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!

Event tomorrow for Newman and His Contemporaries

Author Edward Short will have a book signing for Newman and His Contemporaries at

Pauline Books & Media
64 West 38th Street
New York City

Thursday, February 16th at 7:30pm


Praise for Newman and His Contemporaries:

"Edward Short's Newman and His Contemporaries is that most intellectually satisfying phenomenon; a deeply-researched, beautifully-written and important book that answers all the questions it sets itself, and all that any reader may also ask. The Oxford Movement might not engage many people today, but in Victorian England it was an absolutely revolutionary concept and the author blows pure oxygen onto its almost-dead embers in recreating its crises and controversies. Moreover, the reader doesn't need to know anything about Tractarianism to enjoy the perceptive and witty essays covering the Cardinal's relations with such figures as Gladstone, Thackeray, Arnold, Clough and the Froudes."--Andrew Roberts, BBC History Magazine Books of the Year 2011

"Another Newman book? Well, yes, and a particularly fine one that explores Newman's relationships with the great ecclesiastical, literary, political, and journalistic figures of his time. Edward Short's close reading of Newman's vast correspondence also demonstrates just how many of our post-Vatican II arguments were anticipated in the 19th century among Newman and his interlocutors."--George Weigel, Christmas Books for 2011

"Newman and his Contemporaries sets out to place Newman in context and in dialogue with a range of his contemporaries. Newman famously said that 'a man's life is in his letters.' The 30 or so volumes of Newman's Letters and Diaries provide a significant quarry for Short's exploration. . . . In its rich citations from Newman's correspondence, Newman and His Contemporaries reminds us of Newman's skill as a pastoral theologian and theological apologist. . . . Newman saw that there were hard questions for Anglicans to answer, with which we need to continue to wrestle--about authority, about the right discernment of development, and, fundamentally, about the nature of the Church. If this book provokes us to do this, then it will have achieved one of its purposes."--Geoffrey Rowell, Church Times

"This book . . . with its rich cast-list and broad sweep, will be a valued addition to the libraries not only of the Newmaniacs but of anyone who takes the 19th century seriously and who wishes to explore its often alien ideas and characters."--A. N. Wilson, The Spectator


See you there!

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.