in Jerusalem.

The "Great Whore" of the Book of Revelationthe hostile symbolization used to illustrate the authors critique of empirehas attracted considerable attention in Revelation scholarship. Feminist scholar Tina Pippin criticizes the use of gendered metaphors "Babylon" as a tortured womanwhich she asserts reflect an inescapably androcentric, even misogynistic, perspective. Alternatively, Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza understands Johns rhetoric and imagery not simply in gendered terms, but in political terms as well, observing that "Babylon" relies on conventionally coded feminine language for a city.Shanell T. Smith seeks to dismantle the either/or dichotomy within the Great Whore debate by bringing the categories of race/ethnicity and class to bear on Johns metaphors. Her socio-cultural context impels her to be sensitive to such categories, and, therefore, leads her to hold the two elements, "woman" and "city," in tension, rather than privileging one over the other. Using postcolonial womanist interpretation of the woman Babylon, Smith highlights the simultaneous duality of her characterizationher depiction as both a female brothel slaveandas an empress or imperial city. Most remarkably, however, Smiths reading also sheds light on her own ambivalent characterization as both a victim and participant in empire.

Theologians and philosophers are turning again to questions of the meaning, or non-meaning, of the natural world for human self-understanding. Brian R. Doak observes that the book of Job, more than any other book in the Bible, uses metaphors drawn from the natural world, especially of plants and animals, as raw material for thinking about human suffering. Doak argues that Job should be viewed as an anthropological ground zero for the traumatic definition of the post-exilic human self in ancient Israel. Furthermore, the battered shape of the Joban experience should provide a starting point for reconfiguring our thinking about natural theology as a category of intellectual history in the ancient world.Doak examines how the development of the human subject is portrayed in the biblical text in either radical continuity or discontinuity with plants and animals. Consider Leviathan explores the text at the intersection of anthropology, theology, and ecology, opening up new possibilities for charting the view of nature in the Hebrew Bible.

This first of two volumes on ancient Galilee provides general surveys of modern studies of Galilee and of Galilean history followed by specialized studies on taxation, ethnicity, religious practices, road system, trade and markets, education, health, village life, houses, and the urban-rural ivide. The volume draws on the expertise of archaeologists, historians, biblical scholars, and social-science interpreters; Christians, Jews, and secular scholars; North Americans, Europeans, and Israelis; and those who have devoted a significant amount of time and energy in this research, especially those who have excavated in Galilee for many years. A key goal of this volume and its companion volume devoted to the archaeological record of towns and villages is to make this information easily accessible to New Testament scholars and Mishnah scholars not familiar with these materials while also usable to the average interested reader. Includes several images, figures, charts, and maps.

Draws together the strengths of two exegetical approaches to the Gospel of John. Part of the Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries series, this book takes a broad thematic approach to the Gospel while at the same time giving exegetical and homiletical insights about individual pericopes.

Finding practical theology not always able to present frameworks for understanding concrete and lived experience with divine action, Andrew Roots Christopraxis seeks to reset the edifice of practical theology on a new foundation. While not minimizing its commitment to the lived and concrete, Root argues that practical theology has neglected deeper theological underpinnings. Root seeks to create a practical theology that is properly and fully theological, post-postmodern, post-Aristotelian, and that attends to doctrines such as divine action and justification.

When Scholars have set Jesus against various conceptions of the messiah and other redemptive figures in early Jewish expectation, those questions have been bound up with the problem of violence, whether the political violence of a militant messiah or the divine violence carried out by a heavenly or angelic figure. Missing from those discussions, Simon J. Joseph contends, are the unique conceptions of an Adamic redeemer figure in the Enochic materialconceptions that informed the Q tradition and, he argues, Jesus own self-understanding.

In Silence and Praise, Ryan Leif Hansen begins with the premise that cosmology is a central focus in Johns Apocalypse. However, Johns intention in reflecting theologically on the nature, existence, and destiny of the created world is not in order to explicate a stable system. Rather, Johns cosmological thought is employed for persuasive purposes as an ethical and political critique of Roman imperial cultic discourse. Hansen seeks to read the contours of Johns rhetorical cosmology and to understand the theological and political implications of its strategy.

Renowned biblical scholar John J. Collins asks tough questions about the relationship between the portrayals of violence in the Bible and how they have been used throughout history. The Crusaders, Puritans, and abolitionists all used the Bible to justify their use of violence - and this process continues. In light of today's religious and political rhetoric, how shall we interpret these ancient documents? How can we understand the biblical stories, prophecies, and songs in their historical contexts and avoid making self-serving and even violent use of them?

Are there any fair and viable alternatives to global capitalism? University of Chicago theologian Kathryn Tanner offers here a serious and creative proposal for evaluating economic theory and behavior through a theological lens.

The name "Junia" appears in Romans 16: 7, and Paul identifies her (along with Andronicus) as "prominent among the apostles." In this important work, Epp investigates the mysterious disappearance of Junia from the traditions of the church. Because later theologians and scribes could not believe (or wanted to suppress) that Paul had numbered a woman among the earliest churches' apostles, Junia's name was changed in Romans to a masculine form. Despite the fact that the earliest churches met in homes and that other women were clearly leaders in the churches (e.g., Prisca and Lydia), calling Junia an apostle seemed too much for the tradition. Epp tracks how this happened in New Testament manuscripts, scribal traditions, and translations of the Bible. In this thoroughgoing study, Epp restores Junia to her rightful place.

In this highly accessible book, Fred Lehr clarifies the nature and practice of clergy codependence. In short, insightful, and highly readable chapters, filled with many examples and stories from his own life and those he has counseled, Lehr identifies the typical forms codependence takes in the life and ministry of clergy: the chief-enabler, the one who keeps things functioning; the scapegoat, the one on whom everything's blamed when it goes wrong, the one who's responsible; the hero, the example, the pure and righteous one; the lost child, the one no one really knows or cares about; the rescuer, the one who saves the day, makes the visit, fixes the problem, makes everything all right again; the mascot, the cheerleader, the one who offers comic relief, brings down the tension level after a heated discussion.

Based on her twenty years of teaching and on her own experience in pastoral care, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner has written a basic pastoral-care text to assist in the emotional and spiritual preparation of pastoral caregivers. Stevenson-Moessner sees pastoral care as the interconnection and interplay of love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self. Her brief book engenders confidence and caring in the initiate, and assuages the fear and anxiety that naturally occur when one accompanies people in life-changing pain and travail. Through bibical parables - especially the Good Samaritan and the Good Shepherd - and stories from her own experience, Stevenson-Moessner imparts genuine wisdom and meaningful support to those who courageously dare to offer caregiving ministry in whatever situation or through whatever method or paradigm.

Dwight Hopkins, whose important work in Black Theology has mediated class theological concerns through the prism of African American culture, here offers a fresh take on theological anthropology. Rather than defined "the human" as one eternal or inviolable essence, however, Hopkins looks to the multiple and conflicting notions of the human in contemporary thought, and particularly three key variables: culture, self, and race. Hopkins' critical reframing of these concepts firmly locates human endeavor, development, transcendence, and liberation in the particular messiness of struggle and strife.

In this important contribution to the scholarly study of Egyptian Gnosticism, Pearson situates Gnosticism in its historical context and describes its manifold relationships to Judaism, early Christianity, and ancient Platonism. Birger Pearson gives special attention to the controversial issue of the impact of Gnosticism on early Egyptian Christianity up to the Muslim conquest of the seventh century.

Keller traces America's response to the current national, international, and religious situation to the deeply fraught legacy of Christian apocalypticism. After diving deeply into the multiple and conflicting political and religious meanings of the Book of Revelation, she proposes a counter-apocalypse, an anti-imperial political theology of love.

A diverse group of New Testament scholars and theologians offer myriad paths to a better understanding of the Book of Revelation. They discuss topics such as Hispanic / Cuban American and African American perspectives, ecological issues, postcolonial themes, and liberation theology. The book also provides a set of guidelines for intercultural Bible study. The volume's contributors include: Brian K. Blount Justo Gonzlez Harry O. Maier Clarice J. Martin James Okoye Tina Pippin Pablo Richard Barbara R. Rossing Vtor Westhelle Khiok-Khng Yeo

This volume contains some of the most important and enduring work of Gerhard von Rad, the most influential Old Testament theologian of the twentieth century. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the doctrine of creation, memory and tradition in Deuteronomy, historical writing in ancient Israel, cultic language in the Psalms, and the Old Testament worldview.

In this informative and keen look at contemporary trends in Old Testament theology, Perdue builds on his earlier volume The Collapse of History (1994). He investigates how a variety of perspectives and methodologies have impacted how the Old Testament is read in the twenty-first century including: literary criticism; rhetorical criticism, feminist, womanist, and mujerista theologies, liberation theology; Jewish theology; postmodernism; and postcolonialism. Perdue provides a sensitive reading of the aims of these approaches as well as providing critique and setting them in their various cultural contexts. In his conclusion, the author provides a look at the future and how these various voices and approaches will continue to impact how we carry out Old Testament theology.

Stiller argues that Jesus' parables, through their narrative, personal, and oral dimensions and reversal of expectations, provide unique access to Christianity for those whose experience and hopes we label "postmodern." Aligning contemporary scholarship with today's cultural assumptions, Stiller offers preachers a working knowledge of postmodern sensibilities, an understanding of the parable genre, an analysis of ten parables, and a sample of how one might preach them effectively.

Mannermaa's revisionist work on justification in Luther's theology--a notable contribution from one of the most influential Finnish scholars of Luther studies-- is now available in English. His book opens up new interpretive questions for historical theology with striking implications for ecumenism, ethics, and spirituality. He writes, "the idea of the divine life in Christ which is present in faith lies at the very center of the theology of the Reformer." He argues that later Lutheran interpretation of this teaching has portrayed justification as more mechanical and forensic than Luther did, underestimated the extent to which God's righteousness is also ours, and obscured the radical personal transformation that Luther attributed to justification.