Walter Brueggemann

Be Still!

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“This wondrous collection of rich snippets would be of interest and value if only for the rich source material that Gordon Stewart quotes from, as it must be an inexhaustible memory and/or file. But the many words he quotes are no more than launching pads for Stewart's expansive imagination and agile mind that take us, over and over, into fresh discernment, new territory, unanticipated demands, and open-ended opportunity. All of that adds up to grace, and Stewart is a daring witness to grace that occupies all of our territory.”

Beautiful upon the Mountains

Evangelism & Missions

“The Peace Church tradition, here represented by Mennonites, has for a long time presented an alternative, subversive reading of Scripture that has served an alternative, subversive way in the world. The present volume continues that alternative reading with force and imagination in a most remarkable way. The contextual point for readers is the imperial militarism of the U.S., especially in its 'crusade' against Muslims. The book, however, is not quarrelsome or given to championing any cause. Rather, it offers superb biblical interpretation of specific texts, interpretation made accessible and designed to feed and nurture a peaceable imagination. I learned in important ways from these fresh readings of the text; I anticipate other readers will learn afresh as well.”

Being and the Messiah

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In 'Marx and the Bible', Jose Miranda served notice that he would raise questions and think thoughts that the scholarly world characteristically refuses to raise and is incapable of thinking. Now in 'Being and the Messiah' he has advanced his program of combining radical social criticism and radical hermeneutical exploration in a way which requires a quite fresh hearing of the Gospel. . . . ". . . Miranda will not be pigeonholed by the academy. It is to be strongly hoped that he is taken seriously, for there is in his writing the kind of discernment which may reform and renew Scripture study.”

Being Christian

Christian Living

“Who better than Rowan Williams to be our teacher about the essentials of Christianity! In this clear, accessible exposition, we get Williams at his best - worldly-wise, pastorally gentle, grounded deeply in tradition, acutely alert to the real world of violence where God indwells. Williams ushers us more deeply into our best discernment of the Christian life.”

Being Disciples

Christian Living

“Williams ushers us more deeply into our best discernment of the Christian life.”

Believer on Sunday, Atheist by Thursday

Apologetics

“Ron Byars should soon receive a citation for honesty. Pulling no punches, he bears witness to the complexity, ambiguity and difficulty of serious Christian faith in our culture. With that acknowledgement, however, he then proceeds to articulate in a wise, compelling way how and in what ways the deep claims of gospel faith can matter for us. His perspective is according to the rich practices of worship. He provides a winsome ‘sacramental’ reading of our shared life that is grounded in our actual living but that he permeates with thick symbols of faith that are open to imaginative rendering. His witty title attests that the glory of Sunday Easter faith is eroded and fatigued by Thursday; Byars offers an invigorating Wednesday way-station in the tradition that invites fresh courage for the faithful. Reading this book may indeed yield a renewal of faith so much needed among us.”

Believing Aloud

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Better Capitalism

Work, Money & Leadership

“This book plunges the reader right into the interface of theology (faith) and economics, exactly where thoughtful, responsible adults need to be situated in our crisis-marked world. Knowlton and Hedges pursue a simple paradigm of ‘plantation vs. partnership.’ ‘Plantation’ in their usage refers to a winner-take-all economics that exploits others for self-advantage. ‘Partnership’ concerns an economic practice of mutuality that contributes to the common good while attending to one’s own interest. This simple either/or is explored in rich directions including finance, corporations, government, and culture. Along the way we get a healthy rereading of Adam Smith and Ayn Rand, away from a privatistic distortion. This book merits close, sustained attention as a compelling move beyond both careless thinking and easy ideology.”

Beyond the Academy

Theology

“David Moe’s probe into grassroots Christian theology is deeply rooted in his home environment of Myanmar where his faith was formed and where he practiced his faith amid systemic violence. Moe makes a distinction, not only between grassroots and academic theology, but also between grassroots and public theology that tends to be top-down. He insists that the grassroots reality of actual Christians practicing actual faith is the most elemental articulation of faith. Moe’s vigorous attestation of practical faith is sure to be instructive for Christians who live and practice faith elsewhere, most especially in the West where our faith is much too often accommodating to cultural expectation. This book is an invitation to step outside our conventional assumptions in order to face the stark reality of Gospel mandates.”

Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“Four singularly gifted interpreters have joined together in a most ambitious project. They propose nothing less than to trace the logic of a faithful ethic from its complex rootage in scripture to the mandates for concrete action in the world. In their ambitious enterprise they have succeeded in compelling and spectacular ways. As a result this book will be a defining point of reference for time to come. They see clearly how complex the matter is, but do not flinch from the task. They stake a great deal on the canonical shape of scripture and prize the church as an imaginative generative interpretive community. Before they finish they provide guidance on how to do the work of ethics. This book will be a valuable asset for the teaching ministry and for the practical life of the church.”

Blessings of the Tanakh

Arts & Literature

“Ken Bazyn is deeply grounded in Scripture, world-wise, has read everything, and appreciates rich, evocative images. He brings all of these gifts together in a fresh reading of our old text. You may indeed find your faith newly enlivened through his good words.”

Bound and Free

Theology

“Douglas John Hall is the most thoughtful, brooding, steadfast Reformed theologian in North America, a fine, crafted mix of dourness and joy. In this retrospect on his life as a teacher of the church, of course, we never get Hall alone. We get cadences of Luther and Barth, of Tillich and Niebuhr all into this personally artistic combination. We never get only theology, we get economics and environmentalism and epistemology and hope. Above all, we get the cross.... The process of reading has been for me, as so often with Hall, an occasion of repentance and of healing.”

Brief Christian Histories

History & Biography

“James White is a born teacher; as a result, this book is a huge pedagogical success. The book exhibits, several times over, the great sweep of Christian history with just enough specificity to connect many, many dots. In this book, White demonstrates his effective teaching capacity, now made available for many willing learners.”

Building a Community of Interpreters

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“We have had more than enough of loud, shrill Bible interpretation, the proponents of which know what they will find before they look. Then along comes Dickhaut with his readerly patience, his waiting imagination, and his artistic capacity. . . . Readers who follow Dickhaut will be led to new ways of reading and a new sense of how the Bible is indeed disclosure beyond the already known.”

Buried Dreamer

Fiction

“In this telling there is a wee thread of life and faith that runs from Scotland to North Carolina, with a detour of duty in Afghanistan. Those who carry that thread of faith and life face many ‘trials and snares,’ among them racism, rabid nationalism, and regressive fundamentalism. The tracing of this thread is gentle, patient, and compelling. David Howell is a master storyteller.”

Caesar and the Sacrament

Foreword

“Streett does nothing less than show that the understanding of baptism in Constantinian Christianity that privatized and spiritualized baptism was a gross misinterpretation that we, at the end of Christendom, may now unlearn. One may hope that Streett’s study will awaken the church to the wide and deep accents of baptism that is both a gift from God and mandate to an emancipated transformed public life.”

Celebrant’s Flame

History & Biography

“In these relentlessly compelling pages, Dan Berrigan keeps coming at us. We get Dan's wisdom, courage, passion, honesty, good humor, faith, joy, and eloquent gracefulness. And besides all of that, we get the imagery and testimony of his wide circle of friends who shared his passionate vocation of justice. We get all of this because of the generous gifts of Bill Wylie-Kellermann, gifts of poetic cadence, good memory, strong imagination, a close friendship with Dan, and a passion for justice not unlike that of Berrigan himself. This deeply moving book consists in poems, memories, sermons, speeches, and testimonies that will keep Dan's singular legacy alive for time to come. The book is a welcome gift to us. It is indeed compelling in ways that will both unnerve and give nerve to an attentive reader.”

Charting the Course of Psalms Research

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Erhard Gerstenberger has been a decisive figure in Psalms study in the past generation. This book provides a summary of scholarly research on the Psalms in his generation. Beyond that, this book gives full expression to Gerstenberger’s singular contribution to Psalms study, namely, the articulation of a fourfold taxonomy of Psalm settings: family, village, monarchy, and the post-exile community. Through this valuable summation of his work, Gerstenberger continues to be our generative teacher.”

Christianity Incorporated

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“A deeply important analysis of the relationship between the ideological power of capitalism and the radical claims of discipleship central to Christian faith. Budde and Brimlow explicate the aggressive totalism of consumer capitalism in its capacity to preempt Christian faith and reduce it to a chaplaincy function for the defining ideology of our society. "The analysis is offered on two distinct levels. First, corporations find the facade of Christianity useful and amenable for the whole-life environment they seek to create. Second, Budde and Brimlow show how Lockean (possessiveness) permeates thinking even among the churches in their critical posturing. "The book is sure to be in dispute, but the disputes it may evoke are simply signals of the powers of the analysis offered here and the expose of what is happening among us, both practically and intellectually. The authors trust that truth is not for sale, but their own analysis is enough ground for anxiety and alertness.”

Circles in the Stream

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“One way in which we acquire a fresh read of Scripture is to read the text through a new methodological lens. This is the work Paul Koptak undertakes in this book. Koptak reads the Joseph narrative in the book of Genesis with reference to the communicative theory of Kenneth Burke. . . . Koptak is fully alert to the artistic wonder of the narrative and takes that artistry with attentive seriousness.”