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Archaeology seems to have become an active partner in the attempt to prove the historical truth of the Bible. Biblical archaeologists have gone to the field in search of Noah''s ark or the walls of Jericho, as if the finding of these artifacts would make the events of scripture somehow more true or real.Thomas Thompson is one of the most vocal contemporary critics of biblical archaeology. His simple but powerful thesis is that archaeology cannot be used in the service of the Bible. Focusing on the patriarchal narratives-the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-he demonstrates that archaeological research simply cannot historically substantiate these stories. Going further, Thompson says that archaeological materials should never be dated or evaluated on the basis of written texts. Looking to the patriarchal narratives in Genesis, he concludes that these stories are neither historical nor were they intended to be historical. Instead, these narratives are written as expressions of Israel''s relationship to God. Thomas L. Thompson is Professor of Old Testament, University of Copenhagen. His books include The Mythic Past and The Early History of the Israelite People.

An exciting development of recent years in the study of early Judaism and Christianity has been the growing recognition of the importance of the extra-biblical traditions for understanding these religious movements--apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi Gnostic texts.One major source for surviving works and traditions, however, has been largely ignored. This is the wealth of later Jewish and Christian (and to some extent Islamic) texts, citations, and traditions relating to biblical figures. One reason for the relative neglect of this material is that it is difficult to access, requiring a range of knowledge extending beyond the biblical traditions, through patristics, and into medieval studies.This book is designed to provide access to some of these complex traditions and to do it in such a way as to present the reader both with specialized insights and also with a work of general reference value. An international array of outstanding scholars treat the evolution of the biographical traditions of some fourteen biblical figures during the second temple, late antique, and medieval periods: Adam and Eve (Gary A. Anderson), Seth (John D. Turner), Enosh (Steven D. Fraade), Enoch (Philip S. Alexander), Noah (Devorah Dimant), Abraham (George W. E. Nickelsburg), Melchizedek (Birger A. Pearson), Levi (Marinus de Jonge and Johannes Tromp), Joseph (Harm W. Hollander), Baruch (J. Edward Wright), Ezekiel (Benjamin G. Wright, Aviva Schussman), Ezra and Nehemiah (Theodore A. Bergren). The figures were selected on the grounds of the richness and interest of the traditions connected with them and their importance in the thought worlds of early Judaism and Christianity. Michael E. Stone is Gail Levin de Nur Professor of Religion and Professor of Armenian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and co-author of Faith and Piety in Early Judaism: Texts and Documents, also published by Trinity Press. Theodore Bergren is Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Richmond (Virginia).1999 Biblical Archaeology Society Publication Award for the category Best Book Relating to the Old Testament

In the past, Old Testament scholars have characterized Hebrew religious practices of the postexilic period as a time of priestly legalism. Viewed in this way, the developments of this period paled in light of the First Temple period. However, as the essays in this collection demonstrate, the postexilic period was actually an age in which "it all came together," an age of robust religious vitality that gave birth to Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. The contributors to Passion, Vitality, and Foment focus on the range of religious advances in this time period, from the Sabbath and the synagogue to the vitality of feminine spirituality, wisdom traditions, and apocalyptic visions, all of which demonstrate the richness of Second Temple Judaism. Lamontte M. Luker is Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina.Contributors: Niels-Erik A. Andreasen, Andrews University; Jon Berquist, Chalice Press; Toni Craven, Brite Divinity School, TCU; Kathe Pfisterer Darr, Boston University School of Theology; John C. Endres, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; Walter Harrelson, Vanderbilt Divinity School; Leo G. Perdue, Brite Divinity School, TCU; Paul L. Redditt, Georgetown College; Will Soll, Sanford-Brown College and Eden/Webster Library of Webster University and Eden Seminary; and Marti J. Steussy, Christian Theological Seminary

These seminal essays by two leading New Testament scholars of our day focus on the interface between Judaism and Christianity in the New Testament.Professor Hengel writes in a broad and incisive manner on "Early Christianity as a Jewish-Messianic Universalist Movement." He argues that Christianity grew entirely out of Jewish soil and that pagan influences in the New Testament were mediated through Hellenistic Judaism. With an increasing number of Jewish scholars, he therefore contends that the New Testament must be considered an important source for our knowledge of ancient Judaism. In a final portion of his essay, he comments in some detail on "the final separation" of Christianity and Judaism.Professor Barrett''s "Paul: Councils and Controversies" addresses a more specific topic, though one with wide-ranging implications. His focus is the council described in Galatians 2 and Acts 15. What is the gospel of Jesus Christ for Jews and what is it for the Gentiles of the Pauline mission? Barrett explores the historical circumstances and the theological issues at stake. He traces the weakness of the initial compromise agreement between Paul and Peter to take the gospel to the uncircumcision and the circumcision respectively, as well as the significance of the later compromise decree of the council that made minimal demands upon the Gentiles. The inadequacy of both approaches is found in their failure to refer to the center or core of the gospel, that is, to Jesus Christ.A brief concluding chapter draws together some of the essays'' themes, by summarizing responses to them by Fuller Seminary''s New Testament department and proposing prospects for future discussion. An annotated bibliography is also included.Donald A. Hagner is George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary.

What really drives the technologies that dominate our modern world? Ruth Conway here brings under scrutiny: the deceptive dreams of development, the masculine "voice and structure" of so much technology, the obsession with control that obliterates both recognition of human fallibility and sensitivity to the needs of "the other," the inadequacies of technologies that fail to take account of the "wholeness" of life and what might constitute "justice" (right relationships) within the human community and with nature, and the impact of information and communication technologies on our ways of relating to one another.Conway sets forth key biblical insights that test our prevalent guiding motives and that suggest changes in the priorities and ways of working that would flow from faith in the God whose purposes of love have been revealed in Jesus Christ. She highlights technologies that empower rather than control, that support local communities, that respect nature''s life-sustaining processes, that bring "externalities" and the experience of marginalized people into consideration, and that address needs rather than creating wants.Ruth Conway is a founding member of the VALIDATE (Values in Design and Technology Education) network, initially associated with the British Council of Churches and now linked with professional associations of technology educators. Through articles and workshops she has explored the beliefs and commitments that lie behind the value judgments made in the development of any specific technology. With her husband Martin, she has been much involved in the life and work of the World Council of Churches.

In the present volume, Walter P. Weaver tells the fascinating story of Jesus research during the first half of the twentieth century. Written in a clear and engaging style, Weaver''s story chronicles not only the progress of Jesus research but also the cultural drifts and sociological phenomena that relate to the varying pictures of Jesus that scholarship has produced.The story begins at the turn of the century with Albert Schweitzer and the publication of The Quest of the Historical Jesus. Making its way through two world wars, during which Jesus scholarship was mesmerized by national peril and driven to a period of pause, the story ends with the remarkable discovery in the 1940s of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi documents-- discoveries that would stir the world of biblical scholarship for years to come. Throughout this period, Weaver points out, a struggle went on for the Jewish soul of Jesus. The period was also characterized by many attempts to popularize the results of Jesus research and to present Jesus as a public icon.Walter P. Weaver is Emeritus Professor of Religion at Florida Southern College and former Chair of the Humanities Division and Department of Religion and Philosophy, and Pendergrass Professor of Religion. He is co-editor of the Faith and Scholarship Colloquies series published by Trinity Press.

This comprehensive guide to the history of recording industries combines the technical history of the recording process and the industry that gre up to support it, with the history of the musical, vocal, and spoken repertoire that developed in parallel with recording. Updated and revised from teh critically acclaimed Finnish edition, it is the only generic history of recording currently available in English and of immense value to all students of cultural history.

Although Henry Louis Gates examined the ways in which African slave language formed the metaphors for African American poetry and fiction in The Signifying Monkey, there have been no studies of the theological and ethical significance of the salutations of black Americans until now. In Dark Salutations, Riggins Earl examines black American''s ethnocentric verbalized salutary expressions-"brotherman" and "sistergirl," for example-that dominate their ritualistic moments of social encounter. The noticeable religious content of some of these salutations drives us to examine blacks'' understandings of God and brother/sisterhood challenges: Is God a respecter of persons? Or, have black people understood God to be "faithfully for them and with them" politically and spiritually? Have black people understood themselves to be "trustfully for and with" each other spiritually and politically? Have black people understood themselves to be "trustfully for and with" even the whites who oppressed them? Earl argues that these salutary expressions show how blacks have lived with the burdensome challenge of having to prove their sisterly and brotherly capacities, and with the insatiable desire to be treated as equal siblings in the family of God..