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The Textual World of the Bible
Michael B. Shepherd
The world of the Bible is a textual world. Its composition and intertextuality are what make it a representation of reality. To understand biblical world making, it is important to understand how biblical books are made and read. The Textual World of the Bible explores the patterns of figuration in biblical composition and the way in which these patterns are read within the Bible (inner-biblical exegesis). This book is an excellent choice for courses in biblical theology and hermeneutics.
Dates of Service
2015-
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The Twelve Prophets in the New Testament
Michael B. Shepherd
It has been widely recognized that the Book of the Twelve, Hosea to Malachi, was considered a single composition in antiquity. Recent articles and monographs have discussed the internal clues to this composition, but there has been little effort to understand the way the New Testament authors quote from the Twelve in light of the compositional unity of the book. The Twelve Prophets in the New Testament contends that New Testament quotations from the Twelve presuppose knowledge of the larger whole and cannot be understood correctly apart from awareness of the compositional strategy of the Twelve.
Dates of Service
2015-
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The Verbal System of Biblical Aramaic: A Distributional Approach
Michael B. Shepherd
Grammarians have been unable to provide a sufficient explanation for the verbal system of Biblical Aramaic by means of the standard categories of tense and aspect. Michael B. Shepherd exposes this situation and suggests a way out of the present impasse through distributional analysis by proposing that Biblical Aramaic has a primary verbal form for narration and a primary verbal form for discourse. This simple yet comprehensive proposal holds true not only for Biblical Aramaic but also for extra-Biblical Aramaic texts. This volume is an indispensable resource for courses in Biblical Aramaic and for anyone who wishes to read and understand the Biblical Aramaic corpus.
Dates of Service
2015-
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Make, Mature, Multiply: Becoming Fully-Formed Disciples of Jesus
Brandon Smith
Discipleship is a word most Christians know, but few can define. Is discipleship about reading the Bible or praying every day? Is it about sharing the gospel with strangers? Is it about striving to be like Jesus? While these are aspects of being a disciple, Scripture tells us that there is much more.
Make, Mature, Multiply aims to help you become a disciple who truly understands the full joy of following Jesus. With a wide range of chapters from some of today's most battle-tested disciple-makers, this book is designed for any Christian seeking to know more about being a fully-formed disciple of Jesus who makes, matures, and multiplies fully-formed disciples of Jesus.
Dates of Service
2019-
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They Spoke of Me: How Jesus Unlocks the Old Testament
Brandon Smith and Everett Berry
For many, the Bible is a book of life tips, inspiring words, and lofty tales. For others, the Bible is a book that's boring, outdated, and difficult to understand. But both of these views miss the heart of God's Word.In They Spoke of Me, Brandon Smith and Everett Berry show us that the Bible is actually one beautiful story centered on the life and work of Jesus Christ. When Jesus said to his disciples, "The Scriptures spoke of me," he was telling them that he is the key to understanding God's story of redemption, all the way back through the Old Testament. Explaining how nine key Old Testament stories point to Jesus, Smith and Berry help readers get a glimpse of what Jesus meant. In turn, readers will better understand the powerful message of the gospel that is found on every page of the Bible.
Dates of Service
2019-
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No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins
Carl B. Smith II
Where, when, and how did Gnosticism arise? What exactly is Gnosticism? There is no scholarly consensus on these questions. No Longer Jews reviews the theories about Gnosticism and its sources and details Smith's hypothesis, offering an excellent introductory text on Gnosticism.
In addition to examining the development of Gnosticism, this book addresses issues of New Testament development and the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism as they interact in the late first and early second centuries.
Carl Smith starts with a lucid and incisive survey of the secondary materials on Gnosticism and explains various understandings of the development of Gnosticism. He defines Gnosticism by its unique anti-cosmic dualism between material things (evil) vs. spiritual things (good) and also explores both Gnosticism's probable close relationship with Judaism and its rejection of the Creator God of the Old Testament.
After an extensive survey of the issues, Smith provides his own conclusions: first, that an early second-century dating for Gnosticism is most consistent with the historical details of the period; and second, that Egypt following the Jewish Revolt under Trajan (115-117 CE) provides a ripe context for Gnosticism's most unique and definitive innovation, the rejection of the cosmos and the Creator God of the Jews. He argues that individuals closely connected with Judaism--whether Jews, Jewish Christians, or gentile God-fearers--may have responded to the rebellion by rejecting the God and religion that inspired this apocalyptic and messianic ferment. "No longer Jews," they were now free to follow a higher God and way of life.Dates of Service
2007-2013
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One Grand Story: How the Bible Tells its Story and Why It Matters
Ched E. Spellman
This is a little book about the "big picture" of the Bible.
As a primer on the discipline of biblical theology, it examines the Bible's message as a whole alongside some of the most important tools that help us discern and display this richly rewarding truth. It includes a framework for biblical theology, an introduction to specific reading strategies, and also a series of biblical-theological reflections on key biblical themes.
In the final part of the book, there is an annotated list of books for further reading, a series of topics for further research in the academic discipline of biblical theology, and a brief glossary of key terms. These final features of the book are designed for it to function well as a supplementary textbook in an academic course in biblical or theological studies. At the end of each chapter, there are also reflection prompts and discussion questions. This resource is designed to facilitate small group discussion (either in a church or a classroom setting).
In the end, the big idea of this little book is that biblical theology will help you navigate the world of the biblical text, and it will also help you locate yourself in the biblical text’s world. -
Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon
Ched E. Spellman
Two distinct questions about the canon of the Bible can be raised: (1) How did the biblical canon come to be?, and (2) What effect does that canon have on its readers? The former is a historical question about the formation of the biblical canon; the latter is a hermeneutical question about the function of the biblical canon. Though these questions have often been pursued in virtual isolation from one another, Spellman argues that there are considerable gains from observing the interconnections between the two lines of inquiry. On the historical question of the origin of the canon, Spellman asks, Is the shape of this collection an accident of history or a result of intelligent design? He concludes that canon-consciousness played an important role in the formation of the canon, even impinging on the work of the biblical authors themselves. On the hermeneutical question, the communities of readers of the Bible may also be shown to have been directed by their own canon-consciousness, using it as a guide in their interpretative task. In this interdisciplinary work, Spellman marshals historical, theological and hermeneutical resources in order to paint a picture of how the concept of canon can enrich reading communities of today.
Dates of Service
2013-
