Theological interpretation of the Bible is key to the health and vitality as well as the belief and practice of the church. Just how it is done has been the subject of much discussion and debate over the centuries. In "Reading Scripture with the Church, " four leading biblical scholars make the case for theological interpretation. Each author is given the opportunity to interact with the other three, and all four interact with premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to biblical interpretation. This is an important book for pastors, teachers, and other serious students of the Bible who will be motivated to embrace the task of interpreting the Bible with greater energy, caution, and precision.

Inspired by and engaging with the provocative and prolific work of Stephen D. Moore, Bible and Theory showcases some of the most current thinking emerging at the intersections of critical methods with biblical texts. The result is a plurality of readings that deconstruct customary disciplinary boundaries. These chapters, written by a wide range of biblical scholars, collectively argue by demonstration for the necessity and benefits of biblical criticism inflected with queer theory, literary criticism, postmodernism, cultural studies, and more. Bible and Theory: Essays in Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Stephen D. Moore invites the reader to rethink what constitutes the Bible and to reconsider what we are doing when we read and interpret it.

Some biblical interpreters' imaginations extend only as far as outlandish source theories or esoteric hypothetical audiences. The interpretive energies let loose in Glasgow over the past decade or so, however, have produced a cadre of interpreters who defy the disciplinary mandates of biblical criticisms in favour of reading the Bible with imaginations both careful and carefree. Infused with literary, political, art-critical, cinematic, liturgical and other interests, these essays display interpretive verve freed from the anxiety of disciplines - with closely observed insights, critical engagement with biblical texts, and vivid inspiration from the cultural world within which they are set. Here there is no "gap" between world and text, but the intimate congeniality of close, dear, comfortable interpretive friends. Contributors: Ben Morse, Hugh Pyper, Alastair Hunter, Hannah Strommen, Jonathan C. P. Birch, Anna Fisk, Kuloba Wabyanga Robert, Samuel Tongue, A. K. M. Adam, Abigail Pelham, and the Religarts Collective (with Yvonne Sherwood).

In this addition to the Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament series, A. K. M. Adam provides a guide through the Greek text of the Epistle of James. This handbook highlights the linguistic, rhetorical, and stylistic features of James, utilizing the Greek text to lead discussion on many of the theological questions raised by the letter. Adam expertly unveils the letter's excellent use of Hellenistic Greek balanced with noticeable Jewish patterns of thought. Students and teachers will find James a helpful tool in navigating this centuries-old piece of New Testament literature.

This work contains influential essays which reveal the importance of postmodern interpretation of the Bible for the contemporary church. Topics examined include: biblical theology and the problem of modernity; the sign of Jonah; and repetition, difference and the imitation of Christ. It includes a biography, name and Scripture indexes and is written by a leading scholar in postmodern criticism.

"Postmodernism" is not simply one perspective but a basketful of related critical assumptions. A.K. M Adam prepares readers for wrestling with deconstruction, ideological criticism, postmodern feminism, "transgressive" postmodernism, and other postmodern approaches to biblical interpretation. He offers plain-language explanations and illustrative examples and shows how students might undertake their own postmodern biblical interpretation.