Month: December 2025

Here is a selection of titles recently added to our collection.

From creation to Canaan : biblical hermeneutics for the anthropocene /Mick Pope.  Climate change, species loss, and the pollution of our air, water, and soil all indicate that humans have failed in their God-given mandate to care for the earth.  Some Christians see these as signs of the’end times’and beyond our control. This book goes back to the beginning of creation to examine humanity’s God-given vocation to care for creation as an expression of holiness.  Human power and agency have their limits in a world where God has ordered things for the flourishing of all creatures. The current environmental crisis is understood as the consequence of not respecting these limits. Instead of passive acceptance of the present crisis, the church is encouraged to work for the common good of the whole creation.

From prisoner to prince : the Joseph story in biblical theology /Samuel Emadi.  The story of Joseph is prominent in the book of Genesis and yet is rarely mentioned in the rest of Scripture. How then do we understand Joseph’s significance in redemptive history?  When Christians have addressed this question, the conversation has frequently turned toward typology:  Is Joseph a type of the Messiah?  Messianic interpretations of the Joseph narrative have often lacked methodological rigor or have simply failed to make a convincing case.  Most often interpreters have simply noted historical correspondences between Joseph and Jesus, without considering the narrative’s function in the context of Genesis, its redemptive-historical significance, or its appropriation by later biblical authors.  In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Samuel Emadi offers a more comprehensive canonical treatment of the Joseph narrative.   He considers Genesis 37-50 in its own literary and theological context, intra-canonical development of the Joseph story via inner-biblical allusion, and New Testament references and allusions.  Emadi defends the notion that Joseph functions as the resolution to the plot of Genesis and that this story typologically influences how later biblical authors narrate redemptive history, culminating in the New Testament’s portrayal of Jesus as an antitypical, new and final Joseph.

God or Mammon : the critical issue confronting world Christianity /David W. Smith.  The rise of neo-liberalism and globalization has hardened the capitalist worldview in such a way that it has taken on an idolatrous nature for Christianity in the West.  At this crucial point in time, David Smith prophetically confronts this issue and invites Christians to re-examine their allegiances. Using Jesus’s warning that the worship of God and Mammon are incompatible as a lens, Smith traces the tension of this decision from the Mosaic revolution, through the history of biblical Israel and into the New Testament. He provides a historical survey of movements in Christianity that emerged in the constant struggle to counter the imperial church’s conformity to a materialistic culture. Finally, he examines the modern world’s shift toward an economistic culture, which has abandoned social values and needs. Christianity, which has become a global movement with its heartlands across the southern hemisphere, now faces the challenge and opportunity of a world in deepening crisis. In this timely and important book, Smith encourages us all to join in the quest for an alternative society that is shaped by kingdom values.

 Imitation in early Christianity : mimesis and religious-ethical formation /Cornelis Bennema.  A study of how mimesis, as discussed in early Christian literature and influenced by Greco-Roman culture, functioned as a religious-ethical concept that shaped early Christians’ conduct and character.  Offering well-researched answers to these questions, Bennema provides readers with a nuanced and informative picture of exhortations to imitation in the New Testament and Apostolic Fathers.

Interpreting Jesus /Dale C. Allison, Jr.  Timely new essays from a renowned scholar of historical Jesus studies   Dale Allison, Jr. has long been recognized as a leading scholar in historical Jesus studies. In Interpreting Jesus, he continues to advance the discussion with the expertise and insight for which he is renowned.   Within these highly original essays, Allison explores questions related to Jesus and women, Jesus and miracles, Jesus and Moses, Jesus and the last things, and method in Jesus scholarship. His sound analysis is particularly timely as scholars reconsider the historical figure of Jesus and the relationships among the canonical gospels. Allison’s keen interest in developing fresh perspectives make this book an important contribution to the field; readers can be grateful that, as he puts it, “enduring curiosity has kept me pondering the historical Jesus.”

 John : a pastoral and contextual commentary /Johnson Thomaskutty.  The Gospel of John is one of the significant writings that appeals to Asian spirituality and ideals in a variety of ways. John’s unique features as a literary masterpiece encompass the feelings and aspirations of the Asian consciousness. The Gospel’s genre dynamism, features of setting, ideological constructs, character traits, plot structure, and point of view reflect and reveal its assimilative power to resonate with the situational aspects of Asian communities. John is better understood rhetorically within the religious and cultural contexts of Asia. In this commentary, Dr. Johnson Thomas Kutty explores the possibilities of a pastoral and contextual reading of the Gospel of John.  The Asia Bible Commentary Series empowers Christian believers in Asia to read the Bible from within their respective contexts.  Holistic in its approach to the text, each exposition of the biblical books combines exegesis and application. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the body of Christ in Asia by providing a pastoral and contextual exposition of every book of the Bible.

Judaism : a guide for Christians /Tzvi Novick.  An innovative introduction to Judaism and the Jewish people for Christian readers.   In this fascinating and highly original book, Tzvi Novick introduces readers to foundational features of Jewish theology by explaining its similarities to and differences from Christian theology.  Novick also leads readers through the major milestones of Christian teaching about Jews and Judaism, devoting particular attention to contemporary teachings and unsettled questions. Each chapter includes helpful recommendations for further reading as well as detailed discussion questions, making the book an outstanding resource for teaching.  In the introduction, Novick eloquently conveys why a book like this is needed: “If Christians take themselves to have, in some sense, a common destiny with the Jewish people, then they should understand who these fellow travelers are. . . . If the Church is committed to the notion that God’s covenant with the Jewish people endures, then Jewish responses to God can in principle be an important source of theological insight for Christians themselves.” This is a beautifully written book that contributes richly to interfaith dialogue and understanding.

Micah : introduction and commentary /Carolyn J. Sharp.  Discover the historical, literary, and theological significance of the book of Micah.   Written by Carolyn J. Sharp, a leading scholar of biblical prophetic literature, this commentary provides scholars and preachers with a thorough overview of historical, literary, and theological dimensions of the book of Micah. The commentary also examines Micah’s reception history by Jewish and Christian interpreters and considers Micah’s witness as valuable for ecological ethics.   The volume is part of the Eerdmans Illuminations series, in which authors employ the full range of biblical scholarship to illumine the text from a wide variety of perspectives, including the engagement and impact of the text through the centuries.   Excerpt from the commentary: “In oracle after beautifully crafted oracle, through diverse and artful rhetorical means, Micah teaches his community to remain resilient through national and regional traumas; he urges them to engage in active resistance of the depredations of the elite and the violence of invading armies; he exhorts them to reform their understanding of YHWH’s requirements for ethical life and faithful theological praxis; and he invites them to rejoice in the divine deliverance they had known in days of old and can envision for the future restoration of Zion. As contemporary readers and communities gather around the book of Micah, we too can find in its pages extraordinary resources for resilience, resistance, reformation, and rejoicing.

Paul :  apostle of grace /Frank Thielman.  An engaging and accessible introduction to the life and world of Paul In this fresh and engaging survey, Frank Thielman introduces readers to the life and world of the apostle Paul. Drawing on the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s canonical letters as well as noncanonical sources and archaeological records, Thielman constructs a vivid picture of the complex historical period and fascinating cultures in which Paul worked. At the same time, Thielman guides readers toward a deeper understanding of who Paul was, what he believed, and how he carried out his ministry. Solidly grounded in Paul’s own writings as well as scholarly research, the book explores a wide range of compelling questions: What drove Paul to endure often treacherous journeys of hundreds of miles to establish like-minded communities around the world as he knew it? What spurred him to recruit a network of co-workers who were willing to help him in this vast project? What kept him at the task even when it landed him in prison? What prompted him to produce a body of letters to these communities of such depth that millions of people still read them with profit today? Addressing these questions through careful and conservative research, Paul, Apostle of Grace is a worthy successor to F. F. Bruce’s classic study and an essential resource for scholars and students of the Bible today.

Paul through the eyes of the reformers : living under grace /Stephen J. Chester.  The author challenges misconceptions and provides new insights into how sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers interpreted the writings of Paul.

Queen Victoria and her prime ministers : her life, the imperial ideal, and the politics and turmoil that shaped her extraordinary reign /Anne Somerset. A riveting portrait of Queen Victoria and the ten prime ministers who headed the British government during her sixty-three-year reign.

Research methods in linguistics /edited by Lia Litosseliti.  Covering topics such as developing research questions, corpus analysis and  qualitative and combined methods and designs, this book guides you through all the main issues, techniques and approaches to developing your research. Providing clear introductions to key concepts and discussions, it takes you step-by-step through topics like how to conduct your own focus groups and interviews, how to build case studies and how to make sense of your data. Guiding you towards the research methods most appropriate to your work, and explaining them in detail, this is the only book you need in linguistic research methods.

 Retelling Jane Austen : essays on recent adaptations and derivative works /edited by Tammy Powley and April Van Camp. Jane Austen originally wrote for a Regency period audience and would never have predicted the success of her original works. The slew of variations and adaptations of Austen’s works in both film and contemporary novels has grown into an industry with a fan-base waiting for more. This collection fills the gap in Austen scholarship between 2000 to the current moment. The authors examine universal and contemporary themes in Austen’s literature ranging from classic romance to apocalyptic fiction. Essays cover Austen retellings with a New York City setting, Jane Austen and Islamic culture, and even a plot with zombies. This anthology demonstrates Jane Austen’s enduring talent and relevancy.

 Revenge of the tipping point :  overstories, superspreaders, and the rise of social engineering /Malcolm Gladwell. Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world’s most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell’s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.

Here is a collection of titles recently added to the collection.

1 Corinthians : a theological, pastoral, and missional commentary /Michael J. Gorman.  An engaging theological commentary on 1 Corinthians that emphasizes practical applications for Christian life and ministry.  Authored by renowned New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman, this commentary is designed for pastors, students, scholars, and lay people who want a careful exposition of 1 Corinthians that stresses its theological content and considers its spiritual, pastoral, and missional implications for today.   As Gorman leads readers through the biblical text, he explores key Pauline themes found in his previous work on Paul while he interprets 1 Corinthians as a pastoral letter about the marks of the church–a summons to the body of Christ then and now to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Like Gorman’s highly regarded commentary on Romans, this commentary on 1 Corinthians emphasizes the letter’s practical applications and includes questions for reflection and sidebars on important topics, all of which make it an essential resource for teaching and preaching at any level.

 Ancient slavery and its New Testament contexts /edited by Christy Cobb and Katherine A. Shaner ; with editorial assistance by Mallory A. Challis and Joseph Foltz.  An introduction to the realities of slavery during the Greco-Roman period, designed for students of the New Testament and early Christianity.

 Approaches to teaching Stoker’s Dracula /edited by William Thomas McBride.  This volume helps teachers with ways to teach Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and questions of ethnicity, identity, race, psychology, gender roles, colonialism, and anxieties about the Other. It considers the novel as a “megatext” or “culture text,” from film and television to later vampire novels, including African American vampire fiction.

 Biblical theology : essays exegetical, cultural, and homiletical /C. Clifton Black.   An essential collection of C. Clifton Black’s best essays on the theology of the New Testament.  Black is well known and widely loved for his exegetical acuity, his theological seriousness, his pastoral kindness, and the most delightful sense of humor in the biblical studies guild. All these qualities are amply displayed in these thirty essays written across four decades of his career, including four essays that are published here for the first time. Biblical Theology: Essays Exegetical, Cultural, and Homiletical represents the fruit of a lifetime of studying, preaching, praying, training pastors, walking in the light, and laughing in the valley of the shadow of death. Black’s keen mind and pastoral heart make this volume a rich contribution to the field of biblical theology.

 Christology in early Christianity : collected essays /Brian E. Daley, SJ ; edited by Andrew Hofer, OP.    A leading historical theologian surveys the early Church’s thinking about Christ   Brian E. Daley, SJ, is a renowned and prolific historical theologian. His research has been published in a wide range of academic journals and edited collections; this volume brings several of his numerous studies of patristic Christology together for the first time.   The sixteen essays in this collection explore the Christology of the early Church with attention to narrative overviews, the Cappadocians, Augustine, and Chalcedon with its legacies; consideration is also given to Christology within the contexts of early philosophical and apocalyptic traditions. This unique collection is an important resource for theological libraries and scholars interested in the early Church’s thinking about Christ.

 Deconstruction and the Spirit : how pastors can better understand deconstruction and how to approach it from a Pentecostal perspective /Esteban Solís.  Deconstructive faith experiences are growing in number throughout global Christianity. Factors like globalization, individualism, education, post-colonial experiences, fundamentalism, connectivity, and others contribute to accelerate this trend and shape the environment of faith communities that find themselves amongst increasingly postmodern tendencies. Many pastors are deciding to ignore the situation by rejecting deconstruction altogether, while others are embracing it blindly. Since an overwhelming number of churches worldwide embrace Pentecostalism, Esteban Solis proposes a pastoral response from a distinctively Pentecostal perspective that engages deconstruction of faith critically while staying open to conceive it as a tool for Spirit-led discipleship that can produce a more mature faith. The book examines six affirmations made by Jacques Derrida that explain deconstruction. Each of these is contrasted with specific examples of cultural changes taking place in Costa Rica, Peter’s experience at the house of Cornelius, and a Pentecostal perspective. By exploring a variety of authors, Solis identifies different tools that can help pastors to better understand the experience of deconstruction while engaging in discipleship practices that can produce mature believers in a postmodern era.

 Forgiveness after trauma : a path to find healing and empowerment /Susannah Griffith.  The church’s teachings on forgiveness often fail victims and survivors of abuse. This book reclaims forgiveness by centering and empowering survivors.

  Four points of the compass : the unexpected history of direction /Jerry Brotton.   This is the revelatory history of the four cardinal directions that have oriented and defined our place on the globe for millennia. North, south, east, and west: almost all societies use these four cardinal directions to orientate themselves and to understand who they are by projecting where they are. For millennia, these four directions have been foundational to our travel, navigation, and exploration, and are central to the imaginative, moral, and political geography of virtually every culture in the world. Yet they are far more subjective-and sometimes contradictory-than we might realize. Four Points of the Compass takes us on a journey of directional discovery. Societies have understood and defined directions in very different ways based on their locations in time and space. Historian Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five color-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated themselves westwards. In doing so, politically loaded but widely used terms such as the Middle East,” the “Global South,” the “West Indies,” the “Orient,” and even the “western world” take on new meanings. Who decided on these terms and what do they mean for geopolitics? How have directions like “east” and “west” taken on the status of cultural identities-or, more accurately, stereotypes? Today, however, because of GPS capability, cardinal points are less relevant. Online, we place ourselves at the center of the map as little blue dots moving across geospatial apps; we have become the most important compass point, though in the process we’ve disconnected ourselves from the natural world. Imagining what future changes technology may impose,  Brotton skillfully reminds us how crucial the four cardinal directions have been and remain to everyone who has ever walked our