The T & T Clark Blog

T&T Cornerstone: The Israelite Woman by SBL President, Athalya Brenner-Idan

The first of our Cornerstones that we are profiling is by none other than current SBL president Athalya Brenner-Idan.

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-israelite-woman-9780567657732/#sthash.sPkkDHFZ.dpuf

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed.

“A wonderful book - concise, thoughtful, and as much an introduction to the Hebrew Bible as a whole as a reflection of the place of women within it. Athalya is very attentive to detail, and comprehensive - she provides a rich spectrum of the social roles of women, and a survey of literary schemata concerning women e.g. as temptresses, or as mothers of heroes. The book concludes with a brilliantly insightful consideration of the pros and cons of the story of the Garden of Eden, and woman's place in it. As Athalya writes in her final reflection, she intended in writing the book to fill in the gaps in Israelite history and the study of women in its literature. It succeeds beautifully.” –  Francis Landy, University of Alberta, Canada

 

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-israelite-woman-9780567657732/#sthash.sPkkDHFZ.dpuf

Announcing T&T Clark Cornerstones!

You may already have heard about our Cornerstones Series. We're sorry for the slight pun in the title, we couldn't help it. The series features some of the major works of our extraordinary backlist, presented in new and affordable paperback and ebook formats. Each of the volumes features at the very least a new introductory essay by the author, which summarises how the field has changed (or hasn't since the volume was first published). Some of the volumes are rather more heftily revised.

It's exciting to be able to bring such important volumes back to the reading public. We published the first volume last year, and a whole batch will be available at booth 600 at AARSBL in Atlanta in November this year. Might I add that they're the perfect gift?

Between now and AARSBL we'll be profiling the titles in the series. They really are gems.

New releases in Biblical Studies this May

Last week we had a round-up of some of great titles now available on the Theology list at Bloomsbury T&T Clark. This week follows with the same from the Biblical Studies list. 

First up, we have our new addition to our Approaches series with the new offering from Michael A. Lyons, An Introduction to the Study of Ezekiel. After explaining how the message of the prophet was relevant to the exilic situation in which he lived, this thorough guide shows how later generations shaped, transmitted, and used Ezekiel in their own communities. The book summarizes the literary shape and contents of Ezekiel, then examines the theories and methodologies used in current scholarship that explain the formation of Ezekiel. 

Next up we have Reception History and Biblical Studies, edited by John William Lyons and Emma England, released into our (relatively) new Scriptural Traces series. This new addition to a series which focuses on Reception History of the Bible begins to chart the near-infinite series of events that have been generated by the journey of the biblical texts down through the centuries. The chapters consider aspects as diverse as political and economic factors, cultural location, the discipline of Biblical Studies itself, and the impact of preconceptions upon reception history. Articles are contributed by Susan Gillingham, James Crossley, Roland Boer and Helen Jacobus, amongst others.

Next up, there is Going Up and Going Down published into our Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies series, by Yitzhak Itzik Pelag. Pelag argues that Jacob's dream should be understood as a symbolic dream function to explain its meaning. Thus, the vision, and the movement of the angels is not embellishment or scenic background, but rather symbolizes the path taken by the Patriarchs to and from the Promised Land.  

Finally, we have Written to Serve, published into our Library of New Testament Studies series by Benjamin Sargent. Benjamin Sargent offers an up to date and comprehensive analysis of how 1 Pet 1.10-12 offers a 'hermeneutic,' providing an insight into how Scripture is interpreted in the letter. He argues that the primary importance of 1.10-12 is its orientation of the prophetic witness towards the eschatological community as an act of service, and that it can be seen to suggest a narrative of profound discontinuity.

Find them all here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Author blog from Sharon Betsworth: Children in Early Christian Narratives

This is a guest blog post from Sharon Betsworth (Wimblerly School of Religion, Oklahoma City University). Sharon's first book The Reign of God is Such as These was published in our Library of New Testament Studies in 2010, as was reviewed by JSNT as '... and excellent, enjoyably, and important study'.

We are delighted to have Sharon's new book Children in Early Christian Narratives also within LNTS, and freshly published. See below for Sharon's thoughts on writing and researching the book, and her future research.

'I had a great time writing Children in Early Christian Narratives. The book examines the role of children in the New Testament Gospels and two non-canonical works, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and Protevangelium of James. The idea for Children in Early Christian Narratives came out of the process of turning my dissertation into my first book, The Reign of God is Such as These: A Socio-Literary Analysis of Daughters in the Gospel of Mark (T&T Clark, 2010). I thought of that book as an extension of my interest in women in the Gospels, but before it was even published, I realized I was working in the nascent field of children in the biblical world. I also realized that just as the women’s stories in the Gospels have often been the lesser known stories, so too do few readers “see” the children in the Gospels. For my first book, I did a good deal of research into the lives of adolescent girls in the ancient world. I began focusing on children more specifically in 2009, when I prepared a paper for the Contextual Biblical Interpretation section of the Society of Biblical Literature on “The Child in Matthew 2.”

As I have researched the stories of children in the Gospels, I have become very interested in the lives children in the ancient world. Often times, the view that children were “nobodies” in the ancient world is the primary perspective from which scholars interpret the narratives containing children in the Gospels. But the status of children in the ancient world is more complex than this position suggests. In my book, I discuss the ideology of the paterfamilias and various child-rearing practices that lead some modern people to the conclusion that children were not valued in the ancient world. I also examine the views of elite male writers who often contrast the man they desired to be with the child who they do not want to be. These views of children in the ancient world are countered by evidence that exists demonstrating that children were valued by their families. While I was doing my research, I found it especially interesting to note how similar childhood in the ancient world is to childhood in the 21^st century; at the same time children’s lives today are very different from the lives of ancient youngsters.

I especially enjoyed researching and writing the chapters on the two non-canonical Gospels, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT) and Protevangelium of James (Pros. Jas). I had not previously worked with either text. IGT contains stories of Jesus’ childhood, while Pros. Jas tellsabout the conception and birth of his mother, Mary, and her childhood through the time she gives birth to Jesus. While a fair amount of scholarly work has been done on the IGT and most recently on children and childhood in IGT, there is less scholarship on the Prot. Jas. There is very little scholarship on either Gospel from a feminist perspective, which is a perspective that I utilize throughout my book.

I would especially like readers of my book to understand how integral children are to each Gospel’s narrative. The children’s stories are easy to overlook; it is easy to not see the children. Yet in the canonical Gospels, children’s interactions with Jesus contribute significantly to each Gospel’s overall themes and portrayal of Jesus. The non-canonical Gospels demonstrate how important the early church understood the childhood of Jesus and of Mary to be.

As I continue working in the field of children in the Gospels, I plan on editing a volume on children in the biblical world more broadly. I hope to collect papers which reflect a variety of methodologies for examining children throughout the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Deuterocanonical books, New Testament and Christian Apocrypha. Of course, I will continue research and write on passages related to children in the New Testament. I had barely finished the book before I found more angles from which to explore a number of Gospel texts!'

Podcast Interview with Stanley Porter on 'Constantine Tischendorf: The Life and Work of a 19th Century Bible Hunter'

In this interview we discuss the life and work of Constantine Tischendorf -- the man who discovered Codex Sinaiticus -- with Professor Stanley E. Porter (McMaster Divinity College). The interview includes insights into Porter's recent book on Tischendorf, published to coincide with Tischendorf's bicentenary in January 2015.

Listen to the podcast on this page using the player above. Alternatively, you can download it from iTunes or download it as an MP3.

Round up of new T&T Clark New in Paperback editions

We are pleased to give you details of some of our most recent New in Paperbacks from T&T Clark, published in September 2014.

The first up is Women in the Greetings of Romans 16.1-16 by Susan Mathew, which is part of our Library of New Testament Studies series.

Susan Mathew examines the structures of mutuality in Romans, to shed light on the issue of women's leadership in Pauline theology. Mathew begins by analyzing the general form of greetings in the Pauline letters, to illuminate the specific form of the greetings in Rom 16.1-16. Mathew couples this with analysis of the leadership of women in the Greco-Roman world, showing that women's leadership roles in the Pauline churches were part of this wider culture. Developing a model of mutuality, Mathew draws together the strands of the Pauline ethos of mutuality, and argues that the leadership roles of women are encouraged in the greetings at the end of Romans . 

 

Next up is No Longer Living as the Gentiles: Differentiation and Shared Ethical Values in Ephesians 4: 17-6:9 by Daniel K. Darko 

Daniel K. Darko argues that Ephesians 4.17-6.9 exhibits a consistent strategy of promoting group distinctiveness, while utilizing Greco-Roman ethical values and traditions to promote internal cohesion among the readers. Readers are encouraged neither to separate from society nor to integrate further into it, but to live and function within society as members of the ‘household of God' in one accord.

And on the LHBOTs side we have:

Crossing the Jordan: Diachrony Versus Synchrony in the Book of Joshua

By Eun Woo-Lee

Lee introduces the synchronic readings of Polzin, Hawk and Winther-Nielsen, as well as their attempts to uncover the problems in applying their methods to this complicated text.  For the purpose of reading the literary history of Joshua 3-4 in a diachronic way, Lee considers what position this text holds in the setting of the wider context of the ark narratives and water-crossing stories in the Old Testament, e.g. the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 13.17-14.31 and with Elijah and Elisha crossing the river in 2 kings 2. He examines the recent trends in literary criticism and attempts to trace the most probable literary history of Joshua 3-4.

And last but certainly not least:

Reconsidering the Date and Provenance of the Book of Hosea: The Case for Persian-Period Yehud

By James M. Bos

Bos argues that the book of Hosea ought to be understood and read as a text that was composed in Persian-period Yehud rather than in eight-century Israel. The author challenges traditional scholarship and emphasizes that there is the evidence to suggest that the book should be viewed as a Judahite text - a book that was composed in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C.E.

You can buy all of these here: Bloomsbury T&T Clark site

 

See you at SBL&AAR

This month, the team will be out at SBL and AAR in San Diego, CA displaying our latest products. We hope to see you there! Stop by our stand in the publisher exhibit area to:

 

• Browse our latest biblical studies books
• Order free inspection copies
• Speak with our commissioning editors and sales team
• Buy books at our special conference discount of up to 50% off
• Enter our raffle to win free books
• And more!

Just a few of the titles on display...

All these and many more will be on display at these conferences.

Summer Conference Round-up

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness feels as if it's well upon us, and those heady days of summer when the year still seemed to be in its prime now register only as dim memories. The jungle-drums of panic are already starting to beat away for SBL/AAR, and I'm considering just not bothering unpacking my last conference bag and hoping that whatever clothing I wore for the last gig will miraculously wash itself and be appropriate for San Diego.

But what a conference season it was for Biblical Studies this year. For me it kicked off with the wonderful Jesus and Brian conference at King's College London, which included the cracking line from John Cleese; 'if someone were to ask me what the most interesting thing to come out of Monty Python was I'd be tempted to say this conference'. I'm thrilled that we'll be publishing the book of the conference in August next year (if everything goes to plan). The Jesus and Brian papers were uniformly excellent. I particularly enjoyed George Brooke's, which included another great line; 'after all the Pythons had done more than most of my students do, they'd actually read the Dead Sea Scrolls'.If you're interested, T&T Clark live-tweeted the conference ---and you should be able to find soundbites on our twitter feed quite easily.

ISBL in Vienna followed shortly after we'd looked on the bright side of life, and I had many profitable meetings in between slabs of sacher torte and Wiener melange. I also shared a 'Viennese Sausage Experience' in what later turned out to be a favourite cafe of Freud's. My dining partner and I decided we wouldn't analyse that one too much. It was particularly great to catch up with series editors, and publishing colleagues and friends from other houses.

Next in line was SOTS - which I didn't attend myself. This was a great sadness as I was looking forward to John Day's presidential conference. I still remember his lectures on Genesis 1-11 from my student days. They were very good - as evidenced by the fact that I actually went to them. We were represented at SOTS by Miriam Cantwell and Matt Porter. I've heard it was a great conference, and that a particular highlight was John J. Collins' paper on 'Torah and Jewish Identity in the Second Temple Period'.

Whilst SOTS was going on I was in Providence, RI, for the meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association. This was great fun, and the Dominicans hosted the event wonderfully. Great to see so many young friars. White habits everywhere. The seafood in Providence was truly excellent as well.

After CBA came SNTS in Szeged, which from Providence was a time-difference I didn't particularly enjoy. This conference was superbly organised, which makes a huge difference for us publishers. I enjoyed Keith Elliot's paper on the historical critical method... which included a cheeky line that went something like this; 'sometimes might it be best to admit that we do not know what the text means?' Lots of thumping great bowls of goulash for all to enjoy at the conference dinners. I also enjoyed eating Magalica pork whilst I was there. This comes from a curly-haired breed of pig, and it is delicious. It is the closest we can get to the now-extinct British breed, the Lincolnshire Curlycoat. The Curlycoat became extinct as a direct result of the 1955 Howitt report, which recommended a simplification of pig breeds. Curlycoats were used to help boost the Mangalica stock in Hungary and Austria in the late 50s so there is at least some genetic crossover. This pig story has absolutely nothing to do with Biblical Studies, but it was a valuable part of the conference experience for me. It also reflects just how much attitudes towards food production have changed in the UK since the 1950s.

The final conference of the season was BNTC (British New Testament) in Manchester. Great papers from Eric Eve and Rafael Rodriguez on Oral Tradition and the NT. Note Rafael's recent book on the subject. Similarly a great plenary from Professor Joan Taylor on Mary Magdaelene --- trying to find the missing Magdala. It was also nice to see James Crossley's Harnessing Chaos, which appears in our new Reception History sub-series (Scriptural Traces), feature as part of a panel review session. All present enjoyed Jorunn Okland's 'method dressing' approach to the session. A hint as to what this involved can be found on the book's truly extraordinary cover!

So a fun summer of conferences. Lots of good conversations. Lots of interesting people. Lots of good food. Now all I have to do is try to sleep, diet, and exercise between now and SBL/AAR... and try to find the will to unpack. 

 

 

The Disciples' Call Editor Interview

The Disciples' Call: Theologies of Vocation From Scripture to the Present Day is a collection of essays which offers a theological anthropology of vocation. Read on for an illuminating interview with editor Father Christopher Jamison O.S.B.

T&T Clark: Hi Father Jamison, thank you for joining us. If you had to, how would you describe your book in one sentence?

Father Christopher Jamison O.S.B: Vocation is a central feature of Christian life and this collection of essays explores the many different meanings people have given vocation in the past and today.

T&T: When did you start researching for this book?

FCJ: When I was appointed Director of the Catholic Church’s National Office for Vocation in October 2010, I began to look more deeply into the meaning of vocation.

T&T: Which part of writing a book have you enjoyed most?

FCJ: The chapters of this book come from a seminar held in 2012. As the convener of the seminar and editor of the book, I’ve had the opportunity to invite a wide range of talented people to work together. Writing the introduction and conclusion to this shared work has been a very enjoyable experience.

T&T: Great! And how has the theme of Vocation, as explored by the contributors to this volume, illuminated and aided your own work at the National Office for Vocation?

FCJ: It has highlighted that vocation has a long and varied history, with different meanings in different eras. This explains some of the confusion that currently surrounds vocation and is helping us to clarify its meaning for today.

T&T: Do you have any tips for people reading the book?

FCJ: After reading the introduction, read any chapter that draws you as they are free standing and don’t need to be read in sequence. Hot tip: Dr Peter Tyler’s chapter on the psychology of vocation has already drawn plaudits from reviewers as the finest piece about this in living memory.

T&T: Great tip, that chapter is earmarked in my copy. How do you/ would you advise someone who believes they are being called but does not yet know whether they have the resources to commit?

FCJ: Firstly, be reassured that you are not alone. Secondly, go to www.ukvocation.org and you’ll find a range of people that you can contact and groups that you can join to ask for advice that has no agenda other than to help you discover God’s call in your life. Nobody can do this on their own.

T&T: Finally, where will your research go from here?

FCJ: The study of Christian vocation leads into consideration of the nature of Christian ministry. This is touched on in Fr Richard Lennan’s excellent chapter on the mission of the church. So I’m looking at the connections between mission, ministry and vocation, connections that Pope Francis has highlighted in his first major work ‘The Joy of the Gospel.’ 

T&T: Thank you Father Jamison, it has been a pleasure.

T&T Clark Milestones: Call for ideas & Book Competition

It's no secret that T&T Clark has published some EXCELLENT books in its 192 year history. At the moment we're thinking of embarking upon a new series which presents some of our great backlist with simple updates and new introductions from the author (or another scholar in some cases) sketching out the more recent developments in the field, and how the book in question has made its impact and continues to do so.

So, for example, we are currently discussing doing a new edition of Larry Hurtado's 'One God One Lord' in this way, and of Athalya Brenner's 'The Israelite Woman'.These are both Biblical Studies titles, but we intend to cover theology too.

We have a few other ideas, but obviously the best ideas are likely to come from our readership itself.

So here's the deal:

1. Use the comments box to recommend a book on the T&T Clark (or Continuum, Sheffield Academic Press, Burns & Oates, Sheed and Ward, Trinity Press Intl... any title to which we own the copyright) backlist that you would like to see included in this series.

2. Include a better name than 'Milestones' for the series if you can think of one.

3. If any of the previous suggestions sound great then include the title(s) in brackets at the end of your comment. E.g. (One God, One Lord).That way we're more likely to do them.

As reward for your troubles:

1. For each book we ultimately include in the series the first person to have suggested it will receive a paperback of their choice (up to £30 UK price) for their trouble.

2. If anyone suggests a series name we go on to use then they will receive a book credit of £100 (or US equivalent based on current exchange rates) with T&T Clark.We reserve the right to call it 'Milestones' after all.

CLOSING DATE: 26th October 2013

So, thinking caps on, we'd be most grateful for your thoughts and advice.

Kind regards,

The T&T Team.