March 22, 2015

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 51:1-12

Hebrews 5:5-10

John 12:20-33

Engaging the Texts

Jeremiah: Covenant language is an important part of the Hebrew Bible. Readers of the entire story in this testament learn of moments when the covenant was lived faithfully and moments when the people of God betrayed the covenant and...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Engaging+the+texts--welcome+to+the+new+editor+of+Preaching+Helps!-a0403916866Fifth Sunday in Lent--Seventh Sunday of Easter

This is my first issue as editor of Preaching Helps and I am honored to begin this work with all of you. I say "with all of you" because preaching is never a solitary task but one done in the company of colleagues and congregants. Also I will be looking for writers for future issues of Currents and I'm happy to receive your recommendations....]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Preaching+and+the+Personal.-a0403916865Preaching and the Personal. Edited by J. Dwayne Howell. Cambridge: Lutterworth, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-6109-78262, xii and 158 pages. Paper. $20.00.

This collection offers a valuable resource for those wondering how to faithfully manage the personal dimension of preaching God's word. The text includes papers originally given at the annual gathering of the Society for Biblical Literature. Each...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Saving+Karl+Barth%3a+Hans+Urs+von+Balthasar%27s+Preoccupation.-a0403916864In Saving Karl Barth: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Preoccupation (Minneapolis: Fortress, $49.00), Stephen Long presents the unlikely friendship between mid-twentieth-century theologians Karl Barth (Reformed) and Hans Urs von Balthasar (Roman Catholic) with the intent of reigniting current ecumenical dialogue between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Long shows that throughout his career von...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/How+to+Get+Your+Sermon+Heard%3a+Preaching+to+Win+Minds+and+Hearts.-a0403916863How to Get Your Sermon Heard: Preaching to Win Minds and Hearts. By William Hethcock. Sewanee, Tenn.: Plateau Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-9814-79545, 330 pages. Paper. $25.00.

Hethcock's How to Get Your Sermon Heard provides a valuable contribution to the homiletical conversation. While this may first appear as a textbook for introductory preachers, the most experienced homiletician will...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shopping+for+Meaningful+Lives%3a+The+Religious+Motives+of+Consumerism.-a0403916862Shopping for Meaningful Lives: The Religious Motives of Consumerism. By Bruce P. Rittenhouse. Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2013. ISBN: 978-16203-2114-0. xii and 211 pages. Paper. $25.00.

Rittenhouse argues that consumerism is an existential meaning strategy, and therefore has been misunderstood by every major attempt to confront it. If the church is to counter consumerism, it must...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Cambridge+Companion+to+Pentecostalism.-a0403916861The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism. Edited by Cecil M. Robeck Jr. and Amos Yong. (Cambridge Companions to Religion). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-05211-8838-8. 356 pages. Paper. $29.99.

The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has dramatically spread across the globe in the last few decades. Scholarly interest in the history, theologies, and practices of the...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Social+and+Economic+Life+in+Second+Temple+Judea.-a0403916860Social and Economic Life in Second Temple Judea. By Samuel L. Adams. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-6642-3703-5. xiii and 252 pages. Paper. $35.00.

The task Adams accepted is a difficult and crucial one: how do we understand the social and economic realities in Judea, from about 530 B.C.E. to the destruction of the Second Temple (dedicated in 516 B.C.E., remodeled...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Preaching+in+Hitler%27s+Shadow%3a+Sermons+of+Resistance+in+the+Third...-a0403916859Preaching in Hitler's Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich. Edited by Dean G. Stroud. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-80286902-9, xii and 203 pages. Paper. $20.00.

This impressive collection details how preachers responded to the rise of National Socialism in Adolf Hitler's Germany. Stroud's compendium includes sermons from famous Confessing Church leaders, such as...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Perspectives+on+Ecclesiology+and+Ethnography.-a0403916858Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography. Edited by Pete Ward. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. ISBN: 978-08028-6726-1. viii and 254 pages. Paper. $36.93.

In this edited volume, twelve scholars offer diverse perspectives on ecclesiology and ethnography as methods for theology. These distinct voices are not edited into uniformity, but stand in contrast, conflict, and lively dialogue with...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Political+Aims+of+Jesus.-a0403916857The Political Aims of Jesus. By Douglas E. Oakman. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8006-3847-4 . xiii and 192 pages. Paper. $26.00.

This volume by Douglas Oakman, professor of religion at Pacific Lutheran University, focuses on the "political Jesus"--the historical peasant theologian who engaged the power arrangements and economic realities of Palestine in his day. Oakman...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hidden+Riches%3a+A+Sourcebook+for+the+Comparative+Study+of+the+Hebrew...-a0403916856Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East. By Christopher B. Hays. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-66423701-1. xxvi and 425 pages. Paper. $45.

Serious readers of the Old Testament have long used compendia of Ancient Near Eastern writings, such as ANET and COS, to learn more about the Bible's world and culture....]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Christopraxis%3a+A+Practical+Theology+of+the+Cross.-a0403916855Christopraxis: A Practical Theology of the Cross. By Andrew Root. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014. ISBN; 978-1-4514-78150. xvi and 311 pages. Paper. $39.00.

This book is a study in "practical theology," a discipline that seeks to connect theology with church practice. This book is unique in that it counters secular trends in the discipline. In opposition to voices that focus solely on the...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Can+Only+One+Religion+be+True%3f+Paul+Knitter+and+Harold+Netland+in...-a0403916854Can Only One Religion be True? Paul Knitter and Harold Netland in Dialogue. Edited by Robert B. Stewart. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8006-9928-4. 272 pages. Paper. $24.00.

Can Only One Religion be True? The question appears to be rhetorical. Whether or not this question expects an answer, readers are alerted that a rather limited perspective for the discussion of...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Contemporary+Muslim+and+Christian+Response+to+Religious+Plurality.-a0403916853Contemporary Muslim and Christian Response to Religious Plurality. By Lewis E. Winkler. Wipf & Stock, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-6089-9742-8. ix and 350 pages. Paper. $39.00.

Lewis Winkler, a lecturer in Theology, Church History, and Ethics at the East Asia School of Theology in Singapore, has produced an imaginative work on Christian-Muslim dialogue. Building upon the oft-quoted saying of...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Christian+ministry+within+a+religiously+plural+America%3a+the...-a0403916852Sitting at a desk in Dakar, Senegal, after having spent the day with ELCA missionaries who live and work in a Muslim-majority country, Mark Thomsen reflected on why the ELCA has a presence in that country and what form of mission their witness takes.

Since returning from Indonesia in 1999, I have regularly attended the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) .Since my experience at schools in the United States was limited to one semester as a guest lecturer at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, it seemed that this would be a good place to gain deeper understanding of...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cosmic+crucified+or+one+ultimate+reality%3f+On+becoming+a+committed...-a0403916849Twenty-one years ago, Mark Thomsen invited me to be a presenter at the ELCA's annual summer Islamic study program for missionaries. Thus, began a friendship and collaboration that included my service on the Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americas Division for Global Mission (ELCA/DGM), and culminated with my teaching the Religions in Dialogue course, developed in the 1990s at the...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+visionary+for+Christian+mission+in+the+Middle+East.-a0403916848I was sad when we heard of Mark's illness and subsequent death, but also full of joy and gratitude for the life he lived and the gifts he shared. He had an abundant and infectious faith in the goodness of God, in the wideness of God's mercy and love. I first met Markin 1981 and was eager to share the vision that I, and others from the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), had framed as the...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+theologian+of+the+cross.-a0403916847In the fall of 1983, I was a young pastor serving in Cairo, Egypt. A year before, I had completed a two-and-a-half-year term as the part-time pastor of the Heliopolis Community Church, an international, interdenominational church located in the Heliopolis section of Cairo, there to provide a church home for English-speaking expatriates. I was now in my second year of full-time Arabic language...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Christology+in+a+pluralistic+world.-a0403916846This opportunity to commemorate Mark W. Thomsen gives me particular pleasure for several reasons. The first is because of a long friendship that began during our student days at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, where we were roommates. We both attended Trinity Theological Seminary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC), which moved to the campus of Wartburg Seminary in 1956. From...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mark+Thomsen+and+God%27s+cruciformed+mission.-a0403916845Mark Thomsen was a football star at Dana College, awing back who scored 93 points in his sophomore year. What a glorious year! In the first game of his junior year, he broke his leg and was out for the season. Back for the first game in his senior year, he broke his collarbone! Again, he was out for the season. Obviously, Mark's life was bound to be more than football, and Mary Lou was not...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mark+W.+Thomsen%3a+remembering+the+missiologist+and+the+man.-a0403916844January 20, 2015, marks the one-year commemoration of the death of MarW. Thomsen, Lutheran professor, theologian, administrator, missiologist, pastor, husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Thus, it is fitting that this edition of Currents in Theology and Mission has been commissioned to reflect on the life and work of Mark Thomsen, and his impact on the church. To this end, the collection...]]>Sun, 1 Feb 2015 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/From+the+editors.-a0403916843Dear Currents Subscriber:

For several months the editorial team of Currents in Theology and Mission has been discussing an exciting new possibility related to the future of Currents. We have come to the decision that the time is right for Currents to become a fully online, open access journal. While this means that beginning in 2016 Currents no longer will appear as a printed journal, it...]]>Mon, 1 Dec 2014 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Changing+seasons.-a0396526736The December issue of Preaching Helps begins deep in the season of Epiphany and concludes over halfway into the season of Lent. Leading us into this change of seasons (in order of their commentaries) are four faithful guides:

The Rev. Dr. Craig L. Nessan serves as Academic Dean and Professor of Contextual Theology at Wartburg Theological Seminary, and is one of the general editors of...]]>Mon, 1 Dec 2014 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Hymns+of+Saint+Luke%3a+Lyricism+and+Narrative+in+Luke+1-2.-a0396526734The so-called hymns in Luke 1-2 fascinate. No where else in the Synoptic Gospels do such hymns occur. That makes Richard J. Dillon's The Hymns of Saint Luke: Lyricism and Narrative in Luke 1-2 (The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 50, $15.00; ISBN 0-9151-7049-3) welcome. He carefully interprets the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the Nunc Dimittist. He sets...]]>Mon, 1 Dec 2014 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Old+Testament+Pseudepigrapha%3a+More+Noncanonical+Scriptures.-a0396526733Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Non-canonical Scriptures, Volume 1. Edited by Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov (Eerdmans, $90). In 1983-1986 James H. Charlesworth edited two massive volumes with a similar title, and its documents provide valuable background for Second Temple Judaism and the New Testament and early Christianity. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, we need...]]>Mon, 1 Dec 2014 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Sistine+Chapel%3a+A+Biblical+Tour.-a0396526732The Sistine Chapel: A Biblical Tour. By Christine M. Panyard. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8091-0593-9. xi and 96 pages. Cloth. $19.95.

It was a little over 500 years ago, in 1513, that Michelangelo finished his magnificent paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Panyard tells the story of this achievement that was accomplished despite many obstacles....]]>Mon, 1 Dec 2014 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mediating+Faith%3a+Faith+Formation+in+a+Trans-media+Era.-a0396526731Mediating Faith: Faith Formation in a Trans-media Era. By Clint Schnekloth. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-4514-7229-5. xv and 135 pages. Paper. $20.60.

Mediating Faith is the published D.Min. dissertation (Fuller Seminary) of Clint Schnekloth, who is an ordained pastor in the ELCA, an online blogger, and an unofficial expert on digital social media and ministry. The book has a...]]>