Walter Brueggemann

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Janet Smith offers a fresh perspective on the difficult and complex question of death and 'life after death' in the ancient world of the Bible. She has in purview the large sweep of Ancient Near Eastern religion. But she goes about the issue in a proper way, focusing on texts (the Psalms and particularly Psalm 49) and on the sub-community from which these Psalms arose. She studies the 'Psalms of Korah,' a group whom she identifies as the 'custodians of the hope of a future redemption for the soul from sheol.' Her work leads her to conclude, against mythological speculation, that 'life after death' in ancient Israel concerns the victory of God in the world. Her careful reading of texts will serve well a rethinking of the 'this-worldly, bodily' form of Israel's faith in 'the God of life.' The last word, she affirms, belongs not to death, but to life"!”

Early Pentecostals on Nonviolence and Social Justice

History & Biography

“This timely witness to nonviolent peacemaking is a most welcome resource when violence is everywhere around us and 'terror is on every side.' This wide selection of testimony speaks urgently against the long-standing and current illusion of US morality in international affairs. The editors have patiently sorted out valuable and often forgotten voices of courageous truth-telling, not least Frank Bartleman. This choir of witnesses has an immediacy and practicality for our time and place in our season of faith.”

Elijah, Yahweh, and Baal

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Hermann Gunkel, who died in 1932, is one of the greatest teachers and 'God-Fathers' of Old Testament study. He has taught us the most about the artistic, imaginative dimensions of the text. His interpretation of the Elijah narrative in this volume is a treasure that merits continuing attention. We may be grateful indeed to K. C. Hanson for bringing it to us in English, and to Wipf and Stock for its publication. Gunkel continues to be our teacher and 'God-Father' in wise shrewd reading of the text.”

Encounters with the World’s Religions

World Religions

“The phrase 'World's Religions' conjures up a global, rather theoretical discussion of the Big Five of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. We anticipate . . . they will 'clash.' None of that here! Here we get the self-disclosing, self-giving witness of Brad: priest, poet, observer, witness lover of the earth, sinner, lover of his son Eric, expansive believer. . . .[O]ne is struck by Brad's modesty [and] his courage in truth-telling. His book is a generous invitation to all of us . . . to find our True Self.”

Everyday Activism

Christian Living

“Josh Buck offers us an honest, bold, brave, demanding manifesto. His truth-telling is accessible and hard to avoid as he shows the compelling ways in which the gospel becomes a mandate to engage in restorative justice concerning economic matters. His advocacy is deeply based in Scripture and yields practical guidance for good work where God has put us. Buck shows that the gospel cannot be contained in a ‘me and Jesus’ cocoon but summons us to public issues that concern God’s truth for the world. This is an important advocacy that invites us to grow in our awareness and to move our bodies for the sake of the neighborhood.”

Everywhere You Look

Church Leadership & Ministry

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Faithful Exchange

Work, Money & Leadership

“David Opderbeck offers a wide-ranging, critical, thoughtful reflection on the relentless tension between private property and the common good. After a judicious review of biblical resources, he addresses more contemporary concerns for a just economy in which the poor count in positive ways for the practice of the economy. Opderbeck affirms that the singular pursuit of private gain is deficient for an economy that is grounded in covenantal faith. This book is a major contribution to our critical, faithful thinking and merits close, sustained attention. Opderbeck boldly focuses on the interface between faith and money as an urgent issue among us.”

Fierce

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The ‘old, old story’ concerns ‘all the king’s men’ or ‘all the president’s men.’ The ‘new, new song’ is about all the women who belong to the coming realm of liberty and justice. Alice Connor is a skillful artist who knows how to transpose old, old stories into new, new songs. In her lively imagination the old old stories do not stay old. They are powerfully and accessibly new and contemporary for our time and place. Connor knows that feminism is about power. She shows how these ancient stories are filled with powerful futures.”

Filled to Be Emptied

Christian Living

“Robertson has written a vigorous summons to the advantaged to heed the call of Christ. By an alert, sustained appeal to the ancient Christian hymn of Philippians 2, Robertson lines out how we who are advantaged may embrace an alternative life that resonates with God’s good news. Though we may be ‘filled’ with the trinkets of capitalism, may we be ‘emptied’ of them in order to be ‘filled’ with the goodness of God. The focus is relentlessly on actual concrete practice. Robertson shows us a path that is emancipatory and reconciling—a major gift.”

Filled with the Spirit

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In this scholarly tour de force—breathtaking in its scope, depth, and erudition—Levison opens up new vistas of interpretation beyond all our settled categories in both Judaism and Christianity. . . . Texts in Levison’s hands witness to the surging of the vitality of the creator who refuses to let creation wither and close. This rich and generative study will surely not only be defining for time to come but will also evoke much new interpretive work.”

First Nations Version

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This new rendering of the New Testament is a most welcome accomplishment. All of our translations of the Bible are inescapably done through a cultural lens, and now we have the New Testament through the cultural lens of First Americans. It is of course a reach of empire to assume that our English translations of the Bible, as familiar as they are, are everywhere normative among us. Now we have a correction and an alternative that honors and takes seriously a cultural lens other than white European. This version draws us much closer to the wonder of an earthly spirituality that is present in the text as it is present in the life of the world.”

From Genesis to Chronicles

Theology

“This collection of essays was first offered in English in 1966, but has been out of print and unavailable. The decision by Fortress Press to republish the collection is most welcome. The publication helps to assure that a new generation of students of Scripture might learn again of the requirement of courage for scholarship and the freedom of imagination for scholarship as von Rad embodied both courage and freedom so elegantly and so eloquently.”

From Pain to Purpose

History & Biography

“L. C. Nichols offers us a compelling, deeply moving account of her journey to freedom that she found through faith. Her story runs from a frightened girl under an oppressive regime through an abusive marriage to well-being that has culminated for her in ordained ministry. Her book is a reminder that faith depends upon the particularity of God’s work in specific circumstances. The whole of her story is readily subsumed under the rubric of God’s faithful providence. Reading her book is itself an invitation to emancipation.”

From the Editor’s Desk

History & Biography

“The Christian Century has arrived as reliably as the rising sun and with it John Buchanan’s wise pastoral counsel and insight as a wake-up call, over and over making a compelling case for thinking through the pastoral prism of faith. It is now a treasure to have so many of his good words together in one place.”

Furthering Interfaith Biblical Scholarship

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This welcome collection of essays is worthy of attention on two counts. On the one hand, it is a fitting tribute to Professor LaCocque who was a bold pioneer in Old Testament study. He was not constrained by the conventions of our discipline, but staked out his own way of interpretation. On the other hand, these essays make significant contributions to our learning in their erudition and insight. We may be grateful to the editor, Doreen McFarlane, for seeing this important collection through to publication.”

Genesis and Christian Theology

Theology

“This rich and fresh collection of essays pivots on the daring conviction that historical-critical study and theological interpretation (informed by ongoing church tradition) can usefully engage each other in generative ways. The outcome, in various idioms, is a deep plunge into theological exploration that reaches in many contemporary directions, notably, faith and science, covenant and creation, food, poverty, work, and attentiveness to environment. Readers will inescapably be led in new directions of thought and interpretation by these provocative studies.”

George Herbert’s 82

Arts & Literature

“The ‘82’ of the title is Psalm 82 that is Herbert’s sub-text. This study explores the way in which Herbert’s poem ‘Humilitie’ is a daring play upon Psalm 82 that attends to the ‘administrative malfeasance in the polis’ and the distortion of the Virtues. Herbert’s shrewd imagination is never removed from lived reality. This wee book is a forceful reminder of how rich is the poetic heritage of the biblical tradition that calls us to attend to the holy words from ancient voices.”

Getting to the Promised Land

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“This hard-hitting book is a welcome continuation of our education in the truth of our common history and is an urgent read for all those who care about the future of our society.”

God for All

Theology

“This book is a sustained assertion that the God of the Bible is savior of all. The argument is made more poignant because it is filtered candidly through the personal journey of the author to a more inclusive gospel. Readers who are situated in scholastic traditions of theology will find this a welcome invitation to a more gracious God and to a fuller declaration of the good news.”

God of Earth

Theology

“Kristin Swenson invites us to gentle, perceptive meditation on the place where we live. She offers a `theology of creation’ informed by a rich appeal to religious mystery, voiced in poetic imagery and cadence. Readers are offered thick attentiveness to the world in front of us.”