Fall Winter 2022 Catalog

Race and Rhyme

Rereading the New Testament

womanist biblical scholar reads passages om the New Testament in

with modern-day

of

issues

in

of

emerged from historical contexts that di er from today’s,

raise “rhyme” with subjects of contemporary relevance.

Love Sechrest utilizes her cultural experience and her

reassess passages in the New Testament that deal with intergroup

between dominant and minoritized groups. Topics

antiracist allyship

Jesus’s interaction with marginalized individuals in the Gospel of Ma hew

assimilation and Jesus’s teachings about family and acceptance in the Gospel of Luke

gendered stereotypes and the story of the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John

• the experience of Black women and girls in the American criminal justice system and the woman accused of adultery in the Gospel of John

• group identity and the incorporation of Gentiles into the early Jesus movement in Acts

• privilege and Paul’s claims to apostolic authority in 2 Corinthians

• coalition-building between diverse groups and the discussion of unity in Ephesians

• government’s role in providing social welfare and early Christians’ relationship to the Roman Empire in Romans and Revelation

Love Lazarus Sechrest is associate provost for program development and innovation and professor of theology at Mount St. Mary’s University.

Women and the Gender of God

Amy Peeler

Reimagine the gender of the incarnation.

In this robust theological argument against the assumption that God is male, Amy Peeler shows how the Bible depicts a God beyond gender and a savior who is the uni cation in one person of the image of God that resides in both male and female. Peeler begins with a study of Mary and her response to the annunciation, through which it becomes clear that God honors women’s agency. She then describes how the virgin birth of Jesus—the second Adam—reverses the gendered division enacted in the garden of Eden. rough incisive scriptural analysis, Peeler reasserts the value of women in the church and prophetically speaks out against the idolatry of masculinity.

“For me as a woman, a Protestant, and a theologian, this book was a breath of esh air, though any reader simply born of a woman would be challenged and encouraged by this powerful work.”

CHRISTA L. MCKIRLAND Carey Baptist College

“O ers a clarion call for those within the Christian tradition not just to a rm that God values women but to reconsider the ways in which Mary is the epicenter of the incarnation itself.”

BRITTANY E. WILSON Duke University Divinity School

“ is is a daring book. . . . I expect it will be an essential resource for years to come.”

CARMEN JOY IMES Biola University

“Peeler navigates a volatile topic with patience, meticulous research, wisdom, and grace.”

NIJAY GUPTA Northern Seminary

Amy Peeler is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and associate rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Geneva, Illinois. She is the author of You Are My Son: e Family of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews and the coauthor, with Patrick Gray, of Hebrews: An Introduction and Study Guide.

Finding Phoebe

What New Testament Women Were Really Like Susan E. Hylen

Forget what you think you know about women in the early church.

In this learned yet accessible book, Susan E. Hylen introduces rst-century primary sources to illuminate readers’ understanding of New Testament women. Contrary to popular conceptions of “biblical womanhood” as passive and silent, women of the Greco-Roman world served as patrons and prophets in their communities. Perfect for clergy, spiritual reading groups, and all curious minds, Finding Phoebe combines incisive scholarship and instructional sensibility to encourage readers to develop their own informed interpretations of Scripture.

“Accessible and engaging, Finding Phoebe is an educator’s dream.”

AMY PEELER Wheaton College

“ is volume will inform, if not transform, the way you perceive women in the New Testament and its environs in general and in Paul and his le ers in particular.”

TODD STILL Baylor University

“ e carefully cra ed study questions based on primary sources are a great way for students to discover the various roles women played in antiquity.”

JOSHUA W. JIPP Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Susan E. Hylen is professor of New Testament at Emory University and a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Her previous books include Women in the New Testament World and A Modest Apostle: ecla and the History of Women in the Early Church

The Gospel and the Gospels

Christian Proclamation and Early Jesus Books

Simon Gathercole

A robust scholarly defense of the distinctiveness of the canonical Gospels.

Do the four New Testament gospels share some essence that distinguishes them from noncanonical early Gospels? e tendency among biblical scholars of late has been to declare the answer to this question no—that Ma hew, Mark, Luke, and John were grouped together by happenstance and are defended as canonical today despite there being no essential commonalities between them.

Simon Gathercole challenges the prevailing view and argues that in fact the theological content of the New Testament Gospels distinguishes them substantially from noncanonical Gospels. Gathercole shows how the Gospels of Ma hew, Mark, Luke, and John each include four key points that also formed the core of early Christian preaching and teaching: Jesus’s identity as messiah, the saving death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and Scripture’s foretelling of the Christ event. In contrast, most noncanonical Gospels—like the Gospel of omas, the Gospel of Truth, and Marcion’s Gospel—only selectively appropriated these central concerns of early Christian proclamation.

“ is compellingly argued, brilliant, and provocative thesis calls into question several assured convictions of modern gospels scholarship. . . . Take up and read!”

MARKUS BOCKMUEHL

University of Oxford

“Anyone interested in the gospels, early Christian identity construction, and canonical questions will hugely enjoy Gathercole’s learned study.”

SANDRA HUEBENTHAL University of Passau, Germany

Simon Gathercole is professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Cambridge, where he is also the director of studies in theology at Fitzwilliam College. He is editor of New Testament Studies, coeditor of Early Christianity, and a contributor to numerous publications, including Christianity Today and e Guardian

The Jesus Handbook

Edited by Jens Schröter and Christine Jacobi

Translated by Robert L. Brawley

Foreword by Dale C. Allison Jr.

An authoritative handbook on Jesus, his world, the outcomes of his life, and the quests to locate him in history.

e Jesus Handbook is an indispensable reference work featuring essays from an international team of renowned scholars on the signi cance and meaning of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Rooted in historical-critical methodology, it emphasizes a diversity of perspectives and provides a spectrum of possible interpretations rather than a single uni ed portrait of Jesus.

A er an introduction that lays out the considerations of the task at hand, the authors survey the history of Jesus research and take a close look at the historical material itself—textual and otherwise. From this foundation, the Handbook then details the life of Jesus before at last exploring the reception and e ects of Jesus’s life a er his death, especially in the rst centuries CE.

“Can anything new be said about the historical Jesus and his various a erlives, both literary and theological? is big book answers with a resounding ‘Yes!’ . . . All students of the historical Jesus will nd much to ponder in these pages.”

—PAULA FREDRIKSEN

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“A wonderful resource demonstrating the continued vitality of the historical-critical study of Jesus of Nazareth.”

—JOSHUA W. JIPP Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Jens Schröter is professor of New Testament and ancient Christian apocrypha at Humboldt University of Berlin.

Christine Jacobi is visiting professor of New Testament and ancient Christian apocrypha at Humboldt University of Berlin.

Shaping the Past to Define the Present

Luke-Acts and Apologetic Historiography

Gregory E. Sterling

Rethink early Christian identity with the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Shaping the Past to De ne the Present comprises both new and revised essays by esteemed New Testament scholar Gregory E. Sterling on Jewish and early Christian historiography, exploring:

• the initial composition and circulation of Luke and Acts

• the relationship of Luke-Acts to the Septuagint

• the interpretation of the Diaspora in Luke-Acts

• the structure of salvation history as it is manifested in Luke-Acts

• Socratic in uences on Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’s death

• the early Jerusalem Christian community as depicted in Acts compared with other Hellenized Eastern traditions such as Egyptian priests and Indian sages

• the establishment of Christianity’s “socially respectability” as a guiding purpose in Luke-Acts

Engaging with current critical frameworks, Sterling o ers readers a comprehensive analysis of early Christian self-de nition through Judeo-Christian historiography.

“Combining examples om comparable Jewish and Graeco-Roman historians and careful literary analyses of Luke and Acts, this book makes important contributions to both Classics and Biblical studies.”

College

Gregory E. Sterling is the Rev. Henry L. Slack Dean and the Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School. A specialist in Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity, he is the author or coeditor of eight books and more than 100 articles in learned journals or scholarly collections.

Mark’s Gospel

History, Theology, Interpretation

C. Clifton Black

A culmination of contemporary scholarship on the Gospel of Mark.

A preeminent scholar of the Gospel of Mark, C. Cli on Black has been studying and publishing on the gospel for over thirty years. is new collection brings together his most pivotal work and fresh investigations to constitute an all-in-one compendium of contemporary Markan scholarship and exegesis. Among other topics Black explores:

• the gospel’s provenance, authorship, and a ribution

• the signi cance of redaction criticism in Markan studies

• literary and rhetorical analyses of the gospel’s narrative

• the kingdom of God and its revelation in Jesus

• Mark’s theology of creation, su ering, and discipleship

• the Gospel of Mark’s relationship to the Gospel of John and Paul’s le ers

Scholars, advanced students, and clergy alike will consider this book an indispensable resource for understanding the foundational gospel.

“With his customary literary verve, C. Cli on Black has delivered a stunning exegetical and theological reading of the Gospel of Mark. . . . is volume marks something of a watershed in Markan studies (and much else).”

FRANCIS J. MOLONEY, SDB University of Divinity

“An eloquent, well-arranged, and up-to-date introduction to Markan studies.”

CRAIG S. KEENER

Asbury Theological Seminary

C. Clifton Black is O o A. Piper Professor of Biblical eology at Princeton eological Seminary. He is an ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and president of the American eological Society (2022–2023).

PHEME PERKINS

978-0-8028-8223-3

Romans

Text, Readers, and the History of Interpretation Stephen Westerholm

A wide-ranging study of the interpretation of Paul’s le er to the Romans throughout history, om Origen to Karl Barth.

introduction to Romans focuses on reception history with a ention to the state of the text and its interpretation. Stephen Westerholm illuminates the long tradition of reading Romans, Paul’s most extensive statement on the Christian faith. e book moves diachronically from the second century to the twentieth century with analysis of Origen, John Chrysostom, Augustine, omas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, the King James Bible, John Locke, John Wesley, and Karl Barth, among others.

encounter a rich history of interpretation of key texts and topics, including law, justi cation, faith, sin, Jews, gentiles, and Israel.

encounter a rich history of interpretation of key texts and topics, including law, justi cation,

Jews, gentiles, and

“ ose reading Romans today need to be aware of the nearly twenty centuries of previous interpretation. ere

overview

that than by reading this book.”

TONY LANE London School of Theology

Stephen Westerholm is professor emeritus of early Christianity at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.

other books include Reading Sacred Scripture: Voices om the History of Biblical Interpretation (with Martin Westerholm), Justi cation Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline eme, and Understanding Paul: e Early Christian

the Le

The Apostle and the Empire

Paul’s Implicit and Explicit Criticism of Rome Christoph Heilig

by John M. G. Barclay

reevaluation of Paul’s posture towards the Roman Empire, based on innovative methodology.

what extent does Paul critique the Roman Empire in his le ers? And how publicly critical could he have a orded to be? Christoph Heilig reevaluates the case for Paul hiding his criticism of Rome in the subtext of his le ers. Heilig argues that scholars have previously overlooked passages that openly denounce the empire—for instance, the “triumphal procession” in 2 Corinthians, which Heilig discusses in detail by drawing on a variety of archaeological data. His groundbreaking work is a must-read for Pauline scholars and for anyone interested in how one of Christianity’s most important teachers communicated his unease with the global superpower of his day.

“Contributes a nuanced reading to vital discussions of the relationship between Paul, his le ers, and empire.”

—AMY PEELER Wheaton College

“Christoph Heilig does a sterling job of explaining the debate about whether Paul embedded a covert critique of the Roman Empire in his le ers. He presents sober and sensible judgments about the topic that need to be heard and will no doubt in uence discussions about Paul and empire in the future.”

—MICHAEL F. BIRD Ridley College, Melbourne

Christoph Heilig is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He has studied theology and biblical studies in Germany and Scotland and received a doctorate from the University of Zurich.

Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity

Helen Rhee

What did pain and illness mean to early Christians? And how did their approaches to health care compare to those of the ancient Greco-Roman world?

In this wide-ranging interdisciplinary study, Helen Rhee examines how early Christians viewed illness, pain, and health care and how their perspective was in uenced both by Judeo-Christian tradition and by the milieu of the larger ancient world. roughout her analysis, Rhee places the history of medicine, Greco-Roman literature, and ancient philosophy in constructive dialogue with early Christian literature to elucidate early Christians’ understanding, appropriation, and reformulation of Roman and Byzantine conceptions of health and wholeness from the second through the sixth centuries CE.

“A reliable introduction to a range of medical and nonmedical healing of the body and soul, om which specialists and students alike will pro t.”

“Wide-ranging and unfailingly erudite, [Rhee’s] work remains accessible and relevant to readers om a wide range of backgrounds.”

New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 3

More Noncanonical Scriptures

Edited by Tony Burke

An expansive compilation of New Testament apocrypha in English translation, featuring previously unpublished texts.

New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 3, continues the More New Testament Apocrypha series’ quest to unearth the vast diversity of Christian scripture outside of the traditional canon. is new collection encompasses a broad range of languages—Greek, Church Slavic, Old English, Coptic, and more—and spans centuries, from the formation of the canonical New Testament to the high Middle Ages.

Each text is accompanied by a robust introduction, bibliography, and notes. Scholars of apocrypha, Scripture, and hagiography from a breadth of disciplines will nd this an indispensable reference for their research and teaching.

“ e breadth of documents presented coupled with the quality of scholarship with which they are handled makes this book an indispensable resource for the study of early Christian literature.”

RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW (praise for the first volume)

CONTRIBUTORS

Helen Rhee is professor of the history of Christianity at Westmont College. She is the author of Wealth and Poverty in Early Christianity, Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich, and Early Christian Literature. Rhee is also an associate pastor at Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, California.

Carson Bay, Mark G. Bilby, Rick Brannan, Christian H. Bull, Slavomir Čéplö, Alexander D’Alisera, Gregory Given, Nathan J. Hardy, Brandon W. Hawk, Stephen C. E. Hopkins, Alexander Kocar, Brent Landau, Jacob A. Lollar, Christine Luckritz Marquis, Ivan Miroshnikov, Tobias Nicklas, Samuel Osborn, Stephen Pelle, Bradley Rice, Julia A. Snyder, Janet E. Spi ler, James Toma, Peter Tóth, Sarah Veale, J. Edward Walters, Charles D. Wright, Lorne R. Zelyck

Tony Burke is professor of humanities at York University. His academic interests include the study of Christian biographical literature of the second century (infancy gospels), children and the family in Roman antiquity, curses, and noncanonical Jewish and Christian writings.

—ANDREW CRISLIP Virginia Commonwealth University

—MARIA E. DOERFLER Yale University

Warrior, King, Servant, Savior

Messianism in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Texts Torleif Elgvin

An exegetical and diachronic survey of messianic texts om the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition up through the rst millennium CE.

Jewish messianism can be traced back to the emerging Kingdom of Judah in the tenth century BCE, when it was represented by the Davidic tradition and the promise of a future heir to David’s throne. From that point, it remained an important facet of Israelite faith, as evidenced by its frequent recurrence in the Hebrew Bible and other early Jewish texts. In preexilic texts, the expectation is for an earthly king—a son of David with certain ethical qualities—whereas from the exile onward there is a transition to a pluriform messianism, o en with utopic traits.

Warrior, King, Servant, Savior is an exegetical and diachronic study of messianism in these texts that maintains close dialogue with relevant historical research and archaeological insights. Internationally respected biblical scholar Torleif Elgvin recounts the development and impact of messianism, from ancient Israel through the Hasmonean era and the rabbinic period, with rich chapters exploring messianic expectations in the Northern Kingdom, postexilic Judah, and Qumran, among other contexts.

“In his scholarly analysis that reads sometimes like a novel, Torleif Elgvin presents his account of the multifaceted gure of the messiah in the Bible and many early Jewish texts. He does so with the hand of a master who is expertly knowledgeable in all the texts, languages, and analytical skills.”

EMANUEL TOV

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“ is comprehensive and yet accessible volume lls an important gap in the literature.”

CHARLOTTE HEMPEL University of Birmingham

Torleif Elgvin is professor emeritus of biblical and Jewish studies at NLA University College, Oslo. His other books include Gleanings om the Caves and e Literary Growth of the Song of Songs during the Hasmonean and Early-Herodian Periods

Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve Them

Susan Ackerman

A wide-ranging study of women in ancient Israelite religion.

Susan Ackerman has spent her scholarly career researching underexamined aspects of the world of the Hebrew Bible—particularly those aspects pertaining to women. In this collection drawn from three decades of her work, she describes in fascinating detail the worship of goddesses in ancient Israel, the roles women played as priests and prophets, the cultic signi cance of queen mothers, and the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of women’s religious lives. Speci c topics include:

• the “Queen of Heaven,” a goddess whose worship was the object of censure in the book of Jeremiah

• Asherah, the great Canaanite mother goddess for whom Judean women were described as weaving in the books of Kings

• biblical gures considered as religious functionaries, such as Miriam, Deborah, and Zipporah

• the cultic signi cance of queen mothers in Israel and throughout the ancient Near East

• Israelite women’s participation in the cult of Yahweh and in the cults of various goddesses

“Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve em summarizes a career of research and writing on Israelite religious practice by one of the premier scholars of her generation. Taken together, these chapters advance our understanding of a myriad of topics in ancient Israelite religion and women’s religious lives. is book will become a reference work for generations of students and scholars to come.”

Susan Ackerman is the Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion and professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Dartmouth College. She is the author of Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel; When Heroes Love; Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen; and Under Every Green Tree.

WILLIAM SCHNIEDEWIND author of How the Bible Became a Book

God’s Righteousness and Justice in the Old Testament

Jože Krašovec

Foreword by Craig G. Bartholomew

A semantic study of God’s righteousness

justice in the Hebrew Bible that draws exegetical, theological, and philosophical conclusions about the character of God and God’s relationship with humanity.

Jože Krašovec undertakes the present study to put semantics into dialogue with exegesis and theology to investigate exactly how God’s righteousness and justice should be understood in the Old Testament. In the rst part of the book, Krašovec analyzes occurrences of the Hebrew root ṣdq (meaning righteous) and synonyms, working systematically through the entire Old Testament canon. In the second part, he builds o this lexical study with a more broadly exegetical, theological, and philosophical exploration of guilt, punishment, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

“Professor Krašovec is a foremost authority on divine righteousness, justice, and related topics in the Old Testament, which makes this ‘summa’ of his work over several decades especially welcome. Exegetical rigor equently blends with apt literary allusion and quotation in this magisterial treatment of great, interconnected biblical themes.”

ROBERT P. GORDON University of Cambridge

Jože Krašovec is professor of biblical studies at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is also the former president of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament.

Willingness to Die and the Gift of Life

Suicide and Martyrdom in the Hebrew Bible

Paul K.-K. Cho

How

Willingness to Die and the Gi of Life surveys a diverse selection of Hebrew Bible narratives that feature characters who express a willingness to die, including Moses, Judah, Samson, Esther, Job, Daniel, and the “su ering servant” of Isaiah 53. e challenging truth uncovered is that the Hebrew Bible, while taking seriously the darker aspects of voluntary death, nevertheless time and again valorizes those willing to die—particularly when it is for the sake of the group or in faithful commitment to God. Paul K.-K. Cho’s un inching analysis raises and wrestles with provocative questions about religious extremism, violent terrorism, and suicidal ideation—all of which carry signi cant implications for the biblically grounded life of faith today.

“A esh and richly suggestive book. . . . is book is welcome now in a culture of violence where life is precarious and widely under threat. It is only because of the inexplicable gi of life that we may think with eedom about death. In this study, Cho features those who thought courageously about death.”

WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

Columbia Theological Seminary

Paul K.-K. Cho is associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley eological Seminary. He is also the author of Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible

The Incomparable God

Readings in Biblical Theology

Brent A. Strawn; edited by CollinCornell and M. Justin Walker

A empting to describe the nature of God o en points to the exclamation of the psalmist—that God is unlike anyone or anything else. And yet the claim is not simply the over ow of an adoring heart: God’s incomparability is a truth lodged deep within Christian Scripture. In e Incomparable God, Old Testament scholar Brent A. Strawn o ers thoughtful insight into this theological mystery.

Encompassing close readings of Scripture, biblical-theological argument, and considerations of praxis, e Incomparable God is essential reading for Old Testament scholars and students.

Brent A. Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and professor of law at Duke University. He is also a senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, where he previously taught as W. R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Old Testament.

Collin Cornell is a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Candler School of eology, Emory University.

M. Justin Walker is assistant professor of Old Testament and Christian ministry at Lee University.

“My Lord! ere is no one like you among the gods!”

978-0-8028-7202-9

pages

$60.00 US

£48.99 UK

The Book of Numbers

SECOND EDITION

Timothy R. Ashley

e point of the book of Numbers is important for God’s people in any age: exact obedience to God is crucial.”

is comprehensive and erudite commentary presents a thorough explication of the book of Numbers. Timothy Ashley’s introduction discusses such questions as structure, authorship, and theological themes, and it features an extended bibliography of major works on the book of Numbers. en, dividing the text of Numbers into ve major sections, Ashley elucidates the theological themes of obedience and disobedience, which run throughout.

is second edition includes revisions that re ect Ashley’s decades of experience with the book of Numbers, as well as updates to the footnotes and bibliography, which add many important works published in the last thirty years. With these new features, Ashley’s commentary solidi es its place as the church’s most faithful and de nitive reference on this signi cant Hebrew text.

“A balanced and sensitive treatment. Highly recommended as a esh and authoritative approach to this di cult but theologically rich Old Testament book.”

BIBLIOTHECA SAC

AVAILABLE

Timothy R. Ashley is a retired minister and professor of biblical studies who taught at Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, and Central Baptist eological Seminary, Wisconsin.

“A reader of Numbers will nd much help in this extensive commentary.”

The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapters 1–11

Bill T. Arnold

JOURNAL OF RELIGION

“ e book of Deuteronomy can rightly be called a compendium of the most important ideas of the Old Testament.”

So begins this commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, which Bill Arnold treats as the heart of the Torah and the fulcrum of the Old Testament—crystallizing the themes of the rst four books of the Bible and establishing the theological foundation of the books that follow.

A er a thorough introduction that explores these and other ma ers, Arnold provides an original translation of the rst eleven chapters of Deuteronomy along with verse-by-verse commentary. As with the other entries in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Arnold remains rooted in the book’s historical context while focusing on its meaning and use as Christian Scripture today. Ideal for pastors, students, scholars, and interested laypersons, this commentary is an authoritative yet accessible companion to the book of Deuteronomy.

“Bill T. Arnold has been working toward this commentary for some time now. Here at last comes the rst installment of what is nothing short of a monumental gi to biblical interpreters of all kinds. Arnold has given us the most extensive, careful exposition of the text of Deuteronomy 1–11 we’ve seen in decades. We are all in his considerable debt, and we will remain there for a very long time to come.”

BRENT A. STRAWN Duke University

“Having read dozens of commentaries

countless other works on Deuteronomy—with a few publications of my own—I still

love for the book was reignited as Arnold unpacked God’s revelation through the voice of Moses.”

a lot

KENNETH TURNER Toccoa Falls College

$64.99

£40.00

2023

The Book of Ruth

Peter H. W. Lau

“Do not urge me to abandon you, to turn back om following a er you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people are my people, and your God is my God.”

In this pivotal verse, Ruth’s self-sacri cial declaration of loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi forms the relationship at the heart of the book of Ruth. Peter H. W. Lau’s new commentary explores the human and divine love at the center of the narrative as well as the book’s relevance to Christian theology. With detailed notes on the original Hebrew text and its historical context, Lau’s fresh commentary remains focused on Ruth’s relevance to Christian readers today.

“ is commentary . . . is a must-read for students of Hebrew narrative, pastors preaching this text, and anyone who seeks a culturally aware understanding of this beloved ancient story.”

AUBREY E. BUSTER Wheaton College

commentary on the book of Ruth is outstanding. . . . His comments on honor-shame dynamics and Asian perspectives are an important contribution. I

recommend this commentary to students, pastors, and

The Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah

D. Nogalski

Where is the line between God’s mercy and judgment?

In the latest volume of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, James D. Nogalski o ers a new translation of and commentary on several of the Minor Prophets—the books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah—that grapple with this theme in radically di erent ways. is volume includes a robust introduction for each book, delineating its textual transmission, historical context, literary form, and major themes. Academically rigorous and accessibly wri en, e Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and pastors.

James D. Nogalski is director of graduate studies and professor of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament at Baylor University. He is best known for his work on the prophets, especially the Book of the Twelve.

OTHER RECENT NICOT TITLES

ERIC J. TULLY

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Peter Hon Wan Lau is visiting scholar in Old Testament studies at Seminari eoloji Malaysia. He has wri en academic and pastoral books on Ruth, Ezekiel, Psalms, and Esther. He specializes in reading OT texts in their full canonical context, discerning how they point to and are ful lled in Jesus.

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah Hannah K. Harrington 978-0-8028-2548-3 $52.00 US

The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah omas Renz 978-0-8028-2626-8 $56.00 US

The Book of Lamentations John Goldingay 978-0-8028-2542-1 $40.00 US

The Book of Amos M. Daniel Carroll R. 978-0-8028-2538-4 $54.99 US

The Book of Jeremiah John Goldingay 978-0-8028-7584-6 $75.00 US

The Second Book of Samuel David Toshio Tsumura 978-0-8028-7096-4 $49.99 US

The Gospel of Matthew

The Origins, Inspiration, and Interpretation of Scripture

Walter T. Wilson

What was the original purpose of the Gospel of Ma hew? For whom was it wri en?

In this magisterial two-volume commentary, Walter Wilson interprets Ma hew as a catechetical work that expresses the ideological and institutional concerns of a faction of disa ected Jewish followers of Jesus in the late rst century CE. Wilson’s compelling thesis frames Ma hew’s Gospel as not only a continuation of the biblical story but also as a didactic narrative intended to shape the commitments and identity of a particular group that saw itself as a beleaguered, dissident minority. rough meticulous engagement with the Greek text of the Gospel, as well as relevant primary sources and secondary literature, Wilson o ers a wealth of insight into the rst book of the New Testament for scholars, students, pastors, and interested laypersons.

Walter T. Wilson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of New Testament at Candler School of eology, Emory University. He is the author of Healing in the Gospel of Ma hew: Re ections on Method and Ministry and the editor of New Testament Interpretation: A Practical Guide.

THE PILLAR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY

The Letter to the Ephesians

Constantine R. Campbell

clear and comprehensive commentary on Paul’s Le er to the Ephesians.

In the latest Pillar New Testament Commentary, Constantine R. Campbell illuminates the Le er to the Ephesians with scholarly precision and pastoral warmth. In line with the christological concerns of the le er, Campbell calls special a ention to its theme of union with Christ. His thorough analysis covers a breadth of topics, including salvation and grace, the glory of God, and the church and its mission.

Aimed at students and scholars of the Pauline epistles, Campbell’s commentary carefully explains each verse of Ephesians with a ention to historical and linguistic context. Yet the commentary prioritizes imminent theological concerns and remains accessible to any serious reader of the New Testament.

Constantine R. Campbell is associate research director at the Sydney College of Divinity. He is ordained deacon in the Anglican Church of Australia. His numerous books include Paul and Union with Christ and Paul and the Hope of Glory.

Deification through the Cross

An Eastern Christian Theology of Salvation Khaled Anatolios

A uni ed soteriology for the whole church.

It is commonly claimed that Western Christianity teaches salvation as deliverance from sin through Jesus’s sacri ce on the cross, while Eastern Christianity teaches salvation as deliverance from death—and as dei cation—through Christ’s incarnation. But is it really true that no normative, uni ed doctrine of salvation is to be found in Scripture and tradition?

eologian Khaled Anatolios, deeply grounded in both East and West, here advances a soteriology that speaks deeply to all Christians. He argues that both Eastern and Western perspectives are needed, and especially that Eastern theology and liturgy—contrary to Western misperceptions—hold cross, resurrection, and glori cation together in an exemplary way.

Dei cation through the Cross is a salutary rebu al of the postmodern fragmentation that assumes no single, normative soteriology can apply globally. Anatolios systematically expounds an integrated soteriology, which he then puts into dialogue with various perspectives, including liberation theology, Girardian theory, and penal substitution. All who seek to understand and teach “the joy of our salvation” will nd indispensable help in this magisterial retrieval of an o en-misunderstood doctrine.

“A welcome contribution that avoids merely cataloguing previously renowned and obscure authors’ thoughts and ideas in the name of theology and instead advances theological re ection and encourages Christians to embrace a salvi c praxis of the Way, as originally founded by Jesus.”

THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Khaled Anatolios is the John A. O’Brien Professor of eology at the University of Notre Dame. He was born in India and grew up in Egypt and Canada. He is also the author of Retrieving Nicaea: e Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine

Kenosis

The Self-Emptying of Christ in Scripture and Theology

Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and Keith L. Johnson

Seventeen distinguished scholars om the elds of biblical studies, historical theology, and systematic theology engage with the past and present signi cance of the doctrine of kenosis.

In the “Christ-hymn” of Philippians 2, the apostle Paul makes a startling claim: that Jesus “emptied himself” in order to ful ll God’s will by dying on the cross. e self-emptying of Christ—theologically explored in the doctrine of kenosis—is a locus within Christology and factors signi cantly into understandings of the Trinity, anthropology, creation, providence, the church, and even ethics. As such, it has been debated and re ected upon for centuries.

e present volume draws together some of the nest contemporary scholars from across the ecumenical spectrum to expound the doctrine of kenosis—its biblical roots, its historical elaborations, and its contemporary implications. With original essays from John Barclay, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, David Fergusson, Katherine Sonderegger, omas Joseph White, and more, this indispensable resource o ers an extensive overview of this essential a rmation of Christian faith.

“A benchmark volume which will generate yet further discussion on a topic of almost inexhaustible theological interest.”

SARAH COAKLEY University of Cambridge

“Without question, this is the most helpful and creative collection of essays on kenosis that currently exists in the eld.”

TOM GREGGS University of Aberdeen

Paul T. Nimmo holds the King’s Chair of Systematic eology at the University of Aberdeen.

Keith L. Johnson is professor of theology at Wheaton College, where he is also the codirector of the Wheaton Center for Faith and Innovation.

Living Belief

A Short Introduction to Christian Faith Douglas F. Ottati

What do Christians believe? But also, what do they do? And feel?

With decades of experience teaching the essentials of Christian faith, Douglas O ati still nds these questions—and more like them—dynamic and compelling. In Living Belief, he moves beyond trite answers, drawing from the deep well of tradition to o er up wisdom from the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Prayer. In so doing, O ati explores key themes—creation, redemption, love, and the multifaceted life of devotion that is Christianity.

“ ough it has its origins in the college classroom, this volume will appeal to anyone interested in probing the basic questions of life in conversation with Christian wisdom. . . . With story, song, and wry narrative style, he lures his readers into theological re ection that a ends at once to the ordinary details of human life and to expansive wonder at the glory of God.”

MARTHA L. MOORE-KEISH Columbia Theological Seminary

Douglas F. Ottati is the Craig Family Distinguished Professor of Reformed eology and Justice at Davidson College in North Carolina. He is also a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Christian Dogmatics

An Introduction

Cornelis van der Kooi and Gijsbertvan den Brink

A esh, inviting text on the content of Christian faith in our contemporary context

is one-volume systematic theology o ers an accessible, orthodox explication of the Christian faith for students, teachers, pastors, and serious lay readers. Cornelis van der Kooi and Gijsbert van den Brink not only cover all the traditional themes—God, creation, sin, Jesus Christ, Scripture, and so on—but also relate those classic themes to such contemporary developments as Pentecostalism, postmodernism, and evolutionary theory.

“ is volume is a sorely needed reference work for correcting facile stereotypes in the church, the academy, and the public square”

INTERPRETATION

Cornelis van der Kooi is a distinguished lecturer at Erasmus University Ro erdam and formerly served as professor of systematic theology at the Free University of Amsterdam.

Gijsbert van den Brink holds the Chair of eology and Science in the Faculty of Religion and eology at the Free University of Amsterdam.

Freedom and Sin

Evil in a World Created by God Ross McCullough

Foreword by John E. Hare

If God is the cause of everything, including our actions, how can we have ee will?

And how can we explain the existence of evil without ascribing it to God?

Freedom and Sin resolves this conundrum through a classical position known as compatibilist indeterminism: the idea that God can determine our free choices but does not determine all our choices. is solution, which insists that God’s agency is both non-competitive with ours and is not implicated in our sins, has been neglected in recent years but remains the most compelling response to philosophical objections to Christian doctrine. In this volume, Ross McCullough provides a detailed defense and exposition of compatibilist indeterminism, showing how human freedom is not compromised but perfected by being xed to the will of God.

“ is is both a retrieval of classical theological positions and a bold new e ort to address the question of God’s involvement in our ee choice to sin. e results are as analytically precise as they are theologically rich.”

KATHRYN TANNER Yale Divinity School

Ross McCullough is assistant professor of philosophy at George Fox University and a faculty fellow in the George Fox Honors Program.

Augustine’s Preached Theology

Living as the Body of Christ

Patout Burns Jr.

by J. Warren Smith

om Augustine’s sermons on the life of faith.

volume by renowned Augustine scholar Patout Burns explores the theology of Augustine’s preaching. Utilizing recent advances in the chronological ordering of Augustine’s extant sermons, Burns traces their core thematic elements and the development of these over time—wealth and poverty, sin and forgiveness, baptism, eucharist, marriage, the role of clergy, the interpretation of Scripture, the human condition, and the saving work of Christ. Pastors as well as scholars will bene t from Burns’s insight into the teachings of one of the most e ective ministers in Christian history.

e publication of this book is really a monumental event in the ongoing history of Augustine scholarship and patristic scholarship more broadly. It is the uit of a lifetime of study by one of the most eminent scholars in the eld. Highly recommended!”

JOHN C. CAVADINI University of Notre Dame

Burns invites us to explore with him the vast range and extraordinary riches of Augustine’s theological and pastoral re ections on Scripture, and to be drawn into the Bishop of Hippo’s compelling e orts to unite his hearers in one heart and mind toward God. It is an invitation that cannot be resisted!”

CAROL HARRISON University of Oxford

Patout Burns Jr. is the Edward A. Malloy Professor Emeritus of

Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity

Beyond Immanence

The Theological Vision of Kierkegaard and Barth Alan J. Torrance and Andrew B. Torrance Insights into Kierkegaard’s in uence on Barth’s theology. Karl Barth was o en critical of Søren Kierkegaard’s ideas as he understood them. But close reading of the two corpora reveals that Barth owes a lot to the melancholy Dane. Both conceive of God as in nitely qualitatively di erent from humans, and both emphasize the shocking nearness of God in the incarnation. As public intellectuals, they used this theological vision to protect Christocentric faith from political manipulation and compromise. For Kierkegaard, this meant criticizing the state church; for Barth, this entailed resisting Nazism.

Meticulously cra ed by a father-son team of renowned systematic theologians, Beyond Immanence demonstrates that Kierkegaard and Barth share a theological trajectory—one that resists cynical manipulation of Christianity for political purposes in favor of uncompromising devotion to a God who is radically transcendent yet established kinship with humanity in time.

Alan J. Torrance is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of St. Andrews.

Andrew B. Torrance is a senior lecturer in theology at the University of St Andrews.

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Recovering Christian Character

Robert C. Roberts

Kierkegaard andSpirituality

C. Stephen Evans

978-0-8028-7286-9

KIERKEGAARD AS A CHRISTIAN THINKER

Faith Seeking Understanding

An Introduction to Christian Theology FOURTH EDITION

Daniel L. Migliore

An authoritative and beloved textbook, updated for the current generation of

students.

Daniel L. Migliore’s classic theology textbook returns in a new edition, revised and supplemented with fresh material. Faith Seeking Understanding covers fundamental topics for budding theologians, from biblical hermeneutics to the incarnation to the life of faith. As in previous editions, the material culminates in four imaginative dialogues between prominent thinkers to illustrate major theological debates.

In addition to updates throughout the text, the fourth edition also includes a new introduction and an additional chapter connecting Christology and ecology. Students will appreciate the textbook’s accessible style, comprehensive reading recommendations, and glossary of theological terms.

Praise for the third edition

“Presents theology in language that can be readily grasped by the theological beginner. Hurrah!”

“A book that manages to be at once deeply traditional and eshly contemporary. . . . Hearty, winsome, and mature, Faith Seeking Understanding sharpens the same appetite it satis es. Migliore everywhere shows that he knows the di erence between what is usual in theology and what is vital.”

Race

CORNELIUS PLANTINGA JR. Calvin University

Daniel L. Migliore is Charles Hodge Professor Emeritus of Systematic eology at Princeton

Leading Lives That Matter

Dorothy C. Bass & Mark R. Schwehn

978-0-8028-7714-7

Interpreting the New Testament

Francis J. Moloney, SDB & Sherri Brown 978-0-8028-7519-8

Foundations of Chaplaincy

Alan T. Baker

978-0-8028-7749-9

How We Read the Bible

Karolien Vermeulen & Elizabeth R. Hayes 978-0-8028-7809-0

Loving Wisdom

Paul Copan 978-0-8028-7547-1

Church History

James E. Bradley & Richard A. Muller 978-0-8028-7405-4

A Reader in Biblical Greek

Richard A. Wright

A graduated intermediate reader of biblical Koine Greek with selections om the New Testament, the Septuagint, and noncanonical early Christian writings.

is intermediate reader is for students, clergy, and scholars who have completed at least one year of Greek instruction and want to build reading pro ciency. rough twenty-nine texts from the New Testament, the Septuagint, and noncanonical early Christian writings, readers will be exposed to a variety of di erent genres and authors while still being given enough content from each author to become acquainted with that author’s individual style. Notes within each selection gloss low-frequency words and clarify syntactical intricacies, and each new section of texts gradually increases in its level of di culty, so that lessons can be worked through sequentially or as standalone exercises, as needed.

Wright’s selections are all texts that Christians in the fourth century CE would have read, with intertextual connections between them that will stimulate discussion and re ection on the development of important ideas in the early church. us, this useful resource encourages progress both in Koine reading pro ciency and in knowledge of Christian tradition.

“Provides a resource for deepening both a student’s knowledge of Greek and their experience of its value.”

RODNEY A. WHITACRE

author of A Grammar of New Testament Greek

Richard A. Wright is professor of New Testament in the Graduate School of eology at Abilene Christian University, where he teaches courses on the languages and literature connected with the study of the New Testament in its cultural context.

Bekah McNeel is a journalist, wife, and mother of two. Her work has appeared in Christianity Today, Sojourners, Relevant, e Texas Tribune, ESPN’s e Undefeated, e Christian Science Monitor, Texas Public Radio, and elsewhere. In addition to pieces about parenting, she writes about education, immigration, and faith communities—as well as the occasional op-ed calling the American evangelical church to lay down its idols of White supremacy and patriarchy.

RELATED TITLES

Parenting Forward

Cindy Wang Brandt

978-0-8028-7603-4

Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down

A Guide for Parents Questioning Their Faith

Bekah McNeel

“ is book is about the various places and ways that uncertainty shows up for parents who, having le or altered the faith they once knew, now must decide what to give their kids.”

A er the spectacular implosion of her ministry career, Bekah McNeel was le disillusioned and without the foundation of certainty she had built her life on. But rather than leaving the Christian faith altogether, she hung out around the edges, began questioning oversimpli ed categories of black and white that she had been taught were sacred, and became comfortable living in gray areas while starting a new career in journalism.

en she had kids.

From the moment someone asked if she was going to have her rst child baptized, Bekah began to wonder if the conservative evangelical Christianity she grew up with was really something she wanted to give her children. Soon, Bekah found that other parents were asking similar questions as they broke with their fundamentalist religious upbringing and took on new values: Could they raise their kids to live with both the security of faith and the freedom of open-mindedness? To value both Scripture and social justice? To learn morality without shame?

In Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down, Bekah shares stories and insights from her quest to shed the false certainty and toxic perfectionism of her past to become a be er, healthier parent—while still providing a spiritual foundation for her children to build a more gracious, life-giving faith upon.

“McNeel’s wry wit entertains (one chapter is titled ‘How to Lose the Faith and Keep It O ’), and she excels at biting social commentary and psychological insight, such as when she posits that punishing sins o en doesn’t work because ‘trouble outside signals hurt inside, not corruption.’ is has plenty of wisdom for Christian parents wrestling with their faith.”

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

“A powerfully vulnerable, raw, and beautiful testament of surviving ourselves, our families, parenting, and the church.”

ELIZABETH WOODS pediatrician

“Bekah McNeel o ers parents who have abandoned the certainty of their religious upbringing a rare and precious gi : permission to let curiosity and exploration lead the way back to God and back to hope, o ering their kids a be er world rather than a winning formula.”

STEVE WIENS

author of Beginnings Whole and Shining Like the Sun

“ ey should hand this book out in maternity wards. ey should also invent a time machine so older parents like me could read it when we were rst starting out. Bekah McNeel has wri en an accessible, illuminating, and essential guide to navigating thorny questions while raising your kids to do the same.”

PATTON DODD executive director of storytelling and communications, H. E. Butt Foundation

We Were Spiritual Refugees

Katie Hays

978-0-8028-7778-9

Kate Ott is Jerre L. and Mary Joy Stead

Professor of Christian Social Ethics and director of the Stead Center for Ethics and Values, Garre -Evangelical eological Seminary.

Sex, Tech, and Faith

Ethics for a Digital Age

Kate Ott

Foreword by Mihee Kim-Kort

A values-based, shame- ee, pleasure-positive discussion of Christian ethics in response to a range of pressing issues in the digital age.

Sex, Tech, and Faith brings progressive Christian ethics to bear on a range of pressing issues in the digital age— including online pornography, dating apps, sexting, virtual-reality hookups, and sex robots. With the aid of thought-provoking anecdotes and illuminating research, progressive ethicist Kate O invites readers to wrestle with the question of how to practice a just and ourishing sexuality in our rapidly changing world—and does so by drawing on core values of the Christian tradition.

“Kate O brings forth values-based biblical themes and interpretations for us to consider how digital interactions may help, harm, augment, or erase healthy, consensual relationships. In the process, she has o ered a valuable gi to the Christian church—a much-needed conversation around digital sexual ethics!”

“What has your local church done lately to go deeper into the rapidly changing world of relationships and digital dating? Try reading this book together. We’re way past the point of inviting God into the bedroom. Where is God in your avatar, your dating pro le, your sexual self, and your loving heart?”

Encountering Mystery

Religious Experience in a Secular Age

C. Allison Jr.

widespread skepticism on the ma er, a signi cant number of people today have stories of religious experience—moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death

of the a erlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions. How should rationally minded people respond?

Noted biblical scholar Dale Allison makes the argument that stories of religious experience are meaningful and not to be marginalized. Allison shows how ordinary practices of faith need not be at odds with individual religious experiences. Above all, he enjoins us to be honest about the persistence of religious experience in a secular age and to make space for people who encounter mystery in their lives.

“A spiritually personal and pastoral exploration of the power of extraordinary religious experiences in shaping and de ning the nature of faith.”

and humbling!”

Dale C. Allison Jr. is the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Studies at Princeton eological Seminary. His numerous books include Night Comes: Death, Imagination, and the Last ings and e Luminous Dusk: Finding God in the Deep, Still Places

respected scholar Dale Allison dares to raise important questions that academic protocol has too o en excluded.”

JONATHAN L. WALTON author of A Lens of Love: Reading the Bible in Its World for Our World

LILLIAN DANIEL author of Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To

PETER ENNS

author of How the Bible Actually Works

ESTHER E. ACOLASTE

of Powers, Principalities, and the Spirit: Biblical Realism in Africa and the West

CRAIG S. KEENER

of Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World

HopeA User’s Manual

MaryAnn McKibben Dana

What hope is, what hope isn’t, and how to nd it in hopeless times.

Hope is not optimism. It’s not toxic positivity. It’s not a promise of future success or progress. And it’s de nitely not something that can be reduced to a scripty-font platitude on an Instagram post.

So what is it?

One thing is certain: real hope demands that we do something with it. at we live it out. at we use hope to participate in a bigger story playing out behind the bleak world we see on the news or in our social media feeds every day.

It doesn’t ma er whether you’re a person of faith, or someone disillusioned with faith, or someone who hardly ever thinks about faith: if you’re a human being who longs for a spiritual counternarrative to live by, this book points to one resilient enough to endure crises and crushing defeats. If you’re tired of hearing about some heavenly herea er amid the pressing need for justice here and now, this is a book about hope for this world—not the next.

A er exploring what hope isn’t and then what it is, MaryAnn McKibben Dana re ects on the surprising place where hope is o en found—in the messiness of our imperfect, awed, beautiful human bodies. In the second half of the book, she talks about making hope real: sharing hope through stories, cultivating hope through simple practices, and nurturing hope in hopeless times—when only real hope can persevere.

“A well-researched, thought-provoking, and wise guide to approaching life’s most unexpected and di cult moments.”

An Invitation to Joy

The Divine Journey to Human Flourishing Daniel J. Denk

Foreword by Christopher J. H. Wright

Jesus came to bring joy to the world. What happened?

In a world full of su ering, the declaration that God wants us to be joyful can sound tone-deaf at best or hypocritical at worst. In An Invitation to Joy, Daniel J. Denk invites readers to cast o hopelessness and rediscover joy. Yet, as Denk reminds us, “we don’t nd joy by pursuing joy; we nd it by pursuing something else,” namely, the kingdom of God. is joy is not naive optimism but a profound sense of purpose and peace. roughout his re ections, Denk approaches the topic of Christian joy with sensitivity and nuance, supporting his argument with Scripture and theological scholarship. But An Invitation to Joy is not primarily academic—Denk is just as likely to share his personal experience or his favorite passages from Lord of the Rings, all in an easy manner akin to a friendly conversation over co ee. Life-a rming, empathetic, and, above all, joyful, An Invitation to Joy is a salve for the wounds of the world-weary. If you have lost your joy, this book will help you nd it again.

“Daniel Denk’s winsome and thoughtful re ections on the place of joy in Christian life are illuminating and enriching. It is a book that will be appreciated not only in the reading but also for the lasting reminders to cultivate joy in all that one does.”

GEORGE MARSDEN Notre Dame

“A powerful tool in these times of tremendous sorrow, pain, a book grounded in the word of God and in all we know as the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ.”

Daniel J. Denk is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. Dan has directed ministry and university students around the world. He also served as theological director with InterVarsity. He now mentors younger men and stays young himself with the help of his grandchildren.

ELIZABETH HAGAN

author of Brave Church: Tackling Tough Topics Together

MaryAnn McKibben Dana is a writer, pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in Virginia. She is the author of God, Improv, and the Art of Living and Sabbath in the Suburbs.

PATRICIA JABBEH WESLEY poet, academic, and author of Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems

Praying with the Earth

A Prayerbook for Peace

John Philip Newell

Morning and evening prayers for the peace of the whole world.

We as Jews, Christians, and Muslims share a common spiritual descent, yet painful divisions between us lie at the center of much con ict and war in the world today. Praying with the Earth: A Prayerbook for Peace articulates the deep longings for peace that unite these great spiritual traditions.

For each morning and evening of the week, John Philip Newell provides strikingly beautiful and profound prayers that call us to be the people Jesus named blessed: “those who know their need,” “those who weep,” “the humble,” “those who hunger for earth’s oneness,” “the forgiving,” “the clear in heart,” and “the peacemakers.”

Whether prayed alone or with others, these richly illustrated, simple liturgies invite and inspire us to live as those whose hearts yearn for peace.

“A treasure. . . . is li le book will inspire and unite and will be a catalyst for peace as well as a devotional aid to those who read and pray it with sincerity. It should be part of parish libraries, and would be a wonderful devotion in schools and religious communities.”

CATHOLIC LIB RY WORLD

“ ere are some wonderful things about Praying with the Earth. It is brief, making it accessible to busy people, and of a size perfect for slipping into a laptop case or a backpack. It is a beautiful volume lled with artwork.”

CRITIQUE

John Philip Newell is a poet, scholar, teacher, and Church of Scotland minister recognized for his work in Celtic spirituality and passionate about seeking peace in the world and harmony between its great spiritual traditions. His other books include Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and

the World

A Discussion Guide for Studies on the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

D. Flanagan

a spiritual classic.

its publication over half a century ago, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has inspired generations of Christian

Now, J. D. Flanagan revisits Lloyd-Jones’s classic work of exegesis

this fresh discussion guide. Moving chapter by chapter through Studies

the Sermon

the Mount

Flanagan’s detailed study guide encourages

consider both what the Scripture passage says and how

it. is guide expounds on the meaning of the

for the life of faith. For each passage,

D.

a

a

professional who specializes in faith-based counseling.

and speaker

women’s conferences on topics such as grief,

God, and more.

of following the Lord Jesus

study guide is the result of many

and one-on-one discipleship with women.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Word of a Humble God

The Origins, Inspiration, and Interpretation of Scripture

Karen R. Keen

Foreword by Michael Graves

How did we get the Bible? And why does it ma er?

History reveals that Scripture can be used for both life-giving and destructive purposes. Discovering the Bible’s origins makes all the di erence for fostering redemptive interpretation of Scripture. Bringing together both historical criticism and theology, this investigation examines ancient scribal culture through the lens of faith. What we nd is a divine-human collaboration that points to the character of God and the value of human agency. In a concise presentation of a breadth of scholarship usually only found across multiple volumes, Karen Keen o ers a vital introduction to the material origins of the Bible, theories of inspiration, and the history of biblical interpretation—with re ections on what this all means for us as we read Scripture today.

Even the Devil Quotes Scripture

Reading the Bible on Its Own Terms

Robyn J. Whitaker

“We are meant to take the Bible seriously, not literally.”

In Even the Devil Quotes Scripture, Robyn J. Whitaker looks to the Bible as a guide to interpreting the Bible, and her ndings breathe new life into our understanding and use of Scripture. As it turns out, the uses of Scripture within Scripture are exible, open to frequent reinterpretation, and rarely literal.

For instance, Ezra and Nehemiah reinterpret laws about whether Jews can marry foreigners in the wake of the Babylonian exile. eir contradiction of earlier traditions found in Deuteronomic law do not invalidate Scripture but rather represent its diverse applications for the prophets’ speci c situations. Ultimately, Whitaker ascertains one de nitive characteristic of inner-biblical interpretation: love. A er all, the Old Testament passage most frequently quoted in the New Testament is Leviticus 19:18: “Love thy neighbor.” us, Whitaker proposes a hermeneutic of love—a litmus test for the validity of a scriptural interpretation measured in charity. Ideal for any devoted reader of the Bible, Even the Devil Quotes Scripture opens our eyes to the Bible as a living, loving gi of God’s unfolding revelation.

“Karen Keen has provided a wide-ranging survey of the historical formation of Scripture as a ‘group project’ within the community of God’s people across many centuries. But she o ers us something more than a historical overview. She also makes a striking theological proposal: that God’s choice to speak through these humanly wri en, edited, and transmi ed scriptures is a clue about God’s humility.”

RICHARD B. HAYS

Duke University

Karen R. Keen is a biblical scholar, author, and spiritual care provider who has taught biblical and theological studies in both academic and church se ings. She currently teaches classes and leads retreats through the Redwood Center for Spiritual Care and Education. You can nd her online at redwoodspiritualcare.com.

“Robyn Whitaker’s lucid and highly personal book urges the reader to let the Bible be what it is rather than force it into preconceived categories and to keep in mind that the goal of interpretation is love. is engaging book should be read by any student embarking on the study of the Bible, especially those who come om a conservative background are anxious about the e ects of critical scholarship.”

JOHN J. COLLINS Yale Divinity School

Robyn J. Whitaker is an associate professor of New Testament at the University of Divinity, Melbourne. She has taught at Princeton eological Seminary, the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Union eological Seminary. Robyn is also the author of Ekphrasis, Vision, and Persuasion in the Book of Revelation.

Into the Headwinds

Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is Terryl Givens and Nathaniel Givens

A deeper look at how people individually and collectively form religious beliefs—and what that means for faith in an increasingly secular culture.

In this compelling inquiry into faith in a society of declining religious a liation, acclaimed author Terryl Givens and his son, Nathaniel Givens, o er a fresh take on religious belief through the lens of contemporary research on psychology, cognition, and human nature. ey also address two of faith’s foremost modern-day antagonists: rationalism, the myth that humans can or should make the majority of their choices based on logical thought, and scientism, the myth that science is the only reliable means of discovering truth. A er reckoning with the surprising fact that people o en don’t even understand their own beliefs and are in uenced in ways they seldom perceive, the authors go on to describe genuine faith as an act of will—an e ortful response to the deepest yearnings of the mind and heart— that engenders moral responsibility, the ability to embrace uncertainty, the motivation and means to relate to others, and the capacity to apprehend reality through nonrational means.

Terryl Givens is a Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University. He formerly held the University of Richmond’s Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English, where he was professor of literature and religion. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including All ings New, e God Who Weeps, and e Crucible of Doubt

Givens has been published in First ings, the Deseret News, and Real ClearReligion on the topics of faith and politics. With graduate degrees in economics and systems engineering, he is a data analyst and entrepreneur currently working with an international startup.

Knowledge for the Love of God

Why Your Heart Needs Your Mind

Timothy Pickavance

Foreword by Lee Strobel

What is the role of the intellect in Christian belief and the life of faith?

Jesus commanded us to love God with our minds—but why? Isn’t simply believing enough? e reality is that our formation into Christlikeness relies heavily on our minds and that Christian belief is about thinking more, not less. Far from being a threat, the intellect is central to faith—so long as it is treated as an instrument of worship rather than as the object of worship. In Knowledge for the Love of God, Timothy Pickavance shows how learning about who God is and what he has done, is doing, and will do draws us closer to him—just as in any relationship. With stories from his own experiences wrestling with this aspect of faith, Pickavance relates a compelling vision of how cultivating the intellect strengthens our Christian worldview, helps us gain freedom in Christ, and enables us to love God with our whole being.

“ is is now the go-to book for churches, parachurch groups, and philosophical, theological, worldview, and spiritual-formation courses in high school and college. I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through! What a joy!”

our age of deconstruction, this timely book will bene t seekers and believers alike in reconstructing a faith that is situated on a strong foundation of grace and truth.”

Timothy Pickavance is associate professor and chair of philosophy at Talbot School of eology, Biola University, and scholar in residence at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newport Beach, California, where he is also a ruling elder.

J. P. MORELAND author of Scientism and Secularism

DERWIN L. GRAY author of How to Heal Our Racial Divide

God Is Mallory Wyckoff

God is Mother. God is Midwife. God is Hostess. God is Mystery. God is Home.

Traditional language for God has been dominated by a single image—Father—and masculine norms. For some, this language is meaningful. For others, it is deeply problematic. In both cases, it’s limited. Mallory Wycko believes it’s past time to expand the ways we think about God. rough personal story, theology, spirituality, and social justice (and highlighting the interconnectedness of each), Wycko explores feminine metaphors and untapped language for God—some biblical and familiar, some less well-known, but all revelatory of a God who is More than we’ve been allowed to imagine.

“For many of us, the word ‘God’ is confusing, even traumatic. With poignant storytelling and spiritual wisdom Mallory Wycko leads us tenderly to a place of grace, beauty, and joy. is is a wise, beautiful, and healing book. ”

“ e language we use to describe God shapes the way we relate to God and others. If you want to broaden your God-language to include feminine imagery, I recommend Mallory Wycko as a trustworthy guide. ”

“Wycko has given us all a beautiful gi . . . that will help us receive the divine invitation to experience God. ”

978-0-8028-7961-5

$19.99

$26.99

£15.99

Navigating Faith and Science

Joseph Vukov

Religious belief and science are o en perceived as being in con ict—but are they really?

Not usually, says Joseph Vukov. In this short, accessible guide, Joseph Vukov advances three models for Christians to utilize when navigating the relationship between science and faith: con ict, independence, and dialogue.

Considering a wide variety of illustrative issues—including cosmology, evolutionary biology, extraterrestrial life, miracles, brain death, and theoretical physics—Vukov shows how no single model can be universally adequate, and how Christians must proceed with discernment according to the nature of the ma er at hand. roughout, he encourages Christians to embrace a spirit of intellectual humility and remember that, at their best, faith and science converge in their relentless human pursuit of truth.

“If you’re a aid that a conversation about science and faith is inherently contentious, Joseph Vukov has good news for you! Vukov sets the table and invites us to sit down. He walks us through three ameworks for productive dialogue and skillfully equips us to know how and when to apply them in the context of science and faith.”

“Whereas many introductions to science and faith suggest that there is one and only one correct model for envisioning their relationship, Joseph Vukov convincingly shows that things are more complex than that. . . . [He] ably and accessibly illustrates these various options, all the while pointing to the importance of intellectual humility in navigating them.”

Mallory Wyckoff is a teacher, preacher, writer, and spiritual director who currently serves as Key Relationships O cer with Preemptive Love, a global community of peacemakers working to end war and stop the spread of violence.

JANET KELLOGG RAY author of Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?

GIJSBERT VAN DEN BRINK author of Reformed Theology and Evolutionary Theory

Joseph Vukov is assistant professor of philosophy and graduate program director in the philosophy department at Loyola University Chicago.

RICHARD BECK author of Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age

SARA GASTON BARTON author of A Woman Called

LUKE NORSWORTHY pastor, author, podcaster

In the Margins

A Transgender Man’s Journey with Scripture Shannon T. L. Kearns

Foreword by Paula Stone Williams

Moving the conversation beyond transgender inclusion to demonstrate the unique and vital theological insights transgender Christians can provide the church.

Father Shannon Kearns is familiar with liminal spaces. He’s lived in them his whole life. And while his experience as a transgender man has o en made it di cult for him to t in—especially in the context of Christianity—it has also shaped his perspective in important ways on complicated, gender-transgressing aspects of theology and Scripture.

In the Margins weaves stories from Shannon’s life into re ections on well-known biblical narratives—such as Jacob wrestling with the divine, Rahab and the Israelite spies, Ezekiel and the dry bones, and the trans guration of Jesus. In each chapter, Shannon shows how stories have helped him make sense of his own identity, and how those same stories can unlock the transformative power of faith for those willing to listen with an open mind and stand alongside him in the in-between.

“By blending the biblical narrative with his own, Kearns shows us just how resilient and adaptive our stories can be—for our selves, for our communities, and for our loved ones. is is the greatest kind of faithfulness—not to a single notion of God or to a certain set of unchanging rules, but to one another’s ourishing.”

BLAKE CHASTAIN author and host of the Exvangelical podcast

“I tell folks in my church, ‘Don’t read the Bible alone.’ It takes a community to do the discerning work such a powerful text requires. Shannon Kearns has expanded my community by inviting me into his company as a transgender Christian and a serious reader of Scripture. He shows me what my cis-straight self would easily miss—and isn’t that a good gi ?”

KATIE HAYS author of God Gets Everything God Wants

“I love Shannon’s conviction that resurrection is not a moment, but a process. ere is a holy unfolding in this book, as Scripture comes to life in a esh, accurate, and authentic way. In the process Shannon blesses us with the story of his own resurrection.”

PAULA STONE WILLIAMS from the foreword

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

What do you hope readers take away from reading In the Margins?

Kearns: We all read Scripture from our own unique perspective and unique location in the world; it’s just that folks from marginalized identities are clear and up front about those identities and perspectives. I hope that readers will make their own perspectives and locations clear as they read so that together we can approach Scripture with the nuance and rigor it deserves. But more than that, I hope this book becomes an invitation for all of us to think di erently about transgender people and approach each other with more empathy.

Which book (besides the Bible, if that’s what you were planning to say) has done the most to make you who you are today?

Kearns: is is a really di cult question to answer. I am an avid reader (I read over 100 books every year and have been doing that for over a decade), and I count books as the thing that saved my faith and allowed me to understand a new way of seeing.

While this is a bit of a cheat, I’ll say the books of Madeleine L’Engle were hugely in uential to me, both ction and non- ction. Her way of weaving in faith and mystery are deeply moving to me. She was dedicated to her faith, but also believed that art needed to be excellent and she decried any “Christian art” that wasn’t excellent. at had a big impact on me as I was trying to gure out how to both be an artist and a Christian.

Her work also came into my life at a time when I needed to see examples of people who had deep Christian faith but who believed di erently than I had been taught growing up and her books were de nitely that. In Madeleine, I saw a model for who I might be able to become (as an artist, as a Christian, as a human), and I am forever grateful for her life and work and witness.

What’s next for you?

Kearns: I’m currently writing a new play and have just started another book. Both are grappling with masculinity and what it means to be a healthy man in this world ( ltered through the perspective of being transgender).

978-0-8028-7948-6 • Paperback • 215 pages • $19.99 US • $26.99 CAN • £15.99 UK AVAILABLE NOW

Shannon T. L. Kearns is an ordained priest, a playwright, a theologian, and the cofounder of Queer eology.com, which has reached more than a million people all over the world through videos, articles, and online courses and community.

Care

How People of Faith Can Respond to Our Broken Health System

G. Scott Morris

Foreword by Jim Wallis

Our health system doesn’t work for the most vulnerable. It’s time for people of faith to respond with concrete action to demonstrate God’s love and e ect real change. Here’s how.

Drawing from his experience as medical doctor, pastor, and founder and CEO of the nation’s largest charitably funded faith-based health-care center, Sco Morris sheds light on how we can live out a crucial aspect of discipleship by ministering to the vulnerable and underserved among us. rough the stories of people too o en ignored or dehumanized, Dr. Morris addresses the nancial and social barriers to health care for low-income and undocumented individuals, the lack of a ordable medications, the challenges of chronic disease and behavioral health issues, and the promising outcomes of faith-based care that treats the whole person.

“Dr. Sco Morris is the kind of person who, given a shovel and a mountain to move, would say, ‘Now, where exactly would you like it to go?’ In Memphis he pioneered a new way to address the health needs of the working poor. He models holistic medicine in all its dimensions, and this book shows how.”

PHILIP YANCEY

“Leonard Cohen sings, ‘ ere is a crack, a crack in everything / at’s how the light gets in,’ and Sco Morris tells the inspiring story of how we can enable the light of God’s love to shine through the cracks of our broken health-care system. Sco helps us see the light through stories of unconditional love and challenges us to learn to love as Christ loves and let the light shine through to change our own communities.”

G. Scott Morris is the founder and CEO of Church Health, a faith-based health-care center in Memphis, Tennessee, that o ers care for those underserved by the US health system. Dr. Morris holds an MDiv from Yale University and an MD from Emory University.

Bioethics for Nurses

A Christian Moral Vision

Alisha N. Mack, DNP, RN, FNP-C, and Charles C. Camosy, PhD

Recovering the foundation of faith in a profession enduring the pressures of a rapidly changing health-care system.

With the combined wisdom of Alisha Mack, a professor of nursing with many years of clinical experience, and Charles Camosy, an award-winning bioethicist and theologian, Bioethics for Nurses advances a vision for a holistic Christian notion of nursing and health care with practical applications for everyday relevance on the job. Topics explored include the treatment of the whole person, relational care, using health-care resources justly to meet the needs of underserved people, and conscience protection. In the last part, the authors re ect on the future of nursing a er COVID-19, making this an especially timely book for a pivotal moment in the history of the profession.

“ is book, rich with case studies, provides something di erent, needed, and useful.”

GILBERT MEILAENDER

author of Bioethics: A Primer for Christians “Where was this book when I was an undergrad?

of

and

documented and is clearly

studies and personal anecdotes om

opportunity for the

to

MICHELE ACITO

vice president and chief nursing o cer at Holy Name Medical Center

N. Mack, DNP, RN, FNP-C, is assistant professor of nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University and a doctorally prepared family nurse practitioner.

C. Camosy, PhD, is associate professor of theological and social ethics at

University.

author of Where the Light Fell and What’s So Amazing about Grace?

BRIAN K. MILFORD president and publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House

Resisting Apartheid America

Living the Badass Gospel

Miguel A. De La Torre

Miguel De La Torre foresees a future America dominated by white nationalists—and equips us with the tools to resist it.

Resisting Apartheid America assesses the past and present threads of systemic racism in American politics, from Plymouth Rock to the Capitol on January 6. Sweeping and unsparing in his critique, De La Torre takes on authors revered in Christian theology, including Paul, Augustine, and heroes of the Reformation, aiming to uproot the ideological foundations of racism in Christianity. Following these through lines of oppression, he warns of a decline in democracy and rise in political violence—but equips us with the nonviolent ethical framework to resist this bleak future. Resisting Apartheid America is a clarion call to Christians to remake America in the image of the God of liberation.

“In his distinctive and rigorous way, De La Torre gives us a provocative analysis of white Christian nationalism, which shows its face in sectarianism, religious chauvinism, social oppression, and political violence. And we are challenged to live out a di erent type of Christian faith that is courageous, turns away om death-dealing theologies, and works for true eedom.”

EDWIN DAVID APONTE Drew Theological School

Miguel A. De La Torre is professor of social ethics and Latinx studies at the Ili School of eology in Denver and author of over forty books. His commentary has appeared in prominent media outlets, including CNN, Telemundo, and NPR.

Jesus, Jubilee, and the Politics of God’s Reign

Christian T. Collins Winn Foreword by Sara Wilhelm Garbers

What if the kingdom of God is not a place, but a person?

In this timely work of liberation theology, Christian T. Collins Winn argues that the kingdom of God is Jesus himself. Explicating the core scriptural motifs of God’s reign, Jubilee, and apocalypse, Jesus, Jubilee, and the Politics of God’s Reign ampli es the echoes of salvation history in contemporary struggles for social justice.

“A tour de force that o ers a clarion call for all faith-believers to experience Jesus as the embodiment of the quintessential rule of God, which is ultimate, covenantal, self-giving love.”

CHERYL A. KIRK-DUGGAN scholar, author, and performer

“A thoughtful, judicious manifesto to which a ention must be paid.”

WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

Columbia Theological Seminary

is will be a text I will return to again and again to guide my teaching, preaching, and discipleship.”

JENNIFER M. MCBRIDE

author of You Shall Not Condemn: A Story of Faith and Advocacy on Death Row

Christian T. Collins Winn is adjunct professor of religion at Augsburg University and teaching minister and theologian in residence at Meetinghouse Church in Minnesota. He previously served as professor of historical and systematic theology at Bethel University.

QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross

and Conspiracy Theories

Edited by Michael W. Austin and Gregory L. Bock

said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.”

Although Christians are followers of the Truth, many nd themselves tempted by the alternate “truths” o ered by conspiracy theories. Christianity and conspiracy theories have had a long, complicated relationship. But today conspiracy theories are bringing our already polarized society to the brink of chaos. QAnon, the Big Lie, and anti-vaccination theories thrive online, disrupting faith communities. is timely essay collection explores the allure of conspiracy theories and their consequences—and ultimately o ers gospel-based paths forward.

CONTRIBUTORS

Chase Andre, Michael W. Austin, Bradley Baurain, Daniel Benne , Gregory L. Bock, Chad Bogosian, Kevin Carnahan, Jason Cook, Sco Culpepper, Stephen Davis, Garre J. Deweese, Marlena Graves, Shawn Graves, David Horner, Dru Johnson, Nathan King, Rick Langer, Christian Miller, Timothy Muehlho , Michelle Lynn Panchuk, Susan Peppers-Bates, Steven Porter, Kaitlyn Schiess, Aaron Simmons, Domonique Turnipseed, Rachel I. Wightman, Keith Wyma, Eric Yang

Michael W. Austin is professor of philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University and senior fellow at the Dietrich Bonhoe er Institute.

Gregory L. Bock is assistant professor of philosophy and religion and program director for the philosophy, religion studies, and Asian studies at the University of Texas at Tyler. He also serves as director for UT Tyler’s Center for Ethics.

Faith and Fake News

I. Wightman

Jesus.

past if you follow the devil.

Christians have seen something asinine like this on Facebook and rightly dismissed it. But not every post on social media is so obviously absurd. As online spaces increase in importance, it is urgent that we as Christians consider how to love our neighbors on the internet—and this includes sharing the truth.

Rachel I. Wightman has seen this problem rsthand as a librarian with over a decade of experience instructing students in information literacy. In Faith and Fake News, she shares her expertise with average Christians. is timely and essential guide explains the information landscape and its

bubbles, discusses techniques for fact-checking

and o ers suggestions on ways to engage with our neighbors online while bearing witness to Christ and the truth.

Wightman is a librarian, an educator, and a believer in nding the

She is currently the associate director for

at Concordia University, St. Paul. Prior to moving to

in

she spent two years as librarian and missionary in Kampala,

Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom

The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy

Shaun A. Casey

Foreword by John Kerry

Understanding the role of religion in global politics is crucial for e ective diplomacy.

Shaun A. Casey, the founding director of the US Department of State’s O ce of Religion and Global A airs, makes a compelling case for the necessity of understanding global religion in Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bo om. In this fresh and provocative narrative, Casey writes frankly about his work integrating sophisticated, research-driven policy into the State Department under Secretary of State John Kerry. Wi y and astute, Casey recounts his team’s challenges in DC politics as well as in the major global events of his tenure, including climate change, the rise of ISIL, and the refugee crisis.

“Shaun Casey has done the impossible: he brought a critical new element into our government bureaucracy, demonstrated its success, won at least some grudging acceptance, garnered appreciation om some would-be critics, and lived to write about it with panache.”

RUTH MESSINGER

American Jewish World Service

“A compelling argument for the need to take religion seriously in international and domestic diplomacy. It should be read by all who are interested in addressing the major issues con onting humans today.”

GREGORY E. STERLING

Yale Divinity School

Shaun A. Casey was Special Representative for Religion and Global A airs at the US Department of State and Director of the O ce of Religion and Global A airs from 2013 to 2017. He has taught at Harvard Divinity School, Wesley eological Seminary, and the Walsh School of Foreign Service and directed the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World A airs at Georgetown University.

A Study Guide for Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?

Kellogg Ray

Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?

Janet Kellogg Ray reached out to Christians who struggle to reconcile their creationist commitments and modern science. With this new study guide, she returns to her argument with fresh

an eye toward practical instruction. is guide makes the perfect companion for students and nonexpert readers of her book, as it includes notes, discussion questions, and lists of external resources to supplement each chapter. Expanded treatments of each topic encourage thinking with and beyond the concepts introduced in the main text.

Janet Kellogg Ray is an enthusiastic science educator, explainer, and communicator. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction, with een years of university teaching, both biology majors and nonmajors. Raised a creationist, Janet is a science educator and a practicing Christian who accepts evolution.

Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?

Janet Kellogg Ray

What Do We Do When Nobody Is Listening?

Leading the Church in a Polarized Society

Robin W. Lovin

Foreword by Adam Hamilton

A trusted senior statesman in Christian ethics and ministry addresses the crisis of political polarization threatening the existence of the church.

Polarization and political gridlock have been the norm in the United States for decades. As that reality seeps into every aspect of our society, churches nd themselves not only a ected, but o en at the very center of the con ict. What can pastors and church leaders do to restore unity in their divided congregations while still speaking the truth about important social issues?

Widely respected pastor and ethicist Robin Lovin o ers sage counsel in this helpful book, showing how our current situation of polarization came to be and arguing that Christians can shape a di erent response by learning to listen—to the Word of God, to the world, and to those who are not usually heard.

“Only read this book if you want to be transformed into becoming a blessing to the stranger who was once your neighbor.”

“Every pastor interested in helping a faith community stick together should be devouring these pages.”

Robin W. Lovin is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He formerly served as the William H. Scheide Senior Fellow in eology at the Center of eological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also a past president of the Society of Christian Ethics and a contributing editor to e Christian Century.

978-0-8028-8168-7

Why the Gospel?

Living the Good News of King Jesus with Purpose

Matthew W. Bates Foreword by Scot McKnight

£12.99

We know what the gospel is—but do we know why it is?

As Christians, we o en ask what the gospel is, when we should be asking why it is. Ma hew W. Bates has previously demonstrated that the “good news” of the gospel is that Jesus is King. But in his latest book, he explores God’s intentions: why has God issued this royal proclamation? And what role can it play in our everyday lives?

As Bates observes, we nd the answer in a simple but challenging realization: “I am a horrible king of my own life.” With examples from Scripture, literature, and personal experience, Bates explains what pledging allegiance to Jesus as ruler of our lives actually looks like. Living authentically according to God’s reign conforms humanity to the image of Jesus and extends his glory and honor to all creation.

Perfect for church studies, evangelism, or personal spiritual reading, Why the Gospel? invites readers to consider how we can transform our lives and communities through loyalty and devotion to King Jesus. e book includes questions to guide discussion.

“Ma hew Bates’s Why the Gospel? will help you discover God’s fullest gospel purposes, so that you and others can more thoroughly embrace a lifestyle of loyal discipleship.”

SCOT MCKNIGHT from the foreword

“Read and wrestle with this book; I am very glad that I did.”

BOBBY HARRINGTON pastor and CEO of discipleship.org and renew.org

Matthew W. Bates is professor of theology at Quincy University. A Protestant who enjoys the challenge of teaching in a Catholic context, Bates holds an M.C.S. from Regent College and a PhD from University of Notre Dame. He is cofounder of the OnScript podcast.

SAMUEL WELLS vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London

PETER W. MARTY editor and publisher of The Christian Century

Ted A. Smith is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Divinity and associate dean of faculty at Emory University’s Candler School of eology. He serves as director of the eological Education between the Times

Trauma-Informed Evangelism

Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers

Charles Kiser and Elaine A. Heath

“We are at the fore ont of a new reformation.”

So declares Elaine A. Heath in Trauma-Informed Evangelism, aiming to recover the God of love from the structures of hate that pervade Christian communities in America today. In their new guide, she and Charles Kiser work toward bringing this reformation to fruition through ministering speci cally to the spiritually traumatized.

Over the course of their study, Kiser and Heath amplify the voices of those who su ered misogynistic, racist, or homophobic abuse at the hands of the church. While carefully listening to these stories, Kiser and Heath bring them into conversation with the passion and resurrection of Jesus. Engaging with womanist and liberation theology, they see in the cruci xion a God who does not valorize su ering but shares the experience of the traumatized. Ultimately, this theodicy leads them to propose a new evangelism—one based not on fear and coercion but on witnessing the unconditional love of God.

“ is book is a bold yet compassionate guide for anyone who seeks to understand the impact of trauma on faith and the role the church should take in facilitating healing.”

TIFFANY YECKE BROOKS author of Gaslighted by God

Charles Kiser is a pastor and theologian with Storyline Christian Community in Dallas, Texas, a network of missional communities he helped to form. Kiser has a DMin in Contextual eology from Northern Seminary and serves as a faculty member of Neighborhood Seminary.

Elaine A. Heath is the author of eleven books and numerous articles, the most recent book being Loving the Hell Out of Ourselves (and Others), coauthored with her sister, Jeanine Heath-McGlinn. She formerly served as Dean of the Divinity School at Duke University.

EDUCATION BETWEEN

The End of Theological Education

Ted A. Smith

How to envision theological education in this time between the times e dominant model of theological education is coming to an end—but Ted A. Smith looks to its ultimate ends as sources of hope and renewal. Smith locates the challenges facing theological education today in a sweeping history of religion in the United States. He then connects these challenges to shi s in contemporary society, including declining religious a liation, rising desires for authenticity, and the unraveling of professions.

Smith refuses to tell this story as one of progress or decline. Instead, Smith invites readers to envision forms of church, ministry, and theological education oriented around knowing and being known by God.

MORE RECENT TEBT TITLES

S.

Atando Cabos Elizabeth Conde-Frazier 978-0-8028-7901-1

Notes of a Native Daughter Keri Day 978-0-8028-7882-3

People Get Ready

Jesus-Haunted Misfi ts, Malcontents, and Dreamers in

of

by Peter Slade, Shea Tuttle, and Jacqueline A. Bussie

succinct and evocative

presents a diverse cast of twentiethcentury activists who bore witness to their faith

unapologetic advocacy for the marginalized.

Ansley L. Quiros on Florence Jordan

Renée Dupont on Bruce Klunder

Tisby on Tom Skinner Mallory McDu on Rachel Carson Mark R. Gornik on Allan M. Tibbels Jane Hong on Mary Paik Lee

A. Bussie on Flannery O’Connor

Slade on Pete Seeger

Hostetler on Toni Morrison

P. Rhodes on Jack Egan

F. Winner on Sarah Patton Boyle

erese Lysaught on Ramon Dagoberto

Christian Parenting

Wisdom and Perspectives from American History

David P. Setran

In this illuminating historical study, David Setran catalogs the varying ways American Protestants envisioned the task of childrearing in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Comparing two main historical time periods—the colonial era and the Victorian era—Setran uncovers common threads, opposing viewpoints, and the cultural and religious in uences behind the dominant parenting “postures” of each era. As he surveys these historical perspectives, Setran re ects on the legacy and future of Christian parenting. In the end, he argues that all of these historical values are critical to the full expression of Christian parental love—a love that models Christlike sacri ce and guides children into the arms of their Creator.

Christ among Us

Sculptures of Jesus across the History of Art

Joseph Antenucci Becherer and Henry Martin Luttikhuizen

In this “catalogue for an imagined exhibition,” two prominent art historians—one from the Roman Catholic tradition, one from the Protestant tradition—o er a guided tour of y-two sculptures of Jesus Christ. e chronological scope of the selection ranges from the third century to the present, with the work of well-known sculptors featured alongside the work of less familiar sculptors that deserve more a ention. Along with lush, high-resolution photographs, each piece is accompanied by an essay that places it in context and brings it to life, so readers can experience the sculpture almost as vividly as they would in person.

“A book worth owning and worth savoring.”

Peter Slade is professor of the history of Christianity

Christian thought at Ashland University.

“I love good historical storytelling, and David Setran has a gi for helping us enter into the experiences of others. In so doing, we may begin to see ourselves more clearly.”

KEVIN E. LAWSON Biola University

JUDITH W. MANN St. Louis Art Museum

“A gorgeous book that inspires, teaches, and delights.”

ROBIN M. JENSEN University of Notre Dame

Tuttle

the author of Exactly as You Are and coeditor of Can I Get a Witness?

Jacqueline A. Bussie is the executive director of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research.

David P. Setran holds the Price-LeBar Chair of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College.

is the author of e College “Y” and the coauthor of Spiritual Formation in Emerging Adulthood.

Joseph Antenucci Becherer is the director and curator of sculpture at the University of Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art.

Henry Martin Luttikhuizen is professor of art history emeritus at Calvin University.

The Other Evangelicals

A Story of Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians—and the Movement That Pushed Them Out

Isaac B. Sharp

Foreword by David P. Gushee

What’s the rst thing that comes to mind when you hear “evangelical”?

For many, the answer is “white,” “patriarchal,” “conservative,” or “fundamentalist”—but as Isaac B. Sharp reveals, the big tent of evangelicalism has historically been much bigger than we’ve been led to believe. In e Other Evangelicals, Sharp brings to light the stories of those twentieth-century evangelicals who didn’t t the mold, including Black, feminist, progressive, and gay Christians.

Carefully researched and de ly wri en, e Other Evangelicals o ers a breath of fresh air for scholars seeking a more inclusive history of religion in America.

“Absorbing and authoritative, e Other Evangelicals will quickly establish itself as one of the most important books on American evangelicalism in the modern era. An essential read.”

New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne

“Sharp’s thesis is detailed, substantiated—and u erly persuasive.”

The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism

How the Evangelical Battle over the End Times Shaped a Nation Daniel G. Hummel Foreword by Mark A. Noll

A riveting history of dispensationalism and its in uence on popular culture, politics, and religion.

In e Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, Daniel G. Hummel illuminates how dispensationalism, despite o en being dismissed as a fringe apocalyptic movement, shaped Anglo-American evangelicalism and the larger American cultural imagination.

Hummel locates dispensationalism’s origin in the writings of the nineteenth-century Protestant John Nelson Darby, who established many of the hallmarks of the theology, such as premillennialism and belief in the rapture. ough it consistently faced criticism, dispensationalism held populist, and brie y scholarly, appeal—visible in everything from turn-ofthe-century revivalism to apocalyptic bestsellers of the 1970s to current internet conspiracy theories.

Measured and irenic, Hummel objectively evaluates evangelicalism’s most resilient (and contentious) popular theology. As the rst comprehensive intellectual-cultural history of its kind, e Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism is a must-read for students and scholars of American religion.

“Daniel Hummel’s great contribution in this book is to take a story that ‘everyone knows’ and show that what ‘everyone knows’ has barely scratched the surface. . . . is is a very good book on a very important subject.”

MARK A. NOLL from the foreword

Daniel G. Hummel is a historian of US religion and the author of Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations. He works at Upper House, a Christian study center located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

KRISTIN KOBES DU MEZ

RANDALL BALMER author of Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right

Isaac B. Sharp is director of online and part-time programs and visiting assistant professor at Union eological Seminary in the City of New York.

Strength for the Fight

The Life and Faith of Jackie Robinson Gary Scott Smith

How faith sustained Jackie Robinson—both as an athlete and as an activist.

is religious biography chronicles the important role of faith in Robinson’s life, from his childhood to his groundbreaking baseball career and through his transformative civil rights work—in the process, helping to humanize the man who has become a mythic gure in both sports history and American culture.

“Strength for the Fight provides the kind of detail that shows Robinson’s life in a new, stark, and esh light.”

ROBERT GREEN II Claflin University

“Meticulously researched, Strength for the Fight situates Robinson’s faith in wider society and culture as no other book does. It’s a signi cant contribution not only to our understanding of Robinson but also to the growing eld of religion and sports.”

MICHAEL G. LONG coauthor of Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography

“If, like me, you can’t learn enough about Jackie Robinson, you must read Gary Sco Smith’s book. Its focus on how Robinson’s progressive Christian faith supported his passionate commitment to social justice and his ght against racism, both in the world of baseball and in American society, is a vital contribution to understanding Robinson’s legacy and its signi cance to the eld of religion and sport.”

Gary Scott Smith is professor of history emeritus at Grove City College. In 2001, he was named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is the author or editor of eighteen books, including Duty and Destiny and Religion in the Oval O ce.

An Odd Cross to Bear

A Biography of Ruth Bell Graham Anne Blue Wills

e fascinating life story, told critically but sympathetically, of a paragon of twentieth-century white Christian womanhood—and the wife of evangelist Billy Graham.

Ruth Bell Graham’s legacy is closely associated with that of her husband, whose career placed her in the public eye throughout her life. But Ruth carried a strong sense of her own agency and was widely in uential in her own right. roughout this biography, Anne Blue Wills focuses not on Ruth’s peripheral role in Billy’s life, but on her own interests, ambitions, and fears— as a devoted mother of ve, as the fastidious manager of a household, as a devout and well-read Christian, and as a beloved writer and poet.

“ e author elegantly balances historical perspective, narrative cohesion, and an eye for detail, cra ing a richly textured biography. Intimate and insightful, this vividly illuminates the life of a major yet o en overlooked gure of 20th-century American evangelicalism.”

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY (starred review)

“Deeply researched, de ly executed, gracefully wri en, and brilliantly conceived.”

GRANT WACKER

Anne Blue Wills is professor and chair of religious studies at Davidson College. She is also the coeditor, with Andrew Finstuen and Grant Wacker, of Billy Graham: American Pilgrim, in which she wrote a chapter about Ruth Bell Graham’s in uence on Billy Graham’s career.

Duke University; author of One Soul at a Time: The Story of Billy Graham

REBECCA T. ALPERT author of Religion and Sports and Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball

We Will Be Free

The Life and Faith of Sojourner Truth

Nancy Koester

Foreword by Alicia K. Jackson

ough born into slavery, Sojourner Truth would defy the limits placed upon her as a Black woman to become one of the nineteenth century’s most renowned female preachers and civil rights advocates. Although women could not be trained as ministers at the time, Truth developed a charismatic presence and persuasive voice, which she used to advocate for racial justice and women’s su rage during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Nancy Koester’s carefully researched and lively narrative challenges modern readers to consider how they can continue Truth’s legacy of faith in action.

“ is is more than the biography of a single, remarkable woman, it tells the story of the whole nation—halting steps toward eedom, the risk and rewards of speaking the truth and, most of all, the un agging hope that change is possible.”

Nancy Koester holds a PhD in church history and has taught at both the college and seminary levels. She is ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Her work focuses on nineteenth-century American history, especially the antislavery movement, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Oral Roberts and the Rise of the Prosperity Gospel

Jonathan Root Foreword by Daniel Vaca

Jonathan Root’s fresh biography covers Oral Roberts’s early life and career, his healing ministry’s explosive growth in popularity via radio and television, and his empire’s eventual collapse. Root pays special a ention to how Roberts introduced the “prosperity gospel” to American Protestants with his a rmation that God intends his followers to be both spiritually and physically ful lled. Ultimately, the Oral Roberts who emerges is both deeply awed and entirely sincere in his devotion to Christ.

“Fascinating. Timely. is lively book resurrects Oral Roberts as the preacher of modern capitalism we can no longer ignore.”

KATE BOWLER Duke Divinity School

Jonathan Root is a postdoctoral teaching fellow in history at the University of Missouri. He defended his dissertation, “Total Salvation: e Gospel of the Abundant Life and American Culture, 1947–1989,” in December 2015. e dissertation is a study of the relationship between the prosperity gospel and American culture, speci cally its consumer and therapeutic elements.

Abraham Lincoln

Redeemer President SECOND EDITION

Allen C. Guelzo

Allen Guelzo’s

JEMAR TISBY New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism

Lessons and Carols

A Meditation on Recovery

John West

“Maybe redemption is not a place you nd, but a system of mapmaking. Sketch a land. Pencil in dragons. Imagine it real, resplendent, and broken under a waxing moon.”

Lessons and Carols is a genre-bending memoir that explores the a ershocks of alcoholism and mental illness through a fresh look at the powers of poetry, ritual, and community. As a new parent, West grapples with his own fragmented recovery and grief for the friends he lost to addiction, asking if anyone can really change, or if we are always bound to repeat the past.

Echoing the form of a traditional Anglican Christmas service of stories and songs, West’s lyrical prose invites readers into an unorthodox rendition of the liturgy called Lessons and Carols. Both tender and bracing, West’s poetic meditation of the possibilities of change will resonate deeply with anyone who has tired of their own destructive loops. In this stirring account of recovery, redemption remains elusive—and also as tangible as the promise of a newborn.

Hardscrabble winter, gray and lonely, requires Christmas. Or, rather, in its depths, I require Christmas: words no longer cold, chrome, and barren, but alive, golden, cradled in my arms.

“Lessons and Carols fearlessly examines ideas about innocence, resentment, loss, and renewal, asking, can we actually change or are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes forever? John West’s pursuit of truth and beauty in this book is both masterful and unforge able”

John West is a technologist and writer, currently reporting the news with code at the Wall Street Journal, where his work has won multiple awards and been a nalist for a Pulitzer Prize. He holds an MFA in writing from the Bennington Writing Seminars and degrees in philosophy and music performance from Oberlin College.

Shattered

A Son Picks Up the Pieces of His Father’s Rage

Arthur Boers

Foreword by Andre Dubus III

A sensitive and penetrating re ection on coming of age in a Dutch immigrant family scarred by violence

In Sha ered, Boers re ects on coming of age in a family scarred by violence. e son of Dutch immigrants, Boers illuminates the generational trauma of the Nazi occupation of Holland, refracted in vigne es of his boyhood in postwar Canada. His hard-working, Calvinist family is endearing, but ultimately unable to address the insidious cycle of abuse that passed father to son. Breaking with this silence and complicity, Boers re ects candidly and empathetically on his tumultuous relationship with his father. Intertwined with this narrative is his emerging vocation to ministry, more mystical and expressive than the Reformed tradition in which he was raised.

Forthright and authentic, Boers extends a hand in solidarity to readers who have been wounded by those who were meant to protect them the most. With Sha ered, he charts a path toward healing through faith.

Arthur Boers is an Anglican priest and author of several award-winning books, including Never Call em Jerks, e Way Is Made by Walking, Living into Focus, and Servants and Fools. He holds a DMin from Northern Baptist eological Seminary and an MFA from Sea le Paci c University.

MORE RECENT MEMOIRS

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CHELSEA HODSON author of Tonight I’m Someone Else

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