The T & T Clark Blog

I hope people are recovering well from SBL! It was a really useful conference for me. It continually amazes me just how broad the field of biblical studies is. It has the ability to cover just about anything you could wish to study.

It was great to see many people at our reception as well.

I'm currently recovering, on holiday, in St Louis.

Looking forward to San Francisco next year.

DM

T&T Clark at SBL, booth 1301

Kara Zavada from the US office here. As Dominic said, we've been busy preparing for the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting in both our New York and London offices. I am greatly looking forward to attending my first SBL. Please do stop by and say hello, browse our books, and of course take advantage of our 35-50% discounts. There will be a good deal of new titles to check out.

We're going to have an excellent sale on select titles in our Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies series, Library of New Testament Studies series, and Library of Second Temple Studies series. We'll only have one copy of each title, so stop by early. No mail orders for this special, just what we have in the booth.

Do also follow us on Twitter, if you're so inclined. A couple of us will be tweeting throughout the conference.

See you there!

I have just 'Tweeted' (or is it 'Twittered', or 'Twitted'?) for the first time. I'm hoping - wifi and time permitting - to tweet my way through SBL. So do 'follow' us if you want to know what's going on at SBL from T&T Clark's perspective.

Getting ready for SBL

Well, I thought I'd better post something before SBL as this morning I suddenly realised that I haven't posted for a long time. It's partly that SBL takes a lot of preparation and partly that I'm going on holiday afterwards, so I am trying to clear my desk completely before setting off.

I'm greatly looking forward to the conference, and to seeing a bit of another major US city. I've only ever been to Atlanta Airport before... and even though I've heard it's not as fun as some cities it at least spawned 'Gone With the Wind'  and was the birthplace of Martin Luther King, and of legendary singer Barbara Cook. So cultural resonances abound. It is also in Georgia, the home state of US TV cook Paula Deen. Not that I wish to share with you too many of the macabre inner workings of T&T Clark... but this woman has recently become a bit of an obsession. I think it's because her cooking is so decadent that it is evocative of the fall of humanity, or perhaps of cows of Bashan lying on their ivory beds. To get us in the mood for Thanksgiving here is a video of her deep-frying an entire turkey. Few things stun me to silence, but this manages it.

Back to SBL: I'm very excited about the conference for several reasons. First, we have some brilliant new books out. Maurice Casey's Jesus of Nazareth... which I hope will cause a real stir. We will only have 20 copies at the booth, so get there on Saturday morning to secure one! Also, the newest addition to the ICC, R.B. Salters on Lamentations.

A couple of monographs worth highlighting too (see widgets below); Reading Paul in Context (Ehrensperger/Tucker eds), this is a festschrift in honour of William S. Campbell and it focuses firmly on the theme of identity formation in the early Christ-movement. As such the book is a real tribute to Bill's own groundbreaking work in this area.

From the Hebrew Bible side; Land of Our Fathers by Francesca Stavrakopoulou. This book examines veneration of the dead and burial sites in relation to land claims in the HB. I received a copy yesterday and read the first chapter. It's great and whilst being a monograph on the Hebrew Bible its subject matter means you can't help but be pushed in interesting directions in terms of thinking about modern and more recent historical modes of ancestor veneration. Rather appropriate November reading.

Finally, this will be the first SBL for the return of Atalya Brenner's Feminist Companion to the Bible series (pl). These classic books are now available again in paperback, and in e-format for library purchase. They will soon be available in e-format for individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do stop by the T&T Stand at SBL.  Lots of great publishing (although I'm a little biased), and we'd love to see you.

‘Luther: A Guide for the Perplexed’

I am very pleased to let you know that another new volume, from our A Guide for the Perplexed series, will be published shortly. David M. Whitford’s book on Luther will be available on the 25th of November 2010 in UK and on the 27th of January 2011 in the US.

It could be a real treat for the Christmas stocking!

As always, I wanted to share with you some great endorsements this volume has received – all three are placed below:

'Martin Luther is for the most part fascinating, sometimes annoying, and for many people perplexing: Whitford provides an insight to the reformer's biographical context, his theological foundations and primarily his political theory. The basic nature of the content leads to an elementary understanding of Luther. At no point does Whitford evade discussing problems in Luther's theology, instead inviting discussion with him concerning his interpretation. This book should be read by beginners in Luther studies, taking their first steps, as well by scholars who seek a fresh perspective on Luther.' - Volker Leppin, University of Tübingen, Germany.

‘David Whitford’s graceful new study does exactly what its title promises: guide readers who have only a vague notion of Martin Luther through his life, ideas, and key writings. The book explains complex theological issues in clear, but not overly simplistic, language, and does not avoid the controversies in which Luther was involved, many of which remain matters of debate today: Do humans have free will? Does religion allow one to oppose the government? How should Christians regard the Jews? How should Christians regard—and treat--each other?’ – Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA.

More still on Bonhoeffer: Another online-review

Bob Cornwall was so kind to put a thorough online-review of Schlingensiepen's biography on his blog:

"Schlingensiepen’s biography rests deeply in the collected works of Bonhoeffer, which are now largely available in English translation. He has made good use of these writings to give us a picture of Bonhoeffer’s life story, including his social and familial context, his travels to places as diverse as Rome, Mexico, London, and New York, as well as ministries with German churches in Barcelona and London, his deep involvement with the Ecumenical Movement, his involvement with and frustration with the Confessing Church, and his own complex theology that was forged in difficult times.

This isn’t a quick read, but neither is it a ponderous one.  It's neither  a hagiography nor the remaking of  a life for ideological purposes.  It is a book written by one who is deeply devoted to the legacy of a man who has impacted the lives of so many in the years following his death at such a young age.  Therefore, it requires of us deep thought and reflection.  Even as it demythologizes the man, by bringing his life into clearer focus, it reveals to us a person whose life and work shines even brighter as the mythological layers are removed."

 

 

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.

Tim Labron’s ‘Bultmann Unlocked’

I’m very happy to let you know that I have just received an advance copy of Tim Labron’s new book. ‘Bultmann Unlocked’ will be available to readers in the UK on the 11th of November 2010 and readers in the US will be able to buy this volume at the beginning of January 2011.

This book has received two great reviews from Michel Desjardins and John Painter – both are quoted below:

‘Only a few years ago taking a degree in Christian origins or Protestant Christian theology would have included at least some acquaintance with Rudolf Bultmann. But Bultmann’s writings, like Eliade’s in the field of comparative religion, are now more often criticized or simply ignored. Labron, while not overlooking the problems with Bultmann’s work, insists here on its perennial value for scholars in general and Christians in particular. He considers Bultmann’s key point to be succinctly expressed in his exegesis of John 1:14a, underlining the divine as the counter-pole to the human, and the incarnation as a deep paradox. Labron emphasizes Bultmann’s radical, independent thought, while also lingering on its deep points of similarity with Ludwig Wittgenstein. Indeed, throughout this book Labron seeks to unlock the potential he sees in Bultmann to generate fresh thought and sound Christian theology. This book is a superb testimony to the creative energies of both these German and Canadian scholars.’ – Michel Desjardins, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.