The T & T Clark Blog

Professorial Inaugural Lecture by Dom Henry Wansbrough: Liverpool Hope 7th March

Dom Henry Wansbrough

Liverpool Hope University have announced the Professorial inaugural lecture of Dom Henry Wansbrough, who has been appointed Alexander Jones Professor of Biblical Studies. It is taking place on Wednesday 7th March at 5.30pm and the title of the lecture is 'Was Jesus a Pharisee?'

Fr Henry is the former Master of St. Benet's Hall in Oxford, was for many years the only English member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and is the General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. He is a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth Abbey.

He is also one of T&T Clark's most valued authors. His bestselling book 'The Use and Abuse of the Bible' was published to great acclaim in 2010 - reprinting twice within its first year - and his new book 'The Sunday Word' has just come out under the Burns and Oates imprint. This book provides short commentaries on the Sunday Readings (and major feasts/solemnities) together with questions for personal reflection, and an introduction on the shape of the Lectionary. It will be a must for Lectio Divina and scripture study groups in both Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor says in his foreword to the book; 'In these commentaries the background and chape of every passage is opened up and shared with us. This is a great achievement by Henry Wansbrough and we should all be grateful to him'

and Prof Richard Burridge, Dean of KCL, says; 'Beautifully written and drawing upon a lifetime of Biblical scholarship, Dom Henry Wansbrough's explanations of the Bible readings Sunday by Sunday are as informative as they are a delight!'

We congratulate Fr Henry on his Professorial appointment, and hope that the inaugural lecture will be a tremendous success.

Jan-Peter Wissink is the new Publishing Director of T&T Clark

We are happy to announce that Jan-Peter Wissink has joined the T&T Clark team. Since September 2010, Jan-Peter has been Publishing Director of Berlin Academic. He has more than twenty years of publishing experience, ranging from specialised academic and STM publishing to general trade publishing, including broad experience in general management, business and product development, leading complicated projects, mergers and acquisitions and in developing and coaching staff.

Before joining Berlin Academic, Jan-Peter was Executive Vice President of Publishing for Brill, where he had worked since 1998. He has an MA in theology and deep experience from Brill of both reference publishing and publishing in religion.

Myself and Dominic are delighted to welcome Jan-Peter to T&T Clark!

New releases for the LHBOTS this month...

Brotherhood and Inheritance: A Canonical Reading of the Esau and Edom Traditions by Bradford A. Anderson was published in the UK yesterday. This study offers a canonical reading of the Esau and Edom traditions, examining the portrayal of Esau and Edom in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and the prophetic material. First, it is argued that the depiction of Esau and his descendants in Genesis and Deuteronomy is, on the whole, positive. Second, it is put forward that Edom is portrayed negatively by the prophets for violating their kin, and for disrespecting the divine apportioning of the lands. Finally, it is suggested that these traditions have resonance with one another based on recurring literary and theological motifs, heuristically framed as brotherhood and inheritance.

This month will also see the publication of Ecclesiastes and Scepticism. In this work, Stuart Weeks emphasises observation and empiricism as a key influence on human behaviour; the work excludes any consideration of tradition or revelation. Scholars often view the apparent scepticism of Ecclesiastes in terms of a reaction against the more confident assertions found in works like Proverbs, and the book does indeed seem to deny the possibility of humans shaping their future or changing their fate through informed action. What appears to concern the work’s protagonist, whose monologue occupies most of its length, is not any scepticism about God’s activity or consistency, but rather the problems that arise from a human inability to discern divine action or purpose.

Approaches to the 'Chosen Place' by Rannfrid I. Thelle comes out on the same day (23.02.12). Through a reading of key texts, this book provides a new, textually grounded, perspective of the “chosen place”, which has been held captive by scholarly assumptions when being viewed through the optic of the DH hypothesis. Deuteronomy’s command to restrict cultic practice to one “chosen place” has occupied a central position in scholars’ understandings of the book and their reconstruction of Israelite political and religious history. The debates about the date of Deuteronomy, its proposed connections to “Josiah’s reform”, and, most profoundly, the “Deuteronomistic History (DH) hypothesis” have dominated study of the idea of “chosen place”. These debates have, to a large extent, determined how we read Deuteronomy and the Former Prophets in general.

The Senses of Scripture by Yael Avrahami discusses the experience and understanding of the senses in the culture represented in the Hebrew Bible. The work reveals the essence of biblical epistemology - the ways in which ancient Israelites thought about and used their sensorium. The theoretical introduction demonstrates that scholars need to liberate themselves from the Western bias that holds a pentasensory paradigm and prioritises the sense of sight. The discussion of the biblical material demonstrates that biblical scholars should follow a similar path. Through examination of associative and contextual patters the author reaches a septasensory model, including sight, hearing, speech, kinaesthesia, touch, taste, and smell. It is further demonstrated that the senses, according to the HB, are a divinely created physical experience, which symbolised human ability to act in a sovereign manner in the world.

Out now: New Testament Theology in a Secular World

New Testament Theology in a Secular World: A Constructivist Work in Philosophical Epistemology and Christian Apologetics by Peter Lampe is out now!

New Testament Theology in a Secular World is an important and original new work in Christian apologetics. It is the first book to apply constructivist theory to Biblical Studies.

Biblical Studies scholar Peter Lampe tackles head on such questions as: What do we understand by “reality”? How does this relate to what Theology calls the “reality of God” or the “reality of resurrection”? How can we account for the concept of "revelation"? Lampe argues that in talking about “reality” theologians must make an effort to engage with the concept of “reality” as it is discussed in the fields of philosophical epistemology and sociology of knowledge. However, as Lampe shows, Theology has so far hardly or only reluctantly participated in this dialogue.

In Theologische Literaturzeitung, Dr Christian Strecker calls this work ‘Convincing, profound, innovative and, in its interdisciplinary character, courageous. The study casts new light on the New Testament as a foundation document of the Christian concept of reality.’