New Books in Biblical Studies

By Marshall PoeReligion & Spirituality Christianity

New Books in Biblical Studies episodes

December 12, 2016 Dov Weiss, “Pious Irreverence: Confronting God in Rabbinic Judaism” (U. Pennsylvania Press, 2016)
Judaism is often described as a religion that tolerates, even celebrates arguments with God. Unlike Christianity and Islam, it is said, Judaism endorses a tradition of protest as first expressed in the biblical stories of Abraham, Job, and Jeremiah. In Pious Irreverence: Confronting God in Rabbinic Judaism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016), Dov Weiss has written the first scholarly study of the premodern roots of this distinctively Jewish theology of protest, examining its origins and development in the rabbinic age.
Weiss argues that this particular Jewish relationship to the divine is rooted in the most canonical of rabbinic texts even as he demonstrates that in ancient Judaism the idea of debating God was itself a matter of debate. By elucidating competing views and exploring their theological assumptions, the book challenges the scholarly claim that the early rabbis conceived of God as a morally perfect being whose goodness had to be defended in the face of biblical accounts of unethical divine action. Pious Irreverence examines the way in which the rabbis searched the words of the Torah for hidden meanings that could grant them the moral authority to express doubt about, and frustration with, the biblical God. Using characters from the Bible as their mouthpieces, they often challenges God’s behavior, even, in a few remarkable instances, envisioning God as conceding error and declaring to the protestor, “You have taught Me something; I will nullify my decree and accept your word.”
Phillip Sherman is Associate Professor of Religion at Maryville College in Maryville, TN.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
58 min
December 09, 2016 T. Desmond Alexander, “Exodus” (Teach the Text)” (Baker Books, 2016)
On this program, we speak with T. Desmond Alexander about his recent commentary on Exodus in the Teach the Text Commentary Series published by Baker Books in 20016. T. Desmond Alexander is senior lecturer in biblical studies and director of postgraduate studies at Union Theological College in Belfast, Ireland. Among his many contributions, he is the coeditor of the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP Academic, 2000) and the author of From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch (Baker Academic, 2012) already in its 3d edition.
L. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Peeters, 2012), and Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus (IVP Academic, 2015). He can be reached at [email protected]
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
42 min
November 28, 2016 Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle, “The Art of the Bible: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Medieval World” (Thames and Hudson, 2016)
On today’s program, I talk with Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle about their new book, The Art of the Bible Illuminated Manuscripts from the Medieval World, published by Thames and Hudson (and distributed in the United States by W. W. Norton) in November 2016.
The book looks at 45 featured manuscripts from across the globe and through 1,000 years of history, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Queen Mary Psalter, the Canterbury Royal Bible, the Old English Hextateuch, the Welles Apocalypse, and the Paduan Bible Picture Book, among others. With more than 300 illustrations, which have been meticulously color corrected for this new book, the authors shed light on some of the finest but least-known paintings from the Middle Ages and on the development of art, literature, and civilization as we know it.
Dr. Scot McKendrick is the head of Western Heritage Collections at the British Library. His publications include Codex Sinaiticus: New Perspective on the Ancient Biblical Manuscript; Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe; and The Bible as Book: Transmissions of the Greek Text.
Dr. Kathleen Doyle is the lead curator of illuminated manuscripts at the British Library. She was the co-curator, with Dr. McKendrick, of an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded exhibition, Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination, and the lead investigator for the Royal Manuscripts follow-on project, editing with Dr. McKendrick the volume 1,000 Years of Royal Books and Manuscripts.
Together the authors also edited Bible Manuscripts: 1,400 Years of Scribes and Scripture, published by the British Library in 2007.
To view some of the illuminated manuscripts discussed on this program, visit the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts at https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
You can also follow @blmedieval on Twitter, which is linked to the authors’ Medieval Manuscripts blog.
Garrett Brown is the host of New Books in Biblical Studies. He is a publisher and editor and blogs at noteandquery.com. Follow the channel on Twitter @newbooksbible.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
1 hr 4 min
November 15, 2016 Benjamin L. Gladd and Matthew S. Harmon, “Making All Things New: Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of the Church” (Baker Academic, 2016)
Benjamin L. Gladd is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He completed his Ph.D. from Wheaton College in New Testament in 2008, and teaches courses in Greek, Exegesis, the New Testament, and the Use of the Old Testament in the New. His publications include (co-authored with G.K. Beale) Hidden But Now Revealed: A Biblical Theology of Divine Mystery (IVP, 2004), and (co-edited with Daniel M. Gurtner) From Creation to New Creation: Essays on Biblical Theology and Exegesis (Hendrickson, 2013).
On this program we talk about Gladds recent work, co-authored with Matthew S. Harmon, Making All Things New: Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of the Church (Baker Academic, 2016) which investigates the interface between eschatology (the study of last things) and pastoral ministry, and demonstrates how biblical theology applies to the church. During the interview we also talk about the biblical theology and influence of Greg K. Beale, who writes the introductory chapter to Making All Things New.
Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Peeters, 2012), and Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus (IVP Academic, 2015). He can be reached at [email protected].
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
36 min
November 13, 2016 Donald Berry, “Glory in Romans and the Unified Purpose of God in Redemptive History” (Pickwick Publications, 2016)
In this program, we discuss Glory in Romans and the Unified Purpose of God in Redemptive History (Pickwick Publications, 2016), a revision of Donald Berry’s doctoral dissertation. With this publication, Berry fills in a gap in Pauline studies, setting forth the glory of God as central to Paul’s theology. Not only does his book cover a significant motif in the New Testament, but it also provides crucial insights into the Epistle to the Romans and to the field of biblical theology. Donald Berry is a pastor at Christian Fellowship in Columbia, Missouri. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Amridge University in Montgomery, AL, and an M.Div. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
L. Michael Morales, Ph.D. Professor of Biblical Studies. He can be reached at [email protected].
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
56 min
September 13, 2016 Fleming Rutledge, “The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ” (Eerdmans, 2015)
On this program, I talk with Fleming Rutledge about her new book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2015), and the themes and motifs surrounding the topic in the history of biblical interpretation. While theologians and preachers have often focused exclusively on concepts such as atonement or justification, Rutledge highlights many other biblical motifs and themes of no lesser value and importance.
Ordained to the diaconate in 1975, Rutledge received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York and was one of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in January 1977. Widely recognized in the United States, Canada, and in the UK not only as a preacher and lecturer but also as one who teaches other preachers, Rutledge is an expert on the intersection of Biblical theology with contemporary culture, current events and politics, literature, music, and art. She has often been invited to preach in prominent pulpits such as the Washington National Cathedral, the Duke University Chapel, Trinity Church in Boston, and the Harvard Memorial Chapel. She is the author of many books, including God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament and The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien’s Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings, both published by Eerdmans.
A native of Franklin, Virginia, Rutledge graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1959, magna cum laude with highest honors in English. In May 1999, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in May 1999. Fleming and her husband, Reginald, celebrated their 55th anniversary in 2014. They live in New York state and have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
1 hr 4 min
June 26, 2016 Joseph Lam, “Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept” (Oxford UP, 2016)
On this program, I spoke with Joseph Lam about his book, Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept (Oxford University Press, 2016). Joseph Lam is an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago. His articles have appeared in Vetus Testamentum and the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions.
Sin, often defined as a violation of divine will, remains a crucial idea in contemporary moral and religious discourse. However, the apparent familiarity of the concept obscures its origins within the history of Western religious thought. Informed by a deep engagement with theoretical perspectives on metaphor coming out of linguistics and the philosophy of language, Lams book identifies four patterns that pervade the biblical texts: sin as burden, sin as an account, sin as path or direction, and sin as stain or impurity.In exploring the permutations of these metaphors and their development within the biblical corpus, Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible offers a compelling account of how a religious and theological concept emerges out of the everyday thought-world of ancient Israel, while breaking new ground in its approach to metaphor in ancient texts. Far from being a timeless, stable concept, sin becomes intelligible only when situated in the matrix of ancient Israelite culture. In other words, sin is not as simple as it might seem.
Garrett Brown is a book publisher and editor and the host of New Books in Biblical Studies. In addition to several other trade publishers, he worked for almost seven years at the National Geographic Society, where he acquired and developed books on religion and on science. He blogs intermittently at noteandquery.com and can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @newbooksbible
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
1 hr 3 min
June 09, 2016 Jon D. Levenson, “The Love of God: Divine Gift, Human Gratitude, and Mutual Faithfulness in Judaism” (Princeton UP, 2016)
In The Love of God: Divine Gift, Human Gratitude, and Mutual Faithfulness in Judaism (Princeton University Press, 2016), Jon D. Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, explores the origin and development of the idea of “love of God.” From the Bible, to rabbinic interpreters in the ancient and medieval periods, to modern Jewish philosophers–Levenson traces strands of of covenantal love, sacrificial, and erotic love in the relationship between God and the people of Israel.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
29 min
June 06, 2016 Richard B. Hays, “Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness” (Baylor UP, 2014)
Richard B. Hays is the George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. Internationally recognized for his work on the letters of Paul and on New Testament ethics, he has written many scholarly books that bridge the disciplines of biblical criticism and literary studies, exploring the innovative ways in which early Christian writers interpreted Israel’s Scripture.
His book The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation (HarperOne, 1996) was selected by Christianity Today as one of the 100 most important religious books of the twentieth century. His other books include The Art of Reading Scripture (2003, co-edited with Ellen Davis), The Conversion of the Imagination (2005), and Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Pilgrimage (2008, co-edited with Beverly Roberts Gaventa).
Professor Hays has lectured widely in North America, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. An ordained United Methodist minister, he has preached in settings ranging from rural Oklahoma churches to London’s Westminster Abbey. Professor Hays has chaired the Pauline Epistles Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, as well as the Seminar on New Testament Ethics in the Society for New Testament Studies, and has served on the editorial boards of several leading scholarly journals. He served as dean of Duke Divinity School from 2010 to 2015.
On this program, we talk about his two most recent books, Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Baylor University Press, 2014) and The Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Baylor University Press, 2016).
Garrett Brown is a book publisher and editor and the host of New Books in Biblical Studies. In addition to several other trade publishers, he worked for almost seven years at the National Geographic Society, where he acquired and developed books on religion and on science. He blogs intermittently at noteandquery.com and can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @newbooksbible
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
1 hr
May 02, 2016 Gary A. Anderson, “Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition” (Yale University Press, 2013)
In Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (Yale University Press, 2013), Gary A. Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, explores the theological underpinnings of alms-giving, or charity. Anderson looks back to the Bible and post-biblical texts to show how, contrary to our modern view, a belief in a heavenly treasury was not just about self-interest, but is an expression of faith in god.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
24 min

About New Books in Biblical Studies

From the publisher's feed

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field.