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Historical biblical criticism is bankrupt. That startling affirmation began The Bible in Human Transformation when it first appeared in 1975. Wink asserts that despite the valuable contributions of the historical-critical method, we have reached the point where this method is incapable of allowing Scripture to evoke personal and social transformation today. More than thirty years later, Wink now looks back in a new preface over the more and less humanizing developments in New Testament studies of the last few decades and renews his call for a transforming approach to biblical interpretation.

This volume provides a readable introduction to the narrative book of Ruth appropriate for the student, pastor, and scholar. LaCocque combines historical, literary, feminist, and liberationist approaches in an engaging synthesis. He argues that the book was written in the post-exilic period and that the author was a woman. Countering the fears and xenophobia of many in Jerusalem, the biblical author employed the notion of h.esed (kindness, loyalty, steadfast love), which transcends any national boundaries. LaCocque focuses on redemption and levirate marriage as the two legal issues that recur throughout the text of Ruth. Ruth comes from the despised people of Moab but becomes a model for Israel. Boaz, converted to the model of steadfast love, becomes both redeemer and levir for Ruth and thus fulfills the Torah. In the conclusion to his study, the author sketches some parallels with Jesus' hermeneutics of the Law as well as postmodern problems and solutions.

Wolff's commentary on Micah is one of the most thorough works available in English. His insightful observations on the message of the prophet make this book a standard commentary on Micah for years to come. It is highly recommended to scholars, ministers, and theological students as an indispensable aid.

This is the final volume in Wilberger's comprehensive treatment of Isaiah 1-39. In addition to verse-by-verse commentary, the author provides a systematic overview of the entire Book of Isaiah. This "introduction" to Isaiah covers: the book and the text, the formation of Isaiah 1-39, the prophet Isaiah and his religious roots, the theology of post-Isaianic materials, language and forms of speech in Isaiah, and a listing of recent Isaiah scholarship.

Mark S. Smith explores the nuances of what would become the premiere creation account in the Hebrew Bible and the serene priestly theology that informed it. That vision of an ordered cosmos, Smith argues, is evidence of the emergence of a mystical theology among priests in post-exilic Israel, and the placement of Genesis 12 at the beginning of Israels great epic is their sustained critique of the theology of divine violence that saturated ancient near eastern creation myths.

These essays reveal the consistency and integrity of a master exegete, New Testament theologian, and churchman. Stendahl brings to the biblical text a constant concern to discover what was meant by a particular biblical passage, as free as possible of the doctrinal or cultural preoccupations of intervening centuries, but also to reflect on what the text means to us today, ever alert to the ways scripture has fueled anti-semitism, the subordination of women, and other forms of prejudice and injury. The combination of respect shown here for the diversity of meanings in scripture and the urgency of reflecting - critically and faithfully - on our contemporary responsibilities in light of scripture is irresistible. The collection is a testament to the wide range of Stendahl's interests and the depth of his perception.

Couples can make significant progress toward resolving their own problems when they receive appropriate guidance from a caring person. This book outlines five tasks focused on identity, agency, and meaning that spiritual caregivers can use to empower couples for significant change in just three to five conversations. This form of empowering guidance is a dimension of pastoral conversation rather than formal counseling. Critically integrating desert spiritual theology with empirical data about successful marriages, Bidwell advocates for mutuality and partnership within covenanted relationships, which allows partners to create an alliance strong enough to resist the forces that threaten relationshipsespecially the negative influences of criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and withdrawal.

Philemon is the shortest letter in the Pauline collection, yet because it has to do with a slave separated from his master it has played an inordinate role in the toxic brew of slavery and racism in the United States. In Onesimus Our Brother, leading African American biblical scholars tease out the often unconscious assumptions about religion, race, and culture that permeate contemporary interpretation of the New Testament and of Paul in particular. The editors argue that Philemon is as important a letter from an African American perspective as Romans or Galatians have proven to be in Eurocentric interpretation. The essays gathered here continue to trouble scholarly waters, interacting with the legacies of Hegel, Freud, Habermas, Ricoeur, and James C. Scott, as well as the historical experience of African American communities. Contributors include the editors and Mitzi J. Smith, Margaret B. Wilkerson, James W. Perkinson, and Allen Dwight Callahan.