The poetic books of the Old Testament--Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon--are often called humankind's reach toward God. The other books of the Old Testament picture God's reach toward man through the redemptive story. Yet these five books reveal the very hear of men and women struggling with monumental issues such as suffering, sin, forgiveness, joy, worship, and the passionate love between a man and woman. C. Hassell Bullock, a noted Old Testament scholar, delves deep into the hearts of the five poetic books, offering readers helpful details such as harmeneutical considerations for each book, theological content and themes, detailed analysis of each book, and cultural perspectives. Hebrew is a language of "intrinsic musical quality that naturally supports poetic expression," says Bullock in his introduction. That poetic expression comes from the heart of the Old Testament writers and reaches all of us exactly where we are in our own struggles and joys.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.

In The Text in Play, Mike Higton and Rachel Muers conduct a series of experiments in the reading of Scripture. They experiment in the first place with a form of Christian theological exegesis of the Bible that they call "serious play"--a form of reading beyond the literal sense that is nevertheless serious about the ethical, historical, and textual responsibilities of the reader. They experiment in the second place with the practice called Scriptural Reasoning--in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims read and argue over their respective Scriptures together--and argue that the practice makes deep sense for "seriously playful" Christian readers. This constitutes the most detailed and developed account of Scriptural Reasoning yet published.