Three people correctly answered all 10 questions: Tom Hart, Jacob Tedrow, and Aileen Tedrow. Congratulations to these English Bible History scholars.

Here’s the quiz with the correct answers noted:

The first English Bible manuscripts were handwritten and produced in the 1380s by

1. John Wycliffe
2. John Calvin
3. Wyclef Jean
4. Thomas Linacre

Answer: a. John Wycliffe.

The first English Bible to be published with verses was

1. The Great Bible
2. The Geneva Bible
3. The King James Version
4. The Revised Standard Version

Answer: b. The Geneva Bible.

This English Bible was also known as “Cromwell’s Bible”.

1. The Great Bible
2. The Geneva Bible
3. The King James Version
4. The Revised Standard Version

Answer: a. The Great Bible.

What is the oldest English Bible held by the Buswell Library (actual printing date, not translation date)?

1. 1454 Gutenberg Bible
2. 1560 Geneva Bible
3. 1607 Geneva Bible
4. 1611 KJV Bible

Answer: c. 1607 Geneva Bible. See our catalog.

The Great Bible was so known because of its

1. Superior translation
2. New, readable font
3. Large size
4. Splendid, tooled-leather covers

Answer: c. Large size. All the other choices were made up by the Library staff.

The name “Textus Receptus” was first attached to which edition of the Greek New Testament?

1. Erasmus’ 1522 edition
2. Stephanus’ 1550 edition
3. Beza’s 1598 edition
4. Elzevir’s 1633 edition

Answer: d. Elzevir’s 1633 edition. This was the trickiest question, with only 36% of respondents answering correctly. (The original question contributed by professor Hans Bayer was even trickier in our opinion!) The term “textus receptus” (received text) originates from the preface of the Greek text published by Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir in 1633. It has only subsequently been used to refer to the lineage of published Greek texts beginning with Erasmus’ 1522 edition.

The first Bible printed in what became the United States was an English Translation.

1. True
2. False

Answer: b. False. It was an Algonquin language Bible published by John Eliot in 1663.

The first scholar to produce English translations from Hebrew was

1. John Wycliffe
2. William Tyndale
3. John Elliot
4. Barry Moser

Answer: b. William Tyndale.

The Treacle Bible (“Is there not treacle at Gilead?” [Jer. 8:22]) was usually known as

1. The Sweet Bible
2. The Bishops’ Bible
3. The Queen’s Bible
4. The Great Bible

Answer: b. The Bishops’ Bible -or- d. The Great Bible. “Treacle Bible” seems to be more often associated with the Bishops’ Bible, but the same translation of Jeremiah 8:22 is found in other versions from around that time—including the Great Bible, upon which the Bishops’ was based—so there is some ambiguity and disagreement. We accepted either answer. The word “treacle” today refers to a sweet syrup similar to molasses, but in Middle English it was a medicinal substance.

Printings of the KJV have been full of egregious (and funny) errors. Which of these is NOT an actual KJV printing error?

1. “Go and sin on more” (John 8:11)
2. “…being in subjection to their owl husbands” (1 Peter 3:5)
3. “My ships hear my voice…” (John 10:27)
4. “Thou shalt commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14)

Answer: c. “My ships hear my voice…” (John 10:27). The other three are documented printing errors: (a) the “Sin On” Bible of 1716 printed in Ireland; (b) the “Owl Husband” Bible of 1944 resulting from a damaged letter “n” in the printing equipment; and (d) the “Wicked” Bible of 1631 for which the printers were fined £300.

In-Library Usage Count
28,764

Items Lent to Other Libraries
2,779

Items Borrowed from Other Libraries
2,443

Top 25 Most Checked-Out Books (Academic Year) [including reserves]

1. God the Real Superpower: Rethinking Our Role in Missions, by J. Nelson Jennings.
2. A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, by Bill T. Arnold, John H. Choi.
3. Exploring World Mission: Context and Challenges, by Bryant L. Myers.
4. Freedom & Discipleship: Your Church and Your Personal Decisions, by Jerram Barrs, foreword by Graham Cray.
5. The Book of Psalms, by A.F. Kirkpatrick.
6. Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible, by Daniel M. Doriani.
7. Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration, general editor, James D. Berkley.
8. Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian Life, edited with introductions by Lane T. Dennis.
9. The Gospel According to John, by D.A. Carson.
10. Luke, by Darrell L. Bock.
11. The Doctrine of God in African Christian Thought: The Holy Trinity, Theological Hermeneutics, and the African Intellectual Culture, by James Henry Owino Kombo.
12. Theology in Japan: Takakura Tokutaro (1885-1934), by J. Nelson Jennings.
13. Genesis, by Gordon J. Wenham.
14. Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof.
15. Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, edited by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
16. 1 and 2 Kings, by Iain Provan.
17. Lifespan Development, by Denise Boyd, Helen Bee.
18. Christ-centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, by Bryan Chapell.
19. Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application, by Daniel M. Doriani.
20. Career Development Interventions in the 21st Century, by Spencer G. Niles, JoAnn Harris-Bowlsbey.
21. Communicating God’s Word in a Complex World: God’s Truth or Hocus Pocus?, by R. Daniel Shaw and Charles E. van Engen.
22. Colossians, Philemon, by Peter T. O’Brien.
23. The New Testament in Antiquity, by Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, and Gene L. Green.
24. Dimensions of Multicultural Counseling: A Life Story Approach, by Sara E. Schwarzbaum, Anita Jones Thomas.
25. The Convergence of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Multiple Identities in Counseling, by Tracy L. Robinson-Wood.

Top 25 Most Checked-Out Books (Cumulative) [excluding reserves]

1. Luke, by Darrell L. Bock.
2. The Gospel According to John, by D.A. Carson.
3. A New Commentary on Genesis, by Franz Delitzsch, translated by Sophia Taylor.
4. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, by Paul Jouon, translated and revised by T. Muraoka.
5. Hebrews, by William L. Lane.
6. Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, by C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch.
7. Genesis, by Gordon J. Wenham.
8. Matthew, by Donald A. Hagner.
9. The First Epistle of Peter, by Peter H. Davids.
10. Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof.
11. Commentaries, by John Calvin, translated by John King.
12. The Book of Deuteronomy, by Peter C. Craigie.
13. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew in Three Volumes, by W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison.
14. The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, by William L. Lane.
15. The Gospel According to Matthew, by Leon Morris.
16. Romans, by James D.G. Dunn.
17. The Letter to the Ephesians, by Peter T. O’Brien.
18. Matthew, by D.A. Carson.
19. Trinity Hymnal.
20. John, by George R. Beasley-Murray.
21. Luke, by John Nolland.
22. 1 Peter, by J. Ramsey Michaels.
23. Institutes of the Christian religion, edited by John T. McNeill, translated by Ford Lewis Battles.
24. Let Us Sing: Worshiping God with Our Music, by Lawrence C. Roff.
25. The Message of 1 Peter: The Way of the Cross, by Edmund P. Clowney.

Top 25 Most Heavily Used In-Library Books (Cumulative)

1. ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version.
2. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, by Paul Jouon, T. Muraoka.
3. Commentary on the Old Testament, by C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch.
4. Genesis, by Gordon J. Wenham.
5. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, by Willem A. VanGemeren, general editor.
6. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, by Francis Brown, with the cooperation of S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs.
7. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature,  revised and edited by Frederick William Danker.
8. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson.
9. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, translated by John T. Willis.
10. Williams’ Hebrew Syntax, by Ronald J. Williams, revised and expanded by John C. Beckman.
11. Analytical Key to the Old Testament, by John Joseph Owens.
12. Holy Bible: English Standard Version.
13. A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, by Bill T. Arnold, John H. Choi.
14. Commentaries, by John Calvin, translated by John King.
15. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, by Daniel B. Wallace.
16. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, by Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor.
17. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by R. Laird Harris, editor, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., associate editor, Bruce K. Waltke, associate editor.
18. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner.
19. Genesis: A Commentary, by Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks.
20. The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament, by George V. Wigram.
21. Deuteronomy, by Christopher J.H. Wright.
22. Genesis, by Kenneth A. Mathews.
23. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, translator, T.H.L. Parker ; editors, David W. Torrance, Thomas F. Torrance.
24. Deuteronomy = [Devarim]: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, by Jeffrey H. Tigay.
25. Exodus, by Douglas K. Stuart.

Displays!

Come see our beautiful rare English Bible display, our display of books about the English Bible, and our giant time line of English Bible history.

Candy!

The ever popular and always refilling basket of candy is back. Enjoy a little treat every time you visit the Library.

A Contest!

How much do you know about the history of the English Bible? Challenge yourself with our English Bible History Quiz. Students are eligible to win a Bible of their choice from the Seminary Bookstore. (Complete rules available in the Library.)

And More!

Enjoy the festive Fall decorations and be on the lookout for the guess-the-version flip cards scattered around the Library.

Beyond Paradise: Technology and the Kingdom of God, by Jack Clayton Swearengen (Wipf & Stock, 2007)

Tim Stafford of Christianity Today comments on the author’s keen understanding of technology, but says “it is his deeply Christian passion, together with his extensive thinking, dialoguing and reading, that makes this a compelling challenge. Anyone concerned about the direction of our technological society will profit.”

Opening to page 310, one reads that:

the prevailing cultural value system displayed in Table 11.1 will have to be re-ordered before industrial civilization can be redirected to sustainable norms. … I think we have less than … a half century—to accomplish the change. It took more than a century to build our present non-sustainable technological civilization; now we must rebuild our way to a sustainable one.

What does Table 11.1 reveal? Finding it back on page 296:

• progress should be continuous, is inevitable and irreversible
• growth is progress, magnitude the measure, and direction lies outside the domain of government, and the actual direction is unpredictable
• the invisible hand of the market will provide direction
• science and technology are the keys for solving societal problems and for creating economic growth and raising standards of living

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels, by Kenneth E. Bailey (IVP Academic, 2008)

Covenant professor Robert W. Yarbrough says (back cover): “In this highly stimulating study Kenneth Bailey…stands on the shoulders of Middle Eastern interpreters whom few in the West can even read. This book will sharpen historical understanding, improve much preaching and fuel new scholarship. … And in all of this, Bailey keeps the cross and the message of his sources at the center where they belong.” Bailey, whose doctorate is from Concordia here in St. Louis, spent forty years living and teaching NT in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus, and has written many books in English and Arabic.

On Time, Punctuality, and Discipline in Early Modern Calvinism, by Max Engammare, Swiss National Science Foundation Researcher, translated by Karin Maag (Cambridge, 2010)

The first chapter is titled “John Calvin’s Personal Time Management” and, opening to page 31, one finds these striking words:

As we do nowadays worldwide, in the sixteenth century, there was already one hour’s difference between summer time and wintertime in Geneva, even if the compensation was partial for the large differences in the length of day in summer and in winter. The fact that Calvin repeated his explanation of the division of day and night into unequal hours also suggests that Calvin saw this type of division as obsolete and probably unknown to his readers.

This follows discussion of Calvin’s comments on John 1:39 that include the ancient practice of dividing hours differently. Calvin says:

It was then around ten o’clock. That means that night was falling, for in less than two hours, the sun would set. Indeed, they used to divide the day into twelve hours, and these were longer in summer and shorter in winter.

Other chapters are: “Church Time and Its Civic Setting”; “Saving Time and Learning to be Punctual”; “The Growth and Decline of the Huguenot Calendars”; “Ronsard and Tyard Versus Viret Regarding Time”; and “The Daily Pattern.” The Preface to the English Translation mentions that some reviewers of the French original faulted the book for insufficient attention to monastic rules or Books of Hours. The author therefore “took advantage of this translation to correct this weakness … and to compare accurately … medieval ordering of time to the Genevan and Reformed punctuality of the sixteenth century.”

Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden, edited by Roxanne L. Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman, Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics (Princeton, 2009)

In this series there have been sixteen other works so far, and these two editors each have been involved with one or two of those other works. Euben wrote Journeys to the Other Shore: Muslim and Western Travelers in Search of Knowledge and Zaman wrote The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change as well as co-editing Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education. The series editors are Dale F. Eickelman and Augustus Richard Norton. This book has 19 chapters arranged under five parts:

1. Islamism: An Emergent Worldview
2. Remaking the Islamic State
3. Islamism and Gender
4. Violence, Action, and Jihad
5. Globalizing Jihad

Glance at the writing by Bin Laden and shudder! What a mix of God and evil!

Personal Records of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, 1808-1908, Including Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Admissions to Membership, Dismissions, Deaths, Etc. Arranged in Alphabetical Order, edited by Shepherd Knapp (Published by the Trustees…, 1909)

This came to the attention of the library staff when it went out on Interlibrary Loan. From 1767 until 1809 the Brick Church was an integral part of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, which explains why this list begins when it does. This book is based on assorted records. Up to 1844 the Session’s minutes are the source. Between 1844 and 1888 a member Roll-book was used. From 1888 on, a separate volume called the Roll of Members was used. As to information on the baptisms and marriages, a Register thereof was used covering 1809 to 1875, though the actual dates of marriages between 1825 and 1834 are doubtful. From 1877 to 1902 when a new Register was begun, the book relies on “a private record-book of Dr. van Dyke and … stubs of marriage certificates preserved at the church.” One big lacuna is the absence of all members when the Brick Church separated off from First Church in 1809 unless they did not die before 1844 (the first Roll-book) or were officers (who are recorded in the Session minutes).

The Renewal of Trinitarian Theology: Themes, Patterns & Explorations, by Roderick T. Leupp (IVP Academic, 2008)

Here’s a (back cover) quote from K. Steve McCormick, Professor of Historical Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City: “It has often been said that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is better caught than taught. … This book will not only familiarize one with the landscape of trinitarian theology, but will also draw one deeply into the life of the triune God who shares our life by suffering right alongside us, enabling us to ‘truly’ know God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and thus come to know the greatest mystery of the Trinity: God is love.”

The Soul of a Christian University: A Field Guide for Educators, edited by Stephen T. Beers (Abilene Christian University Press, 2008)

Beers is V.P. for Student Development at John Brown U and has the Ed.D. from Ball State U in higher educational leadership. Of this book, Barry Loy, president of the Association for Christians in Student Development, and Dean of Students at Gordon College, says: “Finally, a much-needed, long-overdue effort to help Christian educators on both sides of the aisle—academic and student affairs—surmount the longstanding bifurcation in higher education and work together toward seamless student learning. This is imperative reading for new and seasoned educators.”  The book has two Parts, each with five chapters. There are a total of sixteen contributors, as some chapters are co-authored.

The Unity of the Church: A Theological State of the Art and Beyond, edited by Eduardus Van der Borght, Studies in Reformed Theology, no. 18 (Brill, 2010)

This $190 book has four Parts comprising 24 chapters by 24 contributors (only 4 from the USA, with the other 20 being from France, Ghana, Romania, Australia, South Africa, etc., though The Netherlands seems predominant). The church unity addressed is first and foremost that of the Reformed tradition. As the conclusion to the editor’s introduction states, all contributors “share the awareness that the existing disunity of the church worldwide, and more especially within the Reformed tradition, is very problematic, and that it cannot be justified with non-theological arguments.” And the theological arguments that have been used “are unsatisfying. Better theological discourse is necessary and this volume encourages looking into the issue again and provides news ways to move again on the way.”

Within this volume are some responses between contributors, but all offer their own fresh material rather than focusing on counterpoints. Here are a few of the chapter titles: “Calvin Oecumenicus—Calvin’s Vision of the Unity and Catholicity of the Church”; “One Church and the Pure Preaching of the Word—Theses and Observations on the Theme”; “A Biblical Theological Hermeneutics, the Pure Preaching of the Word of God, and the Unity of the Church”; “The Medium and the Message—Sola Scriptura and (Dis)unity in the Reformed Tradition”; “The Unity of the Church and the Pure Administration of the Sacraments”; “Gospel Discipline and Church (Dis)unity in the Reformed Tradition”; “‘No Popery’: A Blessing or a Curse?: Ministry as an Instrument of Unity within the Reformed Tradition”; and “One God and One Church—Considerations on the Unity of the Church from the Perspective of Biblical Theology.” This sample should indicate the substantial nature of this polygraph.

• “Always take notes during therapy sessions—this can be used to refresh your memory about a particular session that may be the basis of a future complaint”
• “require your secretary/assistant to document the identity of each client and the exact time each session begins and ends”—and ensure personal contact with clients before they leave the office
• periodically talk with staff about the importance “of proactive, protective measures”
• “Make every effort to have a secretary, office manager, or another counselor present in your building/office suite when you are meeting with a client…”

The Covenant Seminary Library is hiring part-time Library Assistants to staff the front desk and help with related tasks for the upcoming fall and spring semesters. Library Assistants work 10 hours per week (including evening and Saturday hours) checking books in and out, answering basic library questions, and generally assisting library users.

Ability to follow established procedures, attention to detail, and desire to provide good customer service are essential. Previous experience in library public service is highly desirable but not required.

Please send a résumé with cover letter to Steve Jamieson (steve.jamieson@covenantseminary.edu). Deadline for applications is Tuesday, July 19^th.

Writing Consultant

The Scribe, Covenant Seminary’s Writing Resource Center, is looking for Writing Consultants for the upcoming fall and spring semesters.

Writing Consultants will assist students up to 10 hours per week. Consultants will work with writers of all levels and disciplines on a variety of assignments and projects, including personal reflections, research papers, and exegetical assignments. They will also maintain tutoring records and attend two training sessions per semester.

Experience in the teaching of writing (in any academic discipline) preferred but not necessary. Superior knowledge of grammar is required. Special training or experience in areas such as ESL, dyslexia, publishing, and theological writing is highly desirable. Interpersonal skills and ability to work in a collaborative setting are essential.

Please send a résumé with cover letter and two writing samples to Brady Shuman (brady.shuman@covenantseminary.edu). Deadline for applications is Monday, July 25^th.

Both editors teach at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Henard is a senior pastor as well, and Greenway is the Seminary associate v.p. for Extension Education and Applied Ministries. Bruce Waltke and Al Mohler are among those commending the book. Waltke says (back cover): “This collection of brilliant essays is a must read for contemporary church leaders and thoughtful Christians.” He adds that the essays critique both the doctrinally friendly Emergent “stream…toward cultural sensitivity and the weakness of the ‘doctrinally wary/averse’ stream’s penchant toward moral, biblical, and theological relativism.” Contributors represent: Beeson and Biola (one each); Dallas, Southern Evangelical, and Southeastern Baptist (two each); Southern Baptist (four including the two editors); as well as a Baptist pastor (besides Henard) and Ed Stetzer, Director of LifeWay Research and Missiologist in Residence at LifeWay Christian Resources (which from 1891 to 1998 was known as the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board; the publisher of this volume is a ministry of LifeWay, and changed its name from Broadman & Holman to B&H in 2006). Here are some samples.

William Henard leads off with a lengthy essay titled “The Emerging Church: One Movement, Two Streams.” He cites Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, and Acts 29 as being in the “doctrine friendly” stream.

Of course one man’s marginalia is another man’s non-negotiable truth, but the first point here is to acknowledge, precisely for the defense of the gospel, the common interest all Evangelicals have in achieving optimal success in the distinguishing of primary, secondary, and tertiary issues. This task of discrimination is rarely easy and is never fully completed. But surely the desire to remove every unnecessary stumbling block to the advance of the gospel should be a goal all would share. [p. 45]

Ed Stetzer’s essay mentions Covenant in the context of defining: “Emergent Christianity”; “Emergent Church”; “The Emergents”; and “Emergent” (the last one he says refers to the relational network that formed first in 1997 and is also known as “Emergent Village”).

Prior to the release of [Tony] Jones’s book [The New Christians (Jossey-Bass, 2008)], others had offered lexicographic help….For example, Darrin Patrick of the Journey in St. Louis gave a presentation at Covenant Seminary in which one session was devoted to a lexicon for conversations about emergent. [p. 51, emphasis added]

Darrell L. Bock in “Emergent/Emerging Christologies” has a subheading “A Look at Brian McLaren” in which the latter’s “most recent work, Everything Must Change”  (Thomas Nelson, 2007) is a focus because “it is made in light of past responses to him and has an overview of Christology.”

In “The Emerging Church and Salvation” Southern’s Robert Sagers notes that Rob Bell, author of Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Zondervan, 2005), has seldom if ever identified with the Emerging Church but is popular with its adherents. Bell claims both heaven’s and hell’s sinners are forgiven, but choose to trust and live in different realities. “Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor go even further than Bell when they assert” that “we are already in unless we want to be out”—quoting their A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity (Jossey-Bass, 2006; Wiley, 2007). Later in his essay, Sagers finds B. McLaren’s “deemphasis on the future resurrection of the body, reminiscent of the kind of Gnosticism the apostles and the early church fathers anathematized.”

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary president Daniel Akin, in “The Emerging Church and Ethical Choices: The Corinthian Matrix,” describes Mark Driscoll as once labeled “the cussing pastor” for his frequent use of expletives in preaching. Driscoll also was “a teetotaler until shortly after his conversion and entrance into the ministry.” Tony Jones, former national coordinator of Emergent Village, “recently admitted that after years of having not made up his mind regarding homosexuality,” he now believes that “G[ay] L[esbian] B[isexual] T[ransgendered] Q[ueer] can live lives in accord with biblical Christianity (at least as much as any of us can!) and that their monogamy can and should be sanctioned and blessed by church and state.” [p. 263]

Finally Alive: What Happens When We Are Born Again, by John Piper (Christian Focus, 2009)

The book received high compliments (back cover, and inside front cover) by people such as D.A. Carson, Bruce Ware, J.I. Packer and Timothy George. Iain Murray says:

Many will be thankful that John Piper is here addressing the key need of our times. Every awakening begins with the renewed discovery of Christ’s teaching on the new birth. Here is that amazing teaching in lucid yet comprehensive form; with a relevance to readers worldwide.

Carson says in part:

I cannot too strongly celebrate the publication of this book. Owing in part to several decades of dispute over justification and how a person is set right with God, we have tended to neglect another component of conversion no less important.

First Baptist (Grand Cayman) pastor Thabiti Anyabwile says in part: “One wonders why it’s taken so long for a book on the new birth to be written!”

Focus: The Art and Soul of Cinema, by Tony Watkins (Damaris, 2007)

The author is Managing Editor of www.culurewatch.org and works with the Damaris Trust. L’Abri Fellowship’s Jock McGregor claims (on page facing the title page): “There is no better channel [than movies] for engaging with the ideas of the culture or a more pressing area for Christian discernment. Tony Watkins has produced an excellent introduction to the whole subject—comprehensive, balanced, readable and immanently [sic] useful.”

Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah’s Dilemma, by Janet Howe Gaines, Studies in Biblical Literature (Society of Biblical Literature, 2003)

The author is Lecturer in English and former Executive Director of Hillel at the U of NM in Albuquerque.  Forgiveness and its complexities form her central focus. A glance at the index shows wide-ranging references, from ancient sources including many OT passages (and Josephus, Ovid, Horace, etc.) to Rashi, Shakespeare, Melville, Jung, Mandela, and Nouwen [who’s not in the index but mentioned on the back cover]. In the section headed “Jonah and Jewish Liturgy” within chapter 6 titled “Jonah’s Legacy” a glance revealed not only description of the Yom Kippur use of the Book of Jonah, but the sentence: “In synagogue tradition, the book of Jonah is considered the peak of moral instruction.”

Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal, by Eric L. Johnson (IVP Academic, 2007)

The Preface begins: “There are only a few topics about which Christians have more disparate ideas and are more deeply divided than that of psychology and soul care.” The book early on “tries to offer an explanation.” But, mostly its focus is “on a more constructive agenda: a proposal for a fundamental framework for Christian soul care (a broad category that includes psychotherapy, counseling and spiritual direction, and in fact encompasses the main tasks of the church).” Four Parts comprise eighteen chapters. Here’s a small sample of chapter titles: “The Bible and Current Evangelical Soul-Care Paradigms” (chap. 3); “Interpreting the Bible for Christian Psychology and Soul Care” (chap. 6); “Translating the Texts of Other Communities for Christian Soul Care” (chap. 7); “Orders of Meaning: A Multilevel Analysis of Human Life” (chap. 10); “The Trinitarian Ground and Goal of Christian Well-Being and Soul Care: Union and Communion with God” (chap. 12); and “The Call to Outwardness: The Manifestation of Christlikeness” (chap. 17). The book has author, subject, and Scripture indexes and two appendixes, titled respectively: “A biblical Coherence Theory of Truth in Counseling” and “Toward a Christian Semiotics for a Christian Psychology.”

Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community, by Andrew Martin (IVP, 2009)

Brian McLaren writes the foreword. The author’s Marin Foundation “is conducting the largest-ever research study on religion in the gay community.” The author “was caught off-guard when his three best friends came out to him in three consecutive months. Suddenly the… [GLBT] people he’d always seen as “out there”…were up close and personal. How could he reconcile his friends to his faith? That question has become his life’s work.”

Negotiation Genius, by Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman (Bantam, 2007)

The authors are professors at the Harvard Business School. Steps, principles, strategies, etc. pepper the book—e.g., “Seek to reconcile interests, not demands” and “Negotiate multiple issues simultaneously” and “Build trust and share information” and “Appoint a devil’s advocate.” Part I, The Negotiator’s Toolkit, has 3 chapters covering claiming and creating value in negotiation, and “Investigative Negotiation.” Part II, The Psychology of Negotiation, has 3 chapters covering “When Rationality Fails” owing to biases of mind or of heart, and “Negotiating Rationally in an Irrational World.” Part III, Negotiating in the Real World, has 8 chapters covering influence, blind spots, confronting lies & deception, ethical dilemmas, working from a weak position, dealing with ugliness (distrust, anger, threats, ego issues, irrationality), when not to negotiate, and “The Path to Genius.” There’s a glossary, notes, and index. From the dustjacket: “An absolutely brilliant negotiation framework and tool kit…compellingly illustrated from…real…situations. It’s the most comprehensive, wise, practical nook on the subject I’ve ever seen.” – Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8^th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. David Gergen says: “…for a handful of dollars, you can buy a book that invites you into a classroom conversation at the Harvard Business School.” U of Southern CA professor Warren Bennis, author of Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, says this book “is the single, most essential source for the basic understanding of this increasingly important skill set.”

Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) and the Outward Instruments of Divine Grace, by Jason Zuidema, Reformed Historical Theology, vol. 4 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008)

Zuidema teaches in Montreal at McGill University and at the Farel Faculté de Théologie Réformeé. This book has a fine “Vermigli Studies Bibliography” as well as a “General Bibliography,” and there’s an index—in which Frank James, John Patrick Donnelly, and Joseph McLelland are by far the most cited of modern authors. From Preface:

Vermigli was one of the most high-profile international Reformers of the sixteenth-century. For almost the entirety of his adult life […] Vermigli engaged with the brightest and most important theological luminaries of Europe.  Hence, even though largely forgotten by several centuries of scholarship, his life and thought are a good vantage point from which to see the totality of the Reformation.

The purpose of this present essay is […] to understand his theological outlook, his methodological presuppositions, the sources of his thought, and the goals of his life work. The quest is not new: it is a question the last several generations of Vermigli scholars have been asking and answering in a very detailed manner. Yet, there is still a great deal to learn.

Back cover: Vermigli “sought to steer a middle course between theological extremes […] Typical of this […] are his insights into the outward instruments of divine grace.”

Political Worship: Ethics for Christian Citizens, by Bernd Wannenwetsch, translated by Margaret Kohl, Oxford Studies in Theological Ethics (Oxford, 2004)

From the dustjacket…

How does Christian ethics begin? This pioneering study explores the grammar of the Christian life as it is embodied and learned in worship as the formative experience of the ‘fellow citizens of God’s people.’ The book presents the first in-depth theological investigation of the phenomenon of ‘politlcal worship’ by exposing the political nature of worship and the worship dimensions of politics.

In a careful analysis of biblical and traditional conceptions of worship, Wannenwetsch demonstrates how the genuine political character of worship neutralizes attempts to politicize or de-politicize it. In the imprinting of the experience of divine reconciliation…worship challenges the deepest antagonisms of political theory and practice: antagonisms of ‘private and public’, ‘freedom and necessity’, and ‘action and contemplation’. At the same time, the ‘spillover’ of worship into every sphere of life installs a healthy suspicion of post-modern conceptualizations of role-mobility. In the experience of ‘hearing in commmunion’, an encounter with a word that does not deceive announces the end of the rule of the hermeneutics of suspicion.

Further questions are discussed …. Particular practices or dimensions of worship (confession, preaching, praising, intercession, observance of holy days) are examined and their heuristic and formative significance explored….

The book [involves]…a variety of traditions … and contemporary voices … [and] addresses systematic and practical theology as well as political theory, while indicating the essential interpenetration of these disciplines.

 A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul E. Miller (NavPress, 2009)

The author is “director of seeJesus.net, an organization that develops interactive Bible studies for small groups.” J. I. Packer says the book (back cover) is “Honest, realistic, mature, wise, deep. Warmly recommended.” RTS prof Steve Brown also comments, and inside the front cover there’s commendation from Dan Allender, Tim Keller, Tremper Longman, Phil Ryken, Scotty Smith, Charlie Peacock, Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries, Cynthia Bezek (editor of Pray! Magazine), and Louisville’s Southeast Christian Church retired pastor Bob Russell.

Spiritual Resources in Family Therapy, edited by Froma Walsh, 2^nd ed. (Guilford, 2009)

The author is a professor emeritus of the University of Chicago med school’s psychiatry dept. & the School of Social Service Administration. She’s a past president of the American Family Therapy Academy and past editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Among books she wrote or edited, Strengthening Family Resilience and Living Beyond Loss: Death in the Family are both into their second edition (as is also this book), and Natural Family Processes is in its third edition.

Theological Bible Commentary, edited by Gail R. O’Day and David L. Petersen (WJK, 2009)

The Introduction notes that although philology, history, cultural contexts, and the formation of biblical literature are still important (though not the way they were in the first 2/3 of the twentieth century), literary and social scientific analysis became prominent as did an acute awareness that “presuppositionless” scholarship was a chimera. Another important trend was “an interest in construing the Bible as canon.”  The coalescence of all these “has now led to a blossoming of interest in theological readings of biblical texts.” “Nondenominational churches, retreat centers, spirituality and theology reading groups, for example, have generated new readers of the Bible and new forms of reading communities,” together with an “increase in denominationally based Bible study programs.”

This one-volume commentary on Genesis through Revelation (deutero-canonical books are not included) aims to put “the best of scholarship in conversation with the theological claims of the biblical text” as we have it, and to serve diverse communities of readers of the Bible. There are 41 commentators (all but a few from the USA), with several of them treating multiple books (Lancaster Theological Seminary’s Julia O’Brien does all twelve Minor Prophets, for example). Emory’s Candler School of Theology has by far the most contributors with a total of six, including Luke Timothy Johnson. The only ones in Missouri are Eden’s NT prof Deborah Krause (treating 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) and, from St. Paul School of Theology in KC, Prof of Hebrew Bible Harold C. Washington.