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.

'The Big Questions'

Newly minted professor (and T&T Clark author) Francesca Stavrakopoulou was on the BBC's 'The Big Questions', broadcast yesterday. Iplayer link here for those in the UK. The programme debated the existence of God. I haven't watched all of it, because my internet is a bit slow for such things at work (and, errr, because I'm at work). But the bit I did watch disappointed me a little because the theist arguments I heard seemed very simple, and to come from a wholly uneducated perspective. This was particularly the case when they were talking about an uncaused cause, or an unmoved mover, which even Nicky Campbell seemed to know something about - God (if he exists - I don't know cos I didn't watch the whole show) bless wikipedia. People clearly hadn't really grasped their Aquinas, and had I been there I'd have recommended that they consult several T&T Clark publications for help... notably our Aquinas Reader's Guide.

It was whilst some chap with the poetically significant name Adam, described as a 'Muslim Thinker', was getting himself tangled up that Francesca chipped in with the point that looking at creation as a single event doesn't entirely fit with the biblical account... which suggests an ongoing process of creation. One might even say 'Creation, Un-creation, Re-creation' (as Joe Blenkinsopp eloquently outlines in his book by this title). Of course, the biblical account does suggest an ongoing process of creation, a process of constant creation... (in addition of course to a 'beginning point') in which humanity has a part to play. This notion is present throughout the biblical text, and certainly in Christian theology. Sadly no-one on the theist front bench in 'The Big Questions' (at least not in the bit I watched) seemed to know this and some of them might need to read this, whereas certainly all of them could have done with a copy of this. They were all far more concerned with saying that the big bang doesn't disprove God. Of course, the Big Bang doesn't... so I'm not sure why they were all so preoccupied with it, but it seemed set to remain the battle ground de choix.

I gave up, as did my internet connection... when the old altruism debate (sometimes people are lovely for no apparent reason = God) was wheeled out in the most basic of terms. Of course there is rich fruit here and it is within this line of enquiry that I find my own belief, but sadly it wasn't put across well by the theist front bench.

Anyway, it was all good fun... and nice to have these debates on the telly I suppose. The best thing of all, however, is the way the programme is desribed on iplayer:

'Nicky Campbell debates evidence for the existence of God in Warrington'

I've never been to Warrington, so I wouldn't know.

Guest Posts

I have been reading our blog, just to check it you understand - I wouldn’t want you to think that I am my own biggest fan! Well, I have been trying to keep you up to date with new books, perhaps not the most creative of tasks… and therefore the idea of having a guest blog post here seems rather refreshing. I have asked some of our authors whether they would like to contribute to our blog and they have, very kindly, agreed to do so. Two posts, which will be put on right away, relate to LNTS volumes that are going to be published very soon. I hope you’ll enjoy reading both!

Quest for the Living God targeted by US Catholic Bishops group

On Wednesday afternoon, our NY office was contacted by the New York Times asking for information on our 2007 title Quest for the Living God by Elizabeth Johnson. Shortly before that, we saw this article about the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops publishing a 21-page critique of the book. In the critique, they claim the book "contains misrepresentations, ambiguities, and errors that bear upon the faith of the Catholic Church as found in Sacred Scripture, and as it is authentically taught by the Church's universal magisterium." See also the article in the New York Times and another on CatholicCulture.org.

Here is Elizabeth Johnson's response to the critique.

This isn't the first time one of our authors has inspired controversy. The Vatican has objected to Roger Haight's attempts to separate Christology from Greek philosophical concepts. Haight published Christian Community in History Volumes 1-3 and The Future of Christology with us. And of course there is Hans Küng. You can find numerous titles by Dr. Küng on our website.

Frank Oveis on Catholic Bishops' Conference Condemnation of Beth Johnson

This is a guest post by Frank Oveis, former editor at Continuum Books New York:

'As editor (now retired) of the 5 principal books of Sr. Distinguished Prof. Elizabeth Johnson, and someone who has just finished Diarmaid MacCulloch's "Christianity: The First Three Thousand years," I can only say it would take someone of Professor MacCulloch's wry sense of humour and long view of history to make sense of the condemnation this week by the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Doctrine of Sr./Prof. Elisabeth Johnson's's latest book," Quest for the Living God."

Ok, let's dispense with formalities.We'll just call her Beth Johnson, as everybody does. Here are some facts. Beth Johnson is the best-selling contemporary Roman Catholic theologian in the world--books translated into dozens of languages (Korean, Finnish, Chinese). She's garned every prize that American Catholic, plus other secular, institutions, can offer. How about a $200,000 Grawemeyer Award given by Southern Presbyterians? Okay, the U.S. bishops, don't want to hear about that.

I refuse to subscribe to the usual description of Beth, even, especially by the NY Times, as a "feminist theologian." Sure, she's a feminist, isn't every smart thinking person today? To describe her as a "feminist theologian" is like describing St Augustine as an "anti-donatist" or "anti-pelagian" theologian. Just like Irenaeus, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, she's simply a theologian. Unlike some of those guys, she's very careful and judicious. She never talks about things outside her "specialty," like. e.g., sexuality morality and other infra-church issues. As she insists, she's a systematic theologian. Her field is doctrine like the Trinity and the nature/divinity of Christ. If the bishops think of contesting her on these issues, she'll wipe the floor with them. As Dirty Harry said, "C'mon. Make my day!"

As a leading US RC theologian (male) emailed me this morning: "I think they [the bishops] have idiots writing this report who give the most malicious interpretation of anything Beth has written. It is just terrible." This guy will have his chance to repond to the bishops in his own good time and in a proper venue.'

 

Did God have a wife?

In BBC 2’s recent serial ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ Francesca Stavrakopoulou claims that the original Jewish religion was not mono-theistic. Evidence suggests that there was a female figure too, the goddess Asherah, and that God, in fact, did have ‘a wife’. This female goddess was then edited out of the bible to create the image of Judaism as a strictly mono-theistic faith.

However, the idea of a female figure in early Judaism is not new. In her 2003 publication ‘The Great High Priest’, Old Testament scholar Margaret Barker wrote a chapter on a female figure in the Jerusalem Temple, known as ‘The Queen of Heaven’, or ‘Mother of the Lord’.

“The Lady in the Temple is mentioned in Jeremiah and Isaiah, but there are traces in other Old Testament writings too”, states Barker. Unlike Stavrakopoulou, who describes herself as an atheist, Margaret Barker writes from a decidedly Christian perspective. A former president of the British Society for Old Testament Study, she has published 14 books on the links between the ancient Jewish Temple and early Christian liturgy.

For Barker, the Lady in the Temple was never completely forgotten, but survived in oral traditions and extra-canonical writings. It is this memory which fed into the veneration of the Virgin Mary in early Christianity, when the Lady became known by her ancient title again: ‘The Mother of the Lord’.

Margaret Barker’s book ‘The Great High Priest’ was first published in 2003 and is available from T&T Clark. Her most recent book ‘Temple Themes in Christian Worship’ was published in 2008. Her forthcoming book ‘The Mother of the Lord’ will be published by T&T Clark in 2012.

Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s book ‘Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah’ (2010) is also available from T&T Clark.

Dr. Margaret Barker is an independent Old Testament scholar, a former President of the Society for Old Testament Study, co-founder of the Temple Studies Group and author of 14 books in this field. The Archbishop of Canterbury created her a Lambeth Doctor of Divinity for her research. Barker is also one of a small team of experts assessing the hoard of ancient sealed books, recently found in Jordan.

Professor Henning Graf Reventlow: 21 September 1929 - 9 September 2010

It's bittersweet to have just received advance copies of Henning Graf Reventlow and Yair Hoffman's long-awaited edited collection The Decalogue in Jewish and Christian Tradition. Sadly, Professor Reventlow passed away while this book was at press. I never met him in person, but our communications over email were always pleasant and I got the impression that he cared deeply for his work, echoed here, a review from 2007:

http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/5508_5803.pdf

Jürgen Mettepenningen resigns from position with Archbishop Leonard

Perhaps you have been following the news about Belgian Archbishop Leonard and his controversial views during the last months. Now the Archbishop's press officer, Dr Jürgen Mettepenningen, has resigned, feeling unable to still communicate the Archbishop's views to the wider world. Jürgen is a theologian of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium. This year he published his book Nouvelle Theologie - New Theology with T&T Clark.

Read the full story here.

Ecological Hermeneutics: edited by Horrell, Hunt, Southgate, Stavrakopoulou

I have just received advance copies from the printer of 'Ecological Hermeneutics' a new book as part of Exeter's wider project in this area (there are a couple of other books from it, one's with Equinox I think).

This book is aimed at scholars, and a student audience, and at moving in systematic way towards developing a sound ecological hermeneutical approach. I think it will do well on courses as more and more institutions begin to consider this sort of approach. If anyone is teaching a course for which this might be useful do ask for an inspection widget of the full book.

Some top names in there - Francis Watson, John Barton, Richard Bauckham, John Rogerson

You can preview the book with the widget within this post.

Geoffrey Bromiley 1915-2009

We have learned with great sadness that Goeffrey Bromiley has passed away on August 7th.

Bromiley was not only a renowned church historian and historical theologian, he significantly influenced English-language Christianity over the past six decades, translating and editing—from several original languages—thousands upon thousands of pages of theological works from such notables as Karl Barth, Jacques Ellul, Helmut Thielicke, and others.

Among his many translations widely used by English-language readers are the 10-volumes of the Theologisches Wörterbuch des Neuetn Testaments (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament), edited by Gerhard Kittel; Wolfhart Pannenberg's three-volume Systematische Theology (Systematic Theology); and the Kommentar zum Römerbrief (Commentary on Romans) by Ernst Käsemann.

Geoffrey Bromiley, together with N. T. Torrance made an immesuarable contribution to the work of T&T Clark by his translating and editing of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, a work still used, loved and studied by many scholars world wide. 

You can find an obituary on the Fuller website here. 

Ben Myers has a piece here. 

Geoffey Bromiley's translation of the Church Dogmatics has just been published in a new Study Edition. Two of his other books are still in print with T&T Clark: Historical Theology: An Introduction and Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth.