Introduction to the Old Testament

Introduction to the Old Testament
Author: Bill T. Arnold
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2014-04-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1139915738

This volume introduces ancient Israel's Scriptures, or the Hebrew Bible, commonly called the Old Testament. It also traces the legacy of monotheism first found in the pages of the Old Testament. Where pertinent to the message of the Old Testament, the book explores issues of history, comparative religions, and sociology, while striking a balance among these topics by focusing primarily on literary features of the text. In addition, frequent sidebar discussions introduce the reader to contemporary scholarship, especially the results of historical-critical research and archaeology. Along the way, the book explores how the Old Testament conceptualized and gave rise to monotheism, one of the most significant developments in history, giving this study a currency for twenty-first-century readers.

Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom

Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom
Author: Anthony R. Ceresko
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 219
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 157075277X

"Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom provides comprehensive coverage of the wisdom literature within a liberative framework. Ceresko introduces the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth), Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and the Book of Wisdom, showing the development and function of wisdom literature in the ancient world and within Israel, both as a form of literature and as a guide for daily life. He presents a general overview of the themes, structure and historical background and looks closely at significant texts from each wisdom book."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Israel's Wisdom Literature

Israel's Wisdom Literature
Author: Dianne Bergant
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 212
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781451406597

This series looks at various sections of the Old Testament from the perspective of a worldview in which various groups of humans, and other parts of the natural world, are considered in a relational way. Covers all the wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Apocrypha.

Methods for Exodus

Methods for Exodus
Author: Thomas B. Dozeman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-03-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1139487388

Methods for Exodus is a textbook on biblical methodology. The book introduces readers to six distinct methodologies that aid in the interpretation of the book of Exodus: literary and rhetorical, genre, source and redaction, liberation, feminist, and postcolonial criticisms. Describing each methodology, the volume also explores how the different methods relate to and complement one another. Each chapter includes a summary of the hermeneutical presuppositions of a particular method with a summary of the impact of the method on the interpretation of the book of Exodus. In addition, Exodus 1–2 and 19–20 are used to illustrate the application of each method to specific texts. The book is unique in offering a broad methodological discussion with all illustrations centered on the book of Exodus.

Apocalypse

Apocalypse
Author: Pablo Richard
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2009-05-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606081594

The Book of Revelation has always been a mysterious and intriguing book, describing in symbolic terms the confrontation between the Disciples of Christ and the powers - political and supernatural - that hold sway over the current age. Fundamentalists have been attracted to the book and have sought to decipher its strange symbols as coded prophecy of future events. But as Pablo Richard shows in Apocalypse, the most powerful readings of the Book of Revelation are through the eyes of the oppressed, living out their Christian faith in the context of the modern empire. It is they who identify most strongly with Revelation's ultimate message of hope and life in the midst of death and persecution. Apocalypse first provides a general introduction to the reading of Revelation by examining three keys for its understanding: the historical, he sociological, and the literary-structural. The book then goes on to explore the whole of the Book of Revelation, following the book's own structure. Each section provides a line-by-line reading of the text, establishing the literal meaning before applying the interpretive keys already established.

A Theology of Liberation

A Theology of Liberation
Author: Gustavo GutiŽerrez
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 495
Release: 1988-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0883445425

This is the credo and seminal text of the movement which was later characterized as liberation theology. The book burst upon the scene in the early seventies, and was swiftly acknowledged as a pioneering and prophetic approach to theology which famously made an option for the poor, placing the exploited, the alienated, and the economically wretched at the centre of a programme where "the oppressed and maimed and blind and lame" were prioritized at the expense of those who either maintained the status quo or who abused the structures of power for their own ends. This powerful, compassionate and radical book attracted criticism for daring to mix politics and religion in so explicit a manner, but was also welcomed by those who had the capacity to see that its agenda was nothing more nor less than to give "good news to the poor", and redeem God's people from bondage.

Liberating Black Theology

Liberating Black Theology
Author: Anthony B. Bradley
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2010-02-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433523558

When the beliefs of Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, assumed the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign, the influence of black liberation theology became hotly debated not just within theological circles but across cultural lines. How many of today's African-American congregations-and how many Americans in general-have been shaped by its view of blacks as perpetual victims of white oppression? In this interdisciplinary, biblical critique of the black experience in America, Anthony Bradley introduces audiences to black liberation theology and its spiritual and social impact. He starts with James Cone's proposition that the "victim" mind-set is inherent within black consciousness. Bradley then explores how such biblical misinterpretation has historically hindered black churches in addressing the diverse issues of their communities and prevented adherents from experiencing the freedoms of the gospel. Yet Liberating Black Theology does more than consider the ramifications of this belief system; it suggests an alternate approach to the black experience that can truly liberate all Christ-followers.