Richard B. Hays
Biography
Richard B. Hays is George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, where Hays previously served as dean. Hays wrote Reading with the Grain of Scripture (2020) and wrote the afterword to Renewing New Testament Christology (2023).
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Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“Tonstad's remarkable commentary offers a comprehensive reading of Revelation that is both literarily sensitive and theologically incisive. With careful attention to the text's engagement with Israel's scriptures, Tonstad interprets Revelation as a christologically centered disclosure of the astonishing, counterintuitive triumph of God's love over the cosmic power of evil. This deeply intelligent commentary challenges historicist readings of the book as a simple document of political resistance to the Roman Empire. At the same time, it grapples thoughtfully with pervasive misreadings of Revelation--both in the Christian theological tradition and in Western literary culture more broadly--as a fountainhead of resentment and violence. All who read this commentary will be forced to reconsider what they think they know about the Apocalypse. Let anyone who has an ear listen.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“Michael Gorman’s commentary on Romans faithfully illuminates the Apostle Paul’s complex proclamation of the gospel. While carefully explaining different possible interpretations, Gorman sets forth his own powerful reading of the letter: that it is a proclamation of the life-giving, life-transforming justice of God, as well as an urgent invitation to participate in the new community created by the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Gorman, a master teacher, provides a rich historical and theological exposition, never losing sight of the question of what matters for Christian communities today. This commentary belongs on the desk of everyone whose vocation is to preach and teach the gospel.”
Self-Deception and Wholeness in Paul and Matthew
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“Posing provocative questions to the New Testament, Dan O. Via asks how Paul and Matthew understand the near universal human experience of self-deception and shows how each of them, in a different way, proclaims the power of the gospel to break through illusion and bring personal integration to the believer-disciple. . . . Via's strategy has two benefits for the preacher or interpreter: it formulates the biblical message in terms accessible to [contemporary] readers who might not otherwise be disposed to listen, and it offers a fresh approach to vexed questions about the theological coherence of the New Testament canon. . . . Via's work out to stimulate lively conversation.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“In the midst of our culture's wistful and slightly desperate clamoring for programs to create 'strong leadership,' Craig Hill's Servant of All speaks a much-needed, biblically grounded word, calling us to recognize 'the way of Jesus' as the true model for leadership in the church. All of us who are caught up in institutions that foster competition, ambition, and self-assertion will find this study to be a bracing, challenging reminder of the true nature of our vocation, and of the character of the One who calls us.”
Marriage, Family & Relationships
“Wesley Hill’s courageous, thought-provoking book seeks to recover ‘friendship as a genuine love in its own right.’ At one level, it is a historically rooted and theologically nuanced essay that opens up fresh perspectives on a topic that is crucial but too rarely pondered. But at another level, Spiritual Friendship belongs to the classic genre of Christian confessional autobiography, a genre that can be traced back to St. Augustine; it is both searing in its honesty and moving in its chastened hope for grace.”
Theology
“David Stubbs invites us to discover—or, more precisely, recover—an understanding of the Eucharist that is grounded in figural interpretation of Israel’s scripture and worship traditions. This provocative study, written with great clarity and hermeneutical insight, will encourage all Christians to think more deeply about the roots of our practices of coming together at the Lord’s table. Stubbs’s book is a fresh, incisive work of constructive theology; it must be pondered by everyone engaged in the leadership of Christian worship.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“N. T. Wright is a fresh and provocative voice in Pauline studies ... Wright gives thorough, deft, and imaginative readings of key texts in Paul ... A bold new global construal of Paul the Jewish Christian theologian takes shape before our eyes. Wright's account of Paul is a major force to be reckoned with: no one should write—or preach—on Paul without pondering his work.”
The New Testament and the People of God
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“The sweep of Wright's project as a whole is breathtaking. It is impossible to give a fair assessment of his achievement without sounding grandiose: no New Testament scholar since Bultmann has even attempted—let alone achieved—such an innovative and comprehensive account of New Testament history and theology.”
Apologetics
“Licona has tackled his subject energetically, with near-obsessive thoroughness. He concludes that if one approaches the sources without an a priori commitment to the impossibility of resurrection, the 'Resurrection Hypothesis' is the interpretation that most adequately accounts for the evidence. Thus, the book boldly challenges the naturalistic presuppositions of post-Enlightenment historical criticism. At the very least, Licona has shown that the usual naturalistic explanations of the resurrection tradition are, on the whole, weak, speculative and often tendentious. "I am not aware of any scholar who has previously offered such a thorough and fair-minded account of the historiographical prolegomena to the resurrection question. Furthermore, Licona's discussion of the 'bedrock' historical evidence is appropriately nuanced and carefully modulated, not claiming more than can be supported by the consensus findings of qualified scholars. This lends credibility to his conclusions. Licona has presented a fair and vigorous case for his position. No doubt many readers will be unconvinced by his arguments, but no one can accuse him of naiveté or of ignoring counterarguments. "This study spans fields that are too rarely brought into conversation: New Testament studies and historiographical theory. Licona is to be commended for this undertaking and for producing a study that has both wide range and significant depth.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“The Bible did not fall from the sky as a completed revelatory product. Karen Keen has provided a wide-ranging survey of the historical formation of Scripture as a ‘group project’ within the community of God’s people across many centuries. But she offers us something more than a historical overview. She also makes a striking theological proposal: that God’s choice to speak through these humanly written, edited, and transmitted scriptures is a clue about God’s humility (in keeping with Phil. 2:1–8). If so, the historically complex, dynamic character of the biblical canon discloses something crucial about the divine identity. At the same time, it also models how we might continue to receive and interpret these texts in Spirit-led humility and freedom.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“In this book Daniel Kirk makes a fresh and important contribution to the study of Pauline theology by highlighting the significance of resurrection in the letter to the Romans. At the same time, he clarifies Paul's teaching about resurrection in the context of various Jewish apocalyptic expectations. Oddly, while debate has swirled about Paul's view of the law and his doctrine of justification, interpreters have paid curiously little attention to the key role of resurrection in the argument of Romans. Kirk's study skillfully makes a previously overlooked theme appear self-evident, thereby offering a new angle of vision on the letter. Many readers will come to the end of this book saying, 'Yes, of course; why didn't we see that before?' Unlocking Romans will be a valuable resource for all who teach or preach on this text.”
Theology
“In this provocative book, Tommy Givens exposes and challenges the dangerous theological roots and deadly consequences of modern ‘peoplehood’ and its expression in nation-states. In critical conversation with Yoder, Barth, and N. T. Wright, he calls on Christians to recognize the election of Israel and its incarnation in Jesus as the foundation of a peaceable Christian identity and witness. His biblical and theological arguments deserve a wide hearing and careful engagement." —Michael J. Gorman St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore "Tommy Givens contends that the failure of much Christian theology to grapple adequately with the scriptural representation of Israel’s election produced disastrous lacunae in early Christian confessional standards and in subsequent theological development. He argues that this failure is not a consequence of the teaching of the New Testament writings themselves; rather, it is a failure of the subsequent tradition to grasp and incorporate the actual witness of the New Testament concerning Israel’s election. Of course, this argument requires careful critical reassessments of the New Testament texts that have often been supposed to support, or even require, a supersessionist rejection of ethnic Israel. Focusing particularly on Matthew and Romans as test cases, Givens presents a strong and provocative theological argument. This is essential reading for all concerned about the integrity of Christian ecclesiology and Christian thought about the people of Israel.”
NOTE: Only includes books currently in our catalog; not necessarily a complete list.
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