A crucial responsibility for Christian interpreters of Scripture, says Richard Bauckham, is to understand our contemporary context and to explore the Bible’s relevance to it in ways that reflect
A crucial responsibility for Christian interpreters of Scripture, says Richard Bauckham, is to understand our contemporary context and to explore the Bible’s relevance to it in ways that reflect serious critical engagement with that context. In this book Bauckham models how this task can be carried out.
Bauckham calls for our reading of Scripture to lead us to greater engagement with critical issues in today’s world, including globalization, environmental degradation, and widespread poverty. He works to bring biblical texts to bear on these contemporary realities through the Bible’s metanarrative of God and the world, according to which God’s purpose takes effect in the blessing and salvation and fulfillment of the world as his cherished creation.
Journal for the Study of The New Testament Booklist "Admirable. . . . Unusual in its relevance to a wide audience, while remaining a stimulating read for those more familiar with its underlying concerns."
Anthony C. Thiselton — University of Nottingham
"The work of a master theologian, these magnificent essays are a joy to read. They combine judicious balance, practical relevance, and theological wisdom. . . . A superb collection that amply repays study."
Ellen F. Davis — Duke Divinity School
"Here Bauckham shows the breadth of his concerns, from the classical theological topics of freedom and hope to Christianity's conversation with Buddhism and modern secular culture. He is unafraid to point to the inadequacies of some aspects of traditional theology, while at the same time he offers a strong, distinctively biblical, Christian critique of contemporary culture. . . . These essays are lucid and mercifully free of technical jargon, suitable for experts and lay theologians alike."
Christian Century "Bauckham elegantly illumines the way the Bible speaks its critical voices into the most disordered aspects of our common life."
View Review quote
Richard Bauckham is professor emeritus of New Testament studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, senior scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and a fellow of both the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His previous books include Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony and The Bible in Politics: How to Read the Bible Politically.
View Biographical note
