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Synopsis:Many remember The Scarlet Letter as required reading for reluctant sixteen year olds. The unnamed, elusive narrator of Hawthorne''s "tale of human frailty and sorrow" is-some readers might say maddeningly-indirect, ambiguous, and inconsistent. Readers who hope to arrive at satisfying judgments about the book''s four iconic characters-Hester, Arthur, Roger, and Pearl-are often left to arrive at their conclusions by guess and inference. The narrator provides what seems to be willfully incomplete information. His point of view shifts from one moral or historical perspective to another without announcement or apology. Reading Like a Serpent invites readers to reconsider this American classic as Hawthorne''s challenge to the American public to become more generous, versatile, and responsible readers-especially of the Bible, a book Hawthorne hoped to rescue from moralistic literalists and legalists, reminding us that "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."Endorsements:"Marilyn McEntyre''s meditation on The Scarlet Letter offers fresh insights on every page, in a lively invitation to reflect on the way words constrain-and convey-our apprehension of mystery. Ultimately, McEntyre invites us to read not just Hawthorne but the Gospels afresh, with an ear to hear the subversive, sly, cryptic, life-giving words of Jesus in ways that impel us toward generosity and grace."-Paul DelaneyProfessor of English, Westmont CollegeAuthor of Tom Stoppard: The Moral Vision of the Major Plays (1990)"Whether Nathaniel Hawthorne is a profound theologian can be debated, but the case is clear as far as . . . McEntyre is concerned. Once again, she opens the world of literature to penetrating theological insight, exposing the many dimensions of the human way as they are reflected in Hawthorne''s classic The Scarlet Letter. The literary quality of her interpretation may rightly be classed with that of Hawthorne himself."-Patrick MillerProfessor of Old Testament Theology Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary"McEntyre tells us at the very beginning of Reading Like a Serpent that Hawthorne''s Scarlet Letter is one of her favorite books. Her love for Hawthorne''s novel and her delight in the crafting of words combine in happy circumstance for her readers. Read Hawthorne again with this book by your side, especially if you savor complex and elegant writing-his and her own."-Rev. L. Ann Hallisey, DMinOrganizational and Leadership Consulting"I first began Reading Like a Serpent on the morning when I was to teach the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. With manuscript in hand, I flew to my class to discuss the sin of bad reading and its deathly consequences. Each of these prescient and elegant essays invites readers to dare a radical rereading of the times through Hawthorne''s hermeneutic, which is at once complex, polyvalent, paradoxical, and wise. Moreover, McEntyre''s prose will preach!"-Cynthia A. JarvisMinister at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, PhiladelphiaCoeditor of The Power to Comprehend with All the Saints (2009)Author Biography:Marilyn Chandler McEntyre is a former professor of English and Fellow of the Gaede Institute at Westmont College. She teaches at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Her most recent books include Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (2009) and The Color of Light (2007).

Synopsis:The human imagination is a reflection of and a participation in the divine imagination; so mused the romantic poet, philosopher and theologian Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His thinking was intuitive, dense, obscure, brilliant, and deeply influenced by German philosophy. This book explores the development of his philosophical theology with particular reference to the imagination, examining the diverse streams that contributed to the originality of his thought. The second section of this book extrapolates his thinking into areas into which Coleridge did not venture. If God is intrinsically imaginative, then how is this manifested? Can we articulate a theology of the ontology of God that is framed in imaginative and creative terms? Drawing on the groundbreaking work of Huizinga on ''play,'' this study seeks to develop a theological understanding of God''s playfulness.Endorsements:"Here is a theologian to watch. Expounding Coleridge is never easy, but in treating this complex genius Stockitt brings a rare and engaging lucidity. And he draws out the theme of the ''playfulness'' of God in a way that is both fascinating and beguiling, as well as crucial for theology today. A considerable achievement."-Jeremy BegbieDuke University"As one who has long believed in the importance of Coleridge as a creative theologian, I am delighted that Robin Stockitt has produced such a significant exploration of how Coleridge''s work on the imagination can lead us into an engagement with the play as a way of understanding the interplay of God''s being as a communion of love. This is indeed imaginative theology-a work from which many will profit and which I am delighted to commend."-Geoffrey RowellKeble College, OxfordAuthor Biography:Robin Stockitt is the minister of the Anglican Church in Freiburg, Germany. He is the author of Open to the spirit: St. Ignatius and John Wimber in Dialogue (2000).

Synopsis:B. J. Oropeza offers the most thorough examination in recent times on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament. The study examines each book of the New Testament with a fourfold approach that identifies the emerging Christian community in danger, the nature of apostasy that threatens the congregations, and the consequences of defection. Oropeza then compares the various perspectives of the communities in Christ in order to determine the ways in which they perceived apostasy and whether defectors could be restored. In this second volume of a three-volume set titled Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Oropeza focuses on the Christ communities of the undisputed and disputed Pauline Letters.Endorsements:"Professor B. J. Oropeza''s three-volume work on perseverance and apostasy in the New Testament is certain to become the standard in the field for years to come . . . it is thoroughly exegetical, without attempting to promote established theological agendas."-Don Garlington, author of Studies in the New Perspective on Paul"Professor Oropeza provides readers with a stimulating study of apostasy in early Christian communities. It is an important (and much neglected) topic and warrants a careful, detailed study. What I especially like about Oropeza''s approach is his skillful integration of exegesis, biblical theology, and historical and social contexts . . . Readers will come across a number of interpretive gems. I found the discussion of Paul particularly insightful." - Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada"The present book offers a genuine contribution to Pauline studies, not only in its study and analysis of ''apostasy'' as a socio-religious category addressed within the Pauline tradition but also in its overview of those whose ideas and practices were perceived as a very real threat to the salvific well-being of the churches. In critical interaction with a broad range of contemporary scholarship, Oropeza provides a well-organized and accessible account of detractors from Paul and his followers. One important outcome of the book is its recognition of the bewildering variety of problems (and sources for these problems) faced by Pauline communities. While focusing on apostasy as a socio-religious reality and the role it played in shaping Pauline thought, Oropeza''s study raises serious questions about the perception of evil in different dimensions, not all of which result in the loss of faith formerly embraced. This is a must-read for anyone looking for new ways to access the theological world of Paul and his associates."-Loren T. StuckenbruckRichard Dearborn Professor of New Testament StudiesPrinceton Theological SeminaryAuthor Biography:B. J. Oropeza is Professor of Biblical Studies at Azusa Pacific University. He is the current founder and chair of Intertextuality in the New Testament sessions for the Society of Biblical Literature. Among his many publications are Jesus and Paul: Global Perspectives in Honor of James D. G. Dunn (2009), and Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation (2000/2007).

Synopsis:"These sermons were prepared from 1920 to 1924. Professor Barth preached some of them while he was minister of the Reformed congregation in Safenwil, Canton Aargau, Switzerland; others in the Reformed Church in Goettingen while he was professor of theology in the University. Pastor Thurneysen at that time preached to the congregation in Bruggen, near St. Gall, Switzerland. The sermons were written not for special occasions but for the regular Sunday morning service, and were addressed to such men and women as one will find in any village or city church--to men and women in the struggle for life, waiting and seeking for God. "Pastor Thurneysen selected the sermons and arranged them according to a scheme that may be indicated by the words Promise, Christ, Christian Living." --from the Translator''s PrefaceAuthor Biography:Karl Barth (1886-1968) the Swiss Reformed professor and pastor, was once described by Pope Pius XII as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. As principal author of The Barmen Declaration, he was the intellectual leader of the German Confessing Church--the Protestant group that resisted the Third Reich. Barth''s teaching career spanned nearly five decades. Removed from his post at Bonn by the Nazis in late 1934, Barth moved to Basel where he taught until 1962. Among Barth''s many books, sermons, and essays are the Epistle to the Romans, Humanity of God, Evangelical Theology, and Church Dogmatics.Eduard Thurneysen (1888-1974) was a pastor in a Swiss town near where Barth was pastor, and they worked out dialectical theology together. He was later Professor of Theology at Zurich.

Synopsis:Quilly Hall weds fiction and history in this powerful story, set in the 1940s in the Holston Valley near the town of Abingdon, Virginia. Daniel Boone twice camped here. The town itself served as a rail hub during the Civil War and cared for the wounded in its hospitals. The novel''s title refers to a statuette whose presence in the old home''s hallway haunts the story. Farley''s novel traces the life of Thomas Edmonds, an only son whose father was killed in the battle for Guadalcanal, and who is raised by a bevy of family who regale him with their proud past. One of his ancestors--a veteran of the Battle of Chickamauga--is alleged to have buried a treasure under a rock in the fabled Knobs above the home place. Foray after foray is mounted in search of this rock and its secret. A favorite uncle and scruffy farmhands become Tom''s mentors until he matures, attends Harvard, marries, and leaves for Vietnam. Farley''s style and his story are gripping, compelling, and melodic. You will fall in love with each character and grieve as one by one they pass on. Author Biography:Benjamin W. Farley is Younts Professor of Philosophy and Religion Emeritus at Erskine College, Due West, South Carolina. In addition to his scholarly works, Farley has published four books of fiction: Corbin''s Rubi-Yacht, Of Time and Eternity, Mercy Road, and The Hero of St. Lo.

After a collation of the manuscripts, and an initial survey of the material for a critical edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels had been made, the Delegates of the Clarendon Press suggested the plan of putting forth in advance, with as little as possible of critical apparatus, a separate edition of one of these Gospels. . . . This earliest extant English version of the Gospels, of which a portion is given in this little volume, possesses a unique interest for the student of the early forms of the language; moreover, for the history of biblical translations, it has a value that deserves wider and more precise recognition. --from the Preface

From the Introduction by Merrill C. Tenney: This commentary is an attempt to make plain the meaning of Revelation. With commendable reserve, Dr. Smith has restricted himself largely to interpretation by other passages of Scripture which are related to Revelation by actual quotation or by striking parallelism. His painstaking studies of vocabulary and of related ideas make the book valuable to the earnest student of the Bible. Dr. Smith is a futurist and a premillenarian, holding that all of the Book of Revelation beginning with the fourth chapter relates to the future period of judgment known as 'the great tribulation, ' which will be followed by the personal return of Christ and by the establishment of His kingdom. In this regard he is in a long line of renowned commentators, including Seiss, Gaebelein, Ottman, and others. The distinguishing feature of this commentary is its use of Biblical statistics and comparisons. The uses of important terms in the Revelation are cataloged, and their interpretation is derived from their context. The appendices contain some extensive studies of individual topics, correlating information not easily obtainable elsewhere. Dr. Smith follows a literal interpretation except where avowed symbolism demands a different procedure. He has sought to make his exposition consistent in method and in results. His use of Greek is apt, and shows a careful investigation of the underlying vocabulary of the Greek text. This commentary will probably be the mainstay of premillennial exposition for some years to come

The word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible - yet Christians for centuries have held that it is a biblical truth, foundational to orthodoxy. But very few understand how the doctrine came to be. Author E. Calvin Beisner traces the formulationof the doctrine and all the controversies that arose among early Christians who strove to find acceptable language to correctly state this important doctrine.

Berquist provides a useful initiation into the political and intellectual history of Judaism during the two centuries of Persian rule. Joseph Blenkinsopp, University of Notre Dame This lively account of the influence of Persian history on Hebrew Scriptures, and the people whose faith they express, places the emphasis exactly where it belongs.... Students will welcome this clear introduction not only to the period, the time when a surprising amount of the Bible was written, but also to the issues of method that any serious study of the Bible must address. The book is wonderfully concise yet thorough, informed yet selective, leading the reader at a refreshing pace through the almost astounding number of people, events, changes, tensions, and conflicts. Robert B. Coote, San Francisco Theological Seminary A lucid historical overview as well as original research, an invaluable resource for the study of early Judaism. The diverse religious responses in the Persian period offer a way of thinking about religious pluralism in our own time. David L. Petersen, Iliff School of Theology

What does holistic mission really mean? If you are engaged in Christian mission, this question is extremely important to you. Chances are, you have already embraced a definition of holism and applied it to your ministry. In this groundbreaking book, the author brings you several examples of holistic mission from Asia, Europe and Latin America and encourages you to compare these cases against your own ministry. We often limit our understanding of holistic mission to a linking of evangelism and social action. If this is true of you, then this thought-provoking book will broaden your idea of holism and challenge you to reflect on a wide range of issues relating to mission. McAlpine seeks nothing short of reframing the way in which the question of holism is put and expanding the range of issues it involves. He also skillfully analyzes studies from the journal Transformation, which has pioneered much of today's thinking on holism. Through the exciting cases and analyses presented in this new work, we begin to see the emerging shape of holistic mission.

This book contains twenty four expositions of thirty of the main Parables of Jesus, along with an essay on their interpretation. It gives evidence that, in seeking to proclaim the Word of God in the present day situation, modern preaching is binding itself closely to the text of the Bible.

What else does it mean to be in Christ? How do we get there? What do we do there? This book helps us understand the privileges and powers we have in Christ - and the duties too.

To promote the critical and doctrinal study of this important portion of the New Testament, the author, a leading evangelical theologian of the late nineteenth century, wrote this commentary on Romans. He intended it for use primarily by theological students and clergy.... The Greek text (that of Lachmann) is printed at the top of each page of commentary. The notes themselves are concise and bear strictly and directly upon the word or clause. They are primarily critical and philological, although at times the author examines in detail the theological import of the text. This is particularly true in chapter 5 (where the doctrine of original sin is discussed), chapters 7-8 (indwelling sin), and chapters 9-11 (election and reprobation). The author held the Epistle to the Romans to be in reality an inspired system of theology.

Robert Paul presents his study of the Atonement in three sections. The first covers the period from the Apostolic Fathers, on through the scholastic and Reformation writers, to the eighteenth century. The second begins with the evangelical revival and brings the history of thought on the Atonement down to our own day. The third leads on from an atonement-centered theology to its dramatic expression in and through the Gospel sacraments: two comprehensive chapters on Baptism and the Lord's Supper bring the book to its conclusion. Here is an excellent historical survey of the doctrine of the Atonement for the student.

A work of massive scholarship abounding in right and noble thought and remarkably fresh and suggestive. --Evangelical Magazine

Based on the Stone Lectures at Princeton, this apologetic carefully distinguishes between biblical teaching, modern anthropology, and movements throughout church history.

Global Christianity has been experiencing an unprecedented historical transition from the West to the non-Western world. The leadership of global Christianity has taken on a new face since the twentieth century. Christendom in Europe and America has experienced a great decline while there has been a rise in Majority World Christianity. Churches in the Global South have given their voices to global Christianity through their leadership, world mission movements, and theology. The phenomenal church growth has risen from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. Pentecostalism has become the dominant force in global Christianity today. The Rise of the Global South examines the significance this shift has had on global Christianity by going through the history of Christianity in the West and the causes of the shift.

Alan Sell here presents a selection of his wide-ranging, informative, and entertaining reviews. Among philosophical themes discussed are Locke and the Enlightenment, Richard Price, John Stuart Mill, philosophical idealism, and analytical philosophy of education and of religion. Historical studies run from the Middle Ages onwards, and encompass English, Welsh, and Scottish Nonconformity, the Evangelical Revival, the Oxford Movement, theological education, American Reformed thinkers, the crisis of belief and the Social Gospel in Canada, and evangelical and liberal theology. Theological topics include Origen, Calvin, and Dutch Reformed thinkers, American Baptists, Mercersburg Theology, Scottish theology, liberation theology, assurance, the atonement, ecclesiology, ecumenism, art and theology, Christian ethics, worship and spirituality.

Christianity is simple. Love God. Love your neighbor. The rest is commentary. Simple in theory becomes much more difficult when your neighbor is a man in a dress who stinks like urine and a decaying, unwashed body. And yet, that's exactly who you find on a downtown bus: the homeless, the unsavory, the just plain weird. Drawing on the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, this book explores one woman's complex and ambivalent interactions with the homeless. Stories about a persistent failure to acknowledge and honor the humanity of the homeless are evidence of the pervasive reality of human sin. But at the same time, there are moments of genuine kindness and humanity that stand as reminders that God brings new life from the brokenness of sin. These stories of days spent on a downtown bus move from unflinching self-reflection to a new awareness of God's presence. This is where the abstract becomes local, and where theology finally gets real.

Jesus Christ for Contemporary Life is an understanding of Jesus as the Word of God, grounded in what can be known historically of Jesus and informed by subsequent reflection upon him, which hopes to help shape a Christian identity characterized by "bounded openness." In Jesus Christ for Contemporary Life, Don Schweitzer explores the significance of the person, work, and relationships of Jesus Christ for contemporary life. He moves from the historical Jesus to the present in three parts. In the first part Schweitzer develops an understanding of Jesus as the Word of God, who became incarnate to give the goodness and beauty of God further expression in time and space. Second, he explores how various atonement theories articulate ways in which Jesus empowers people to further express this beauty and goodness in their own lives. And finally, Schweitzer explores how Jesus relates to people in the church, to the events and movements in history, to other religions, and to Christians in their dialogue with God in prayer.