This festschrift honors Aloysius Fitzgerald, F.S.C. The essays largely reflect the honoree's interests in the poetic and prophetic material of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near Eastern context of that material. The volume includes an introduction by Joseph Jensen, O.S.B. and the following articles: Leslie J, Hoppe, O.ftM., "Vengeance and Forgiveness: The Two Faces of Psalm 79" (pp. 1-22); Mark S. Smith, "The Poetics of Exodus 15 and Its Position in the Book" (pp. 23-34); Susan F. Mathews, "The Power to Endure and Be Transformed: Sun and Moon Imagery in Joel and Revelation 6" (pp. 35-49); Gregory J. Polan, O.S.B., "Zion, the Glory of the Holy One of Israel: A Literary Analysis of Isaiah 60" (pp. 50-71); Maribeth Howell, O.P., "A Closer Look: Isaiah 35:110" (pp. 72-80); Mark D. Futato, "Sense Relations in the 'Rain' Domain of the Old Testament" (pp. 81-94); John J. Ferrie, Jr., "Singing in the Rain: A Meteorological Image in Isaiah 42:10-12" (pp. 95-104); Irene Nowell, O.S.B., "Psalm 88: A Lesson in Lament" (pp. 105-18); Dale Launderville, O.S.B., "Anti-monarchical Ideology in Israel in Light of Mesopotamian Parallels" (pp. 119-28); Edward G. Mathews, Jr., "Water in the First Creation Account of Genesis I in the Commentary on Genesis of Ephrem the Syrian" (pp. 129-44); Deirdre Dempsey, "The Verb Syntax of the Idol Passage of Isaiah 44:9-20" (pp. 145-56); Alice Ogden Bellis, "The New Exodus in Jeremiah 50:33-38" (pp. 157-68); Lawrence Boadt, C.S.P., "Re-Examining a Preexilic Redaction of Isaiah 1-39" (pp. 169-90).

This reference work explores the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors, figures of speech, and literary patterns found in the Bible. With over 800 articles by over 100 expert contributors, this is an inviting, enlightening and indispensable companion to the reading, study, contemplation and enjoyment of the Bible.

Formerly known by its subtitle “Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete”, the International Review of Biblical Studies has served the scholarly community ever since its inception in the early 1950’s. Each annual volume includes approximately 2,000 abstracts and summaries of articles and books that deal with the Bible and related literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pseudepigrapha, Non-canonical gospels, and ancient Near Eastern writings. The abstracts – which may be in English, German, or French - are arranged thematically under headings such as e.g. “Genesis”, “Matthew”, “Greek language”, “text and textual criticism”, “exegetical methods and approaches”, “biblical theology”, “social and religious institutions”, “biblical personalities”, “history of Israel and early Judaism”, and so on. The articles and books that are abstracted and reviewed are collected annually by an international team of collaborators from over 300 of the most important periodicals and book series in the fields covered.

A philosophical inquiry into the strengths and weaknesses of theism and naturalism in accounting for the emergence of consciousness, the visual imagination and aesthetic values. The authors begin by offering an account of modern scientific practice which gives a central place to the visual imagination and aesthetic values. They then move to test the explanatory power of naturalism and theism in accounting for consciousness and the very visual imagination and aesthetic values that lie behind and define modern science. Taliaferro and Evans argue that evolutionary biology alone is insufficient to account for consciousness, the visual imagination and aesthetic values. Insofar as naturalism is compelled to go beyond evolutionary biology, it does not fare as well as theism in terms of explanatory power.

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Christians ought to be leading the way in creativity, but we rarely do. God is the Creator of all things, and He created us in His image. Creativity is woven into the very fabric of our humanity. Therefore, Christians should value and champion creativity as a vital part of our image-bearing role. Instead Christians often don’t know what to do with creatives and creatives don’t know what to do with Christianity. On one side you have Christians who neglect or discount art, imagination, and beauty altogether. On the other, you have artists who make idols out of each of these good things. Ryan Lister, a theology professor, and Thomas Terry, a spoken word artist and founder of Humble Beast, team up to help restore the connection between creativity and theology. Images & Idols is a theological and artistic exploration of creativity in the Christian life. It will help creatives build a strong theological foundation for their art, while challenging the church to embrace a theology of beauty and creativity.

Humans are created in the image of God, yet by choosing to rebel against God we become unfaithful bearers of his image. But Jesus, who is the image of God, restores the divine image in us. At the intersection of theology and culture, these essays offer a unified vision of what it means to be truly human and created in the divine image in the world today.

This book offers an energizing Christian vision for the art of teaching. The authors — experienced teachers themselves — encourage teacher-readers to reanimate their work by imagining it differently. David Smith and Susan Felch, along with Barbara Carvill, Kurt Schaefer, Timothy Steele, and John Witvliet, creatively use three metaphors — journeys and pilgrimages, gardens and wilderness, buildings and walls — to illuminate a fresh vision of teaching and learning. Stretching beyond familiar clichés, they infuse these metaphors with rich biblical echoes and theological resonances that will inform and inspire Christian teachers everywhere.

The many voices in scripture form a dialogue with readers, which produce theological truths that are larger than the individual parts. This introduction is informed by both literary theory and theology. It groups sections of the whole Bible together by genre. Each section identifies and describes the genre (such as historiography, poetry, prophecy, gospel, letter, apocalypse), and then moves into a discussion about the literary characteristics and theological insights. The words of scripture not only come a long way to find us but like a poem must be read with attention. Poetry doesn’t yield meaning easily, and it doesn’t promise to make sense. We know to look past the words on the page and find the images, tropes, sounds, and metaphors that are meaning-full. This type of writing invites, rather demands, the imagination. We must accept that we will only get so close, but that this is close enough. Our imagination spans the gaps left by sparse language and incomplete narratives. We return again and again, with more information and perhaps more experiences. The words are the same, but we are not; and for that reason there are always new discoveries. “At last, an introduction that students will enjoy reading, because it is at once engaging, informative, and eye-opening, as well as completely lucid. Fentress Williams shows how many books of the Bible reflect the experience of marginalized persons and communities in precarious situations, and therefore how they speak in ways both realistic and encouraging to contemporary readers. Do your students and yourself a favor: adopt this text and get ready for serious conversation about ancient texts that never go out of date.” – Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School