Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible
Published: Oct 2007
Price range: £22.50 through £60.00
'Orientalism' refers both to the academic study of the Orient and to Western scholarship that clings to stock images of the timeless East and oriental despotism. This landmark collection of essays, the first in its field, is written by seasoned art historians, Assyriologists and biblical specialists; it is organized under four rubrics:
1. Intellectual and Disciplinary Histories identifies waymarks in the rise of Assyriology in America, shifting images of ancient Assyria in their cultural context, Smithsonian Institution exhibits of 'biblical antiquities' at the world's fairs of 1893 and 1895, the rise of Egyptology in the nineteenth century, Mari scholarship and its impact on biblical studies, and the ancient Near Eastern text anthology as genre (Foster, Frahm, Holloway Reid, Younger).
2. Visual Perspectives suggests itself as a corrective to the academic habit of conjuring a 'texted Orient'. Here are contributions that describe Assyrianizing engravings in the famous Dalziels' Bible Gallery, the reception of ancient Assyria in nineteenth-century England versus France, and artwork for twentieth-century American histories of Israel (Bohrer, Esposito, Long).
3. Of Harems and Heroines explores gender issues in the context of the figure of Semiramis and the idea of the harem in biblical research and Assyriology (Asher-Greve, Solvang).
4. Assyriology and the Bible offers essays that focus on specific figures (Josiah), texts (Genesis 28.10-22, the Uruk Prophecy), or periods (Persian period in biblical historiography) (Grabbe, Handy, Hurowitz, Scurlock).
The volume includes a Bibliography of some 1000 items, an important resource.
Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible
Price range: £22.50 through £60.00
'Orientalism' refers both to the academic study of the Orient and to Western scholarship that clings to stock images of the timeless East and oriental despotism. This landmark collection of essays, the first in its field, is written by seasoned art historians, Assyriologists and biblical specialists; it is organized under four rubrics:
1. Intellectual and Disciplinary Histories identifies waymarks in the rise of Assyriology in America, shifting images of ancient Assyria in their cultural context, Smithsonian Institution exhibits of 'biblical antiquities' at the world's fairs of 1893 and 1895, the rise of Egyptology in the nineteenth century, Mari scholarship and its impact on biblical studies, and the ancient Near Eastern text anthology as genre (Foster, Frahm, Holloway Reid, Younger).
2. Visual Perspectives suggests itself as a corrective to the academic habit of conjuring a 'texted Orient'. Here are contributions that describe Assyrianizing engravings in the famous Dalziels' Bible Gallery, the reception of ancient Assyria in nineteenth-century England versus France, and artwork for twentieth-century American histories of Israel (Bohrer, Esposito, Long).
3. Of Harems and Heroines explores gender issues in the context of the figure of Semiramis and the idea of the harem in biblical research and Assyriology (Asher-Greve, Solvang).
4. Assyriology and the Bible offers essays that focus on specific figures (Josiah), texts (Genesis 28.10-22, the Uruk Prophecy), or periods (Persian period in biblical historiography) (Grabbe, Handy, Hurowitz, Scurlock).
The volume includes a Bibliography of some 1000 items, an important resource.
New Seals and Inscriptions, Hebrew, Idumean and Cuneiform
Published: Sep 2007
£55.00
This collection of 16 papers is a significant addition to our textual evidence for the world of the Bible: it presents over 50 inscriptions, tablets and seals from the collections of Shlomo Moussaieff, in Hebrew, Idumean, and cuneiform. Most of these texts are being published here for the first time.
New Seals and Inscriptions, Hebrew, Idumean and Cuneiform
£55.00
This collection of 16 papers is a significant addition to our textual evidence for the world of the Bible: it presents over 50 inscriptions, tablets and seals from the collections of Shlomo Moussaieff, in Hebrew, Idumean, and cuneiform. Most of these texts are being published here for the first time.
Incarnate Word, Inscribed Flesh: John’s Prologue and the Postmodern
Published: Aug 2007
£50.00
The pre-existent, transcendent Logos, the principal character in the prologue of John's Gospel, is a prime example of a unified and centred concept, such as denounced as illusory by deconstruction. In this ground-breaking study, Nutu offers an unremittingly postmodern scrutiny of the Logos as the incarnate word that becomes visible as it is inscribed in human flesh. Within view also is the reverse process, of becoming 'children of God', which signifies human beings willingly accepting God's word, his tattoo, upon their flesh in order to pertain to the realm of the Logos.
A second strand of this book is Nutu's tracing the fragmented afterlives of John's Prologue and their different effects on the formation of subjects (with a particular focus on homo religiosus and feminine 'I's) through postmodern film. At the dawn of a new millennium, films continue to play an important role in the cultural development of society; even moving away from the self-confessed biblical films, new productions like The Pillow Book, The Fifth Element and The Matrix (all engaged here) mediate elements of biblical narrative, theology, allegory, ethics and identity.
As the Bible continues its influence on society and the formation of subject positions, biblical texts are re-interpreted, recycled within many discourses. This is a study that skilfully interweaves a number of contemporary theoretical currents such as deconstruction, psychoanalytical criticism, gender and cultural studies and initiates a new approach to interpretation, namely postcommunist, influenced by the writer's own experience of growing up in Romania.
Incarnate Word, Inscribed Flesh: John’s Prologue and the Postmodern
£50.00
The pre-existent, transcendent Logos, the principal character in the prologue of John's Gospel, is a prime example of a unified and centred concept, such as denounced as illusory by deconstruction. In this ground-breaking study, Nutu offers an unremittingly postmodern scrutiny of the Logos as the incarnate word that becomes visible as it is inscribed in human flesh. Within view also is the reverse process, of becoming 'children of God', which signifies human beings willingly accepting God's word, his tattoo, upon their flesh in order to pertain to the realm of the Logos.
A second strand of this book is Nutu's tracing the fragmented afterlives of John's Prologue and their different effects on the formation of subjects (with a particular focus on homo religiosus and feminine 'I's) through postmodern film. At the dawn of a new millennium, films continue to play an important role in the cultural development of society; even moving away from the self-confessed biblical films, new productions like The Pillow Book, The Fifth Element and The Matrix (all engaged here) mediate elements of biblical narrative, theology, allegory, ethics and identity.
As the Bible continues its influence on society and the formation of subject positions, biblical texts are re-interpreted, recycled within many discourses. This is a study that skilfully interweaves a number of contemporary theoretical currents such as deconstruction, psychoanalytical criticism, gender and cultural studies and initiates a new approach to interpretation, namely postcommunist, influenced by the writer's own experience of growing up in Romania.
In Other Words: Essays on Social Science Methods and the New Testament in Honor of Jerome H. Neyrey
Published: Jun 2007
£50.00
Jerome H. Neyrey, Professor of New Testament at the University of Notre Dame since 1992, is widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to social-scientific criticism of the Gospels and the Epistles. In this Festschrift the contributors notably advance the cause of social-scientific New Testament study. David Aune writes on Christian beginnings and cognitive dissonance theory, Zeba Crook on constructing a model of ancient prayer, Craig deVos on good news to the poor in Luke, John H. Elliott on envy and the evil eye, Philip Esler on the development of a non-ethnic group identity in John, Bruce Malina and John Pilch on the wrath of God, Halvor Moxnes on masculinity and place in Luke, Douglas Oakman on coinage in the Judean temple system, Carolyn Osiek on motivation for the conversion of women in early Christianity, Eric Stewart on the city in Mark, and Gerd Theissen on early Christian communities and ancient organizations.
In Other Words: Essays on Social Science Methods and the New Testament in Honor of Jerome H. Neyrey
£50.00
Jerome H. Neyrey, Professor of New Testament at the University of Notre Dame since 1992, is widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to social-scientific criticism of the Gospels and the Epistles. In this Festschrift the contributors notably advance the cause of social-scientific New Testament study. David Aune writes on Christian beginnings and cognitive dissonance theory, Zeba Crook on constructing a model of ancient prayer, Craig deVos on good news to the poor in Luke, John H. Elliott on envy and the evil eye, Philip Esler on the development of a non-ethnic group identity in John, Bruce Malina and John Pilch on the wrath of God, Halvor Moxnes on masculinity and place in Luke, Douglas Oakman on coinage in the Judean temple system, Carolyn Osiek on motivation for the conversion of women in early Christianity, Eric Stewart on the city in Mark, and Gerd Theissen on early Christian communities and ancient organizations.
What Must I Do to Be Saved? Paul Parts Company with His Jewish Heritage
Published: Apr 2007
£50.00
How can one escape God's wrath and gain eternal life? On this crucial theological question, Paul differs from other members of the second-Temple Jewish community. Their soteriology is synergistic: for them, though eschatological salvation is due to God's merciful removal of human guilt, obedience to the Law is also indispensable. The divine and the human co-operate.
Paul however believes that under such a scheme anything less than perfect obedience to the Law is futile. In consequence, if there is to be salvation for sinful humans, it must be a salvation independent of all human effort and achievement, and thus solely through faith. Contrary to the recent consensus, Paul's concern was not primarily the inclusion of gentiles into the church.
This non-synergistic soteriology of Paul's may seem undermined by some of his own statements, that believers must submit to eschatological judgment and that the person without good works will be disqualified from eschatological salvation. But this conclusion is incorrect. For what he holds is that the good works indispensable for salvation are necessarily performed by the believer as manifestations of the indwelling Spirit present in those who have faith in Christ.
What Must I Do to Be Saved? Paul Parts Company with His Jewish Heritage
£50.00
How can one escape God's wrath and gain eternal life? On this crucial theological question, Paul differs from other members of the second-Temple Jewish community. Their soteriology is synergistic: for them, though eschatological salvation is due to God's merciful removal of human guilt, obedience to the Law is also indispensable. The divine and the human co-operate.
Paul however believes that under such a scheme anything less than perfect obedience to the Law is futile. In consequence, if there is to be salvation for sinful humans, it must be a salvation independent of all human effort and achievement, and thus solely through faith. Contrary to the recent consensus, Paul's concern was not primarily the inclusion of gentiles into the church.
This non-synergistic soteriology of Paul's may seem undermined by some of his own statements, that believers must submit to eschatological judgment and that the person without good works will be disqualified from eschatological salvation. But this conclusion is incorrect. For what he holds is that the good works indispensable for salvation are necessarily performed by the believer as manifestations of the indwelling Spirit present in those who have faith in Christ.
The Performed Bible: The Story of Ruth in Opera and Oratorio
Published: Apr 2007
£40.00
The Bible and Western culture is a burgeoning area of interest in recent scholarship, but comparatively little has been written on the Bible and music. Leneman's is a groundbreaking work, making some pioneering forays across an important interdisciplinary divide.
The Performed Bible is an in-depth study of the librettos and music of 12 operas and oratorios on the story of Ruth from the last two centuries, establishing the potential of music, as a kind of midrash, for transforming a Bible text, its narrative and its characterization. The book includes detailed analyses of musical segments, the author being a cantor and professional musician in whose Jewish tradition biblical texts are chanted, not read.
This fresh and insightful work will no doubt prove attractive to biblical scholars, to musicians and to music lovers generally.
The Performed Bible: The Story of Ruth in Opera and Oratorio
£40.00
The Bible and Western culture is a burgeoning area of interest in recent scholarship, but comparatively little has been written on the Bible and music. Leneman's is a groundbreaking work, making some pioneering forays across an important interdisciplinary divide.
The Performed Bible is an in-depth study of the librettos and music of 12 operas and oratorios on the story of Ruth from the last two centuries, establishing the potential of music, as a kind of midrash, for transforming a Bible text, its narrative and its characterization. The book includes detailed analyses of musical segments, the author being a cantor and professional musician in whose Jewish tradition biblical texts are chanted, not read.
This fresh and insightful work will no doubt prove attractive to biblical scholars, to musicians and to music lovers generally.
Works of the Law at Qumran and in Paul
Published: Mar 2007
£60.00
The phrase 'works of the law' occurs only in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in Paul, but it has a different connotation in each corpus.
At Qumran, the 'works of the law' are deeds of obedience to God's law, and are ultimately inspired by God. They function as a means of atonement, whether for the individual who performs them or for the sins of others.
For Paul, on the other hand, the 'works of the law' are quintessentially the works of Abraham. Though they are indeed good deeds, Abraham himself was a sinful man, and so his deeds could not make atonement for himself or for others. In fact, Paul is reacting against the idea of Abraham as a redeemer figure that was held by some of his contemporaries.
The phrase 'works of the law' thus takes on a negative coloration in Paul, as a deceptively false means of salvation. In contrast to Qumran, Paul's position is that justification must be effected 'apart from works of the law', and thus by Jesus Christ. Abraham is no 'second Adam', as some were thinking, and his good deeds, epitomized in his sacrifice of Isaac, had no atoning value.
This closely reasoned study makes an important contribution to the study of New Testament theology; it undertakes to settle some long-standing debates about Paul's soteriology by proposing an alternative both to traditional interpretation of Paul and to the 'New Perspective on Paul'.
Works of the Law at Qumran and in Paul
£60.00
The phrase 'works of the law' occurs only in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in Paul, but it has a different connotation in each corpus.
At Qumran, the 'works of the law' are deeds of obedience to God's law, and are ultimately inspired by God. They function as a means of atonement, whether for the individual who performs them or for the sins of others.
For Paul, on the other hand, the 'works of the law' are quintessentially the works of Abraham. Though they are indeed good deeds, Abraham himself was a sinful man, and so his deeds could not make atonement for himself or for others. In fact, Paul is reacting against the idea of Abraham as a redeemer figure that was held by some of his contemporaries.
The phrase 'works of the law' thus takes on a negative coloration in Paul, as a deceptively false means of salvation. In contrast to Qumran, Paul's position is that justification must be effected 'apart from works of the law', and thus by Jesus Christ. Abraham is no 'second Adam', as some were thinking, and his good deeds, epitomized in his sacrifice of Isaac, had no atoning value.
This closely reasoned study makes an important contribution to the study of New Testament theology; it undertakes to settle some long-standing debates about Paul's soteriology by proposing an alternative both to traditional interpretation of Paul and to the 'New Perspective on Paul'.
Protest Against God: The Eclipse of a Biblical Tradition
Published: Jan 2007
Price range: £15.00 through £50.00
The Hebrew Bible contains many examples of protest or complaint against God. There are classic cases in the psalms of individual lament, but we find the same attitude in community complaint psalms, in the prophetic challenges to God, and in the Book of Job.
And yet, after the exile, the complaint tradition was largely suppressed or marginalized. In this imaginative book, Morrow asks the unheard of question, Why? A shift in the religious imagination of early Judaism had taken place, he argues, spearheaded by the psychology of trauma and by international politics. A magnification of divine transcendence downgraded the intercessory role of the prophet, controlled the raw pain of exile (Lamentations, Second Isaiah), and led to intransigent refusal of the logic of lament (the friends and Yahweh in Job). The theology of complaint was eventually overshadowed by the piety of penitence and praise (the Dead Sea Scrolls).
Modern readers of the Hebrew Bible are not obliged to assent to the loss of lament, nevertheless. Ours is an age when the potency of the biblical complaints against God is being newly appropriated. Although the transcendental imagination of Western culture itself is moving into eclipse, a heightened individual consciousness has emerged. There may still be life, therefore, in the ancient prayer pattern of arguing with God, which assumes that worshippers have rights with God as well as duties, that the Creator has obligations to the creation as well as prerogatives.
This stylish intellectual history will be welcomed for its scope, its panache and its theological engagement. Awarded the 2007 R.B.Y. Scott Book Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Hebrew Bible and/or the Ancient Near East written by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.
Protest Against God: The Eclipse of a Biblical Tradition
Price range: £15.00 through £50.00
The Hebrew Bible contains many examples of protest or complaint against God. There are classic cases in the psalms of individual lament, but we find the same attitude in community complaint psalms, in the prophetic challenges to God, and in the Book of Job.
And yet, after the exile, the complaint tradition was largely suppressed or marginalized. In this imaginative book, Morrow asks the unheard of question, Why? A shift in the religious imagination of early Judaism had taken place, he argues, spearheaded by the psychology of trauma and by international politics. A magnification of divine transcendence downgraded the intercessory role of the prophet, controlled the raw pain of exile (Lamentations, Second Isaiah), and led to intransigent refusal of the logic of lament (the friends and Yahweh in Job). The theology of complaint was eventually overshadowed by the piety of penitence and praise (the Dead Sea Scrolls).
Modern readers of the Hebrew Bible are not obliged to assent to the loss of lament, nevertheless. Ours is an age when the potency of the biblical complaints against God is being newly appropriated. Although the transcendental imagination of Western culture itself is moving into eclipse, a heightened individual consciousness has emerged. There may still be life, therefore, in the ancient prayer pattern of arguing with God, which assumes that worshippers have rights with God as well as duties, that the Creator has obligations to the creation as well as prerogatives.
This stylish intellectual history will be welcomed for its scope, its panache and its theological engagement. Awarded the 2007 R.B.Y. Scott Book Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Hebrew Bible and/or the Ancient Near East written by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.
Text and Community, Vol. 1: Essays in Memory of Bruce M. Metzger
Published: Jan 2007
£50.00
Bruce Manning Metzger, New Testament professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, died in February 2007 at the age of 93. This volume in his honour was already in preparation, and has become of necessity a memorial volume rather than the Festschrift that was intended.
Metzger has been called the greatest American New Testament critic and biblical translator of the twentieth century. Among his writings most commonly cited are his classic studies The Text of the New Testament, its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (1964) and The Early Versions of the New Testament, their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations (1977). He was also Chair of the Committee of Translators for the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (published 1990).
The first of these two wide-ranging and often innovative volumes created in his honour, subtitled Interpretation of the Text for the Community, falls into two parts: The Nature of the Bible: Manuscripts, Texts, and Translation (e.g. an ancient papyrus biblical fragment, biblical exegesis in the third world), and Understanding the Bible: Hermeneutics (e.g. biblical interpretation in Paul in its cultural context).
The second volume, on Implementation of the Text in the Community, has as its two parts, The Church and the Bible: Pulpit and Parish (e.g. pastoral care and the Bible) and The Academy, Science, Culture, Society, and the Bible (e.g. psychological method and the historical Jesus, Jungian and Freudian perspectives on gender in the Gospel of John).
Text and Community, Vol. 1: Essays in Memory of Bruce M. Metzger
£50.00
Bruce Manning Metzger, New Testament professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, died in February 2007 at the age of 93. This volume in his honour was already in preparation, and has become of necessity a memorial volume rather than the Festschrift that was intended.
Metzger has been called the greatest American New Testament critic and biblical translator of the twentieth century. Among his writings most commonly cited are his classic studies The Text of the New Testament, its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (1964) and The Early Versions of the New Testament, their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations (1977). He was also Chair of the Committee of Translators for the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (published 1990).
The first of these two wide-ranging and often innovative volumes created in his honour, subtitled Interpretation of the Text for the Community, falls into two parts: The Nature of the Bible: Manuscripts, Texts, and Translation (e.g. an ancient papyrus biblical fragment, biblical exegesis in the third world), and Understanding the Bible: Hermeneutics (e.g. biblical interpretation in Paul in its cultural context).
The second volume, on Implementation of the Text in the Community, has as its two parts, The Church and the Bible: Pulpit and Parish (e.g. pastoral care and the Bible) and The Academy, Science, Culture, Society, and the Bible (e.g. psychological method and the historical Jesus, Jungian and Freudian perspectives on gender in the Gospel of John).
Empire and Apocalypse: Postcolonialism and the New Testament
Published: Oct 2006
Price range: £18.50 through £37.00
In Empire and Apocalypse Stephen Moore offers us the most complete introduction yet to the emergent field of postcolonial biblical criticism. It includes an indispensable in-depth introduction to postcolonial theory and criticism together with a detailed survey of postcolonial biblical criticism.
Next come three substantial exegetical chapters on the Gospels of Mark and John and the Book of Revelation, which together demonstrate how postcolonial studies provide fresh conceptual resources and critical strategies for rethinking early Christianity's complex relations to the Roman Empire. Each of these three texts, to different degrees, Moore argues, mimic and replicate fundamental facets of Roman imperial ideology even while resisting and eroding it.
The book concludes with an amply annotated bibliography whose main section provides a comprehensive listing of work done to date in postcolonial biblical criticism.
Empire and Apocalypse: Postcolonialism and the New Testament
Price range: £18.50 through £37.00
In Empire and Apocalypse Stephen Moore offers us the most complete introduction yet to the emergent field of postcolonial biblical criticism. It includes an indispensable in-depth introduction to postcolonial theory and criticism together with a detailed survey of postcolonial biblical criticism.
Next come three substantial exegetical chapters on the Gospels of Mark and John and the Book of Revelation, which together demonstrate how postcolonial studies provide fresh conceptual resources and critical strategies for rethinking early Christianity's complex relations to the Roman Empire. Each of these three texts, to different degrees, Moore argues, mimic and replicate fundamental facets of Roman imperial ideology even while resisting and eroding it.
The book concludes with an amply annotated bibliography whose main section provides a comprehensive listing of work done to date in postcolonial biblical criticism.
Voyages in Uncharted Waters: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Biblical Interpretation in Honor of David Jobling
Published: Oct 2006
£50.00
This volume honours the work of David Jobling, the distinguished Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at St Andrew's College, Saskatoon, Canada. Jobling has been noted for his adventurous forays into the theory and practice of biblical interpretation, especially of the Hebrew Bible, and for his interdisciplinary bridge-building. The volume is divided into three sections corresponding to three of Jobling's principal interests, each section being prefaced with an introduction to his work in that area by the editors.
Section 1 is on Post-Structuralism, with contributions by Gary Phillips, George Aichele, Francis Landy, Robert Culley and Matthew Mitchell. In Section 2, on Ideological Criticism, the authors are Roland Boer, David Gunn, Volker Greifenhagen and Tina Pippin. Section 3, on Global Readings, contains papers by Gerald West, Jione Havea, Ed Conrad and Norman Habel.
The Festschrift concludes with personal tributes by Christopher Lind and Norman Gottwald.
Voyages in Uncharted Waters: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Biblical Interpretation in Honor of David Jobling
£50.00
This volume honours the work of David Jobling, the distinguished Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at St Andrew's College, Saskatoon, Canada. Jobling has been noted for his adventurous forays into the theory and practice of biblical interpretation, especially of the Hebrew Bible, and for his interdisciplinary bridge-building. The volume is divided into three sections corresponding to three of Jobling's principal interests, each section being prefaced with an introduction to his work in that area by the editors.
Section 1 is on Post-Structuralism, with contributions by Gary Phillips, George Aichele, Francis Landy, Robert Culley and Matthew Mitchell. In Section 2, on Ideological Criticism, the authors are Roland Boer, David Gunn, Volker Greifenhagen and Tina Pippin. Section 3, on Global Readings, contains papers by Gerald West, Jione Havea, Ed Conrad and Norman Habel.
The Festschrift concludes with personal tributes by Christopher Lind and Norman Gottwald.
Qoheleth, Second Edition
Qoheleth, Second Edition