EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231202111
Andrew Gregory
{"title":"Transformative Vision","authors":"Andrew Gregory","doi":"10.1177/00145246231202111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231202111","url":null,"abstract":"Inspired by the ‘the inseparability of theology and worship in the life-work of the Torrance brothers’ and its implications, seasoned pastor-worship leader Kevin Navarro has brought together an extremely readable, informative book which even the seasoned Torrance scholar will enjoy and find stimulating. Navarro has a fine understanding of Torrance theology and is able to make a careful, accurate characterisation of it. He is also very fair and balanced in his assessments of it and its critics. The seven chapters of the book slowly build on one another, each unfolding in some depth a central component of the Torrances’ life-work and laying the basis for following chapters. Together they present one united whole. The chapters in order, together with the briefest summary of their topic and its importance are, Chapter 1, The Biographical Background of TF and JB Torrance: personal faith, lived out communally in study, worship, life and mission. Chapter 2, Unitarian or Trinitarian Worship?: Trinitarianincarnational worship focused on Christ the one High Priest who embodies in himself both the God-manward movement in salvation AND the man-Godward. Chapter 3, The Trinitarian Faith and Worship: the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, divinity of Father, Son and Spirit, worship of the one God through the incarnate Son. Chapter 4, The Mediation of Christ: Christ as the one mediator, mediating the coming of God to man, AND, so mediating human response to God that his whole response is ours. Chapter 5, The Place of Jesus Christ in Liturgical Prayer and Worship: the importance of worship with Christ, for he is not only the God we worship, but the one true worshipper with whom we worship God. The Torrances used the researches of Jungmann and others to reveal how historical circumstances led to this aspect disappearing from the early church’s worship. It meant Christ was no longer the one High Priest, our fellow worshipper in whose worship we shared, but distant, necessitating the mediation of others, such as Mary, the saints and the church priesthood. Chapter 6, TF Torrance and Preaching: the pivotal importance of preaching Christ. For the Torrances there was an intimate relation between theology, preaching and worship. All three involve encountering the living Word, but in preaching the accent falls more on personal communication to others of the truth of Christ and in him and a directing of others to him. Everything the Torrances did, therefore, in their multi-faceted activities, was a form of preaching. Chapter 7, The Sacraments of Incorporation and Renewal: Baptism and Holy Communion, in union with the Word preached, are indispensable in strengthening faith and through them Christ makes himself livingly present as nothing else can. Navarro’s book can be highly recommended. It can be read and pondered several times, till its full import has been absorbed.","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135606697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231202128
Paul Foster
{"title":"Guide to the Greek Text of Mark","authors":"Paul Foster","doi":"10.1177/00145246231202128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231202128","url":null,"abstract":"offering helpful suggestions for preaching eschatology in local church ministry. Carey is to be commended for this comprehensive study on a topic that is often polarized by systematic theologies governed by theological traditions. Such tribalism can stifle the diversity of perspective each biblical writer brings to the conversation, which Carey masterfully exposes. Both the scholar and the pastor are sure to benefit from this humble and insightful exploration of the Bible’s eschatology.","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135607330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231202108
Thomas J. Kraus
{"title":"Essays on the Composition and Reception of the Psalms","authors":"Thomas J. Kraus","doi":"10.1177/00145246231202108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231202108","url":null,"abstract":"Susan Gillingham does not need any special introduction and it goes without saying that a Festschrift awarded to her does not only honour her as a person but also her relevant and fundamental work within Psalms studies. Gillingham received the Doctor of Divinity (DD) from the University of Oxford in 2015 – the second woman ever to receive such an award. The two editors of the volume offer an appreciation of her merits right at the beginning in the preface and then briefly introduce into what is going to follow. The twelve contributions of this collection of essays are divided into three programmatic major parts: a first one is on the origin of the Psalms (five articles; ‘Imagining Ancient Origins of the Psalms’), a second on their theological imaginations (four; ‘The Psalms and Theological Imagination’), and a third on their reception in literature, music and visual arts (three; ‘Reimaging the Psalms in Literature, Music and Visual Arts’), in other words into a historical, a theological and a reception part. Such an organization of the book indirectly parallels some of the major focuses of Gillingham’s intense engagement with individual psalms and the Book of Psalms as an entity. All in all, the book consists of studies that deal with the Psalter as a whole, while others are focussing on individual psalms (e.g., on Psalms 2, 60, 72 and 127 in part one, 19 and 72 again in part two, and 23 and 39 in part three). Each contribution ends with a full bibliography of the titles referred to. Very helpful are the fifteen illustrations or figures, which either present black-and-white photographs of manuscripts and books, of pieces of art, or illustrate the structure, the geographical location and the chiastic structure of a psalm. The book comes with indices of references and authors which facilitate navigation. The length of the individual studies varies considerably and the quality of the contributions will certainly be assessed differently by readers with individual reading expectations. For example, as a reviewer, I benefited most from the contributions by Deborah W. Rooke (‘Handel-ing the Psalms: Reception-Historical Reflection on Handel’s Chandos Anthems’) and Natasha O’Hear (‘Visualizing Psalm 23: Pastoral Idylls, Protectors and Shadows of Death’), two creative and innovative approaches to the reception, use and interpretation of certain psalms. All in all, this collective volume offers some interesting insights into areas of research similar to that of Susan Gillingham.","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135606553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231202115
Paul Foster
{"title":"Understanding Colossae through Material Culture","authors":"Paul Foster","doi":"10.1177/00145246231202115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231202115","url":null,"abstract":"The site of the settlement of Colossae had long been neglected. Its location was disputed, and even when the site was correctly identified it was seen as no more than a grassy mound that could offer little of interest. That misapprehension has been radically overturned by painstaking archaeological work and deeply reflective analysis of the surviving material culture of the site and beyond. Based on research that commenced in 1998, in this seminal volume Alan Cadwallader provides ‘as complete a coverage as possible of the material evidence of Colossae as can be recovered to date’ (p. 13). Cadwallader acknowledges that such evidence will grow in the coming years. However, given his unstinting labours over the last few decades, at the current time, this volume presents a comprehensive compendium and analysis of the available artefactual evidence pertaining to the material culture of Colossae. As such, this is a landmark work that makes the fruits of Cadwallader’s meticulous labour and scholarship readily available. The volume comprises a helpful introduction (pp. 19-42), followed by twelve main chapters, an Afterword, and a series of appendices and indices. The introduction provides readers with a number of fundamental orientations to the study of the ancient material world of Colossae, reflective of the ‘material turn’ in scholarship. Cadwallader outlines the beginnings of European interest in the sites of Asia Minor, and the scholarly journey that has led to seeking an understanding of both Colossae as well as the Pauline letters to the Colossians and to Philemon in light of the surviving material culture (pp. 35-36). The first chapter, ‘Colossae, a name in search of a city’ (pp. 43-69), tells the story of the elusive quest to identify the correct location of this ancient settlement. As is perhaps now better known, a fundamental confusion had been the identification of the nearby town of Honaz as being the site of ancient Colossae. Furthermore, in this chapter Cadwallader outlines how the material witnessed overturned the (still) often repeated view that Colossae was destroyed by an earthquake around 60 C.E. and subsequently left uninhabited (pp. 63-69). The second chapter, ‘Colossae, a city in search of a name’ (pp. 71-128), explores the orthographical variety in the spelling of the name Colossae and the impact of the re-naming of the settlement. As Cadwallader observes, ‘[t]his chapter explores these questions of the name(s) of Colossae and allows the material culture, from Colossae and elsewhere, to sketch a pathway through the complexity of three millennia towards a resolution. That resolution owes much to what appears to be the city’s own efforts (evident especially in its coins) in reshaping it identity by privileging (fictively) a Greek etymology for its name’ (p. 71). Understanding Colossae through Material Culture 1202115 EXT0010.1177/00145246231202115Book of the Month book-review2023","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"128 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135606689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231203624
David C. Mitchell
{"title":"And Finally. . . Deliver us From Evil","authors":"David C. Mitchell","doi":"10.1177/00145246231203624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231203624","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135607331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231202107
Sue Gillingham
{"title":"A Radical Collection at the Heart of the Hebrew Psalter","authors":"Sue Gillingham","doi":"10.1177/00145246231202107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231202107","url":null,"abstract":"‘The Conflict between Faith and Experience’ was also the title of Craig Broyles’ form-critical study of most of the lament psalms (1989). By contrast, Smith attends to only eleven psalms, not all of which merit the title ‘lament’. Furthermore, Psalms 73-83 have been the focus of several other seminal publications: Smith’s second chapter is a most helpful account of the current state of scholarship, giving initial attention to Gerald Wilson, J. Clinton McCann, Robert Cole, and Christine Jones. So what does Smith offer which is distinctive? Intriguingly, he adapts the theory of ‘parallelism’, normally applied to a psalm verse, to examine how this entire group of psalms exhibits at a macro-level, a complex parallelism in its patterning. Similar linguistic expressions occur not only within neighbouring psalms (for example, 80 and 81) but also between psalms more distant from each other (74 and 79). This patterning does not imply there is a narrative running throughout these psalms (a theory which is popular in contemporary psalms studies). The progression is more subtle and theological than this. Psalm 73 forms a programmatic introduction, challenging the core Israelite creed that ‘God is good to Israel’ (p. 188). Psalms 74-76 dispute the belief in God’s status as the Great King; Psalms 77-78 problematise the covenant theme as in Exod. 34:6-7; Psalms 79 and 82 question the confidence in God’s status as defender of justice; and Psalms 80-81 similarly contest the status of Israel’s God as one who saves and delivers. Psalm 83 stands outside this programme, creating a conclusion to it. Smith highlights the various parallel relationships between Psalm 73 and these other four ‘pairings’, thus presenting a more sanguine view of the Davidic/Zion traditions. Nor does the patterning imply an interest in the origins of these psalms. Smith it is more concerned with ‘how’ these psalms were brought together, rather than ‘why’: once discrete units, they were organised in this way by post-exilic exilic compilers to create a distinctive message and purpose. Not only is Psalm 83 peripheral, but so too is Psalm 50, the only other Asaphite psalm which was once an inherent part of this collection, and now split from it by the insertion of Psalms 51-72. Smith’s delineation of ‘literary parallelism’ thus applies primarily to Psalms 73 82. This raises questions about the parallelistic coherence of the Asaphite collection as a whole, but Smith would probably argue that this is what this Hebrew text suggests. This then leads us to ask whether the Dead Sea Scrolls and the LXX cast doubts on this analysis, where the DSS order and LXX syntax no longer exhibit the same sort of parallel connections. Nevertheless, this is an engaging and original work. Smith’s argument certainly makes one think about the theological impact of this radical collection, and its significance in being at the very heart of the Hebrew Psalter.","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"99 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135607321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EXPOSITORY TIMESPub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1177/00145246231197295
Jared W. Hay
{"title":"And Finally. . . ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’","authors":"Jared W. Hay","doi":"10.1177/00145246231197295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246231197295","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43287,"journal":{"name":"EXPOSITORY TIMES","volume":"307 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135248592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}