Paul’s letter to the Galatians begins with a proclamation of deliverance from the present evil age and comes to a climax with the ringing cry “new creation!” The Galatians live between these two poles, and the letter moves from their new identity in Christ to the implications of that identity for their life together.
Susan Eastman argues that Galatians 4:12–5:1 plays a key role in this movement—it displays the power of God’s act in Christ, apart from the law, not only to generate but to perfect the Galatians’ new life in Christ. She shows that Paul communicates to his converts the motivation and power necessary to move them from their ambivalence about his gospel to a faith that “stands fast” in its allegiance to Christ alone. She further states that the medium and the message are inseparable. Paul’s discourse or “mother tongue”—packed with maternal images, representative, vulnerable and yet authoritative, and above all, marked by personal suffering—demonstrates the content of the good news.
These Advent and Christmas meditations are based on the seasonal hymns of Charles Wesley. Each daily meditation, keyed to the Scripture reading for the day and portions of Wesley’s texts, concludes with a brief prayer based on the day’s theme. Reflective materials place Wesley within his rich Anglican heritage. Daily readings are between 500–600 words in length.
This book draws together 12 previously published essays that cover the breadth of Professor Wainwright’s theological work and the impact it has had in a variety of places around the world. The essays are introduced and edited by the author. An epilogue places each in the context of Wainwright’s wider theological career. Distribution in the United States by Westminster John Knox.
In his interpretation of the biblical theme of judgment, Via discusses the ancient Greek and Hebrew conceptions of justice as the context for speaking of divine judgment in the present. While he rejects the argument that the 9/11 terror attacks were “God’s judgment,” Via does not wish to abandon the deeper biblical understanding of divine judgment on unjust nations, and asks what that understanding might mean for us today.