textweek

Textweek ATLAS October 6, 2013 Proper 22C Ordinary 27C Pentecost +20

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/yearc/properc22.htm

Proper 22C / Ordinary 27C / Pentecost +20
October 6, 2013 

Miller, Charles William, "Reading Voices: Personification, Dialogism and the Reader of Lamentations 1," Biblical Interpretation, 2001.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“The simultaneity and unfinalizability of Lamentations 1 function to create a ‘live event, played out at the point of dialogic meeting between two ... consciousnesses,’ which, in turn, serves to draw the reader into that dialogic event as one of the wills that clash in the confrontation of disparate perspectives. The ‘meaning’ of Lamentations 1, therefore, does not ultimately reside in the viewpoint of either one of the speakers, but rather in the dialogue that the two voices initiate with the reader—a dialogue, moreover, that rejects the binary hierarchizing of ‘either ... or’ and embraces the unfinalizable interaction of ‘both ... and.’ The recognition of the multivocality and polyvalence of this text, in other words, helps one better understand the power this poem has exercised over so many persons in the past—a power that rests not merely on its remarkable poetry, but, to borrow from M. Servodidio's description of Ana Rossetti's poetry, a power that is ‘predicated on the adoption of a double-voiced discourse that promotes mediation rather than ideological settlement of hierarchal binary oppositions.’”

Bergant, Dianne, C.S.A., "The Challenge of Hermeneutics: Lamentations 1:1-11: A Test Case," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2002.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 “What, if anything, do these constructive approaches have to contribute to the task of biblical interpretation? The present address is an exercise in determining just that. It will unfold in the following four stages: (1) a brief description of aspects of the interpretive theory of Paul Ricoeur; (2) a summary of canonical hermeneutics; (3) highlighting of certain characteristics found in Lam 1:1-11; (4) interpretation of these characteristics through the lens of Ricoeur's theory; and (5) conclusions.”

Britt, Brian, "Unexpected Attachments: A Literary Approach to the Term HSD in the Hebrew Bible," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2003.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “The biblical term HSD, variously translated 'loving kindness' and 'steadfast love', displays a wide range of biblical uses and meanings. This article concentrates on poetic and narrative texts in which HSD appears surprisingly, often to denote unexpected attachments. While HSD is a formulaic term in covenant tradition, some poetic texts, notably Ps. 89, Isa. 54, and Lam. 3, place the term in striking contrast to its immediate context. Narrative cases of unexpected HSD include the attachments between Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, Abraham and Sarah (in the wife-sister scenes), Yahweh and Israel, and three episodes about spies. By attending to the literary uses of HSD, this article illuminates the place of HSD in biblical theology.”

Craven, Toni, "Habakkuk 1:1-11, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“Between Text and Sermon” from Interpretation, 2007. “The reading from Habakkuk underscores the importance of faithful commitment even as it raises additional questions. Who is this prophet? Who are the Chaldeans (1:6)? Who is God for this prophet? Why did God create people like fish or crawling things (1:14)? What exactly is a watchpost (2:1)? How did the prophet write the vision so that it was plain enough for a runner to read (2:2)? Does the prophet say anything further about the faith expected from the community?”

Pinker, Aron, "Habakkuk 2.4: An Ethical Paradigm or a Political Observation?" Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “This article argues that Hab. 2.4 should be understood within the historical framework as a political observation rather than a moral paradigm. Minor emendations permit the interpretation of the critical terms OPHL and ZDK as 'court' and 'Zedekiah*, respectively. This reading allows the natural interpretation of Hab. 2.4 as a real-life situation of political advocacy, akin to that made by Jeremiah (27.12,17). It is suggested that Habakkuk's political advice to Zedekiah was perhaps later changed by a minor transposition of two letters, turning it into an ethical paradigm suitable for the new political reality.”

Lyons, William John, "A Man of Honour, A Man of Strength, A Man of Will? A Canonical Approach to Psalm 137,"Didaskalia, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“The position of the psalmist is therefore ultimately left ambiguous by the canon. If divine justice is finally collective in form, it may be the psalmist, and not his offended readers, who is the one who has spoken for God. But if the eschatological judgement does not uphold infanticide as justice, the psalmist is left in an interesting position. The deity presumably has always known that a future redress is available. At best, however, the psalmist may have chosen this mode of punishment because he knows that God has already sanctioned it (e.g. in the flood narrative). At worst, the eschatological judgement on the psalmist may be that in choosing infanticide as his preferred way of regaining his honour, he was guilty of desiring a potentially unjust form of justice without the future possibility of redress for the victims. The activity of the deity in his past may have once led him to believe he was in the right. But the divine choices made at the end of history may finally prove him wrong.”

Ahn, John, "Psalm 137: Complex Communal Laments,"Journal of Biblical Literature, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Is the blessing-laden imprecation a real attempt at uttering genuine praise and thanksgiving in the midst of the most painful period of the community's existence, or is the psalmist (or editor) seeking genuine retribution? Historically, the Persians did not lift the sword against the Neo-Babylonians, and, thus, here is our final complex element. As modern interpreters, we should not seek to alter too quickly the tensions of such laments, self-imprecations, and communal curses, or to change the final placement of the psalm.”

Steussy, Marti J., "The Enemy in the Psalms," Word & World, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Using the psalms to bring before God our fears and our hatreds allows us to express such emotions honestly and, perhaps eventually, even to pray such psalms from the enemies' point of view. In praying with Christ, we are permitted to identify with both parties to the conflicts described in the psalm.”

MaGee, Gregory S., "Paul's Response to the Shame and Pain of Imprisonment in 2 Timothy," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Perspective on 2 Timothy from the presupposition that it is written by Paul. May provide helpful literary perspective regardless of author. “The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how an understanding of Roman imprisonment as portrayed in various ancient sources contributes to an elucidation of Paul's predicament and outlook in 2 Timothy.”

 McKenzie, Alyce M., "Between Text & Sermon - 2 Timothy 1:3-7," Interpretation, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “The author of these letters believes love to be the central virtue of the Christian life (1:13; 1 Tim 1:5; 1 Cor 13:1-13). The concern for self-discipline reflects the author's interest in the moderation and self-discipline admired by the Greco-Roman cultures (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:8; 2:12). In the context of advising a younger, less confident colleague, the author emphasizes the importance of the strength or power (dynamis) bestowed on the church leader. It is God's power at work in the one called to lead (1:8; 2 Cor 12:7-10). This is what enables church leaders to discipline opponents (2:24-25), to preserve and proclaim the message (4:2), and to endure the suffering that comes to followers of Christ (3:12), especially church leaders (1:8; Bassler, 130). At whatever stage we are in ministry and life, this passage is a timely reminder that it is God's power and message and not our own culturally shaped agenda that we are to teach by word and example.”

 Robert M., "Luke 17:1-10: Expository Article,"Interpretation, 1977.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

An “expository article” from Interpretation, 1977. “Perhaps also the "faith question" in verse 5 is something like give us faith that we might live as you say." At the least, if you see the entire passage as centering in Christian conduct, then faith is not to be separated from that conduct. Rather faith makes possible the forgiveness of the brother or sister and the aiding of all God's children. So when one prays for faith it is not a selfish prayer, but it is with others in mind.”

Textweek ATLAS September 29, 2013 Proper 21C Ordinary 26C Pentecost +19

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/yearc/properc21.htm

Proper 21C / Ordinary 265C / Pentecost +19
September 29, 2013

Greer, Jonathan S., "A Marzeah and a Mizraq: A Prophet's Mêlée with Religious Diversity in Amos 6:4-7," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “This article supports the hypothesis that the feast described in Amos 6.4-7 was a religious event, even a marzeahbanquet. The loungers' practice of drinking from mizraq vessels is singled out as a definitively syncretistic practice adopted from the nations around them. Epigraphic and iconographie evidence is used to illustrate the prevalence of drinking from ritual vessels at cultic banquets in the ancient Near East, thus explaining the ready incorporation of such a custom by the Samarían elite and bringing greater clarity to Amos's denouncement.” 

O'Connor, Kathleen M., "Repentance in First-Person Plural," Journal for Preachers, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

A 2008 sermon about Amos, by Kathleen M. O’Connor. Although this sermon was prepared for the Lenten season, there are interesting interpretations and illustrations here. “In those days to come, everyone will be fed; everyone will partake in the riches of the land. This Utopian vision stands as promise that God's people live in a world intended for all and that God is acting to save and restore. This vision anticipates life, renewed, regenerated, and recreated for us all in the plural.” 

Simundson, Daniel J., "Reading Amos: Is It an Advantage to Be God's Special People?" Word & World, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“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.”

Gaiser, Frederick J., "'It Shall Not Reach You': Talisman or Vocation? Reading Psalm 91 in Time of War," Word & World, 2005. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“God's protection as announced in Ps 91 might be misunderstood as a magical shield, keeping me from all harm—or it might be received as a gift that enables me to give myself in service of the neighbor.”

Adewale, Olubiyi Adeniyi, "An Afro-Sociological Application of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)," Black Theology, 2006.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “The main objective of this paper is to interpret the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus from the African perspective which the author believes is very close to the first-century Palestinian world-view and to look at its sociological implications for the contemporary African believer and Church. In doing this, the paper briefly examines the interpretation given the parable by some Western scholars before analyzing the parable based on its context. The sociological implication is therefore that since the Rich Man was actually condemned for neglecting the poor Lazarus when he could have been of help, then the contemporary African Church should take care not to neglect the poor in her midst, but take its stand in the struggle against oppression and poverty. It also gives a veiled warning to the Western Church which appears complacent and unruffled about the plight of their covenant brethren in Africa.”

Gowler, David B., "'At His Gate Lay a Poor Man': A Dialogic Reading of Luke 16:19-31," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2005.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“In this essay, I will analyze the literary context and function of the parable, possible intertextual connections between the parable and similar stories in the ancient world, the social and cultural implications of the story, and some ideological elements of the parable. In this way, some of the dialogues between text, culture, and ideology in Luke 16:19-31 can be explored.”

Honeycutt, Frank G., "Hellish Indifference,"Journal for Preachers, 2005. Sermon. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Sermon from 2005. “Jesus knew. The threat of hell will not change us. And ditto the promise of heaven. But perhaps something will. As we immerse our lives in this old story, allowing the pages of Scripture to shape and form us over time, something happens. We slowly come to our senses in a world of much greed. With Jesus as our guide, we can say with Paul today: "For we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these." We open wide our hands once closed in fear, mistrust, and perhaps indifference—a hellish way to live. And perhaps, for the first time, we see a sister or brother, Lazarus at our gate. Or, as a certain prophet once put it: Jesus at our gate."

Textweek ATLAS September 22, 2013 Proper 20C Ordinary 25C Pentecost +18

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/yearc/properc20.htm

Proper 20C / Ordinary 25C / Pentecost +18
September 22, 2013

Gench, Roger J., "Jeremiah 8:18-9:3, Between Text & Sermon," Interpretation, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Interpretation’s “Between Text & Sermon” from 2008. “THE PROBLEM CALLED THEODICY, THAT IS, the question of God's power and love amid great suffering, is a perennial enigma of theology. This lesson from Jer 8:18-9:3, however, inverts the problem of theodicy. Instead of attempting to justify the ways of God to humans, Jeremiah poses the question in reverse order: how can you justify the ways of humans to God?”

Fretheim, Terence E., "The Prophets and Social Justice: A Conservative Agenda," Word & World, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

I’ve you’ve not taken a look at this article in connection with this summer’s texts from the prophets, this is a good week to do so! ”In promoting social justice, the prophets were religious conservatives. They built on the ancient traditions of Israel and the central promises of God to call Israel to attend to issues of justice on behalf of the oppressed.”

Premnath, D.N., "Amos and Hosea: Sociohistorical Backgorund and Prophetic Critique," Word & World, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Helpful contextual thoughts about Amos and Hosea. “While the eighth century B.C.E. was a time of great prosperity and luxury, the effects were felt by only a minority of the population. This is what gave rise to the harsh outcries of Amos and Hosea in favor of the poor.”

Satterlee, Craig, "Amos 8:1-12, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Interpretation’s “Between Text and Sermon” from 2007, on the longer Amos 8:1-12 text. “This passage is neither a call to repentance nor a warning to change. This passage really is not about Israel—or us—at all. In this passage, Amos tells about our God. Amos proclaims that there are limits to God's patience in the face of excessive guilt. Amos declares that God will get fed up, that prophetic utterance will fall silent, and that God will call a halt and bring an end. When we call to God and search for God, God will not answer.”

Lessing, Reed, "Broken Teeth, Bloody Baths, And Baby Bashing: Is There Any Place in the Church for Imprecatory Psalms?" Concordia Journal, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “A war is going on, and it is a war of opposing powers with eternal consequences. In this war the baptized experience casualties, traitors, and triumphs.”

 Craigie, Peter C., "Psalm 113: Expository Article,"Interpretation, 1985. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

An  Interpretation “Expository Article” on Psalm 113 from 1985. “Psalm 113 is thus both an echo of ancient Israel's praise and a vehicle through which our own inadequate response to God may be voiced. It is an expression of faith in the majesty of God, despite sometimes the absence of evidence for such majesty in a bleak world. And it is an expression of thanks for God's concern for the poor and needy, not least toward Mary through whom God's salvation entered this world.”

McKee, Elsie Anne, "Calvin and Praying for 'All People Who Dwell on Earth,'" Interpretation, 2009.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“John Calvin's teaching that Christians should pray "for all people who dwell on earth" is based on his interpretation of 1 Tim 2:1-2 and related to the Lord's Prayer. It is also illustrated clearly in his daily practice of leading public worship.”

Christensen, Michael J., "The Shrewdness in Stewardship," The Living Pulpit, 2006. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“Jesus is radical and uncompromising in his teaching about money and wealth.”

Schellenberg, Ryan S., "Which Master? Whose Steward? Metalepsis and Lordship in the Parable of the Prudent Steward (Luke 16:1-13)," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “The debate regarding the identity of the Kupios at the conclusion of the parable of the Prudent Steward (Lk 16.8a) has not been satisfactorily resolved. Gérard Genette's study of narrative level, which helpfully illuminates the relationship between parables and their embedding narratives, provides a fresh perspective. Luke frequently employs a narrative trope that Genette calls metalepsis'. the transgression of the boundary between narrative levels. An understanding of the puzzling denouement of the parable, as well as the morals appended to it (w. 9-13), emerges from an appreciation of Luke's employment of metalepsis, which effects a collision between the cultural mores of stewardship that are operative within the parable and the very different understanding of faithful stewardship promoted on Luke's primary narrative level. The surprising intrusion into this parable of a κύριος who approves of debt relief compels the parable's audience to reconsider their own loyalties and vindicates the debt relief scheme of a prudent steward.”

Schertz, Mary H., "Shrewd Steward," The Christian Century, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

The Christian Century’s “Living by the Word” from 2007. “Luke's Gospel is countercultural, a vision that perhaps finds its true home only in monasteries and other places where radically communal and nonpossessive values survive and thrive. Almost a year ago, an Amish community astounded the nation with an unfathomable act of forgiveness. It is likely no accident that this gift of reconciliation came from a community of people disciplined in serving God rather than mammon.”

Wells, Samuel, "It's the Economy, Stupid," Journal for Preachers, 2007. Sermon.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

A 2007 sermon on the Luke 16 text. “This isn't a familiar bleeding-heart liberal versus hard-nosed conservative contest. This is two economies face to face. The manager's economy of friendship is just plain bigger than the rich man's economy of debt. The manager has left the rich man's economy, and the investments he's made have made him rich in a way the rich man can only begin to imagine.”

Textweek ATLAS September 15, 2013 Proper 19C Ordinary 24C Pentecost +17

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/yearc/properc19.htm

Proper 19C / Ordinary 24C / Pentecost +17
September 15, 2013

 Brooks, Claire Vonk, "Between Text and Sermon: Psalm 51," Interpretation, 1995. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Interpretation’s “Between Text and Sermon” from 1995. “Below are suggested points of contact, so that the worshiper's encounter with the Holy Spirit through Psalm 51 may be both wrenching and healing.” 

Balentine, Samuel E., "Turn, O Lord! How Long?"Review & Expositor, 2003. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 Abstract: “Psalm 90, the only psalm attributed to Moses, reflects the torah that instructs who God is and who God's people are to be. The focus is the tension of hope and lament before God in the face of suffering. From this tension rises the question of whether God will respond. There is exploration of the reverberations in Psalm 90 of Exodus 32:7-14, where Moses prays for God's faithfulness to God's own character for the sake of the people. The essay considers tensions faced in contemporary exegesis and liturgical leadership, concluding that those who hear this Psalm are enjoined to live as mortals before God and pray as servants of God and God's people, wrestling with hard questions; honest about pain while hopefully insistent upon faithfulness to the divine character.”

 Slivniak, Dmitri M., "The Golden Calf Story: Constructively and Deconstructively," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2008.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 Abstract: “Unlike other postmodern reading practices, deconstruction suppresses the figure of the reader: the text is viewed as both engendering and undermining its meaning, while the reader's role is only to discover these processes. Yet, when one deconstructs biblical texts, 'anarchic' and 'lacking logic' according to traditional Western criteria, the illusion vanishes, and it is hard to get along without the reader as an active figure. The reader's role is actively to construct the meaning of the text, before it gets deconstructed. This is the reason why in some recent works the deconstructive reading of the text is preceded by a 'constructive' one. In this article the Golden Calf story (Exod. 32) is read both constructively and deconstructively. The constructive reading focuses on the opposition 'normative cult-deviant cult' which is viewed as central to the story. Normative cult and deviant cult are represented by the Tablets of the Law and the Golden Calf respectively. The deconstruction of this opposition is based on the fact that the tablets and the calf receive the same treatment: Moses destroys both of them.”

 Tiemeyer, Lena-Sofia, "The Compassionate God of Traditional Jewish and Christian Exegesis,"Tyndale Bulletin, 2007.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 Summary: “The comparison in the Zohar (Noah, 67b-68a) of Noah, Abraham and Moses serves as the starting point of this paper. Its aim is to investigate how traditional Jewish (e.g. the Targum, Midrashim, the Talmud, the medieval commentators) and Christian (e.g. the New Testament, the Church Fathers, Luther and Calvin) exegetes interpret the responses of these three individuals to divine foreknowledge (Gen. 6-7; 18:16-33; Exod. 32:10-14). Two main responses are suggested - intercession and/or proclamation of repentance. As shall become apparent, strikingly similar answers are given. First, foreknowledge is seen by nearly all scholars, regardless of religious affiliation and historical background, as a veiled hint at the possibility of influencing God, with the desired result of cancelling the prediction. Secondly, the majority of scholars read intercession and/or repentance into these texts to a greater extent than the texts themselves warrant. This uniformity suggests that the questions asked are shared by people across the borders of time and specific denominations. Even so, there are differences: Jewish scholars tend to emphasise the motif of intercession, existing or non-existing, on behalf of the guilty, while Christian ones are more prone to stress the idea of repentance.” 

Stulman, Louis J., "Jeremiah as a Messenger of Hope in Crisis," Interpretation, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“The book of Jeremiah not only gives speech to the disaster, but it also functions as a complex polyphonic response. The text's judgment-salvation schema and its embedded cacophony of voices and counter-voices create a thick meaning-making map, a tapestry of hope, designed to help at-risk and displaced people survive a world in which irrationality, violence, and loss are more tangible than moral coherence and meaning.”

Bond, L. Susan, "Between Text & Sermon: 1 Timothy 1:3-17," Interpretation, 2006. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Interpretation’s “Between Text and Sermon” from 2006. “There are two homiletical approaches to this text. The first would be to embrace the theology of 1 Timothy, to contrast ‘false teachers of the law’ with teachers of ‘sound doctrine.’ … The other approach would be to subvert the Pastor's rhetorical agenda by appealing to the genuine Paul.” 

Anderson, Garwood P., "Seeking and Saving What Might Have Been Lost: Luke's Restoration of an Enigmatic Parable Tradition," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

A look at the material exclusive to Luke’s gospel. ”I have argued that a distinguishing feature of the Lucan parables is their startling employment of characters of questionable rectitude who respond to crises with dubious virtue. Luke's parabolic characters resist binary labels as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Not a few, but indeed most, of the Lucan parables are beset with this moral ambiguity. This is the enigmatic parable tradition that Luke inherited.”

Ross, Art, "Luke 15:1-10, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Interpretation’s “Between Text and Sermon” from 2007. “Repentance leads to a life of faith marked by attributes such as those the shepherd and the woman embodied: love for the lost; persistent pursuit of the well being of others; joyful, generous friendship; and sharing with one's friends and neighbors. A life of disciple-ship is a life that begins with repentance, leads to the faith of Jesus, and embodies the love of God. Discipleship turns away from grumbling and toward a life of joy—joy for God and joy for the disciple.”

 Schertz, Mary H., "God's Party Time," The Christian Century, 2007.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Living by the Word from The Christian Century for 2007. “From Luke's perspective, the interesting question is who the lost are. Are they the tax collectors, the sinners, the town girls? Or are they the Pharisees, scholars and church girls?”

 Reid, Barbara E., O.P., "Beyond Petty Pursuits and Wearisome Widows: Three Lukan Parables,"Interpretation, 2002.  (See also, "Parables," issue focus of Interpretation 56.3 (2002).)

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 “The three Lukan parables that feature female characters have often been interpreted as stories about women tending to trivial tasks. Yet these figures reveal the divine work of transforming and feeding, extravagantly seeking after the lost for redemption, and persistently pursuing justice until it is achieved.”

Textweek ATLAS September 8, 2013 Proper 18C Ordinary 23C Pentecost +16

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/yearc/properc18.htm

Proper 18C / Ordinary 23C / Pentecost +16
September 8, 2013

Booij, Th., "Psalm CXXXIX: Text, Syntax, Meaning," Vetus Testamentum, 2005. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “The speaker is aware that YHWH knows him completely and is near him wherever he might go. The night, he says, may assault him, for in God's presence the darkness is as light to him as the day (vv. lib, 12ba circumstantial clauses). That he can speak like this is because God himself made him the human being he is, with his own specific disposition (v. 13 'kidneys'; v. 15 'frame'). Indeed, of old he has been immensely distinguished (v. 14: niplëti). When there was just his lump of clay, YHWH'S eyes saw it (v. 16). And of all the times that such golems were fashioned (yamïm yussärü), each of which is remembered in heaven, there was that 'day' of his own golem (Qere welo), when he was made the person he is. By night, as a sign of distinction, the speaker may 'see' God's innumerable thoughts, and very precious they are to him. What bothers him a great deal, however, is the existence of the wicked. His hatred of them makes him feel uneasy. It is his prayer that God, who knows him so well, may test him on this point. The prayer in vv. 23f, thus related to the preceding passage, fits in with the structure of the poem. The textual transmission is problematic in v. 20.”

 

Harmon, Steven R., "Theology Proper and the Proper Way to Pray: An Exposition of Psalm 139,"Review & Expositor, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “Prayer is central to Christian life and worship. Unfortunately, prayer is also one of the most difficult things we do, often because we misunderstand what prayer is and who God is. Psalm 139 offers an understanding of the nature both of God and of prayer. Psalm 139:1-18 has to do with "theology proper," the nature of God as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, but the psalmist describes these attributes not in abstract philosophical categories but rather in terms of intimate personal relationship. Psalm 139:19-22 provides an example of the proper way to pray: since God knows us intimately, we can and must be utterly honest in our prayers. Psalm 139:23-24 shows what happens when we pray honestly: God transforms us, changing our attitudes toward the problems we face.”  

Shinn, Roger L., "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,"The Living Pulpit, 2006. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 
“The self that knows what the universe does not know is a miracle. That miracle includes the human body, organized by those acids that we call genes. The genes know nothing. But they help us know ourselves, our world, and our God.”

Cole, Robert, "An Integrated Reading of Psalms 1 and 2," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2002. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 Abstract: “An analysis of how Psalms 1 and 2 are integrated reveals that both have as their central theme the identical royal and Joshua-like figure who is given absolute victory in battle. The principal focus of Psalm 1 when read in concert with Psalm 2 is not Torah nor wisdom, but rather this individual of kingly and military trappings. These ascriptions of Psalm 1 are made explicit in Psalm 2, where he is portrayed in close relationship with Yahweh as his anointed king and son. His opponents are the scoffing wicked of Psalm 1, identified more specifically as the conspiring earthly kings and nations in Psalm 2. This cabal revolts against Yahweh and his anointed, an action which elicits the question 'Why?' from the speaker in 2.1 because of the promise in 1.5, 6. Yahweh and his anointed respond appropriately to the earthly scoffing with laughter and derision from heaven. Psalm 2 then concludes with a reaffirmation of the same judgment promised at the conclusion of Psalm 1.”

 Tuell, Steven Shawn, "Psalm 1," Interpretation, 2009.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Between Text and Sermon from Interpretation, 2009. “Psalm 1 says of the righteous, ‘In all that they do, they prosper’ (Ps 1:3). However, this psalm is not about how to be prosperous. The righteous are described in the opening verse of this psalm as happy, but Ps 1 is not about how to be happy.”

 

Biddle, Mark E., "Contingency, God, and the Babylonians: Jeremiah on the Complexity of Repentance," Review and Expositor, 2004. (See also Jeremiah, issue focus of Review and Expositor, 2004.)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “For Jeremiah, repentance functioned primarily on the plane of national crises, international conflict, and war. Here, the interaction of multiple wills propagates contingencies almost beyond analysis. Jeremiah describes the dynamically shifting possibilities for and outcomes of repentance in a specific situation in Judah's history. Jeremiah 18:7-11 announces a fundamental theological principle: God responds to repentance. Jeremiah offers a case study of this principle in a situation complicated by factors not contemplated in the binary formulation. Jeremiah 3:22-25 raises the possibility that Jeremiah's audience may have, if fruitlessly, met the conditions set by Jer 18:7-11. Jeremiah 14:1-15:4 deals with an instance in which they did so— without result. Baruch, Ebed-Melech, and Gedaliah had acknowledged the truth of Jeremiah's preaching, and had repented of the national sin; nonetheless, like Josiah, they were forced to reap what Manasseh had sown. Finally, after years of warning that the Babylonians were bringing God's judgment, and after witnessing the destruction of Jerusalem and finding himself a refugee in his own land, Jeremiah voiced God's admission that God had second thoughts about the whole affair (42:10)! The polarity of God's use of the Babylonians as the instrument of judgment and the Babylonians' free agency had permitted them to exceed God's intentions. Jeremiah's picture of this nexus of interacting wills suggests a number of observations about repentance in the world God has created. First, Jeremiah knows that when the tide in human affairs catches up individuals in its flow individual repentance has limited effect. Second, Jeremiah persistently contends that God was also an actor on the stage; God impels this flow of history. Third, however, Jeremiah argues that, while God is perhaps the most powerful actor on the stage, the play is an improvisation.”

 

Fretheim, Terence E., "'I Was Only a Little Angry,' Divine Violence in the Prophets," Interpretation, 2004. (See esp. section beginning on page 374) (See also entire issue: Violence in the Bible,Interpretation, 2004.)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “A biblical understanding of God's relationship with Israel and the world helps us interpret passages in the prophetic literature that link God and violence. With tears, lament, and regret, God takes into the divine self the violent effects of sinful human activities and thereby makes possible a non-violent future for God's people.”

 

Conder, Tim, "Curses & Blessings," The Christian Century, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “Just as with the ancient Israelites, our covenant-keeping means living in a rhythm of holistic living and worship. Covenant-keeping fashions an awareness of the goodness of creation, a mandate of creation stewardship, and the ever-present hope of a new (redeemed) creation coming.”

 

Bieberstein, Sabine, "Disrupting the Normal Reality of Slavery: A Feminist Reading of the Letter to Philemon," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2000. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “The letter to Philemon shows the struggle of communities of believers in Christ to find areas in which they could act within the dominating system of the Pax Romana The enslavement of human beings was one of the supports of this system, and the 'case' of the slave Onesimus brings about a rupture in the normality of slavery, making clear the discrepancy between slavery and the liberating message of the gospel The letter creates a critical public which becomes the guarantee of a new mutual relationship between slaves and free persons Our concern today must be to use such individual cases to unmask systems that show contempt for human beings, and to tell the story of the victims.”

deVos, Craig S., "Once a Slave, Always a Slave? Slavery, Manumission and Relational Patterns in Paul's Letter to Philemon," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2001. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “The Graeco-Roman world was a strongly collectivist, authoritarian and patriarchal society that understood people in terms of fixed stereotypes. As such, manumission per se would not have fundamentally changed the relationship between slaves and masters. Therefore, Paul's intention in his letter to Philemon was not to persuade Philemon to manumit Onesimus, but to bring about a fundamental change in their relationship, such that the master would treat his slave no longer as a slave, but as a brother or an honoured guest. As such, Paul was actually asking for something far more radical than manumission.”

 

Frilingos, Chris, "'For My Child, Onesimus': Paul and Domestic Power in Philemon," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2000. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“The letter, then, is concerned less with Onesimus s situation than with Paul's own status. This assessment of the epistle resolves somewhat the tension between Paul's ostensible goal of helping Onesimus and his decision to send the slave back to an angry Philemon. If Philemon accepts Onesimus in accordance with the apostle’s terms, then the slaveholder must also acknowledge Paul's authoritative presence in his family affairs. Onesimus will remain "forever" in Philemon's household as a sign of Paul's domestic power.”

 

Lyons, Kirk D., Sr., "Paul's Confrontation with Class: The Letter to Philemon as Counter- Hegemonic Discourse," Cross Currents, 2005. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“Just as Paul's praxis served to fill in the lacuna between theology and social reality, our praxis of adjusting the prism from which we view the biblical texts from our world, and conversely, which we view our world through the biblical texts, bridges the chasm between our theological ponder-ings and our social praxis. This process is less encumbered when facilitated through a reflexive theology that warrants recognition of our mutual constitution.”

Brisson, Carson, "Luke 14:25-27, Between Text and Sermon" Interpretation, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Between Text and Sermon from Interpretation, 2007. “The call really is to cross bearing. This call truly is impossible for men and women, but possible with God. Some hear the call, but remain committed to hearth or home or to a myriad of other good but penultimate claims. They are convinced that in those things their true life resides. Others hear the call and cast their lot with Jesus above any and all other claims, whatever shape that takes. To them it is revealed, and it can be revealed in no other way than by taking up "the cross" and following Jesus, that this invitation is actually to receive their very lives back as more than they could ever have otherwise imagined they could be.”

 Wollenberg, Bruce, "Summoned," The Christian Century, 2004. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“God risks conditionless love in perfect freedom, knowing it may not be returned.”

Textweek ATLAS September 1, 2013 Proper 17C Ordinary 22C Pentecost +15C

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/yearc/properc17.htm

Proper 17C / Ordinary 22C / Pentecost +15
September 1, 2013

Brueggemann, Walter, "Texts that Linger, Words that Explode," Theology Today, 1997. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

The section on this text begins on page 181. “Were this text now to explode in contemporaneity, it might make contact with a religious community that has not got its story straight, either in liberal indifference or in conservative reductionism.” 

Burnett, Joel S., "Changing Gods: An Exposition of Jeremiah 2," Review and Expositor, 2004. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“Covenant fidelity involves a continuous active seeking of the divine presence, calling on the very name of God in the light of what God has done. Without doing so, the covenant community loses its ability to tell the difference between divine presence and absence. The results are disastrous for human life and well-being.”

 O'Connor, Kathleen M., "A Family Comes Undone (Jeremiah 2:1-4:2)," Review and Expositor, 2008.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection

  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “The book of Jeremiah intervenes in a national disaster and moves the nation toward healing. The drama of the God's broken family helps survivors by presenting their experience in the narrowed domain of a family broken apart by infidelity. It reflects victims experience back to them in a way that does not retraumatize them. And in the chaos of disaster's aftermath, it provides an explanation of the cataclysm and defends God. No matter how difficult this theology might be for contemporary readers, the theology of Jeremiah's broken family enables the people of Judah to survive as the people of God.”

Omar, A Rashied, "Embracing the 'Other' As An Extension of the Self: Muslim Reflections on the Epistle to the Hebrews 13:2," Anglican Theological Review, 2009.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “There is an urgent need for interfaith dialogue to get past cucumber sandwiches and samoosas to the real business of truly loving each other and embracing "the other" as an extension of ourselves. One way of moving interreligious dialogue to a higher level of engagement beyond mere "tolerance" to deeper, more endunng interreligious cooperation is to read and embrace the sacred texts of religious traditions other than one's own for inspiration. Most religious traditions celebrate hospitality and welcoming of the stranger. This paper explores such an ethical and moral teaching within Christianity. The search is undertaken by a Muslim scholar.”

Nelson, Richard D., "'He Offered Himself,' Sacrifice in Hebrews," Interpretation, 2003. (See also, "Hebrews," issue focus of Interpretation, 2003.)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“As both priest and victim, Christ offered himself through sacrificial actions involving death, entry into the heavenly sanctuary, and cleansing by blood. Hebrews highlights the soteriological, psychological, and social benefits of this sacrifice.”

Wollenberg, Bruce, "Guest List," The Christian Century, 2007. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

A “Living by the Word” article on the Hebrews and Luke texts for this week. “Rich and poor alike need to know that "My Lord is my helper," but those who have the wherewithal are enjoined to please and praise God by sharing what they have with those who need it. Taken seriously, this evangelical counsel can quickly lead from small gesture to major sacrifice, from charity to political involvement.” 

Reynolds, Thomas E., "Welcoming without Reserve? A Case in Christian Hospitality," Theology Today, 2006. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “ In an interconnected and diverse world, Christians are called to hospitality. Yet this is no easy matter, for welcoming the stranger requires becoming vulnerable. A particular case in Christian hospitality illustrates the point. Hosting a Jewish funeral, a church community elected to cover its sanctuary's cross. While such an action can be seen as scandalous, an act of bad faith, I argue instead that it embodies hospitality—scandalous, indeed, but in a positive sense. On several accounts, this instance of covering the cross opens up new ways of thinking about being Christian in a religiously diverse world.”

Conder, Tim, "Table Manners," The Christian Century, 2007.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

A “Living by the Word” commentary from 2007. “Jesus' teachings take the common table, the center of his world, and flip it upside down. His table stories describe a revolutionary, redemptive kingdom that confronts the norms of upwardly mobile networking and competition. He eschews the expectations of polite society for a story of revolution. This is the nature of the kingdom.”

Newman, Elizabeth, "Flannery O'Connor and the Practice of Hospitality," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2005.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

“In this essay, I argue that Flannery O'Connor's short stories shed light on the practice of Christian hospitality so understood, both by pointing toward potential distortions and by illustrating significant embodiments of this practice.”

Carroll, John T., "Luke's Portrayal of the Pharisees," Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1988.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Helpful background perspective. “Luke’s Presentation of the Pharisees is, in a word, puzzling. Only in the third gospel does Jesus dine with Pharisees (Luke 7:36-50; 11:37-54; 14:1-24), a feature of Luke's narrative regarded by some recent interpreters as evidence that the author is favorably disposed toward the Pharisees.1 Yet in each instance of meal fellowship, the note of cordiality suggested by the dinner setting is muted by the conflict which ensues between Jesus and his Pharisaic host.”

Textweek ATLAS August 25, 2013 Proper 16C Ordinary 21C Pentecost+14

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/yearc/properc16.htm

Proper 16C / Ordinary 21C / Pentecost +14
August 25, 2013

Chase-Ziolek, Mary, "Repairing, Restoring, and Revisioning the Health of Our Communities: The Challenge of Isaiah 58," Ex Auditu, 2005. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

This is from an paper presented at the symposium on the theological interpretation of health and healing, North Park Theological Seminary, 2005. “Isaiah 58 offers a challenge to justice and righteousness that reaches beyond self-interest and cares for the well-being of all humanity, indeed for all creation. The church of today is being called not simply to change but to transform the health of her communities, rebuilding and restoring in such a way that equitable opportunities for health are available to all, and a new vision of what it means to be a healthy global community is created. The very well-being of those with power and privilege, as well as those who are poor, depends on it.”

 Williamson, H.G.M., "Promises, Promises! Some Exegetical Reflections on Isaiah 58," Word & World, 1999. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “An examination of the ‘if...then’ announcements of Isaiah 58 helps us understand the close and complex relationship between condition and promise in prophetic speech. There is a logical (or theological) unity between promise and exhortation.”

Duke, William H., Jr., "Between Text and Sermon: Jeremiah 1:4-18," Interpretation, 2005. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

A “Between Text & Sermon” article from an Interpretation issue on “vocation.” “First, Jeremiah's call and commission were based solely on God's sovereign choice…

Second, Jeremiah's reluctance to affirm God's call and commission upon his life is completely understandable…Third, the promise of God's presence and strength are not to be under-estimated. Jeremiah had no reason to believe that his ministry would be successful other than the promise of God's continual presence and assurances from God to provide both the strength for the task and the ultimate wisdom and grace of faithfulness.”

 O'Connor, Kathleen M., "The Prophet Jeremiah and Exclusive Loyalty to God," Interpretation, 2005. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Kathleen O’Connor from the same issue of Interpretation. “In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet's calling involves profound engagement with the world, with God, and with the local community. Exclusive allegiance to and intimate experience of God propel the prophet into the world, become the fiery source of his passion, and make Jeremiah the model of survival for his devastated community.” 

Claassens, L. Juliana M., "Praying from the Depths of the Deep: Remembering the Image of God as Midwife in Psalm 71," Review & Expositor, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Abstract: “How does one sing songs of liberation to the liberator God in those instances where liberation seems a remote possibility? At a time when the community of faith is recovering from the trauma of exile, and continuing to endure the trauma of submission to foreign empires, the psalmist looks to God for redemption. That redemption begins with the remembrance of God's past acts of deliverance, but memories of past liberations are not enough in the face of past and present pain. The key image in the psalm that transforms it into a redemptive hope is the ¡mage of God as midwife in verse 6. Like a midwife, God acts to bring forth life even in the midst of pain—even when the mother may suffer death. This image of God as midwife calls the community to compassion and comfort in the midst of shared trauma.”

 Craven, Toni, "Between Text and Sermon: Psalm 71," Interpretation, 2004. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

From Interpretation, 2004: “For biblical interpretation, the act of forging links between text and sermon would be well-served by a four-step process focusing on: (1) the compositional shape of the text; (2) word-study of key terms; (3) innerbiblical exegesis that highlights resonances between biblical texts; and (4) intertextuality that brings the concerns of the cultural setting of preacher and parishioners to the interpretive process.”

Clifton-Soderstrom, Michelle, "Recalling Luke's Healer: Slave Doctoring as Liberative Healing," Ex Auditu, 2005. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “This paper argues for what is perhaps a truism—namely, that healing is not an end in itself. It is a tool for kingdom work and must be understood in the context of a rightly ordered kingdom. Healing is a tool for liberation, for establishing God's order. In Luke's healing narratives Jesus' work brings about kingdom order by attending to the social dimensions of health and healing. These dimensions include the communal narrative framing health and illness, the relational aspect of health and healing, and the social justice brought about in healing. These dimensions participate in establishing God's order.”

 Isaak, Paul J., "Health and Healing as a Challenge to Christian Ethics and Diaconal Ministry of the Church," Black Theology, 2003.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 Abstract: “The healing of persons has long been considered part of the Church's pastoral and diaconal calling. For Christians, the ministry of healing is grounded in the Word, sacraments and prayer. Some churches have focused on healing through prayer and laying of hands, whereas others view these practices with suspicion. However, most churches are involved in healing through various diaconal ministries. In this article I explore particular challenges of healing in our world today. This focus provides a real opportunity for us to discover elements of Christian faith, which have been neglected or ignored in mainline churches for too long. This includes neglected aspects of our own traditions as Christians as .well as the contribution that African Church and theology can make to the ministry of healing.”

 Phelps, Stephen H., "Between Text & Sermon: Luke 13:10-17," Interpretation, 2001. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 From an Interpretation issue with focus on “The Church and Postmodernity.” “When preachers merely retell the familiar stories, this is the point where everyone cheers as if Jesus had just slam-dunked one. Yet when today's rules are broken by servants of Christ, few in the churches cheer. Therefore, we may conclude that the cheering is far from God's truth and probably prevents our hearing the gospel. The preacher must begin with an assumption that, now and always, acts of Christ's living body will bear the marks of the cross: they will still touch those bent down and immediately bend back the rules and bars that bow them down; they will still dismay the law-abiding; they will still run terrible risks for the sake of compassion.”

 Torgerson, Heidi, "The Healing of the Bent Woman: A Narrative Interpretation of Luke 13:10-17," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2005. 

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

 “As the primary protagonist in the larger Lukan narrative, the impact of Jesus' role in this episode is perhaps most significant. First, Jesus ' words and actions reveal clearly that he values people and their well-being over rules and the law. Second, Jesus' activity emphasizes his commitment to stand at the margins with those who are outcast rather than on the side of established leadership. These two realities, combined with Jesus' unapologetic shaming of "powerful" ones that do not share his values, create a profoundly countercultural message to an original hearer.”

Textweek ATLAS links August 18, 2013 Proper 15C Ordinary 20 C Pentecost +13

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/yearc/properc15.htm

Proper 15C / Ordinary 20C / Pentecost +13
August 18, 2013

Berger, Teresa, "Disturbing the Peace," The Christian Century, 2004

 

EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collectio
 
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

"This gospel lesson calls us to witness to this good news and to the crisis that is God's consuming and compelling presence. Life cannot flourish without this crisis."

 

Durnbaugh, Donald F., "Go Forth in Faith: Qualities of Faith From Hebrews 11-12," Brethren Life and Thought, 1990.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

"The authors found that when this prior orientation toward worship of God took place, real ministry to the individual members occurred as well. By shifting away, in the first place, from themselves they rediscovered the biblical promise that those who lose themselves will indeed find themselves."

Long, Thomas G., "What Cloud? What Witnesses?: A Preacher's Exegesis of Hebrews 12:1-12," Word & World, 2008.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
"Hebrews' "cloud of witnesses" served to encourage dispirited Christians, worn down by the constant struggles of the Christian life. The letter offers them (and us) a robust theological vision, a Christology of hope."

Renwick, David A., "Between Text and Sermon: Hebrews 11:29-12:2,"Interpretation, 2003. (See also, "Hebrews," issue focus of Interpretation, 2003.)
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

"The task of the writer, then, is to re-define for the audience their community of belonging in a way that connects their lives individually and as a community to others whose lives will truly inspire. The new, extended community must therefore include those whose faithfulness has actually ended in success (those who have played the game of faithfulness to God to the end and have "won"). The new community must also include those whose experience of the faithful life is comparable to the readers' own (those who have faced similar or harder difficulties). The readers must be convinced that their experience is by no means unique."

Wilhelm, Dawn Ottoni, "Of Grapes and other Wild Things, Isaiah 5:1-10,"Brethren Life and Thought, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

"One grape is not enough for a bottle of wine, a jug of Welch's, or flavoring the stew. It takes many grapes pressed together, willing to live together, to share the vineyard, eager to be not only grapes but wine—the wine God intends us to be."

Lemke, Werner E., "The Near and the Distant God: A Study of Jer 23:23-24 in Its Biblical Theological Context," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1981. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Textweek ATLAS links, August 11, 2013 Proper 14C / Ordinary 19C / Pentecost +12

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/yearc/properc14.htm

Proper 14C / Ordinary 19C / Pentecost +12

August 11, 2013

Landy, Francis, "Torah and Anti-Torah: Isaiah 2:2-4 and 1:10-26," Biblical Interpretation, 2003. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

This is a look at Isaiah 2 through the lens of Isaiah 1:10-26. Abstract: “The Utopian vision of Isaiah 2:1-4 is a new beginning of the book, intimately related to and absolutely distinct from the first beginning in ch. 1. The two beginnings represent the two voices of the book, whose irreconcilability is its major structural problem. At the centre of the Edenic vision of Zion is a female subject and language, Torah, in whose maternal embrace all nations renounce their phallic rivalries. Torah, however, is paired with a male subject, the word of YHWH, and with the divine authority that judges the peoples. The Torah of 2:3 may be compared to the female figures of ch. 1, and to the condemnatory Torah addressed to the people in 1:10. The Torah of 2:3 is presumably equivalent to the Torah in 1:10, and adumbrates the message of that chapter. It is that to which the sons fail to listen in 1:2, and which is addressed to heaven and earth at the beginning of the book. At the same time it is an anti-Torah, since that which is rejected is conventional Torah, the sacrificial and festive system. The maternal space of Zion, which is also that of divine alimentation, has become a scene of disgust, which may be associated with Kristeva's conception of abjection. The climax of these images for Zion is the prostitute in 1:21, which exemplifies marginality. For the heterological critic, however, the prostitute is the paradigmatic marginal figure against whose exploitation the prophet protests. The figure of the prostitute is transformed into that of the widow and hence the pristine daughter of Zion and the bride of God. 

Gaiser, Frederick J., "The David of Psalm 51: Reading Psalm 51 in Light of Psalm 50," Word & World, 2003. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 Again, a look at another text through the lens of this text. “With clear thematic and literary connections, Ps 50 sets up Ps 51, providing the accusation and call to repentance that produce the confession of David and Israel in Ps 51. Reading Ps 51 in the light ofPs 50 enhances its meaning for us, calling us to task for our failures and our attempts to manipulate God to our advantage while announcing the steadfast love of God that promises genuine renewal.”

 Whitekettle, Richard, "Forensic Zoology: Animal Taxonomy and Rhetorical Persuasion in Psalm 50," Vetus Testamentum, 2008.

  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

Abstract: “Ps. 19-11 and 12 refute the Israelite belief that God needed their sacrificial animals by explaining that God already possessed animals. In Ps. 1 9-11, the bulls and goats the Israelites sacrifice to God (verse 9) are juxtaposed with four types of animals that God possesses (verses 10-11). The juxtaposition of a sacrificial animal with God's extensive zoological wealth made it clear that God did not need a sacrificial animal. In the broader context of Ps. 19-12, these four types of animals are the middle elements in a three-part progression of animals: bulls/goats (verse 9) -* four types of animals (verses 10-11) -» all animals/everything (verse 12). This progression generated a robust grasp and active affirmation of the exhaustive extent of God's zoological wealth, a heightened sense of the inadequacy of a sacrificial animal, and a sense of divine agitation which chastened the Israelites for their misunderstanding of the nature and character of God.”

Abraham, Wiliam J., "Faith, Assurance, and Conviction: An Epistemological Commentary on Hebrews 11:1," Ex Auditu, 2003. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

An epistemological look at Hebrews 11:1. “Central to that text is this epistemological insight: faith is grounded in a divine revelation that is worthy of assent, that is discerned by spiritually sensitive faculties, that is authenticated by signs, wonders, miracles, and the work of the Spirit, that is confirmed by cross-generational testimony and by deliverance from sin, and that is nourished and sustained in a community of worship and praise. Such faith rightly provides a basis for full assurance and lasting conviction. Faith is indeed ‘the assurance for things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.’” 

Moltmann, Jürgen, "Control Is Good -- Trust Is Better: Freedom and Security in a 'Free World,'"Theology Today, 2006. 
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

 “Trust is the necessary habitat of freedom, its living-space.”

Carter, Kenneth H., Jr., "Treasure Chest," The Christian Century, 2007.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials 

“The call is clear: be prepared, light the lantern, wake up, get ready. The audit is scheduled; the date and time are unknown to us, but the Son of Man is coming soon. Our security is finally not in the stock market, which goes up and down; or in the government, which rises and falls; or in the corporation, which splits and merges and restructures. Instead, we would do well to learn from the ravens—they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God feeds them (12:24). Their patterns of behavior teach us that life is a gift, a gift to be shared, a gift to be treasured. Our true security lies in the grasp of a fundamental truth: the reign of God is near, closer than we realize.”