Walter F. Taylor Jr.

Insights from Cultural Anthropology

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Kuhn uses archery as an analogy for the discipline of biblical interpretation. His book hits the center of his target: he introduces cultural anthropology as a method of investigating the Bible by providing enough theoretical underpinning that the reader is quickly and accurately oriented to the method; and he illustrates the approach by insightful studies of a wide range of texts from both testaments. His readings of passages often stand over against standard North American readings and open up texts in eye-opening and exciting ways that are themselves worth the cost of the book. Both neophyte and expert will learn much from this volume.”

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is a gold mine of Old Testament and ancient Jewish texts used to interpret Jesus’ programmatic statement of how to live a holy life. Devotional and realistic regarding the challenges of following Jesus, the study at times softens, yet always sharpens how the words of Jesus apply to today. Lundbom’s work also places the Sermon in dialogue with others who have learned from it over the centuries—from early church authors to reformers such as Luther, Calvin, and Wesley, and from Kierkegaard to the hymns of Swedish Pietism.”

New Testament Theology

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In New Testament Theology Philip Esler tackles questions that most historically-oriented scholars avoid with a passion: how can authors from the past be engaged; what would inter-personal communication with long-dead authors look like; how can the New Testament more fruitfully become a resource for contemporary Christian living? In engaging such foundational but oft-ignored issues Esler utilizes and evaluates a dazzling array of literary, social-scientific, cross-cultural, communications, and hermeneutical theories. His study of such theories is both impressive and useful, especially since he is able to express complex theories in readily understandable language. His dialogue with reader-response criticism is particularly illuminating, as he argues for a form of inter-personal and dialogical communication with the authors of the New Testament documents that is anchored in a reappraisal and rehabilitation of Schleiermacher's hermeneutics. Written in a style that is itself inter-personal, Esler knows how to use examples from literature and film as well as from his own life. His studies of 1 Corinthians 10-14 and Hebrews 10-12 illustrate the value of the approach he argues for. His creative and fertile mind stretches and challenges the reader to reevaluate cherished and usually unexamined ways of approaching the Bible. Although he provides a succinct summary of scholarship from the 18th century to the 21st, his primary goal is nothing less than a new way of connecting the results of historical study of the New Testament with Christian belief, practice, and identity.”

Nourishment for the Spiritual Pilgrimage

Bible Studies & Devotionals

“Vernon Jones provides a unique devotional resource designed to enable its users to become more fully-developed, life-long disciples of Jesus. He is a mature and experienced disciple who invites others into spiritual discipline by opening his own life of faith. Replete with specific suggestions that are realistic and encouraging, the book will be an excellent resource for people beginning their spiritual pilgrimage as disciples, as well as for veteran disciples.”

Social-Science Commentary on the Deutero-Pauline Letters

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Malina and Pilch have done it again! They have produced a commentary that is incisive, insightful, and full of new ways to read the texts, as well as challenges to old ways of understanding them.”

Walking in Their Sandals

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Utilizing ethnicity theory and other social sciences with sophistication and insight, Markus Cromhout challenges many assumptions of what it meant to be a first-century Judean. In the process he also questions traditional understandings of the apostle Paul's entire enterprise, as well as significant aspects of the New Perspective on Paul. He provides, in addition, an intriguing answer as to why most Israelites rejected Paul's message. His excellent summaries are themselves worth the price of the book.”