This commentary, like each in the series, is designed to serve readers by demonstrating the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible. Figures of the classical church such as Augustine, Calvin, Luther, and Wesley interpreted the Bible theologically, believing Scripture as a whole witnessed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Modern interpreters of the Bible questioned this premise. But, in recent decades, a critical mass of theologians and biblical scholars has begun to reassert the priority of a theological reading of Scripture. The "SCM Theological Commentary" series enlists leading theologians to read and interpret Scripture for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places.

The tyranny of the urgent is a by-product of our fast-paced world. It affects many people, but when it impacts pastors they are often tempted to ignore the critical needs of the pastoral disciplines that ensure the effectiveness of ministry.

In Thinking, Listening, and Being: Wesleyan Pastoral Disciplines, Jeren Rowell offers theological reflections on what it means to live and work as a pastor. He examines different aspects of

pastoral thinking, practice, and work, and challenges pastors to continually pursue prayer, the study of Scriptures, and theological reflection. "Working in this way," he writes, "could not only be a gift of love for the church but also an important model for parish pastors who are tempted to surrender first things to the urgencies and temptations of contemporary life."