Books in the Emerging Scholars series

Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Claremont Graduate University.

What is the connection between Christian doctrine and concrete social action? This question marks the often unarticulated divide between systematic theology and liberation theology, each often emphasizing one primarily or formally over the other. Examining the work of Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, and Jon Sobrino, here Nathan Hieb contests this bifurcation, specifically around the nodal points of the crucifixion, or the doctrine of atonement, and the context of suffering. This book is an innovative study that bridges the boundaries of method, doctrine, and praxis, creating a strong theological and action-oriented relationship between systematic and liberation theology.

Presuming that the heart of Pauls gospel announcement was the news that God had raised Jesus from the dead (as indicated in 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10), Pillar explores the evidence in Pauls letter and in aspects of the Roman imperial culture in Thessalonica in order to imagine what that proclamation would have evoked for its first hearers. He argues that the gospel of resurrection would have been heard as fundamentally anti-imperial: Jesus of Nazareth was executed by means of the epitome of imperial power. The resurrection thus subverts and usurps the empires immense power.

Kevin W. McFadden shows that Paul wrote the letter to remind Roman Christians of his gospel because of his vocation as apostle to the Gentiles. The letter simultaneously demonstrates the guilt of the world and calls Pauls audience to live out the implications of the gospel. The theme of judgment thus appears in two distinct ways. Paul opposes justification by works of law, but simultaneously affirmsas did most of the early Christian movement, McFadden arguesa final judgment according to works. These are not contradictory observations but belong together in a cohesive understanding of Pauls theology and of his purpose in the letter.

Sean D. Burke shows that eunuchs bore particular stereotyped associations regarding gender and sexual status as well as of race, ethnicity, and class. Not only has Luke failed to resolve these ambiguities; he has positioned this destabilized figure at a key place in the narrativeas the gospel has expanded beyond Judea, but before Gentiles are explicitly namedin such a way as to blur a number of social role boundaries. In this sense, Burke argues, Luke intended to queer his readers expectations and so to present the boundary-transgressing potentiality of a new community.

In the subsistence agricultural social context of the Hebrew Bible, children were necessary for communal survival. In such an economy, childrens labor contributes to the familys livelihood from a young age, rather than simply preparing the child for future adult work. Ethnographic research shows that this interdependent family life contrasts significantly with that of privileged modern Westerners, for whom children are dependents. This text seeks to look beyond the dominant cultural constructions of childhood in the modern West and the moral rhetoric that accompanies them so as to uncover what biblical texts intend to communicate when they utilize children as literary tropes in their own social, cultural, and historical context.

Was Esther uniquean anomaly in patriarchal society? Conventionally, scholars see ancient Israelite and Jewish women as excluded from the public world, their power concentrated instead in the domestic realm and exercised through familial structures. Rebecca S. Hancock demonstrates, in contrast, that because of the patrimonial character of ancient Jewish society, the state was often organized along familial lines. The presence of women in roles of queen consort or queen is therefore a key political, and not simply domestic, feature.

Memory and Covenant applies new insights into the meaning and function of social memory to analyze the two major religions of the Pentateuch (D and P) and their relationship to one another. Ellman shows that for the deuteronomic tradition, memory is an epistemological and pedagogical means for keeping Israel faithful to its God and Gods commandments, even when Israelites are far from the temple and its worship. The pre-exilic priestly tradition, however, understands that the covenant depends on Gods memory, which must be aroused by the sensory stimuli of the temple cult.

Melvin traces the emergence and development of the motif of angelic interpretation of visions from late prophetic literature (Ezekiel 4048; Zechariah 16) into early apocalyptic literature (1 Enoch 1736; 7282; Daniel 78). Examining how the historical and socio-political context of exilic and post-exilic Judaism and the broader religious and cultural environment shaped Jewish angelology in general, Melvin concludes that the motif of the interpreting angel served a particular function. Building upon the work of Susan Niditch, Melvin concludes that the interpreting angel motif served a polemical function in repudiating divination as a means of predicting the future, while at the same time elevating the authority of the visionary revelation.

At the heart of the biblical myth of chosenness is the idea that God has blessed a people to be a blessing to others. It is a mission of solemn responsibility. The six British and American thinkers examined in this study embraced the myth of chosenness for their countries, believed that the liberties they enjoyed were inherently tied to their Protestant faith, and that it was their mission to protect and spread that faith, and its democratic fruit, at home and abroad.

Key to a theology of scripture are the important issues of history, consciousness, rhetoric, and how theology functions in relation to interpretation of Christianitys religious texts. Seeking to address a critical problem in theology and the interpretation of scripture raised by modern historical consciousness, Ben Fulford argues for a densely historical and theological reading of scripture centered in a Christological rubric.

This book offers a critical analysis and reinterpretation of Karl Barths theology of culturethe least studied aspect of his workrevealing his significance for contemporary work in theology of culture by applying his approach to the study of popular culture and entertainment. Grounding the study in Barths eschatology, which proves more amenable to secular culture than other models, DeCou shows that Barths approach recognized that the freedom of theology is qualified by the freedom of the Word and the freedom of secular culture. Barth therefore offers a middle way for evaluating and analyzing culture and religious forms. This book thus opens up a new avenue of interpretation of Barth and applies the insights of Barths theology in fresh ways to the structures of contemporary culture and its products.

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Southern Methodist University, 2010 under title: Perichoretic eternality: God's relationship to time in Karl Barth's Church dogmatics.

In Defense of Doctrine is an apologetic for the ongoing, constructive theological task in Protestant and Evangelical traditions. It suggests that doctrinal development can be explained as a hermeneutical phenomenon and that insights from hermeneutical philosophy and the philosophy of language can aid theologians in constructing explanatory theses for particular theological problems associated with the facts of doctrinal development. Joining the recent call to theological interpretation of Scripture, Putman provides a constructive model that forwards a descriptive and normative pattern for reading Scripture and theological tradition together.

Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Wheaton College, 2016.

Double Particularity is a constructive proposal for theological methodology addressing the Asian American context using the theology of Karl Barth. It focuses primarily on employing Barths theology to develop a methodology for engaging the Asian American context. This methodological focus means that it is an integrative and synthetic work, bringing seemingly disparate thoughts and concepts together. Here, the Asian American context serves as an important case study.With the center of worldwide Christianity moving to the global South, and even as American Christianity becomes more reflective of immigrant populations, the theological need for a deeper engagement with context is more urgent than ever. Karl Barth, particularly his thought on election, Christology, and reconciliation, offers much wisdom and insight for the churches of the majority world and for these ethnic churches, even though he is often seen as just a figure in the Western historical tradition. Hence, this study is a contribution to the development of a connection between Barth and contextual theology, to the stimulation and enrichment of both.

Mechanistic dehumanization occurs when human beings are objectified and exploited as a means to an end, comparable to expendable components of a machine. This misconstruction of human value is a source and sustainer of overproduction, an excess of consumption, and the pursuit of unrestrained economic growth, damaging both people and the planet.Can the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission respond to mechanistic dehumanization through mission as accompaniment?The notion of mission as accompaniment, which emerges from liberation theology and development methodology, promotes solidarity among church companions that embodies interdependence and mutuality. Grounded in the New Testament expression of koinonia, Mission as Accompaniment is affirmed in this study as a suitable foundation to counteract mechanistic dehumanization.Through this research with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Theology and Development program, Brian E. Konkol incorporates economics, ecology, anthropology, and postcolonial missiology. He maintains that two particular elementsthe African concept of Ubuntu, and an Olive Agendawhen integrated into mission as accompaniment, will equip the ELCA Global Mission with an advocacy-driven trajectory in response to mechanistic dehumanization.

This book explores why the metaphor of the church as a family is insufficient. In this, Arendt's concept of action and her criticism of privatizing the public political space by viewing it as a family are engaged through Bonhoeffer's ecclesiology and political theology and Stæaniloae's triadology and theology of the world. The roots of the different views of Arendt and Bonhoeffer on family symbolism are traced to their distinct notions of acting. Human action becomes the central theme of the debate--particularly influenced by the Eastern Orthodox ecumenist Stæaniloae and his vision of the communal relationship and interactivity of human subjects, and their place in the world. Synthesizing Bonhoeffer and Stæaniloae, Christian calling is unfolded not only as acting for others, but also with others as Trinitarian participatory response--response to the words and deeds of the three divine Persons acting in communion. In being drawn into these unique relations, human beings are empowered for communal and common acting of equals participating in public-political issues. Since the family metaphor fails to articulate such acting, this study complements this symbolism with the metaphor of the church as a political community of solidarity--

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Durham University.

Encountering Reality argues for a new appreciation of T. F. Torrance on epistemology and reality. Torrance emphasizes the distinction between truth and truthfulness, reorienting the discussion from a focus on statements to being. This shift challenges the dichotomy between correspondence and coherence theories of truth.

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nottingham, 2015 under title: Being deified: fantasy and poetry on the path to God.

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Claremont School of Theology.

Exodus and Resurrection establishes the important place Gods identity as the "God of Israel" has in the systematic theology of Robert W. Jenson. The work demonstrates that the identification of the God of Israel as the agent of Jesus resurrection functions as a foundational premise in Jenson''s Trinitarian theology. Andrew W. Nicol argues that a central characteristic of Jenson''s work is not merely his recognition that the same God who rescued Israel from Egypt raised Jesus from the dead, or the related yet distinct step of renovating his theology in a nonsupersessionist fashion, but also his attempt to conceive of the full implications for doing so in Christian theology, in the church''s self-understanding, and in the church''s relation to Israel and continuing Judaism. In this, Exodus and Resurrection provides a clear and critically appreciative account of Robert W. Jenson''s work and offers a new vital architectonic map of Jenson''s systematic vision.