textweek

Textweek ATLAS starting points for Advent 2A - December 5, 2010

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.

Advent 2A
December 5, 2010 

Isaiah 11:1-10

Allen, Ronald J., "Removing Anti-Jewish Toxins from Advent Preaching," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “…the preacher can emphasize that while the church legitimately uses the prophetic passages to interpret the significance of Jesus, these texts have a life and integrity of their own. Indeed, most of the predictive prophetic texts in Advent look for a renewed social world whereas most Advent preaching concentrates on the regeneration of personal worlds.”

 Alison, James, "Prodded to Life," The Christian Century, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “We are promised that the One who is to come longs for peace and seeks to make it possible.”

 Beuken, Willem A.M., "The Emergence of the Shoot of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-16): An Eschatological or a Now Event?" Calvin Theological Journal, 2004.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Whether one still awaits the Messiah or one recognizes him in Jesus of Nazareth, Isaiah 11 anticipates, according to this explanation, a completely new future in which God's involvement with the world is to reach its completion.”

Evans, Craig A., "Jesus and Justice," Ex Auditu, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Lee, Max J., "Response to Evans," Ex Auditu, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Jesus' proclamation of the rule (and justice) of God did not come out of thin air. His language and themes are deeply rooted in Israel's ancient and sacred Scripture. This is not to say that there is no innovation to be found in his teaching; it is only to say that the teaching of Jesus cannot properly be understood apart from careful consideration of its scriptural and traditional antecedents.”

 Janzen, Gerald, "Divine Warfare and Nonresistance," Direction, 2003.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“On the matter of nonresistance, the theme of spiritual warfare demonstrates a continuity between the Old and New Testaments.”

 Psalm 72

 McCann, J. Clinton, Jr., "Preaching on Psalms for Advent," Journal for Preachers, 1992. (Section begins on page 13)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Section on this text begins on page 13. “Psalm 72 is eschatological. As Robert Alter suggests, it is an example ‘of poetic form used to reshape the world in the light of belief.’”

 Mays, James Luther, "'In a Vision': The Portrayal of the Messiah in the Psalms," Ex Auditu, 1991.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “These then are some of the principal features of the vision of the relation between the Messiah and God in the Psalms. It is of course an Old Testament vision. It is articulated in the vocabulary of its time and in the idiom of the protagonists in which it was given human expression. But its royal, political, military language is not irrelevant as long as the great metaphor of the reign of God is useful to the thinking of faith seeking understanding.”

 Houston, Walter J., "The King's Preferential Option for the Poor: Rhetoric, Ideology and Ethics in Psalm 72," Biblical Interpretation, 1999.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “It is my intention to respond to the challenge posed by the materialist interpretation of the Bible practised by Mosala, Gottwald (e.g., Gottwald 1992) and others. I am unable to treat texts on this subject as disembodied texts for whose meaning the reader is solely responsible, as much recent literary criticism has suggested. In these texts someone is trying to persuade me of something.”

 Romans 15

 Cousar, Charles B., "Disruptive Hope: New Testament Texts for Advent," Journal for Preachers, 2001. (Section begins on page 28.)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Romans 15:4-13, the epistolary lesson for the Sunday, may seem to have an unusual beginning point, but, as assigned, it begins and ends with hope. The scriptures are written to evoke steadfastness and hope (15:4), and the concluding benediction is prayer for hope (15:13). In both cases, hope is the gift of God.”

 Horrell, David G., "The Peaceable, Tolerant Community and the Legitimate Role of the State: Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas in Romans 12:1-15:13," Review & Expositor, 2003.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “These four chapters of Romans constitute a coherent section of ethical instruction which aims to foster the solidarity of the Christian community, to legitimate a degree of diversity in its convictions and practices, and also to advise Christians on relations with outsiders, specifically with the state. The community so envisioned, which unites Jew and Gentile without erasing their differences, is an embodiment of the gospel presented throughout Romans. Particular attention is given to the notorious Rom 13:1-7 and to the place of this text in its literary context. While the Christian community is presented as a non-conformist, non-violent community (Rom 12:2,17-21), the text also sanctions the use of force on the part of the state (Rom 13:4). Thus it raises difficult questions concerning the ways in contemporary readers, whose membership of the Christian church does not preclude participation as citizens of their societies, should discern their responsibilities.”

 Patte, Daniel, "Thinking Mission with Paul and the Romans: Romans 15:1-33," Mission Studies, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “I write these notes on Romans 15:1-33 (read together with 1:1-15 and other passages of Romans) as resources for a group discussion of Romans 15 and its teaching about mission for the group's life context. I presuppose that the group will want to have three rounds of discussion. According to the size of the group these three rounds can take place in one long session - with the larger group breaking down in smaller groups and coming back together three times, for instance during an evening - or in three shorter sessions. The first round-table discussion is focused on the group members' first readings of Romans 15. The second round-table involves comparing the members' readings with those of scholars. For this purpose, since there are presently three types of scholarly readings of Romans, I present them, underscoring the different ways they conceive of Paul's teaching about mission. Throughout I also presuppose that each member of the group is committed to "read with" the other members this text of Paul as a Scripture about mission, a process that requires a third round-table.”

Matthew 3

Carter, Warren, "Matthew's Gospel: An Anti-Imperial/Imperial Reading," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2007. See entire issue of Currents in Theology and Mission 34, image focus on Matthew's gospel.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“Matthew's plot is an act of imperial negotiation. Unfolding through six stages, its central dynamic comprises conflict between Jesus and the Rome-allied (Jerusalem-based) leaders. It ends with God raising Jesus, crucified by the imperial elite.”

Keener, Craig S., "'Brood of Vipers' (Matthew 3.7; 12.34; 23.33)," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “According to a widespread tradition in the ancient Mediterranean world (attested in Herodotus, Aelian, Pliny and other writers), vipers killed their mother during their birth, hence were associated with parent-murder. Ancient writers sometimes used parent-murder as an example of one of the worst conceivable crimes, one that invited divine vengeance. Whereas Matthew's source may apply the image of vipers' offspring generally to the crowds listening to John the Baptist, Matthew applies it specifically to the Pharisees in all three of the passages where he recounts the image. In two of these instances the Pharisees claim honorable descent; Matthew ironically inverts the value of this claim through this image of vipers' parent-murder. Matthew utilizes the image for his intra-Jewish polemic, contending that his Jewish-Christian hearers are truer heirs of the patriarchs and prophets than the Pharisees are.”

Kelhoffer, James A., "Early Christian Studies among the Academic Disciplines: Reflections on John the Baptist's 'Locusts and Wild Honey,'" Biblical Research, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “This article reflects on the methodologies employed in the author's recent monograph on John the Baptist's "locusts and wild honey" with an eye to six larger issues of interest to New Testament and early Christian studies in interdisciplinary perspective. These issues concern the ongoing need for philological refinement; moving beyond 'parallelomania' to cogent argumentation and elucidation; the use of sociological data from recent and contemporary, pre-industrialized peoples; John the Baptist (and other biblical personalities) in patristic interpretation; in the early church, biblical literature construed as a source of paideicr, and food, culture and theology: conceptions of food in antiquity.”

Vinson, Richard, "'King of the Jews': Kingship and Anti-Kingship Rhetoric in Matthew's Birth, Baptism, and Transfiguration Narratives," Review & Expositor, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“In Lectionary Year A, between Advent and Epiphany, lectionary preachers will have several occasions to reflect on what Matthew means by calling Jesus "king/7 "Messiah/7 and other related terms.”

Preaching and Worship Resources for Advent 2A, December 5, 2010

Updates to links to resources for December 5, 2010, Advent 2A: http://www.textweek.com/yeara/adventa2.htm

Textweek / ATLAS recommendations for Advent 1A, November 28, 2010

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.

Isaiah 2:1-5 

Holmgren, Fredrick C., "Isaiah 2:1-5, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 1997.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

An Interpretation “Between Text and Sermon” article from 1997. “This picture of shalom painted by Isaiah 2:2-5 (and it is a picture, not a program) has the same ideal quality that characterizes the teaching of Jesus (cf. Matt. 5-6). Both point us beyond what we think is possible; both envision what could happen if people acted as God's partners in redemption. Isaiah attempts to enliven the imagination so that Israelites could believe even in bad times that with God as partner ‘something like this could happen.’”

 Miller, Donald E., "Ain't Gonna Study War No More, Isaiah 2:1-4," Brethren Life and Thought, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “I believe that Isaiah's vision as seen in Jesus Christ calls the church constantly to be living and witnessing for peace. It begins with an inward peace with God, but does not stop there. It constantly learns the way of the Lord and works daily for the things that make for peace. When the whole nation is caught up in a passion for violence, the church's mission is to remind people that arbitration and justice are the will of God, not vengeance. The call for peace is an essential part of the gospel message, not an optional add-on.”

 Wardlaw, Theodore J., "Preaching the Advent Texts," Journal for Preachers, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“Rarely is the church called upon to be more countercultural than during Advent. Rarely is there a greater disconnect between the church's hopes and secular sentiments, as people step from the surrounding cacophonies into quiet sanctuaries that display the hues of purple or deep blue rather than red and green and are invited (somewhat grudgingly) to mark time—carefully and deliberately—toward a destination, finally, that is on a horizon more distant than December 25…”

 Yoder, Christine Roy, "Hope that Walks: An Interpretation of Isaiah for Advent Preachers," Journal for Preachers, 2001.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “As we wait and watch, the prophet Isaiah, whose oracles dominate the Advent Old Testament lectionary, rekindles our hope in the "not yet" and reminds us that embracing that hope has implications for our lives now. Pointing us ahead to a towering mountain, to a solitary shoot from a stump, to the cries of a newborn named Immanuel, Isaiah captivates our imaginations about the coming of God. He draws us into a world transformed, a future marked by divine justice, restoration of the whole creation, and universal peace.”

 Richter, Kimberly Clayton, "The Advent Texts: Glorious Visions, Dogged Discipleship," Journal for Preachers, 2004.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “The texts this year make wonderful guides through Advent. The prophet Isaiah provides glorious visions week after week. These visions are full of life: high mountains with people streaming up the ascent toward peace; a green shoot sprouting from a stump—an early sign that life will flourish among the most unlikely pairings; a desert blooming no less than blind eyes opening to sight; and a young woman is pregnant with a child. But, lest we soar too high to these mountainous visions of glory, Matthew is our gospel guide through Advent and Matthew keeps us close to the ground.”

 Psalm 122

 McCann, J. Clinton, Jr., "Preaching on Psalms for Advent," Journal for Preachers, 1992.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 The section on Psalm 122 begins on page 11. “What it means to enter Jerusalem, to live eschatologically, to live under God's reign, is illustrated powerfully by one of Walker Percy's characters in The Second Coming…”

 Romans 13:11-14

 Carter, T.L., "The Irony of Romans 13," Novum Testamentum, 2004.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “This article explores the possibility that Paul was using irony in his commendation of the state in Romans 13. It is proposed that the original audience of the letter shared with Paul a common experience of oppression at the hands of the authorities and were aware of the abuses that took place in the opening years of Nero's reign. The consequent implausibility of Paul's language would have alerted his readers to the presence of irony. They would have been able to set aside the surface meaning of the discourse and to recognise that Paul was using the established rhetorical technique of censuring with counterfeit praise. While the passage can be read as a straightforward injunction to submit to the authorities, an ironic reading of the text results in a subversion of the very authorities it appears to commend.”

 Cousar, Charles B., "Disruptive Hope: New Testament Texts for Advent," Journal for Preachers, 2001.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 The section n this text begins on page 26. “God-with-us is currently hidden under imperfection and strife. The presence of the new creation is known only amidst the old, where our sight is blurred and our experiences are highly ambiguous. But we anticipate a time when God will reveal the new humanity as it was intended to be, when no one can deny the gracious lordship of Christ, and when creation will be thoroughly renewed—a good reason to hope.”

 Gorman, Michael J., "Romans 13:8-14," Interpretation, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “The irony is that Augustine was responding to words that were not intended for an indecisive seeker like him; they were words written for a community of committed, if not perfectly formed, believers. As Augustine himself says, however, his conversion through these words mirrors the unexpected conversions of others through the divine power of unexpected texts. From the human side, like all good preaching, Paul's words in Rom 13:8-14 can jar both the uncommitted and the committed; they are inherently both evangelistic and pastoral words.”

Matthew 24

Alison, James, "Punctured," The Christian Century, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“Jesus points it out very clearly: there is no human criterion at all that is capable of knowing how the Creators design to fulfill creation is going to look. Majority expectations are not safe, like those of Noah's contemporaries…”

Long, Thomas G., "Imagine There's No Heaven: The Loss of Eschatology in American Preaching," Journal for Preachers, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “How today's pulpit grew reticent about eschatology, about the classic "last things," is a complex story, but it is also a remarkable story, because we who preach today are the heirs of preachers in a not-too-distant past who spoke often, clearly, and confidently of the Christian hope for people and for of all of creation…”

An Advent Story

An Advent Story I wrote a number of years ago about my son, Phil, who has autism: http://www.textweek.com/advent_story.htm

 

Preaching and Worship Resources for Advent 1A, 2010

Links to resources for Advent 1A have been posted at http://www.textweek.com/yeara/adventa1.htm. General Advent Planning resource links can be found at http://www.textweek.com/advent.htm . Resources will be updated throughout the week.

Preaching and Worship Resources for Thanksgiving

Some thanksgiving resources: http://www.textweek.com/yearc/thanksc.htm . What are you all planning for thanksgiving celebrations/observances in your congregations?

ATLAS / Textweek Recommendations November 21, 2010 Christ the King Reign of Christ

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.

Christ the King / Reign of Christ C
November 21, 2010

Jeremiah 23:1-6 

Evans, Craig A., "Jesus and Justice," Ex Auditu, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“Jesus' proclamation of the rule (and justice) of God did not come out of thin air. His language and themes are deeply rooted in Israel's ancient and sacred Scripture. This is not to say that there is no innovation to be found in his teaching; it is only to say that the teaching of Jesus cannot properly be understood apart from careful consideration of its scriptural and traditional antecedents.”

Lee, Max J., "Response to Evans," Ex Auditu, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 

Colossians 1:11-20 

Brueggemann, Walter, "A New King and a New Order," The Christian Century, 1992.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Combines Col 1:11-20 with other lectionary readings, but is worth a read for Christ the King. “The epistle reading is not only a moment of christological lyricism, but also a celebrative ecclesial summons. The "saints and faithful brothers and sisters" (the church) are prayed for, summoned to lead lives "worthy of the Lord" and to be prepared to endure with patience. The writer knows that the servants of this new king, the practitioners of this newly ordered world—the one ordered by mercy and justice—still live in conflict with the old order which prefers deathly chaos in its many forms. As it embraces the new order, the church will make a new practice of mercy and justice in the face of poverty, hunger, war, hatred and greed.”

 Krause, Deborah, "Keeping It Real: The Image of God in the New Testament," Interpretation, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “The image of God in the New Testament represents a mix of traditions from the Hebrew Bible, early Judaism, and Hellenistic popular philosophy. Throughout these traditions the theme is integrally connected to the search for meaning in human existence. The Priestly Writer, Philo, and Paul understood the image of God as a means of both affirming God's sovereign authority over all creation and addressing the challenges of competing authorities in the world. Study of the theme provides a window into early Christian experience and how such experience emboldened Christians to follow Jesus in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.”

Maier, Harry O., "A Sly Civility: Colossians and Empire," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “This article relates Colossian vocabulary, motifs and theological themes to the cultural situation of the cult of the emperor. The author's language and conceptualization of reconciliation as a cosmic and earthly peace (Col. 1.15-23) reflects an imperial backdrop and utilizes civic vocabulary typical of Greek and Roman treatments of concord. His representation of Jesus' death as a Roman triumph (2.15), and the incorporation of all humankind— including barbarians and Scythians—in a trans-ethnic unity (3.11) similarly reflects the geopolitical notions of a worldwide Roman Empire. The imperial imprint on the Household Code (3.18-4.1 ) is recognizable through attention to numismatic representations of Nero and his consort enjoying a divinely appointed familial concord. Though used by court theologians like Eusebius of Caesarea to legitimate a Christian application of Empire, the letter may be read as a destabilization of Empire inasmuch as it derives imperial-sounding ideals from the crucifixion of Jesus.”

  Toews, John E., "The Politics of Confession," Direction, 2009.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

The section on this text begins on page 11. “My claim is a simple one. The earliest confessions of the Christian faith that are both theological and political statements. What difference does that make to the church in the twenty-first century?”

  Luke 23

 Hall, Christopher A., "Christ's Kingdom and Paradise," Christianity Today, 2003.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“What is the difference between the heavenly 'paradise' that Christ promised the thief on the cross and the kingdom of God?”

 Kreider, Eugene C., "The Politics of God: The Way to the Cross," Word & World, 1986.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 The section on this text begins on page 461. “On the cross is where the liberation Jesus is working throughout his ministry finally takes place. There the Chosen One fulfills the exodus. His death is not tragic, for he does not die because he sinned. He dies because he is the righteous one who reveals the power and wisdom of God confronting the politics of the world. The paradox is that Jesus' death was his enthronement.”

 Marcus, Joel, "Crucifixion as Parodic Exaltation," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“The central irony in the passion narratives of the Gospels is that Jesus' crucifixion turns out to be his elevation to kingship.”

Christ the King / Advent Resources

 Resource links for Reign of Christ/Christ the King:
http://www.textweek.com/yearc/christc.htm

Thanksgiving (U.S.)
http://www.textweek.com/yearc/thanksc.htm

Resource links for general Advent Planning:
http://www.textweek.com/advent.htm

 

Preaching and Worship Ideas for 2 Thessalonians 3

Mary Hinkle Shore on the 2 Thessalonians text for Proper 28: "Paul imagines a third way: he describes relationships in which people hold themselves and one another accountable to each other’s good. Before we dismiss this as some big, utopian dream of the new community only possible at the End, notice its context..."

Any thoughts? (Other resources for 2 Thess 3: http://www.textweek.com/pauline/2thess3.htm )

Discussion here or at www.facebook.com/textweek .

Textweek Links: Luke 21:5-19

I've been thinking: (How) Do we deal with the apocalypticism of these passages? Do we ignore them? Reinterpret them? Do people in our congregations "know" the feelings/thoughts/ imagery of these apocalyptic passages as communities and individuals? How? How is this a lead up to Advent?

Some ideas: http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk21a.htm . Discussion at www.facebook.com/textweek .