The T & T Clark Blog

A Theology of Love: Preview now available

It took a while, but our preview for Werner Jeanrond's "A Theology of Love" is now available. Enjoy!

You can find previews for most of our recent books on our website: www.continuumbooks.com   

E. Earle Ellis

I am very sad to report the death of Professor E. Earle Ellis, of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which has a tribute to him here.

Professor Ellis was wonderful to work with on his most recent book, The Sovereignty of Christ in Salvation, which was - of course - intended ultimately to be a companion to his ICC on 1 Corinthians. It is a great sadness that he did not live to complete the commentary.

I have noticed several mentions of the ICC in the blogosphere already, debating the possibilities of publication or not.

It is at the present time insensitive for me to discuss this too much, but in the forthcoming months the various possibilities will be discussed at length and a decision made.

In the meantime, let us give thanks for Professor Ellis's years of devoted scholarship, and the great legacy he leaves to the field of Biblical Studies in that scholarship.

Online review and discussion: The Christ's Faith

Kyle Strobel has posted a review of R. Michael Allen's book The Christ's Faith on the pistis Christou debate on his blog which led to an interesting discussion. Enjoy!
 

Just out: Bonhoeffer - A Guide for the Perplexed

A while ago we published a remarkeable collectioin of essays on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's poetry, edited by Bernd Wannenwetsch from Oxford: Who am I?

Now we have published another book on the German martyr and theologian in our Guides for the Perplexed series, written by Joel Lawrence. 

Joel has receive quite a bit of praise for his book:

‘Joel Lawrence is among the brightest of a new generation of interpreters of Bonhoeffer's theology. In this book, informed by several years of research and teaching, Lawrence gives us a fresh, engaging and wonderfully clear introduction that illuminates the distinctive capacity of Bonhoeffer's theology to serve the present age.’ – Stephen Plant, Wesley House, Cambridge, UK

‘Bonhoeffer’s legacy has had a far-reaching influence on contemporary Christianity, perhaps more so than any other theologian/pastor of the twentieth century.  Yet many people are not sure how to understand what he wrote, and are especially perplexed by his theological reflections in his prison letters. Joel Lawrence has recognized this need and has provided an admirable guide through the labyrinth. Identifying the key themes in Bonhoeffer’s prison theology, he traces their development from his student years onwards and interprets them in a way that is informed, accessible and readable.’ – John W. de Gruchy, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

‘Fortunately, with every new generation of theologians, there arise those who firmly grasp - and then accurately describe - the legacies of great minds who have shaped our thinking.  Joel Lawrence grasps well and describes clearly the theological legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He rightly perceivesthat Jesus Christ is the center of all reality for Bonhoeffer, and then creatively shows how that same Jesus finds expression today in a world that is less and less religious and more and more worldly. This "guide for the perplexed"  is designed for all those who stumble on this irony that Bonhoeffer describes: living before God without God!  Read on . . .’ -  John W. Matthews, President of the International Bonhoeffer Society, English Language Section, Apple Valley, MN, USA.

More information on the book can be found here.

'Women's Lives in Biblical Times'

I am very pleased to announce that Jennie R. Ebeling's book - 'Women's Lives in Biblical Times' - will be published next month.

The recent explosion of novels about female characters in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament proves that there is great interest in the lives of biblical women. But can we be sure that these highly dramatized reconstructions are based on actual evidence for the lives of women in ancient Israel? Women’s Lives in Biblical Times looks to recent biblical scholarship along with archaeological, iconographic and ethnographic data to reconstruct the life of a hypothetical woman living in an ancient Israelite village in the period of the Judges, ca. 1100 BCE. Each chapter begins with a narrative describing this woman’s life at various ages from her birth to her final illness and death, and continues with an academic discussion of the daily life activities and lifecycle events described in the narrative. Women’s Lives in Biblical Times is thus a uniquely engaging and accessible source for anyone interested in looking beyond the romanticized accounts of biblical women’s lives to a discussion of what we really know about them.

This volume has received some great reviews, which are displayed below:

'Ebeling's achieves the nearly impossible task of giving life to the largely nameless and barely visible women of ancient Israel. Not only does she draw on multiple sources to reconstruct the tasks and relationships that defined women's lives, but also she gives vitality to those features by tracing the life course of a fictional woman in a highland village. Her sensitive portrayal, based on meticulously researched evidence, helps readers discover what life was really like for women in biblical antiquity'. – Carol Meyers, Duke University, USA.

Another T&T Templeton Winner

I should mention that one of the other Templeton winners is Chris Keith at Lincoln Christian University, who won for his monograph The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, published by Brill.

Chris's next major project is, in his own words; 'a monograph on the literacy of the historical Jesus, entitled Jesus’ Literacy: Education and the Teacher from Galilee, under contract with T&T Clark.  Whereas my first book left the historical Jesus aside and focused on the social/exegetical/text-critical significance of the claim for Jesus’ literacy in one particular passage (John 8.6, 8), this monograph focuses on the issue of Jesus’ literacy in early Christianity as a whole and assesses the historical accuracy of early Christian claims from the perspective of social/cultural memory theory'

You'll have to wait a bit for this one as Chris isn't due to deliver it for a while. However, he's a rare thing amongst authors in that he seems to be running ahead of his writing schedule. This makes his editor very happy indeed.

At T&T Clark we're very lucky to have a lot of rising stars on our list. Any more out there looking to discuss book proposals should drop me an email.

Paul's Parallels - Sample Material

In response to Brandon's query I'm putting up some sample material of Paul's Parallels here in pdf form - I hope it works! It shows the contents, foreword by Chris Rowland, the introduction, and some of the synopsis material. I hope it interests people. Remember that you can find the book on our website.

Download Paulsparallelssample

Templeton Award for Paul Dafydd Jones

This year's winners of the Templeton Award for Theological Promise have been announced. We are very happy and proud that again among them is one of our authors: Paul Dafydd Jones was awarded the prize for his book The Humanity of Christ. Congratulations!

This is what the jury writes about the book:
The  monograph offers offers a fresh reading of Karl Barth's mature Christology. Engaging the entirety of the Church Dogmatics, the book considers Barth's doctrine of election, with particular attention paid to the Son's "being in becoming" as an event of divine self-determination; uncovers a rich understanding of Christ's human being and acting as a history of wholeheartedness, sovereignty, love, and deliverance; and advances a bold analysis of Christ's atoning death, focusing particularly on Christ's decision to bear God's rejection of sin. The conclusion of the book reflects on the significance of Barth's work for Christian thought, spirituality and ethics in the present day.

More information and a list of all winners is here.

Last year, another T&T Clark author was among those winning the award: Paul T. Nimmo for his book Being in Action

Paul's Parallels

 

I just want to give a heads up to those of you who don't yet know about Paul's Parallels. We published this book just before SBL.

It is by Patricia Terrell, with a forward by Christopher Rowland.

The book is an 'echoes synopsis' of Paul's letters displaying verses from Paul in parallel columns with other NT writings, Jewish writings and other pertinent sources.

It is one of the most intense labours of scholarly love that I have witnessed at Continuum. The author has created a truly wonderful resource for biblical scholars.

It has been boldy endorsed by Catrin Williams, Nicholas King, Frederick Borsch and Paul Foster. To give just a sprinkling of the praise the book has received:

'Paul's Parallels is a superb research tool in the hands of those who read the biblical text. This masterpiece of scholarship empowers readers to explore the writings of Paul more fully.' - Paul Foster, Edinburgh University, UK

'A truly remarkable achievement.' - Catrin Williams, Bangor University, UK

Paul's Parallels is available now in both the UK and the US.

Newman, scripture, and Henry Wansbrough OSB

The Brompton Oratory are to dedicate a side chapel to John Henry Newman, reports the Catholic Herald. This isn't exactly surprising news but it's interesting all the same.

I was there for the second Sunday of Lent and can't quite think who they're going to demote in order to give Newman his place. Perhaps it will be a whole new chapel.

An extract on Newman's reading of the bible from Henry Wansbrough's new book 'The Use and Abuse of the Bible' was also published in the Herald this week. Fr Henry's book is the perfect Lenten read and has much to interest academics and general readers alike.

It was also good to see yet more T&T Clark authors featured in the Channel 4 documentary. This week James Crossley, Paula Gooder and Larry Hurtado all made appearances. There could have been more, but I must admit that I skimmed through the programme on 4oD looking for authors rather than actually watching it. There were more pressing demands on my time, such as finishing reading an exciting new typescript on Genesis 1-11, details of which I hope to share with you in the not too distant future.