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Textweek ATLAS links Easter 4B April 29, 2012

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: http://www.textweek.com/yearb/easterb4.htm

Easter 4B

April 29, 2012

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.”

Textweek ATLAS links Easter 3B April 22, 2012

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:

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/easterb3.htm

Easter 3B

April 22, 2012

Goldingay, John, "Psalm 4: Ambiguity and Resolution," Tyndale Bulletin, 2006.
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Summary: “Translations of Psalm 4 differ at a number of points and thus point towards different understandings of it. In isolation, the opening verses do indeed raise a number of textual questions, and contain a number of interpretative ambiguities, which leave the reader in some uncertainty; but the last part of the psalm clarifies matters and makes it possible from the end to make coherent sense of the whole. Understanding the psalm thus turns out to resemble understanding a sentence, which cannot be grasped until we have reached the end of it.”

Brusic, Robert M., "A River Ride with 1 John: Texts of the Easter Season," Word & World, 1997. (Section on this text begins on page 215.)
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“The First Letter of John carries us forward in the brisk current of the gospel while shaking us up with its insistence upon coherence between faith and life.”

Hiebert, D. Edmond, "An Exposition of 1 John 2:29-3:12," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1989.
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Having enjoined his readers to contemplate God's love-gift, John then gave personal expression to that love by addressing them as "beloved" (Αγαπητοί) (cf. 2:7). The recipients of God's love are also loved by the apostle. He united his readers with himself in contemplating God's saving love in the present and the future:

Karris, Robert J., "Luke's Soteriology of With-ness," Currents in Theology and Mission, 1985.
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At the end of Luke's Gospel there occurs the story of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. (24:13-35) Again we find Jesus eating with outcasts, but this time the outcasts are two of his disciples who have abandoned the journey of faith and left Jerusalem, the city of the new life of the resurrection. The Messianic Banquet is also for these folks.

Johnson, Andy, "Our God Reigns: The Body of the Risen Lord in Luke 24," Word & World, 2002.
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“In the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God has begun the ultimate reversal of the current social and political order. In resurrection, God remains faithful to creation, redeeming it in its entirety.”

Textweek ATLAS links Easter 2B April 15, 2012

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: http://www.textweek.com/yearb/easterb2.htm

Easter2B

April15, 2012

Finger, Reta Halteman, "Cultural Attitudes in Western
Christianity toward the Community of Goods in Acts 2 and 4," Mennonite
Quarterly Review, 2004.

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Abstract:
“In Acts 2 and 4, the Lukan author summarizes the nature of the Jerusalem
church by describing a community of shared material goods. Because the texts
are descriptive, rather than prescriptive, it has not been clear whether they
should be considered normative for church life. Through analysis of some of the
major Acts commentators, this article comprises a Western history of
interpretation of these texts from the Reformation to the present, noting the way
in which the social and political locations of the interpreters has shaped
their understanding of these passages. The essay argues that a social science
analysis is essential for an understanding of the normative socioeconomic
system of first-century Palestine. Only by recognizing what is unusual about
the communal organization of the early church can we decide how to apply these
texts to Christian communal life in our culture today.”

Juel,
Donald, "Acts and the Easter Season," Word & World, 1985.
(Section on this text begins on p. 210)

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“Peter's
fearless speech in the presence of the authorities contrasts sharply with his
performance at Jesus' trial, where he denied him three times. Like the rest of
the apostles who have received the Spirit, Peter is a new person.”

Brusic, Robert M., "A River Ride with 1 John: Texts of the
Easter Season," Word & World, 1997. (Section on this text
begins on page 213.)

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“The First
Letter of John carries us forward in the brisk current of the gospel while
shaking us up with its insistence upon coherence between faith and life.”

Wink, Walter, "Resonating with God's Song," The
Christian Century, 1994.

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“Thomas
represents this modern demand for historical proof: he wants empirical
evidence. When Jesus
appears to him, however, he appears to forget all about actually placing his
finger in the nail holes and his hand in Jesus' side. He instantly flips from
skepticism to the most exalted confession in the New Testament: he calls Jesus
‘my Lord and my God.’ Jesus upbraids his literalism and anticipates the
blessedness of all those future believers ‘who have not seen and yet have come
to believe.’ Thomas wants proof; he gets presence.

Harstine, Stan, "Un-Doubting Thomas: Recognition Scenes in
the Ancient World," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2006.

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“This
paper will survey the recognition scenes in the Fourth Gospel and Homer's
Odyssey in order to identify some common literary conventions available to
ancient auditors in these ‘type scenes.’ A further examination of the usage of
the word ATTÌSTOS in classical literature will be made in order to
approximate the historical context of Thomas's words in the first century.
After highlighting these literary conventions, both ancient and modern, this
paper asks its readers whether or not they should ‘un-doubt’ Thomas.

Textweek ATLAS links Easter Sunday April 8, 2012

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: http://www.textweek.com/yearb/easterdb.htm

Easter Sunday

April 8, 2012

Bond, L. Susan, "Scripture and Theology, Acts 10:34-43," Interpretation, 2002.
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“The radical edge of the gospel takes us beyond the coziness of Christian community and into a new eschatological hope. The evangelistic mandate to take this gospel into all the world (which is what Peter and Paul were about in the book of Acts) means we have to forsake religious privilege in order to envision a world where there are no clean or unclean, no insiders and no outsiders, and where we all gather to share the earth's bounty at a common table (Weiser, 88; J. D. Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography [San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994] 69).”

Miller, Glenn T., "Isaiah 25:6-9, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 1995.
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“Most of the time, like Babylon, we are content to be the children of pride. Yet, somewhere deep down—in those secrets of the heart that lie in the moments between sleep and wakefulness—we know that our decision to be both saved and savior will not work.”

Adams, Joanna M., "Good News Indeed," Journal for Preachers, 2004.
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"There is a sense in which the resurrection is entirely God's business.”

Bartlett, David, "The Easter Texts: Hope, Comfort, Courage," Journal for Preachers, 2006.
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“I have come to translate that into my own terms as a reminder that has helped me preach on more than one occasion: "When I am in doubt about what I believe, I preach what we believe." Not I, the preacher, but we, the church, the community of faith, the communion of saints. The gift of the texts assigned for Easter is that each of them, in quite different ways, helps us remember what we believe.”

Bolt, Peter G., "Mark 16:1-8: The Empty Tomb of a Hero?" Tyndale Bulletin, 1996.
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“This is no Hero's tomb; nor is it the tomb of some fortunate who has found a way around death for himself and himself alone. This tomb is that of the Son of Man, whose emptied tomb is pregnant with hope for the many.”

Textweek / ATLAS links Passion/Palm Sunday April 1, 2012

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: http://www.textweek.com/yearb/palmsb.htm / http://www.textweek.com/yearb/passionb.htm.

Craddock, Fred, "Protest March: Palm Sunday Examined," The Christian Century, 2003.
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“The final Sunday of Lent is therefore marked by a celebratory parade, which was also a protest march. Only Jesus knew that the same event was also a funeral procession.”

Brown, Rebecca Pugh, "Preaching Justice and Mercy: Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for April," The Living Pulpit, 2007. (See also "Atonement," issue focus of The Living Pulpit, 16.2, 2007.)
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“Three themes are significant in this Palm Sunday scripture: pageantry, humility, and mystery…”

Cousar, Charles B., "Paul and the Death of Jesus," Interpretation, 1998.
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“Paul uses a rich variety of metaphors to express the significance of Jesus' death. Far from giving permission to those in power to silence the powerless, the cross becomes the paradigm of self-sacrificing service for the whole community of faith.”

Reid, Barbara E., O.P., "Telling Mark's Story of the Passion," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2006.
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“Mark's story of Jesus' passion is distinctive for its stark portrayal of an anguished Jesus, deserted by his disciples and seemingly abandoned by God as well. He is the silent lamb led to the slaughter who opens not his mouth.”

Medley, Mark S., "Emancipatory Solidarity: The Redemptive Significance of Jesus in Mark," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 1994.'
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“In the Gospel of Mark the cross is not a surprise nor an arbitrary final event in the life of Jesus. Jesus' life and death derive meaning from his commitment to a life-praxis of solidarity, which is grounded in his Abba experience, with those oppressed by patriarchal structures.”

Textweek ATLAS links Lent 5B March 25, 2012

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.

Lent 5B
March 25, 2012 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

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.”

• Harrelson, Walter, "How to Interpret the Old Testament: The Central Issue between Christians and Jews," Review & Expositor, 2006.
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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.”

 Hebrews 5:5-10

• Long, Thomas G., "What God Wants," The Christian Century, 2006.
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“It was not pain and violence that God desired, but human life as it was created to be.”

 John 12:20-33

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.”