Ridley Hall, Cambridge

Resources: Biblical Studies Bulletin 16

Vol 16: June 2000

Three of the Best

This issue the distinguished Old Testament scholar Professor Walter Brueggemann tells us about three books that have helped him in his reading and study of the Bible.

1. B Davie Napier, From Faith to Faith: Essays on Old Testament Literature (Harper & Row, 1955). Napier at that time was at the Yale Divinity School and did not subsequently publish terribly much or terribly important books. That book, however, was the first exposure I had to the work of Gerhard von Rad; at the time there was very little of von Rad translated into English. I remember that Napier summarized in his elegant way von Rad's discussions of Genesis 1-11 and the succession narrative. This book triggered my decision to go into OT studies. And of course from that point, I went on to pay great attention to the growing corpus of von Rad's work.
2. Jose Miranda, Marx and the Bible: A Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression (Orbis Books, 1974; SCM Press, 1977). This was the first book I read on a liberation hermeneutic. It introduced me to socio-economic analysis, later confirmed more programmatically by Norman Gottwald. Miranda's book continues to inform me, among the best on liberation hermeneutics.
3. Paul Ricoeur, Essays on Biblical Interpretation (Fortress, 1980; SPCK, 1981). This book introduced me to Ricoeur's hermeneutic in general and to his category of testimony in particular. In fact, I should cite the entire corpus of Ricoeur which has been important to me in my Theology of the Old Testament (1997). I made programmatic use of Ricoeur's notion of testimony.

A Which Guide to Bible Study Notes

Someone told me the other day that they had been reading Bible reading notes for 40 years, always the same ones and obsessive enough to read a couple of weeks worth on one day, if they had been too ill or too busy. I wondered what kinds of notes were available today, useful knowledge for anyone seeking to encourage regular Bible reading.

Here is a brief list of the current publications of dated Bible study notes. They vary in target audience, style, ranging from mildly academic to light devotional, in theology, conservative to mildly liberal, charismatic to reformed, in authorship, a different author every week or so, to just one for the whole year, and in approach to the text, thematic jumping around to steadily working through whole books. Some come four times a year and some three. I would very much like to hear from those with any experience of take-up, changing patterns of readership, successful ways to encourage Bible reading, or any other comments.

Scripture Union: Encounter with God, formerly Daily Notes, is designed for thoughtful, in-depth systematic Bible reading. The series is aimed at those who want a more academic approach, as well as devotional input. Closer to God, formerly Alive to God, is more inspirational and devotional, less intellectual, incorporating more in the way of response and directed worship. Daily Bread comes between the two above in approach.

Bible Reading Fellowship: Guidelines offers in-depth study with scholarly critical input, articles, suggestions for further study, and monthly points for thought and prayer. Day by Day With God are notes written by women for women, although BRF research shows that men read them too. They are popular, devotional, written for busy people who may not open their bibles, but will read the text and comment for the day. New Daylight are middle of the road notes, aimed at thought and inspiration. The Bible passage is printed out and there is a short comment and a thought for the day, and also several articles.

St Matthias Press: Explore are biblically conservative, aimed at challenging adult readers with the demands of Christian living.

The Salvation Army: Words of Life are systematic informative notes for adults, with items for prayer.

Crusade for World Revival: Every Day with Jesus is written for adults, with an emphasis on discovering the Spirit's particular message in the text, with notes for further study and a prayer point.

Letters to the Editor

Our last issue brought the greatest number of written responses from our readers yet (three). Two (John Humphries and Jim Hampson) expressed appreciation for the review of 'The Real Jesus'. Jim went on to add that one book that is helping him evaluate the Jesus Seminar is Jesus Under Fire, edited by Michael J Wilkins and J P Moreland (Zondervan, 1995; Paternoster 1996). This book is primarily an apologetic resource rather than a contribution to scholarly debate. Two other books from an informed evangelical perspective are Markus Bockmuehl's This Jesus (T&T Clark, 1994) and Ben Witherington's The Jesus Quest (IVP, 1995). A detailed case for an essentially reliable picture of Jesus in the gospels can be found in N T Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God (SPCK, 1996). Tom debates some of the issues with Marcus Borg in The Meaning of Jesus (SPCK, 1999 [ISBN: 0281052549]), and Tom's most recent The Challenge of Jesus (SPCK, 2000 [ISBN: 0281052867]) is also very accessible.

The third reader found 'Stop Sign Hermeneutics' to be blasphemous in part, and suggested that we drop humour from future issues. Once again, I apologize for any hurt; that certainly was not the intention, although I knew the piece was a risk. The purpose of BSB as stated in our very first issue is to provide some humour alongside biblical resources. That decision was taken because humour is generally a good tonic that helps people stay sane, and many of our readers are clergy who can get discouraged, and who appreciate some occasional 'light' material.

I think we Christians have a habit of taking ourselves too seriously, and we need to be able to laugh at ourselves. I also think the God in whose image we are made has a sense of humour. Of course, sometimes material simply fails to be funny! Unless I get an avalanche of emails and snailmails (i.e. four or five) telling me to drop it, I will continue to publish items that my quirky sense of humour finds funny, trusting that the faithful will tell me when I step over the line.

Keith Gruneberg writes

Garrett Green's Theology, Hermeneutics and Imagination (Cambridge University Press, 1999) is both cutting-edge hermeneutics and extremely lucidly written (though it is not in any way a 'popular' book). Green explains why imagination is necessary in reading the Bible, but how this doesn't make everything problematically subjective. He is unashamedly Christian in what he says: the cross is at the heart of his hermeneutic. I found the book an exciting and illuminating read; for anyone who wants to engage seriously with the issues it is a must.

Margaret Killingray writes,

Crossway Books UK publish a range of Bible guides aimed at personal and group study. These are particularly useful for those who find all other commentaries a bit too heavy for use in a busy life. Some of them are very good indeed, for example Jonathan Lamb on I Corinthians, and provide more help for leading and teaching than volumes in more commonly used series. The authors include Steven Gaukroger on Acts, Steve Motyer on Ephesians, Philip Hacking on Isaiah, Derek Tidball on Leviticus, Ian Coffey on Philippians, and Alec and Steve Motyer together on I and II Thessalonians. Each volume is divided into study length sections, with boxed questions, explanations of any difficult issues, background information including maps, and further reading.

Thanks for these submissions. All readers are welcome to pursue immortality in print through a letter or email to BSB.

Comments on Commentaries

An assessment of commentaries on a book of the Old & New Testament to keep you up to date with what will help in preaching and teaching in the local church.

OT: Leviticus

Leviticus is a book of unappreciated riches, but a preacher needs good guidance for the interpretive challenge - both what the text meant in its time, and how we might interpret it today. Several older critical commentaries fall down on both accounts, including N H Snaith Leviticus and Numbers (Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1967) and M Noth Leviticus (SCM, 1965). Far more insight is found in the brief commentary of J R Porter Leviticus (CUP, 1976). Disappointing are most pre-critical and conservative commentators, who descend too quickly to allegory, apologetics or medical materialism (e.g. R K Harrison Leviticus [IVP, 1980]).

In fact our understanding of Leviticus has been transformed by the work of the Jewish scholar Jacob Milgrom, whose Leviticus 1-16 for the Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1991 [ISBN: 0385114346]) is as definitive as it is lengthy. The Jewish commentary of B A Levine Leviticus (Jewish Publication Society, 1989) is rather less sympathetic. A number of their insights are summarised by L L Grabbe's Old Testament Guide to Leviticus (JSOT Press, 1993). A key figure in much of the debate has been Mary Douglas, whose Leviticus as Literature (Oxford University Press, 1999) is a fascinating and original discussion.

For Christian readers, G J Wenham The Book of Leviticus (NICOT; Eerdmans, 1979 [ISBN: 0802825222]) remains extremely helpful, particularly because of his broad discussions. P J Budd Leviticus (Marshall Pickering/Eerdmans, 1996) is more limited in his discussion of its theology and interpretation. Although I haven't used it, it is likely that E S Gerstenberger Leviticus (OT Library; Westminster John Knox, 1996 [ISBN: 0664220649]) is primarily concerned with Leviticus in its historical setting. The short commentary of F H Gorman Divine Presence and Community: A Commentary on the Book of Leviticus (Eerdmans, 1997 [ISBN: 0802801102]) keeps in mind the difficulties of a modern reader, although there is little on Christian interpretation. Fortunately the large commentary by J E Hartley Leviticus (Word Biblical Commentary; Dallas: Word, 1992 [ISBN: 0849902037]) manages to deal with innumerable issues of detail, but also discusses general issues of interpretation. My only caution is that non-Hebraists will find some parts demanding, though not impossible. I have not seen G W Demarest, Leviticus: The Communicator's Commentary (Word Books, 1990).

In summary, Wenham would give a preacher a good basis, but Gorman (for orientation) and Hartley (for depth and breadth) would be an excellent combination.

NT: James

Preachers on James have always had the advantage of James' built-in illustrative material - to mention an obvious example, the tongue is likened to a bridle, a rudder, a fire; and then to a spring of water, a fig tree, a grapevine (3.1-12). In order to make the most of this wealth of these illustrations we need a commentary informed about the socio-cultural context of these features (lest we indulge in anachronism aplenty). All of the commentaries mentioned below offer help in this regard, but special mention should go to L T Johnson, The Letter of James (Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1995; [ISBN: 0385413602]).

Much more difficult are other aspects of James: the lack of argument, or ascertainable structure; its lack of 'theology' in the sense in which we (especially Protestants) normally think of it; and the critical debates about its authorship and relation to Paul. See e.g. M Dibelius - H Greeven, A Commentary on the Epistle of James (Hermenia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976) for the standard critical commentary.

Some relatively recent commentaries make valiant attempts at constructing detailed plans of James' argument, for example J B Adamson, The Epistle of James (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976) and P H Davids, The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Exeter: Paternoster, 1982). Both of these are perfectly serviceable commentaries in the evangelical tradition; Davids in particular offers a critical interaction with Dibelius-Greeven.

A more common approach is simply to acknowledge that James consists of a series of loosely connected sections, spelling out in chapters 2-5 those things which are mentioned briefly in the opening chapter. So R P Martin, James (WBC.; Waco: Word, 1988); D J Moo, The Letter of James (Pillar; Leicester: Apollos, 2000), and Johnson (cited above). Luther's view that the author 'threw things together chaotically' remains an unwarranted overstatement. Moo's commentary is very readable, and looks good on the details [ISBN: 0802837301]. Johnson's commentary has a special interest in the history of interpretation of James; for an earlier treatment, see J H Ropes, (ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1916).

For appreciating James on its own merits in the light of the wisdom tradition you couldn't do better that R Bauckham, James: Wisdom of James, disciple of Jesus the sage (NT Readings; London: Routledge, 1999 [ISBN: 0415103703]). Explicit attention to Greek matters can be found in Davids, Martin, Dibelius-Greeven, Ropes and J B Mayor (London: Macmillan, 1897). Despite its age, Mayor's commentary is still helpful for its discussions of the grammar and style of the letter.

Attention to the place of James within the NT as a whole is characteristic of C L Mitton, The Epistle of James (London: MMS, 1966), the lists of parallels in Mayor remain useful, and both Moo and Bauckham address this issue, in interestingly different ways. I don't know much about S Laws, A Commentary on the Epistle of James (London: A & C Black, 1980), except that the editor of BSB asked me to mention it. [Ed: Laws offers a moderate, critical reading of the text as pseudonymous]

My advice? Definitely read Bauckham; then I would read Johnson and one of Moo, Davids, Martin, or Adamson. It is surely hardly worth reading them all.

[Ed: For those looking for an inexpensive but serviceable paperback on James, D J Moo's earlier commentary in the Tyndale NT series (Inter-Varsity; Leicester, 1985 [ISBN: 0851118852]) is also very good. It replaced the older volume by Tasker.]

Computer Corner

• The best software for serious Bible study remains, IMHO, Accordance for the Apple Mac, and the publishers are offering several modules at 15-25% discounts until the end of July. Special offers include the text of the 37-volume Church Fathers (Ante- and Post-Nicene) with Schaff's Church History for $104 (about £70) instead of $129, the popular Expositor's Bible Commentary at $149 (normally $199), the NIV Study Bible Reference Library ($99 instead of $129) and other modules too numerous to list. For details, go to www.oaksoft.com
• An excellent source for timely, online reviews of recent biblical literature can be found at http://www.bookreviews.org . The online Review of Biblical Literature offers multiple, contrasting reviews of the same book when more than one review has been submitted. From their website it is possible to subscribe for free to their email service, which regularly sends an update listing new reviews that have appeared since the last notice. This service is sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature.
• Church leaders may find the contents of the American journal Leadership to be useful; the cartoons are certainly hilarious. Now some of the articles in each issue are available for free online at www.christianityonline.com/leadership/current .
• Yet another source for good links to biblical resources is www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/Internet/topsites.htm

Grove Biblical Series

Forthcoming issues in the series include booklets on the Ten Commandments, the book of Daniel, and preaching with the grain of Scripture.