Exegetical

How should Christians read the Old Testament today? Answers to this question gravitate between two poles. On the one hand, some pay little attention to the gap between the Old Testament and today, reading the Old Testament like a devotional allegory that points the Christian directly to Jesus. On the other hand, there are folks who prioritize an Old Testament passage's original context to such an extent that it is by no means clear if and how a given Old Testament text might bear witness to Christ and address the church.

This volume is a tribute to Willem A. VanGemeren, an ecclesial scholar who operated amidst the tension between understanding texts in their original context and their theological witness to Christ and the church. The contributors in this volume share a conviction that Christians must read the Old Testament with a theological concern for how it bears witness to Christ and nourishes the church, while not undermining the basic principles of exegesis.

Two questions drive these essays as they address the topic of reading the Old Testament theologically.

The volume unfolds by first considering exegetical habits that are essential for interpreting the Old Testament theologically. Then several essays wrestle with how topics from select Old Testament books can be read theologically. Finally, it concludes by addressing several communal matters that arise when reading the Old Testament theologically.

Almost from the earliest days of the church, John's distinctive presentation of Jesus has provoked discussion about its place among the other Gospels. One cannot help but see the differences from the Synoptics and wonder about the origins and character of John. In this new volume in the New Testament Library series, Marianne Meye Thompson explores the ministry and significance of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the Gospel of John, paying special attention to the social, cultural, and historical contexts that produced it. John's Gospel, Thompson posits, is the product of a social-cultural world whose language, commitments, and contours must be investigated in order to read John's narrative well. In doing so, Thompson studies the narrative, structure, central themes, and theological and rhetorical arguments found in the Fourth Gospel. Thompson's expert commentary unpacks and illuminates John's unique witness to Jesusâ who he was, what he did, and what that means.

The New Testament Library series offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, providing fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, careful attention to their literary design, and a theologically perceptive exposition of the biblical text. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminary; M. Eugene Boring, Brite Divinity School; and John T. Carroll, Union Presbyterian Seminary.

Bo Giertz wrote these commentaries in retirement after a lifetime of studying the Greek New Testament. These accompanied his own translations of the New Testament. This volume covers the Gospel of John through to Second Corinthians. Many have previously enjoyed Giertz's Romans commentary that is also included here, and they will not be disappointed with his treatment of the other texts.

Giertz's views were heavily shaped by his mentor Anton Fridrichsen who wanted to counter both the liberalism of men like his friend Rudolph Bultmann, and the neo-orthodoxy of Karl Barth with Biblical Realism. Biblical Realism sought to avoid the pitfalls of biblicism by allowing for academic freedom while studying scriptures, while also maintaining that the events of the Bible were true events that happened in our history all centered upon the death and resurrection of Christ. The scriptures are therefore a salvation history meant to "declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 11:14).

Although the passion narratives of the synoptic gospels can be read as free standing narrative, each one of them is the goal and climax of the Gospel story that precedes it.

In Passion Narratives and Gospel Theologies, Frank Matera describes the intimate relationship between the theology of each of the synoptic gospels and its passion narrative. Matera's study of the Markan passion narrative in light of the Gospel's theology shows that no one can confess that Jesus is the Son of God until he or she acknowledges Jesus as the crucified Messiah, and no one can be Jesus' disciple unless he or she accepts the scandal of the cross. While the Gospel of Matthew continues to develop the great themes of Mark's gospel, Matera argues that its passion narrative manifests a distinctive ecclesiological and ethical outlook in light of its unique gospel theology. Finally, Matera demonstrates how the Lukan passion narrative, by presenting Jesus as a model of innocent suffering, also contains a distinctive outlook in light of its gospel theology: God's righteous suffer afflictions by trial and persecution. Comprehensive in scope and clearly written, Passion Narratives and Gospel Theologies provides a much needed introduction to the synoptic passion narratives and the theology of each evangelist. It will be welcome by students and pastors.

Written centuries before Christ, the Psalms of the Hebrew Bible have been prayed by Christians since the founding of the Church. The early church fathers expounded the psalms in the light of the mystery of Christ, his death and resurrection, and his saving redemption. In this book, a Benedictine monk examines the Christian praying of the Psalms, taking into account modern and contemporary research on the Psalms. Working from the Hebrew text, Fr. Laurence Kriegshauser offers a verse-by-verse commentary on each of the one hundred and fifty psalms, highlighting poetic features such as imagery, rhythm, structure, and vocabulary, as well as theological and spiritual dimensions and the relation of psalms to each other in the smaller collections that make up the whole. The book attempts to integrate modern scholarship on the Psalms with the act of prayer and help Christians pray the psalms with greater understanding of their Christological meaning.

The book contains an introduction, a glossary of terms, an index of topics, a table of English renderings of selected Hebrew words, and an index of biblical citations.

Praying the Psalms in Christ will be welcomed by students of theology and liturgy, by priests, religious, and laypeople who pray the Liturgy of the Hours, and by all Christians who seek to pray the Psalms with greater profit and fervor.

Until now, no book has conveniently combined treatment of the origins of the Psalms with attention to their Jewish and Christian use through history. William L. Holladay offers an illuminating and informative overview of the Psalmschanted, sung, and recited by so great a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) through the past three thousand years.

The broad scope and usefulness of the book are indicated by its major parts:

The Psalms Take Shape-A Reconstruction

The Psalter through History

Current Theological Issues

Few biblical topics are as important as mission. Mission is linked inextricably to humanity's sinfulness and need for redemption and to God's provision of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This good news of salvation must be made known. The saving mission of Jesus constitutes the foundation for Christian mission, and the Christian gospel is its message. This second edition of New Studies in Biblical Theology volume Salvation to the Ends of the Earth emphasizes the way in which the Bible presents a continuing narrative of God's mission--ranging from the story of Israel to the story of Jesus and that of the early Christians. At the same time, it provides a robust historical and chronological backbone to the unfolding of the early Christian mission. The apostle Paul's writings and the General Epistles are incorporated with the Gospel with which they have the closest and most natural canonical and historical affinity. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.