BOOK REVIEWS

 

Book Announcements -"To Take Note Of"

 

 

Colleagues in the four Departments of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State have indicated the following books as important recent publications to take note of.

 

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE THEOLOGY

Ayres, L. & Volpe, M. (eds). 2019. The Oxford handbook of Catholic theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Oxford Handbook series has become one of the most authoritative sources for contemporary theology, and every new volume is received with anticipation and appreciation. This new publication is worth taking note of as it gives a comprehensive overview of the state of Roman Catholic theology. Fifty-six essays map the development of this theology in various historical phases and of contemporary doctrinal and moral discourses. The work not only covers most of the crucial themes of our time, but also introduces some of the best thinkers in this major Christian tradition.

De Gruchy, J.W. 2019. Bonhoeffer's questions. A life-changing conversation. Lanham, Maryland: Fortress Academic.

In his latest contribution to Bonhoeffer scholarship, John De Gruchy enquires about Bonhoeffer's questions. As the title suggests, the book is a response to what he regards as Bonhoeffer's most probing questions. Although these questions found their final formulation in Letters and papers from prison, one of the volumes in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works edited by De Gruchy, Bonhoeffer asked these questions throughout his life and writings. For De Gruchy, these questions led to a life-long conversation - conversation that would become characteristic of his doing theology. Particularly interesting is the third section of the book on the questions prompted by Bonhoeffer's questions. For De Gruchy, these questions are all the questions that he himself asks. They concern, inter alia, what it means to be human.

Kärkkäinen, V-M. 2019. Christian theology in the pluralistic world: A global introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

This is a one-volume abridgement of the five volumes published between 2013 and 2017. The Finnish scholar, a teacher at Fuller in the United States of America, develops an inclusive, dialogical and hospitable vision of the Christian faith. His work is unique, as he is open to theological developments in the global South and to other world religions. The work also represents an engagement with many new developments in Systematic Theology and is highly recommended.

Koopman, N. & Vosloo, R. 2020. Reading Bonhoeffer in South Africa after the transition to democracy: Selected essays. Bern: Peter Lang.

The publication of the selected essays by Koopman and Vosloo is prompted by the Thirteenth Bonhoeffer Congress that will take place in South Africa in January 2020. The theme of the conference, "How the coming generation is to go on living?", is taken from Bonhoeffer's After ten years. The essays selected were all written over the past fifteen years. They presuppose that Bonhoeffer's life and writings still provide a resource for a theological engagement with the challenges of a democratic South Africa. The book is dedicated to Russel Botman and John de Gruchy. The latter wrote the foreword, wherein he asks whether we - in times where we are again thinking about decolonisation - should still continue with research on Bonhoeffer in South Africa. The book is a clear "yes": "We believe that the various lenses from different generations and contexts can help us, at least in some way, to resist harmful imaginaries that have infiltrated the theological vocabulary that we have inherited and that we also transmit to others."

Mawson, M. & Ziegler, P.G. 2019. The Oxford handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

This 528-page handbook is edited by Philip Ziegler, Professor of Christian Dogmatics at the University of Aberdeen, and Michael Mawson, author of Christ existing as community: Bonhoeffer's ecclesiology (2018). It is subdivided into five sections. The first section examines Bonhoeffer's life and context; the second, his theology and doctrine, and the third, ethics and public life. The fifth section discusses studying Bonhoeffer, sources and texts, readings and receptions, and, in an essay by John de Gruchy, biographies and portraits. Section four is particularly significant, as it, ambiguously on thinking after Bonhoeffer, critically analyses Bonhoeffer and feminist theologies (Jenny M. McBride); race (Reggie Williams, author of Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem renaissance theology and an ethic of resistance [2014]); community (Barry Harvey); philosophy (Jens Zimmermann), and Bonhoeffer and South Africa (Nico Koopman).

 

DEPARTMENT OF OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES

James, J.T. 2019. The storied ethics of the thanksgiving psalms. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Joshua T. James' The storied ethics of the thanksgiving psalms (published by T&T Clark) makes a unique contribution to the study of Psalms by using narrative ethics on non-narrative texts to introduce the story of the worshipper in the psalms as an important instrument in shaping the community's ethics. This new field in Old Testament ethics provides new insight into interpreting and understanding the ethics of the Psalms.

Janowksi, B. 2019. Anthropologie des Alten Testaments. Grundfragen, Kontexte, Themenfelder. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

In 1973, Hans Walter Wolff published his Anthropology of the Old Testament, which has been the standard work on the Old Testament witness to the nature of man. After Wolff, John William Rogerson's book Anthropology and the Old Testament and Thomas W. Overholt's book Cultural anthropology and the Old Testament were published in 1979 and 1996, respectively. Now, 45 years after Wolff's publication, Bernd Janowski has published a comprehensive anthropology on the Old Testament entitled Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Grundfragen - Kontexte - Themenfelder (published by Mohr Siebeck). Janowski's approach differs considerably from that of Wolff and incorporates ancient Near Eastern religious history. The volume is divided into seven sections with an extensive appendix. This major contribution will lead the discussion on Old Testament anthropology for years to come.

Solevâg, A.R. 2018. Negotiating the disabled body. Representations of disability in Early Christian texts (Early Christianity and its literature). Atlanta: SBL Press.

This book focuses on the way in which non-normative bodies are portrayed in Early Christianity from the perspective of disability studies. Solevâg shows how Christians struggled to make sense of issues related to the body, health and disability in New Testament writings and Patristic literature.

Wagner, A. 2019. God's body: The anthropomorphic God in the Old Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

In his new book, God's Body: The anthropomorphic God in the Old Testament (published by T&T Clark), Andreas Wagner uses metaphors and images in the Old Testament and the ancient Near Eastern civilisations to explain and portray the biblical notion of a human-shaped body for God. In this process, Wagner addresses frequent misconceptions on the theme and presents an overview of how one can understand the embodiment of God in the Old Testament.

Wright, N.T. 2018. Paul: A biography. New York: HarperOne.

Well-known New Testament scholar N.T. Wright offers his reconstruction of the life and views of Paul within the context of the Roman world in which he lived. He traces Paul's career from his time as persecutor of the Christian church until his death as martyr in the time of Nero. Various aspects are considered such as, among others, Paul's theological motivations and developments, spiritual achievements, and the tremendous impact he has had on Christianity over the centuries.

 

DEPARTMENT OF PRACTICAL AND MISSIONAL THEOLOGY

Cilliers, J. 2019. Timing grace: Reflections on the temporality of preaching. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media.

Building on his extensive repertoire of contemplation on preaching, Johan Cilliers considers the timeliness of preaching. In Timing grace, Cilliers proposes that preaching should speak of God's grace in the present, notwithstanding that God's grace is linked to both the past and the future. In conversation with visual art and sermons, Cilliers unfolds the way in which preaching creates a new, alternative time and space for the breaking through of God's revelation and goodness.

Doehring, C. 2015. The practice of pastoral care: A postmodern approach. Kentucky: Westminister John Knox Press.

In this book, Prof. Doehring elaborates on an intercultural model for pastoral and spiritual care to be used in various contemporary, postmodern and plural contexts. According to Nancy Ramsay, a scholar of Pastoral Theology and Care, Doehring describes the practice of intercultural pastoral care as a "theologically reflective and co-creative process that seeks spiritual integration and relational justice". Using a narrative approach, Doehring elucidates the meaning of spirituality in lived experiences and shows how psychological, cultural and theological dimensions of pastoral care intersect with each other, in order to create either a life-giving or a life-limiting theology which, in turn, informs the paradigm whereby we live our lives. This book is an invaluable resource, not only to the student of pastoral care, but also to the minister or lay caregiver who wishes to guide fellow believers to the living of a holistic, healthy and satisfactory life in a complex and diverse postmodern world.

Stanislaus, L.T. & Ueffing, M. 2018. Intercultural living. Explorations in missiology. New York: Orbis Books.

This book is useful, particularly in a multicultural context such as South Africa. It provides some models and ideas on how to live "interculturally" and develop intercultural competence. There are various challenges associated with "intercultural living" and the authors assist us by presenting possible answers.

Ward, P. 2017. Introducing practical theology. Mission, ministry and the life of the Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.

This book is aimed at two audiences: the first-time student who needs an orientation in the field of Practical Theology and, secondly, the scholars teaching in this field who need their attention drawn to the different approaches in the field of Practical Theology. An important aspect of the book is that Ward wants to reclaim the clerical paradigm. He also emphasises the daily and ordinary doing of practical theology.

 

DEPARTMENT OF RELIGION STUDIES

Cloete, A. (ed.) 2019. Interdisciplinary reflections on the interplay between religion, film, and youth. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media.

In the book Interdisciplinary reflections on the interplay between religion, film, and youth, Cloete underscores the growing, but sometimes undercut interplay between religion, film, and youth. The book is a collection of significant contributions from leading scholars in the fields of theology, media, and youth studies. The book is not only theoretically laden, but also offers some important empirical data. The contributors offer different perspectives and insights into the use of media, specifically film, in promulgating religion, with the main focus on the youth.

Lewis, C. & Cohn-Sherbok, D. 2019. Interfaith worship and prayer: We must pray together. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Christopher Lewis and Dan Cohn-Sherbok offer comprehensive, yet specialised approaches to an understanding of religions in their new book Interfaith worship and prayer: We must pray together. The book brings forth contributions and insights from different religious traditions, while simultaneously creating space for interreligious dialogue and the pursuit of world peace. The book's twelve chapters are dedicated to the exploration of various religions and how they all aim to contribute towards human flourishing and well-being. It is a valuable resource for academic engagements, for students of religion, and for individuals whose interest is vested in knowing more about other religions and are advocates of interreligious dialogues and world peace.

 

 

Date Published: 13 December 2019