Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church

The third volume in the exciting new Interpretation series offers a comprehensive look at the theology of sacraments. For many church people, worship is about preaching and music. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are occasional additions to Sunday services. Recognizing that church-goers are uncertain about the need for sacraments, Ronald Byars describes the possibility that the very doing of worship-the actions observed, the postures assumed, the sound and sight of water, the smell and taste of bread and wine-will subtly alter the temper of the heart and the mind. If we encounter the sacraments honestly, they lead us to the very heart of the gospel.

C. Clifton Black provides a thorough analysis of the most famous prayer in the Christian church, the Lords Prayer. He begins with an impressionist painting of how the ancients prayed during Jesus time in order to set the context for understanding the prayer he taught his disciples. Throughout the book, Black systematically interprets the rich meanings of each part of the Lords prayer. Additionally, he includes an overview of Christian thought on the Lords Prayer from early church mothers and fathers like Tertullian and Teresa of Avila to modern theologians like Karl Barth. Uniquely, this book is an academic study of the Lords Prayer with a focus on the rhetorical culture from which it developed as well as the theological, literary, and historical meanings of the prayer itself.

In God the Creator: Biblical Images of the Divine, Steven Tuell explores the rich tapestry of biblical creation accounts to uncover how Scripture speaks of God, the world, and humanity's place within it. The Bible doesn't offer just one image or account of God as creator-it offers many that are held together in a rich and faithful tension. So, then what does it mean to call God "Creator"? Drawing from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Tuell guides readers through the diverse and sometimes surprising ways the Bible portrays creation and the Creator. While giving careful attention to Genesis 1–3, Tuell also broadens the conversation to include texts from Exodus, Judges, Psalms, Habakkuk, Revelation, and more. He identifies four major biblical images of God as creator: • God as warrior bringing order from chaos • God as king shaping creation through divine decree • God as potter crafting the world by hand • God as gardener in Eden/Zion-a sacred place calling us to care for creation Tuell also places these biblical portraits in conversation with the ancient cultures that surrounded Israel, revealing both resonances and striking distinctions. The result is a theologically rich, pastorally grounded resource that embraces the Bible's plurality of creation narratives not as contradiction but as a faithful witness to the mystery of divine creativity. An appendix on preaching equips clergy and teachers to bring these insights on the varied images and themes of creation into their communities. This is an essential resource for anyone seeking new answers to our deepest questions about who we are, who God is, and what the meaning of life is.

What was it like to be a woman in the biblical period? It depended, in part, on who you were: a queen, a judge, a primary wife, a secondary wife, a widow, a slave, or some other kind of "ordinary woman." In Women in the Bible, Jaime Clark-Soles investigates how women are presented in Scripture, taking into account cultural views of both ancient societies as well as our own. While women today are exercising leadership in churches across a number of denominations and our scholarly knowledge related to women in the Bible has grown immensely, challenges remain. Most of Christendom still excludes women from religious leadership, and many Christians invoke the Bible to circumscribe women's leadership in the public square and in the home as well. It is more urgent than ever, therefore, to investigate closely, honestly, and intrepidly what the Bible does and doesn't say about women. In a multipronged approach, Clark-Soles treats well-known biblical women from fresh perspectives, highlights women who have been ignored, and recovers those who have been erased from historical memory by particular moves made in the transmission and translations of the text. She explores symbolic feminized figures like Woman Wisdom and the Whore of Babylon and reclaims the uses of feminine imagery in the Bible that often go unnoticed. Chapters focus on themes of God's relationship to gender, women and violence, women as creators, and women in the ministry of both Jesus and Paul. Clark-Soles aims to equip clergy and other leaders invested in the study of Scripture to consider women in the Bible from multiple angles and, as a result, help people of all genders to live God's vision of better, more just lives as we navigate the challenges of our complex, globally connected world. --- Table of Contents Series Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Of Canaanites and Canines: Matthew 15 2. God across Gender 3. Women and Violence in the Bible: Truth Telling, Solidarity, and Hope 4. Women Creating 5. The Book of Ruth: One of the "Women's Books" in the Bible 6. Magnificent Mary and Her Magnificat: Like Mother, Like Son 7. Women in Jesus's Life and Ministry 8. Jesus across Gender 9. Women in Paul's Ministry 10. The Muting of Paul and His Female Coworkers: Women in the Deutero-Pauline Epistles Conclusion: In the End, Toward the End (Goal): Truth, with Hope Works Cited Scripture Index Subject Index

The Bible frequently depicts God as angry and violent, and also sometimes depicts human violence as positive or even as commanded by God. This forms one of the most vexing problems in approaching Scripture and in interpreting the Bible for preaching and teaching today. In this volume, Creach first examines the theological problems of violence and categorizes the types of violence that appear in scripture. Then, he wrestles with the most important biblical texts on violence to work through specific interpretational issues. This new volume in the Interpretation: Resources for Use of Scripture in the Church series will help preachers and pastors interpret those difficult texts, encouraging them to face violence in the Bible with honesty.

In this volume, Patrick D. Miller studies the Ten Commandments as ancient document and as contemporary guide. With careful attention to each commandment in its original context, this book shows the reader the modern relevance of these basic principles, as well as how the ideas of each commandment influenced the New Testament. More than an intellectual exercise, The Ten Commandments applies the call of the commandments to modern-day issues. Westminster John Knox Press is proud to introduce an exciting new phase in the renowned Interpretation commentary series. Instead of focusing on individual books of the Bible, these new volumes will focus on the Bible's most enduring passages and most vital themes, bringing to these topics the insight and faithful wisdom that are longtime hallmarks of the Interpretation series. This expanded Interpretation series will be an excellent resource for all those who teach, preach, and study the Bible.