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!

Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics: An Introduction and Reader

I have just received an advance copy of R. Michael Allen’s new book – Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics: An Introduction and Reader.

As always, we have received very interesting endorsements:

‘Embarking on the study of Barth’s Church Dogmatics is no easy matter; this careful selection, with its perceptive introduction and commentaries, is an excellent guide to exploring one of the monumental texts of modern theology.’ – John Webster, University of Aberdeen, UK

‘This volume is a welcome resource for both teachers and students of Karl Barth's theology. Michael Allen's well-chosen excerpts from the Church Dogmatics are lengthy enough to provide a feel for Barth's sprawling theological discourse and wide-ranging enough to provide an appreciation of the full scope of his dogmatic thought. The introduction and notes locate Barth's work within the context of classical and modern divinity and direct readers to the best English-language literature on the Basel theologian. Those who have heretofore feared the prospect of exploring Karl Barth's massive Church Dogmatics may now take courage thanks to Allen's able guidance.’ – Scott R. Swain, Reformed Theological Seminary, USA

‘This is a judiciously selected and carefully introduced series of key readings from the Church Dogmatics. Allen has done the newcomer to Barth a great service by preparing this collection of texts from what remains the most important work in theology of recent times. This volume is a fine resource both for inspiring readers to venture further into Barth's work for themselves and for encouraging students to engage appreciatively and critically with its content.’ – Paul T. Nimmo, The University of Edinburgh, UK

The book will be available in the UK in the middle of March and the readers based in the US can purchase a copy in May 2012.

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.’

New to the LNTS Series!

The LNTS list is bringing you many exciting new titles over the coming weeks. Two books are coming out in February, starting with the enlightening ‘What Does the Scripture Say?’ Studies in the Function of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. This two-volume work focuses on the function of Scripture in the New Testament Gospels and the letters of the apostle Paul. These essays explore new methods and overlooked traditions that shed light on how the founders of the Christian movement understood the older sacred tradition and sought new and creative ways to let it speak to their own times.

February will also see the publication of Christology, Hermeneutics, and Hebrew, a radical consideration of the theological impact of the Letter to the Hebrews. The history of the interpretation of Hebrews over the last two millennia is discussed and assessed. Beginning with the Patristic period, the book goes on to examine the responses of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, as well as more recent figures such as Karl Barth. This radical academic project moves the study of Hebrews away from perennial arguments about its authorship and provenance and engages instead with it from a theological perspective; the issue of the Christological message in the Letter to the Hebrews is at the forefront and is considered both in terms of the interpreter's context and historical setting.

The beginning of March brings us another wonderful book. Jeffrey E. Brickle’s Aural Design and Coherence in the Prologue of First John is also set to appear on 01.03.12! It is the first sustained investigation of the oral patterning of 1 John 1:1–4, examining underlying design and organisation. Unlike literature in the modern western world, ancient documents were typically crafted for the ear rather than the eye. Brickle examines, describes, and depicts graphically the patterns of sound that emerge as the text is read aloud. He uses the approaches to Greek pronunciation and orality advocated in recent New Testament research to determine the impact on the Prologue’s soundscape, followed by an analysis employing the principles for beautiful and effective composition elucidated by the ancient teacher of rhetoric, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his treatise, On Literary Composition.

Don’t miss these fantastic and diverse new titles!

Jesus, Criteria and the Demise of Authenticity

 

It's great to see a post about our forthcoming volume, 'Jesus, Criteria and the Demise of Authenticity' over on Mark Goodacre's blog. We're really excited about this volume as it looks to be an utterly timely collection, which should generate a lot of debate and really take Historical Jesus studies forward.

The contributors are top notch (Goodacre, McKnight, Stuckenbruck, Schroter, Hooker etc), and though it's a scholarly volume I can see it being required reading on some courses, and certainly supplementary reading on many others.

As a New Year gift, and to whet your appetite, here is the foreword by Morna D. Hooker ( Download Foreword_Hooker), who kicked off the authenticity debate some years ago.

The book will be out later this year.

LNTS & Fourth Gospel in First-Century Media Culture

Great to see this post from Chris Skinner on Thatcher/LeDonne volume on Fourth Gospel in First-Century Media Culture.

Thanks for this, Chris!

I'm really pleased and proud with and of the volumes coming out in LNTS at the moment, particularly the edited collections, which are really focused. The FS for Loveday Alexander - Reading Acts Today is a real state of the art of current acts scholarship. I've found that whilst some publishers are a bit scared of doing festschriften nowadays if it's a really focused project it can almost function as a reader, and sell and review really well.

We've also just published Chris L. Keith's new book on Jesus' Literacy. And some great revised dissertations have been coming through of late. We're only signing up about 8 dissertations a year in LNTS now and some of the really solid work we've had to turn down points to the quality of what's coming through. We're a bit strict on reducing word-count to ensure a thorough revision and to force people to reconceive the project as a book. It seems to be working really well.

If you've got a proposal for LNTS do send it on, or feel free to make an appointment to discuss it with me at SBL. Book soon to avoid disappointment, as my diary's over half-full already.

God, Humanity and the Cosmos – 3rd Edition

A few months ago I have posted three author’s blog posts – all three form the Biblical Studies list. I have received some advance copies of God, Humanity and the Cosmos – 3rd Edition and then I thought that it would be good if Christopher Southgate could write a blog for this collection of essays – and here it is!

I hope you’ll enjoy reading this post and do follow it till the end as I have also included three endorsements, which are simply great:

‘This textbook for students of science and religion came originally out of meetings of those UK scholars who had won awards in the Science and Religion Course Program funded by Templeton. It became clear that there was no one book that offered a clear, lively and student-friendly account of the debate. In 2005 the book was strengthened by the inclusion of a new historical chapter, and additional material on the theology of creation. For the 2011 edition, further strengthening includes new chapters on climate change and the new atheism, as well as extensive updating of the other material and the bibliography. As the co-ordinating editor I am really grateful to my co-authors for all their insights, and for their loyalty to the book - fifteen years on from its original genesis. I'm also grateful to the members of the UK Science and Religion Forum who spent a whole day last year bombarding the authors with suggestions! Evolutionary psychology, transhumanism, and the 'dappled world' of Nancy Cartwright all get more attention as a result of their suggestions. The book has become an industry standard in countries all over the world. Check out the new edition, and feed back what you think!’ Christopher Southgate.

Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics

I am trying to catch up with my blogging and to flag up all the new books we have published recently. This is not an easy task...

Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics, a collection of essays from the new and growing field of Christian Ethnography, is edited by Christian Scharen and Aana Marie Vigen. It is available to readers right now, on both sides of the Ocean. This book is divided into three parts titled: Prolegomena, Exemplars and Method; and its Foreword is written by Mary McClintock Fulkerson.

You are probably guessing now… yes, this volume has received five great endorsements from Emilie M. Townes, Ted A. Smith, Pete Ward, João Biehl and Traci West, which I am placing below:

'This engaging collection is a helpful foundation for exploring the use of ethnography in Christian ethics and theology. The authors provide thoughtful and probing challenges to how social scientists and theologians do our work-encouraging us to question and alter some of the basic assumptions of our work so that we do it with genuine rigor rather than with unexamined normative commitments or using the social sciences as lax sources for theological reflection. The challenge is genuine and I encourage us to read and learn from this fine collection.’ - Emilie M. Townes, Yale Divinity School, USA.