This is the fictional but true-to-life story of a missionary "John" and how he comes to the ministry-changing conclusion: "Missions is not what the church does for the missionary but through the missionary." The book also includes a manual and four-part plan for church missions committees or individuals.

Biblical scholars have often contrasted the exegesis of the early church fathers from the eastern region and “school” of Syrian Antioch against that of the school of Alexandria. The Antiochenes have often been described as strictly historical-literal exegetes in contrast to the allegorical exegesis of the Alexandrians. Patristic scholars now challenge those stereotypes, some even arguing that few differences existed between the two groups. This work agrees that both schools were concerned with a literal and spiritual reading. But, it also tries to show, through analysis of Theodore and Theodoret’s exegesis and use of the term theoria, that how they integrated the literal-theological readings often remained quite distinct from the Alexandrians. For the Antiochenes, the term theoria did not mean allegory, but instead stood for a range of perceptions—prophetic, christological, and contemporary. It is in these insights that we find the deep wisdom to help modern readers interpret Scripture theologically.

If, therefore, someone is a prophet, he no doubt prophesies, but if someone prophesies he is not necessarily a prophet.—Origen Origen, writing sometime in the mid-third century on the Gospel of John, has charted a course for the subsequent history of interpretation of true and false prophecy. Although Tarrer’s study is concerned primarily with various readings of Jeremiah’s construal of the problem, the ambiguity inherent in Origen’s statement is glaring nonetheless. This monograph is a study of the history of interpretation. It therefore does not fit neatly into the category of Wirkungsgeschichte. Moving through successive periods of the Christian church’s history, Tarrer selects representative interpretations of Jeremiah and Ezekiel in later theological works dealing explicitly with the question of true and false prophecy in an effort to present a sampling of material from the span of the church’s existence. As evidenced by the list of “false prophets” uncovered at Qumran, along with the indelible interpretive debt owed by Christian interpreters such as Jerome and Calvin to Jewish exegetical methods, Jewish interpretation’s vast legacy quickly exceeds the scope of this project. From the sixteenth century onward, the focus on the Protestant church is, again, due to economy. In the end, Tarrer concludes that the early church and pre-modern tradition evidenced a recurring appeal to some form of association between Jeremiah 28 and the deuteronomic prophetic warnings in Deuteronomy 13 and 18.

Reading the Bible to the glory of God. In 1952, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity eloquently defined the essential tenets of the Christian faith. With the rise of fractured individualism that continues to split the church, this approach is more important now than ever before for biblical hermeneutics. Many Christians wonder how to read the text of Scripture well, rightly, and faithfully. After all, developing a strong theory of interpretation has always been presented by two enormous challenges: A variety of actual interpretations of the Bible, even within the context of a single community of believers. The plurality of reading cultures—denominational, disciplinary, historical, and global interpretive communities—each with its own frame of reference. In response, influential theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer puts forth a "mere" Christian hermeneutic—essential principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians. To center his thought, Vanhoozer turns to the accounts of Jesus' transfiguration—a key moment in the broader economy of God's revelation—to suggest that spiritual or "figural" interpretation is not a denial or distortion of the literal sense but, rather, its glorification. Irenic without resorting to bland ecumenical tolerance, Mere Christian Hermeneutics is a powerful and convincing call for both church and academy to develop reading cultures that enable and sustain the kind of unity and diversity that a "mere Christian hermeneutic" should call for and encourage

By grasping how the church of a particular time period reads the Scriptures, we can understand much of the Christianity of that age. This volume examines how the Gospel accounts at the heart of the Christian faith, the passion and resurrection of Christ, were interpreted by four key authors from late antiquity. In analyzing the readings and methods of Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, this work advocates for a reshaping of the categories commonly used to understand Latin patristic exegesis. It also prompts reflection upon habits of biblical interpretation and the pastoral application of Scripture in our own time.

References to demons and the devil permeate the rhetoric of John Chrysostom, the "golden-tongued" early church preacher and theologian. Samantha Miller examines Chrysostom's theology and world, helping us understand the role of demons in his soteriology and exploring what it means to be human and to follow Christ in a world of temptation.

Orlando Enrique Costas, 1942-1987, Hispanic theologian; contributed articles.