In this new volume, prolific scholar Walter Brueggemann seeks to show Christian preachers how to consider the faith witnessed in several Old Testament traditions and to help them discover rich and suggestive connections to our contemporary faith challenges. The author also assumes that a wholesale sustained engagement with the Old Testament is worth the effort for the preacher. He recognizes what he calls the "sorry state" of Old Testament texts in the Revised Common Lectionary, which he claims often constitute a major disservice for the church and its preachers. The lectionary gerrymanders the Old Testament to make it serve other claims, most of the time not allowing it to have its own evangelical say. Brueggemann hopes that his exposition in this volume will evoke and energize fresh homiletical attention to the Old Testament, precisely because he believes the urgent work of the gospel in our society requires attentive listening to these ancient voices of bold insistent faith.

So much theology is confusing and intimidating. The concepts themselves are given weighty-sounding names, such as incarnation and justification, and the explanations of the concepts sometimes can be more confusing than the names.Captivating, entertaining, and highly informative, Crazy Talk helps readers navigate their way through that complexity and offers a vocabulary that dares (and equips!) its readers to embrace their own faith in a new, well-informed way.The purpose of Crazy Talk, says editor Rolf A. Jacobson, is to render the heart of our Christian theology in a form that is accessible and appealing to everyone. The format of the book is similar to that of a dictionary of theological terms, but with a twist of humor! Each entry includes the name of the theological term, an ironic definition of the term, and a short humorous essay offering a fuller explanation of the term. In making the term understandable, Jacobson concentrates on the big theological issue that is at stake in the term and why it matters.This revised and expanded edition includes new and expanded entries and all new images.

The Old Testament bears witness to an in-your-face, holy God--a God who gets down and dirty with creation and history; a God who gets in people's face with love and law, with power and purpose. Yet Israel's in-your-face God is also "holy"--too other, too raw, too intense to be handled without oven mitts. Rolf Jacobson wrestles with this in-your-face God. The Old Testament starts at the beginning, where God digs in the dirt to create humanity and then gets in the dustlings' faces when they sin. God smiles on Abraham and Sarah, electing their descendants as the chosen people, but has to get in Pharaoh's face when he tries to enslave the people. Mostly, God gets in Israel's face: with laws about what it looks like to be God's people and through the prophets, who have to get in the faces of those who turn away from the Holy One. Jacobson also explores the psalms, poetry in which God often hides his face. He closes by exploring how the Old Testament points us ahead to Jesus, when God took on a human face and offered us the most intimate picture of God we'll ever get.

The Book of Psalms is perhaps the most cherished book in the Old Testament. In this lively volume, two experienced teachers invite students to read and explore the Psalter and roam widely among its poems. The book introduces the dynamics of the biblical text, helping students become careful and attentive readers. It covers how to read Hebrew poetry, the Psalter's basic genres, the idea of "the psalmist," the metaphorical world of the Psalms, and the theology of the Psalms. Sidebars, discussion questions, and plenty of examples enhance the reading experience. This clear and concise guide is accessible to all serious students of the Bible.

This lively, engaging introduction to the Old Testament is critical and theological, lavishly illustrated, and accompanied by a variety of pedagogical aids. It serves as the Old Testament counterpart to Mark Allan Powell's successful Introducing the New Testament (over 105,000 copies sold). Introducing the Old Testament presents disputed and controversial issues fairly, neither dictating conclusions nor privileging skepticism over faith-based perspectives. The full-color interior is illustrated with photographs and fine art and includes sidebars, maps, a glossary, and further reading suggestions. A companion website through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources features a wealth of additional resources for students and instructors. Resources for students include chapter objectives, study questions, flash cards, and self-quizzes. Resources for professors include chapter objectives, discussion prompts, pedagogical suggestions, PowerPoint slides, and a test/quiz bank.

The many introductions to the psalms available to readers tend to focus on various types and forms of psalms but overlook different theological approaches to the Psalter. This volume brings together leading psalms scholars from Catholic and Protestant traditions and takes into account recent scholarship on the shape and shaping of the Psalter and on the rhetorical interpretation of the Psalms. Soundings in the Theology of Psalms is the second of several "Soundings" volumes to be published by Fortress Press. These volumes offer state-of-the-art essays introducing readers to the current state of discussion and debate on various segments of the Bible.