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Textweek ATLAS November 24, 2013: Christ the King / Reign of Christ C

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/christc.htm

Christ the King / Reign of Christ
November 24, 2013

Evans, Craig A., "Jesus and Justice," Ex Auditu, 2006.
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“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.
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Brueggemann, Walter, "A New King and a New Order," The Christian Century, 1992.
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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.
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 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.
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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.
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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?”

 Hall, Christopher A., "Christ's Kingdom and Paradise,"Christianity Today, 2003.
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“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.
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 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.
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“The central irony in the passion narratives of the Gospels is that Jesus' crucifixion turns out to be his elevation to kingship.”

Textweek ATLAS November 17, 2013 Proper 28C Ordinary 33C Pentecost+26

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/properc28.htm

Proper 28 / Ordinary 33 / Pentecost+26
November 17, 2013

Bratcher, Margaret Dee, "Salvation Achieved," Review & Expositor, 1991.
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The section on this text begins on page 182. “The third passage depicts the ultimate, radical transformation of God's people in Jerusalem as signalled by the contrast between the former things of the people's circumstances and the new thing that Yahweh is about to do.”

Mauser, Ulrich, "Expository Article: Isaiah 65:17-25,"Interpretation, 1982.
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 An expository article from Interpretation 1982. “It can be said that Christian life is placed between history and eternity. It takes part, on the one hand, in the history of the world within which it exercises its faith; and it participates, on the other hand, in the power of the resurrection as the token of the new world toward which it is straining. The new creation is, for the Christian believer, at the same time lived, experienced, enjoyed, and suffered in the real history of a real earth and received, expected, and invoked in the strength of a spirit which has overcome history and world.”

 Smoak, Jeremy D., "Building Houses and Planting Vineyards: The Early Inner-Biblical Discourse on an Ancient Israelite Wartime Curse," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2008.
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 “The melding of the tangible and abstract aspects of the curse's language receives further definition in the exilic and postexilic discourse over the curse. A number of exilic and postexilic texts transform the curse into a promise of return, which will be characterized by security and stability (Jer 29:5,28; Ezek 28:26; 36:36; Isa 62:6-9; 65:21). These texts further highlight the significance of the curse and its imagery in biblical literature and point to the persistence of such imagery in the cultural discourse of ancient Israel.”

Brueggemann, Walter, "The Terrible Ungluing," The Christian Century, 1992.
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“I propose the not-very-novel notion that texts like Malachi 4 and Luke 21 be used for naming our time without excessive application or rationalization. The text knows better than we do how to say the unsayable.” 

Scalise, Pamela J., "To Fear or Not to Fear: Questions of Reward and Punishment in Malachi 2:17-4:3," Review and Expositor, 1987.
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 “The last three disputes or discussions in the book of Malachi are concerned with judging the guilty and rewarding the faithful. In preparation for the LORD'S coming to judge, the people are invited to return and live in worshipful obedience to God. Whether or not they will fear God is the ultimate question for their lives.”

Skeen, Judy, "Not as Enemies, But Kin: Discipline in the Family of God - 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10," Review & Expositor, 1999.
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 “To the followers of Jesus Christ in Thessalonica: I'm sorry that the first dose of medicine didn't take. I am sending another so that you will not only not live in anxiety and hand-wringing, but so that you may put your hands to work and live well, honoring God for as many days as you have on the earth. Grace and Peace, Paul.”

 Weaver, Dorothy Jean, "2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.
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Between Text & Sermon, Interpretation, 2007. “As Paul sees it, the Christian faith is something to be learned and practiced in visible and tangible ways, through example and imitation.” 

 Johnson, Stephen C., "The 'Future' of Preaching: Apocalyptic Eschatology and Christian Proclamation,"Restoration Quarterly, 2007.
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 “Christian preaching stands within the moving horizons of promise, expressed as the good news of God, and the experience of reality in order to discern that which is passing away and embrace that which is coming to be. If Christian preaching is understood to proceed upon the foundation of this apocalyptic and eschatological substructure, then the event of preaching will consist of that moment when the preacher and congregation are together engaged in an act of theological judgment, or discernment, in which the preacher's role is not only to announce the coming kingdom of God but also to host the tension such an announcement creates. Within the field of tension created by the announcement, both preacher and congregation discern and embrace the future of God.”

 Kreider, Eugene C., "The Politics of God: The Way to the Cross," Word & World, 1986.
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 The section about this text begins on page 460. “For Luke, the Kingdom of the Messiah is finally not tragic. The reign of God triumphs, and the Lordship of Jesus turns out not to be weak, stupid, or a farce. It is a testimony to the way God has chosen to do things. The hope for the believers in all this is that one can stand up and declare with confidence that what is experienced in the present as the cataclysm is not the end, but only the tribulation through which one passes. Now is the time for testimony to the Kingdom.”

Textweek ATLAS November 10, 2013: Proper 27C / Ordinary 32C / Pentecost 25

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/properc27.htm

Proper 27 / Ordinary 32 / Pentecost+25
November 10, 2013

Kessler, John, "The Shaking of the Nations: An Eschatological View," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1987.
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 “Haggai's words must be understood in light of the eschatological motifs upon which they draw. This study will therefore seek to demonstrate that "the shaking of the nations" is in fact the nations' subjective response of incapacitating fear to Yahweh's eschatological intervention. In Haggai's scenario the ominous celestial and terrestrial portents and judgments that accompany the day of Yahweh will so terrify the nations that in panic and terror they will destroy each other's armies and be reduced to impotence.”

 Wolff, Hans Walter, "Prophets and Institutions in the Old Testament," Currents in Theology and Mission, 1986.
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 “As outsiders, prophets fit best on the periphery.”

King, Michael A., "After the Storm," The Christian Century, 2007.
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 “A poignant country-western song expresses the limits of earthly love and hints of something beyond it.”

 Zink, James K., "Impatient Job: An Interpretation of Job 19:25-27," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1965.
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 A history of interpretation of Job 19:25-27. “Throughout the book Job is obsessed with the desire for vindication. All he claims to want is the opportunity for a fair hearing…”

 Kimelman, Reuven, "Psalm 145: Theme, Structure, and Impact," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1994.
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 “This study is a rhetorical analysis of Psalm 145 with a focus on its theme and structure followed by an inquiry into its communal liturgical use. The aim is to uncover the poetics that inform and frame the message in order to make the structural intention and achievement of the psalmist discernible…”

 Booij, Thijs, "Psalm 145: David's Song of Praise," Vetus Testamentum, 2008.
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 In Psalm cxlv the Taw-verse makes an inclusion with the title. This is the more remarkable since only this psalm has in its title the word t'hillä. As "a song of praise of David", Psalm cxlv recalls the books of Chronicles, especially in showing Davids part in the praise of God. The text complies with the cultic situation in David s time as portrayed in Chronicles. So Psalm cxlv appears to be a text written ex persona Davidis. As such, it was meant to be an introduction to Psalms cxlvi-cl.

 Psalm 98

 Davis, Ellen F., "Expository Article: Psalm 98,"Interpretation, 1992.
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 An “Interpretation” Expository Article (1992). “Psalm 98's image of clapping hills and singing mountains is, then, something entirely different from an animate (independently enspirited) Nature, à la Disney or ancient paganism. What the psalmist holds up to our view is rather a domain of Creation that is superior to humanity in that its original will to praise remains undiminished. The way in which abuse of the environment interferes with the ecology of praise may be one of the most deadly forms that idolatry assumes in modern society.”

 Patterson, Richard D., "Singing the New Song: An Examination of Psalms 33, 96, 98, and 149," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2007.
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 “This article examines the nature of psalms that call for singing a "new song," noting their possible origin and what elements they have in common such as structure, themes, and phraseology in order to determine whether they may be grouped as a subtype of praise psalms.8 Mention of a "new song" in other psalms will be noted in an effort to clarify further the basic point of view or orientation of such songs, together with additional suggestions as to their application to practical Christian living.”

 Adam, A.K.M., "Walk This Way: Repetition, Difference, and the Imitation of Christ," Interpretation, 2001.
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 “An ethics of imitation risks trivializing, aggrandizing, and homogenizing the company of disciples. Should followers of Jesus even try to walk this way?”

 Roose, Hanna, "'A Letter as by Us': Intentional Ambiguity in 2 Thessalonians 2:2," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2006.
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 Abstract: “In 2 Thess. 2.2, the Greek (δι' έπιστολ% cos δΓ ημών) is ambiguous, meaning either 'a letter supposedly [but not truly] from us' or 'a letter as [truly] by us'. The article argues that this ambiguity is intentional. It mirrors the author's struggle to reconcile his conflicting interests of relevance (for his real addressees) and (alleged) authenticity—a struggle that is typical of pseudepigraphical letters in general. For the sake of relevance, the author allows for a reading that takes 2 Thess. 2.2 as a reference to 1 Thessalonians—aletterthat obviously played a vital role in the conflict about 'correct' eschatology. Thus, 'Paul' makes 2 Thessalonians relevant as an attempt to rectify the (mis)interpretation of 1 Thessalonians. However, for the sake of the appearance of authenticity, he throws doubt on this understanding of 2.2 by inserting the coç. Throughout his letter, he avoids explicit references to his literary model, 1 Thessalonians. Among modern proponents of authenticity, this lack of explicit references in 2 Thessalonians has been interpreted in terms of chronological priority. The article argues that this is the reaction the author intended to provoke among his real addressees. The (supposed) chronological priority indirectly vouches for authenticity (cf. 2 Thess. 3.17). Thus, in 2 Thess. 2.2, the author deliberately chooses an ambiguous wording in order to allow his letter both to be taken as pointing back to 1 Thessalonians and to carry the implication that it is older than 1 Thessalonians.”

 Weima, Jeffrey A.D., "The Slaying of Satan's Superman and the Sure Salvation of the Saints: Paul's Apocalyptic Word of Comfort (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17)," Calvin Theological Journal, 2006.
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 “Although we may not know and understand perfectly all the events that will take place on the day of the Lord, we do know and understand well the only thing that really matters: God has elected and called us as ‘firstfruits for salvation’ and so whatever transpires on that eschatological day of judgment ‘it is well with our soul.’”

 Pugh, Elizabeth A., "Communion Across the Ages," Review & Expositor, 2005.
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 A sermon preached on All Saints Day, Nov 2, 2004. “The bread we share represents bread shared over time and eternity, bread that has nourished us each and us all in the life of faith.”

 

Textweek ATLAS November 3, 2013 Proper 26C / Ordinary 31C / Pentecost +24

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/properc26.htm

Proper 26 / Ordinary 31 / Pentecost+24
November 3, 2013

Craven, Toni, "Habakkuk 1:1-11, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.
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A 2007 “Between Text & Sermon” article from Interpretation. “In the prayer of Hab 3:1-19, the prophet petitions YHWH "to remember mercy" (3:2, raKem) in an unforgettable vision of the Holy One's coming—a passage that no Sunday lectionary ever uses and an omission that causes me to wonder. The prophet, the nations, and the entire cosmos are deeply shaken at the coming of YHWH to save the anointed covenant people (3:13). Yet Habakkuk waits quietly for this promised day of calamity to come upon the enemy (3:16; cf. the judgments against the various groups, 2:4^15), vowing, "Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will exult in the God of my salvation" (3:17-18). Habakkuk teaches us to wait and to survive with joy. Though the community is in disarray and the nations threaten destruction, fidelity and faith give this prophet the vision and courage to call God to action.”

 Keim, Paul, "Singing the Blues," The Christian Century, 2007.
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 “And what of those of us whose home is the immigrants' foreign land? How might this metaphor reshape the moral imagination of us "captors" who offer (or benefit from) labor without dignity and opportunity without hope? Perhaps it could awaken a deeper empathy for those who struggle to make sense of a world turned on its head, as well as stimulating more direct action on their behalf…”

Adam, A.K.M., "Walk This Way: Repetition, Difference, and the Imitation of Christ," Interpretation, 2001.
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“An ethics of imitation risks trivializing, aggrandizing, and homogenizing the company of disciples. Should followers of Jesus even try to walk this way?”

West, Audrey, "House Calls," The Christian Century, 2007.
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 “Salvation is not about the good or bad labels by which we are known to ourselves or others.”

 Westhelle, Vitor, "Exposing Zacchaeus," The Christian Century, 2006.
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“Grace can come only with repentance, and by allowing ourselves to be exposed to the wounds of the world.”

 Yamasaki, Gary, "Point of View in a Gospel Story: What Difference Does It Make? Luke 19:1-10 as a Test Case,"Journal of Biblical Literature, 2006.
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 “An examination of the way in which point of view is manipulated in this episode reveals something quite rare: an account involving Jesus in which he is never the carrier of point of view. Rather, the account is carefully crafted to maintain Zacchaeus in that role for all but a brief moment in the middle of the passage.”

 Thompson, Virgil, "Preaching the Justification of Zacchaeus," Lutheran Quarterly, 2009.
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 “But while the justification of the ungodly may be the soteriological climax of the event of justification it is not its goal. The "telos," as Stuhlmacher goes on to explain, "lies in the achievement of God's justice in heaven and on earth, that is, the reconciliation of the cosmos and the establishment of the basileia tou theou (cf. I Cor 15:28).ms This is the news which the preacher of the divine Word of justification is called to preach, the final judgment of God let out in favor of the ungodly. Nothing other and nothing less, for nothing else will do.”