04/06/2018

Textweek/ATLAS - Easter 5B, April 29, 2018

Studying lectionary texts? Here are some starting places for study at ATLA this week. If you are the graduate of an accredited U.S. theological school, you may have free access to these articles through your school. Check ATLAS access options. You can find full lists of ATLAS recommended articles for this week at The Text This Week's page for this week's texts:

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Easter 5
April 29, 2018

Brueggemann, Walter, "Dialogue between Incommensurate Partners: Prospects for Common Testimony," Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 2001.
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The section on the Acts text begins on page 389. “These two references to ‘the Spirit’ are signals that this is no ordinary exegesis of the text; rather, it is a God-given interpretation that inescapably links the best hope of Israel for a bearer of sin and the reality of Jesus in that role. The linkage is essential to the early church, but it is a linkage made only by a leap of interpretation that is not required by the text itself.”  

Smith, Abraham, "'Do You Understand What You Are Reading?': A Literary Critical Reading of the Ethiopian (Kushite) Episode (Acts 8:26-40)," Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, 1994.
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“Acts 8:26-40 cannot be seen as an isolated and unconnected episode. As we have seen through this careful literary critical reading, the Ethiopian episode has at least four functions… 

Martin, Clarice J., "A Chamberlain's Journey and the Challenge of Interpretation for Liberation,"Semeia, 1989.
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Abstract: “A survey of the literature on the Ethiopian eunuch's conversion in Acts 8:26-40 reveals a predominant interest in its prophecy-fulfillment character and apologetic tenor. The Ethiopian's ethnographic identity and geographic provenance have, by contrast, received negligible attention. In fact, his ethnographic identity in particular has been characterized as both ‘indeterminable’ and ‘inconsequential’ for Luke's theological purposes in Acts. These theses have been roundly challenged in this essay, with the methodological issues engendered by a ‘hermeneutics of suspicion’ receiving particular analysis. An introductory review of (1) some of the theological trajectories of the pericope is followed by (2) a documentary assessment of the Ethiopian's ethnographic identity, (3) his geographic provenance, and finally (4) an analysis of the impact of how a ‘politics of omission’ has been operative in perpetuating a lack of familiarity with Ethiopians in antiquity and in contemporary culture. 

Mesle, Bob, "A Friend's Love: Why Process Theology Matters," The Christian Century, 1987.
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“Process theology may not be true, but those who argue that it is irrelevant or unimportant have chosen the wrong ground. How can Christians look at the crucified Christ and say that it does not matter if God is "the great companion—the fellow-sufferer who understands"? How can Christians who both respect the integrity of honest searchers and believe that God actively seeks to reveal the divine love fail to appreciate the way in which process theology makes sense of the world's ambiguity? How can Christians affirm with I John 4:19 that we love because God first loved us and think it religiously unimportant that the world's evolution is grounded in creative, responsive love? I once knew such a divine Friend's love, and it mattered. It matters whether process theology is true because it matters whether Someone loves us.”

Derickson, Gary W., "Viticulture and John 15:1-6," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1996.
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 When Jesus gave the analogy of the vine and the branches, He based it on the cultural practice of His day, which was to clean up only the fruit-bearing branches and tidy up the rows during the early spring growth following blooming. Severe pruning and removal of branches did not occur until the grapes were harvested and dormancy was being induced.

04/06/2018 at 02:07 PM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS - Easter 4, April 22, 2018

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Easter 4
April 22, 2018

Boesak, Allan Aubrey, "In the Name of Jesus: Acts 4:12," Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, 1985.
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“If people are being changed, if the structures of the world are being confronted, if the very world itself is faced with the challenge to be transformed, then no longer hatred but love shall rule, no longer fear but boldness shall rule, no longer injustice but justice shall rule.”

Sharma, Arvind, "Christian Proselytization: A Hindu Perspective," Missiology, 2005.
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“Proselytization in some form is usually perceived as an inalienable aspect of Christian identity, yet this aspect of Christianity is quite baffling to the modern Hindu, who is not disposed to doubt the salvific potency of other religions. This paper is an attempt to try to create some openings in this wall of mutual incomprehension so that both sides gain a better appreciation of the others' position and to indicate the ‘concessions’ they could make to each others' position without compromising their own integrity.”

Calhoun, David B. "Poems in the Park: My Cancer and God's Grace," Presbyterion, 2008.
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“During a period of intensive chemotherapy treatment some years ago, I found that it helped me to walk. Day after day I walked around and around a half-mile path in a park across the street from my house. I usually took with me a little book of poems or a small hymnbook. As I walked, I read the poems and hymns slowly, out loud. As the medicine flowed into my body each week in the hospital next to the park, so the words of the poetry flowed into my heart and mind every day as I walked, giving me a new infusion of courage, patience, hope, and trust.”

Gomes, Peter J., "Good Shepherd, Good Sheep," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2003.
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“For us, where the metaphor ends and the good news begins is that we are gathered and guarded not for the slaughter, and not to be eaten, but for love and redemption. That is where we take leave of the metaphor and embrace reality. What do we do in response to this truth and this reality?”

Long, Kimberly Bracken, "The Shepherd Jesus," Journal for Preachers, 2006. Sermon.
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“From womb to tomb, font to grave, on whatever roads we take (or find ourselves on), the shepherd leads us as one flock, gracing us with constant companionship and food for the journey, until he leads us safely home.”

04/06/2018 at 02:06 PM | | Comments (0)

02/21/2018

Textweek/ATLAS -- March 18, 2018 Lent 5B

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Lent 5
March 18, 2018

Rhymer, David, "Between Text & Sermon: Jeremiah 31:31-34," Interpretetation, 2005.
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“This remarkable verse, often (mis) appropriated by Christian commentators to provide support for New Testament ideas of ‘knowing God,’ is all the more remarkable when considered in its proper context—a prophetic imagining of a post-exilic community where knowledge of God (through the "internalized" Torah) is shared by all without any intermediary teaching authority.”

Abstract: “This essay has two parts. After a brief historical sketch of Christian anti-Judaism, we turn to the major issue in Christian relations with Judaism and the Jewish people: how we Christians understand and use the Jewish Bible—our Old Testament. In the first section we deal in particular with misreadings of the Old Testament and how we might interpret Jewish scripture more accurately and fairly. In the second part we call attention to themes and teachings in the Jewish scriptures (the Christian Old Testament) that are, in my judgment, central and vital to Christian faith, elements held in common with Judaism.”

“It was not pain and violence that God desired, but human life as it was created to be.”

O'Day, Gail R., "Piety without Pretense, Faith without Falsehood: The Lenten Journey according to John," Journal for Preachers, 1997.
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The section covering this text begins on page 12. “In order to understand Jesus' teachings in this lesson, it is important to remember that in the Gospel of John, ‘glorification’ refers to Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. The arrival of the hour in which the Son of Man will be glorified, then, means the arrival of the hour in which Jesus will die, and the final acts of his mission in the world will be played out.”


Abstract:"Theories on leadership, in their capacity of suggesting a vision of a preferred future, implicitly make theological claims, and explicitly challenge theological imagination. Based on the analysis of the (implicit) anthropological telos in theories on leading change in secular and theological works, this article challenges the assumption of these theories by envisioning a theological anthropology for leading change in ministry. This vision focuses on the historicity and plasticity of human beings and the metaphor of the grain of wheat (John 12:24) as fundamental modes for leading change with human beings. In Christian theology, these modes of change are inscribed in the sacramental and Christological narrative of the reality and promise of change through resurrection."

02/21/2018 at 02:34 PM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS -March 11, 2018, Lent 4B

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Lent 4
March 11, 2018

O'Day, Gail, "Piety Without Pretense, Faith Without Falsehood: The Lenten Journey According to John," Journal for Preachers, 1997. Section on this text begins on page 12.
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“The decision that John 3:14-21 places before the church resonates even more intensely in the Lenten season. There may be no better place to contemplate the decision for life with God that this text describes than in the forty days of Lenten wilderness, because in the wilderness it is difficult, if not impossible, to hide from the moment of decision.”

"All his life long, wherever Jesus looked he saw the world not in terms simply of its brokenness—a patchwork of light and dark calling forth in us now our light, now our dark—but in terms of the ultimate mystery of God's presence buried in it like a treasure buried in a field... .Tobe whole, I believe, is to see the world like that. To see the world like that, as Jesus saw it, is to be whole. And sometimes I believe that even people like you and me see it like that. Sometimes even in the midst of our confused and broken relationships with ourselves, with each other, with God, we catch glimpses of that holiness and wholeness that is not ours by a long shot and yet is part of who we are.”

“For redemption in Christ to be complete, it must range as far and wide as the forces of evil.”

Long, Thomas G., "Just As I Am," The Christian Century, 2006.
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02/21/2018 at 02:30 PM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS - March 4, 2018 Lent 3

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Lent 3
March 4, 2018

“But in invoking the Temple's destruction and thus the rhythms of Jewish history, in dying for his proclamation of the Kingdom's speedy coming to which that event would witness, Jesus came to embody a religious message that is quintessentially Jewish and — yet? thus? — universally human.”

“It is not too much to suggest that John, early in his narrative, is teaching his readers how to read. Look beyond the literal sense, he whispers, and read for figuration. Read retrospectively, in light of the resurrection. See the Temple and Israel's Scriptures as prefiguring the truth definitively embodied in Jesus.”

“As a teaching for Lent, this lesson invites us to look at the way we live our lives with God and one another and to examine the sources of power and authority which shape our lives and to which we regularly make appeal.”

"However odd the story may appear, there is one significant truth that wc should not ignore. It is the transformation of Jesus' own perceived position from a guest to the One through whom miracles are created."

Marcus, Joel, "Idolatry in the New Testament," Interpretation, 2006. 
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Abstract: “The New Testament inherits its attitude toward idolatry from the Old Testament and early Judaism. In all three, idolatry is the primal sin and is connected with sexual immorality and avarice. Both Jesus, in his response to the question about tribute, and Paul,* in his treatment of food sacrificed to idols, reflect the conflict between revulsion against idolatry and the need to survive in an idolatrous world. Moreover, Paul and the Johannine literature respond to the Jewish charge that Christianity itself is idolatrous. Appropriation of New Testament attitudes toward idolatry for our own pluralistic society is complicated by their variety and their apparent caricature of pagan religion.”

Green, Donald E., "The Folly of the Cross," Master's Seminary Journal, 2004.
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Abstract: “First Cor 1:23 indicates that both Jews and Gentiles refused to believe Paul's preaching of Christ crucified. They rejected the message in part because of the cultural connotations of crucifixion in the first century. Crucifixion was a vulgar, common execution that the Romans imposed on notorious criminals, prisoners of war, and rebellious slaves. Its harsh brutality symbolized the supremacy of the Roman government over the victim. Gentiles thus viewed crucifixion as a sure sign of the victim's defeat. Jews, on the other hand, held crucified men in even greater contempt because to them crucifixion was a sign of God's curse on the victim. Paul's preaching of Christ crucified thus cut deeply against the grain of his culture. Jews rejected the idea that the Messiah could be crucified (and thus cursed) and looked for signs instead. Gentiles rejected as foolishness the notion that a crucified man could be the only Savior of mankind and sought eloquent rhetoric in its place. Paul's example challenges today's Christian leader to confront the culture with the same message of Christ crucified and not to cater to the latest fads in marketing the gospel to the passing whims of unbelievers.”

 

02/21/2018 at 02:27 PM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS Lent 2B February 25, 2018

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Lent 2
February 25, 2018

“God's power manifest in the imagery of creation is another attested dimension of the Mosaic covenant as it was developed in the postexilic period.”

“If a mystical path is one in which the traveler learns to submit to God, then it is the virtue of agrarian life to show us that our submission is authentic only as we commit ourselves to the health and vitality of creation, for it is here that God s ways, however mysteriously, are being worked out. It is here, in the soil beneath our feet and among countless created neighborhoods rather than in some far away celestial place, that God meets us in work and grace that exceeds our comprehension and our wrongdoing.”

Burnett, Joel S., "Where Is God? Divine Absence in Israelite Religion," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2006.
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“This review of religious expressions from as early as the first half of the second millennium indicates that divine presence and absence were conceived and perceived in Israelite and West Semitic religion in terms of life's blessings and difficulties, respectively. Thus the favorable presence of the deity was not assumed or taken for granted.”

Carder, Kenneth L., "Why Follow a Crucified Christ?" The Christian Century, 1997.
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“We follow the crucified Christ as people of hope. We live on the other side of the cross from Peter.”

“Either the Lord is with us or we are pathetic fools. Down in the valley, with our faith buffeted by storms of disregard, doubt and disdain, our eyes can tell us only one thing: we are pathetic fools. But up on the mountain there is another angle of vision. Up there, in the light of Christ, we can see for real.”

“Where shall preachers and teachers locate the meaning of the gospel story of the transfiguration for themselves and their hearers: behind the text, in it, around it, or in front of it? Each location will yield insight, and none can he ignored.”

02/21/2018 at 02:21 PM | | Comments (0)

11/07/2017

Textweek ATLAS links Christ the King Reign of Christ, Nov 26, 2017

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Reign of Christ / Christ the King
November 26, 2017

“This Psalm is one of the best-known and best-loved in the entire repertoire of the Psalter. It breathes a faith of simple trust, glad surrender, and faithful responsiveness. It is not sung by newcomers who are only now embracing the faith but by those who are seasoned and at home in this faith and piety. Nor is it sung by the alienated who have any cause either against God or neighbor.”

Byars, Ronald P., "Between Text & Sermon, Psalm 95," Interpretation, 2002.
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“It may be that the crisis for faith in our time is linked to the habit of shrinking God to a manageable size. There is among us a widespread agnosticism, on the one hand, and a surfeit of easy God-talk on the other.”

“The writer wants the Gentile recipients to apprehend and be apprehended by "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (v. 3) that have been experienced already by the Jewish community. Ultimately, he prays for and, indeed, declares that those two communities have been constituted by the one God to live into the fullness of Christ's work and to experience it together as one body.”

“One of the ways Moltmann expresses this thought is by the use of the term ‘anticipation.’ For him, the Christ event is not only the subject of Christian proclamation, but it also affects the process of proclamation and the way it takes place. As the Christ event anticipates the future of God, so Christian proclamation functions to do the same.”

"The church of Jesus Christ cannot be merely a spectator in history. It must actively engage its historical and social circumstances. It must be active in daily life to be a part of history. Unfortunately, our celebrations and religious rituals are frequently very distant from the realities around us."

11/07/2017 at 11:43 AM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS - Proper28 Ordinary33 Pentecost23 Nov 19, 2017

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Proper 28A / Ordinary 33A / Pentecost +23
November 19, 2017

“Our story is revealed as a variation on one central theme—the identity of the savior—which also testifies to its integrity. Is it now possible to separate an original story from a later redaction responsible for openings and closings? The suitability of the beginning and end to the other components of the story suggests other possibilities. For instance, perhaps the redactor who arranged the openings and finales also designed the body of the stories? Perhaps the original version was so worked over that it lost its pristine tenor and cannot be extricated from the present text. In my opinion, that is what actually happened.”

“Notions of building and planting have profound significance in the discourse of biblical literature. One important indication of this is the inner-biblical discourse of a wartime curse, which threatens Israel in the following words, "You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not harvest its fruit" (Deut 28:30). A survey of biblical literature reveals that this particular curse held an especially prominent place in the discourse of ancient Israel and early Judaism…”

The section on this text begins on page 199. “…Those rescued from wrath should remember that the death of Christ offers life with Christ both here and hereafter (5:10). This theological reality should impact their ethical activity until he comes; who they are should affect what they do. The indicative and imperative meet in Paul once again.”

“Matthew’s community remembers Jesus Christ and awaits Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Matthew serves as guide for this twofold endeavor. By its teachings the community knows what to remember and therefore how to wait. Tucked in the middle of chapter 25 of this manual is Matthew's parable of the Talents (w. 14-30). The parable tells the community a story about what three servants did in their master's absence. Two knew how to wait. One did not.”

“Every Thanksgiving my family gathers at my parents ' home in Oklahoma. During our Thanksgiving meal, each of us names that for which we have been thankful in the past year. I usually have something nice to say. I even had something nice to say last year when we gathered only a week after Micah died. But a year later, I did not. All I could be thankful for this year was that in the community of faith there are others who can give thanks to God for me when I cannot. They can "choose faith" for me. They can hold me in prayer and hope while I'm tossed about by grief and doubt. I can be thankful for that. And perhaps one day, I will again feel in my heart the blessing that is God's abundant love outlasting the pain and sorrow, the doubt and anger, and even the fear.”

11/07/2017 at 11:38 AM | | Comments (0)

10/15/2017

Textweek ATLAS - Pr 27 OT32 P+23 - November 12, 2017

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Proper 27A / Ordinary 32A / Pentecost +23
November 12, 2017

“Consumerism has become a demonic spiritual force. Does the gospel have the power to help us withstand it?”

Norfleet, AgnesW., "Between Text and Sermon, Joshua 24:1-28," Interpretation, 2012.
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"Each community that gathers for Christian worship in any church is not far from Shechem. We are surrounded by many gods and are called to choose whom we will serve. By regularly claiming our baptismal heritage, we reach down deep into our own tradition and find the living streams of God’s liberating grace that will carry us forward in faith."

“We feel the compelling power of the words. ‘Choose this day whom you will serve,’ Joshua says, and we can almost hear his tone of voice. This is important to Joshua; this is vital; this is urgent; this is spoken in the imperative mood. A choice has to be made, and not just any choice at that. On this choice depends the future of the nation.”

Norfleet, AgnesW., "Between Text and Sermon, Joshua 24:1-28," Interpretation, 2012.
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"The church has enough ministers who want to be efficient, effective, and successful. We need passion, anger, and desire. 

“More interesting still is the fact that Amos, like King, was not afraid to rework the standard idiom of his tradition in order to adapt it to his own purposes.”

“Amos speaks a difficult word to those who believe they have a special claim on God because God has a unique, covenantal relationship with them. To be chosen by God is no reason for self-satisfaction or self-righteousness. God has called us for mission, not privilege.”

“Amos's famous diatribes against music and ritual make no sense as denunciations of worship itself But they should continue to worry us profoundly as warnings against music and worship that anesthetize us against the justice that Amos calls for and that God requires.”

Abstract: “The reality of violence and the question of how best to respond to it are crucial dimensions of biblical interpretation. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus teaches nonviolence and conducts his mission nonviolently, yet Matthew envisages that as the returning Son of humanity he will indulge in violent retribution at the parousia. This article probes the discrepancy between Matthew's ethical portrait of Jesus as a teacher of nonretaliation and his (own) violent eschatology. Following a survey of select studies of Matthew's retributive eschatology, the moral problem of eschatological violence is considered. The article concludes with some hermeneutical reflections on potential responses to eschatological vengeance in Matthew.”

 Wimberly, John W, Jr., "Sharing Versus Hoarding," The Living Pulpit, 2003.

“Jesus warns us that we cannot prepare for the future by making safe little warrens for ourselves and our loved ones. It does not work. The fate of those without resources is inherently and intrinsically bound up with the fate of those of us who have resources.”

The Gospel writers were theologians and not just reporters. They collected and revised earlier material, then aimed it at specific situations in their own era. It is hard to evaluate how much the average congregation knows of Bible stories, let alone biblical criticism. Preachers and teachers of the Word have a responsibility, however, to make such knowledge available and practical. We may even find that the homiletical loaves have miraculously multiplied.

10/15/2017 at 04:04 PM | | Comments (0)

Textweek/ATLAS - Pr25 OT31 P+21 - Nov 5, 2017

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Proper 26A / Ordinary 31A / Pentecost +21
November 5, 2017

“…our tendency has been to fight our fiercest battles at the theological periphery of evangelicalism, where we believe the limits of tolerance have been exceeded. We rarely ask who in our midst may be equally misguided (and possibly even more dangerous) because they have drawn the boundaries too narrowly rather than too broadly.”

“…The construction of the "other" takes an interesting turn, however, as the polemic finds expression in the language of "masks." The author of Matthew creates a constant and systematic attack on Jewish leadership. As the reader moves through the barrage of accusations of hypocrisy, it becomes clear that Matthew sees the Jewish leaders as no more than actors on a stage, actors whose motions and actions (of ostensible law-abiding righteousness) belie the lack of righteousness just beneath the surface. The strength of this polemic is doubly damning because not only are these opponents denounced for cloaking themselves in disguise, but they are also condemned for leading others astray by their deception (e.g., 23:15). Here again the polarity between the opponent and Matthew's community is revealed in the chasm between "us" and "them," but revealed this time by the deconstruction of the "other," the unmasking of the enemy.”

“The figure of Satan is deeply woven into the fabric of the Bible and theology, including the theology of Martin Luther. Satan symbolizes evil better than any other symbol in history.”

“By omitting such difficult texts from public discourse in the church, we are leaving the hardest parts of the Bible for people to make sense of on their own—or relinquishing our duties to radio and television preachers who are not as squeamish as we. Either way, we are supporting a sanitized version of holy scripture that allows people to speak breezily of the Bible as "life's instruction book."”

Abstract: “This article constitutes the first half of a statement on a possible paradigm for Old Testament theology. To a large extent, the Old Testament borrows from the "common religion" of the ancient Near East, which serves to legitimate theological order and so to authorize political-social-economic order in the name of the deity. This structure-legitimating function is evident in the Mosaic tradition of covenant, the prophets, Deuteronomic theology, and the sapiential tradition of Proverbs. In various ways it is argued that God's governance is to maintain an order that cannot be mocked, disregarded, or nullified. While this function contains important religious affirmation, it also lends itself to ideological use by those in positions of power. This theological motif, which is everywhere present is, by itself, inadequate, for it cannot very well acknowledge the incongruities which occur in human experience. It is a primary concern of the Old Testament to correct and protest against commitment to order through the embrace of pain. This tension between order and pain is present, not only in the life of Israel, but in the very life of God.”

“What may this passage have to teach us about the necessity of competing theological visions within the church and the concomitant necessity of responding to our opponents with grace and humility?”

Beck, John A., "Why Do Joshua's Readers Keep Crossing the River? The Narrative-Geographical Shaping of Joshua 3-4," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2005.

“The Israelites stood beside the Jordan River for three days contemplating its importance as a boundary into the Promised Land and feeling the concern about crossing it safely. In the same way, the reader is brought again and again to see the roiling river by the repetition of the word "Jordan." The narrator says it. Joshua says it. The Lord himself says it over and over again. Narrative-geographical analysis of this text has shed new light on this repetition, allowing us to better answer the question of why Joshua's readers keep crossing the river.”

10/15/2017 at 03:52 PM | | Comments (0)

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