Every life, and every land and people, has reasons for lament and complaint. This collection of essays explores the biblical foundations and the contemporary resonances of lament literature. This new work presents a variety of responses to tragedy and a world out of joint are explored. These responses arise from Scripture, from within the liturgy of the church, and from beyond the church; in contemporary life (the racially conflicted land of Aotearoa- New Zealand, secular music concerts and cyber-space). The book thus reflects upon theological and pastoral handling of such experience, as it bridges these different worlds. It brings together in conversation specialists from different fields of academy and church to provide a resource for integrating faith and scholarship in dark places.

Interpreting Isaiah requires attention to empire. The matrix of the book of Isaiah was the imperial contexts of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. The community of faith in these eras needed a prophetic vision for life. Not only is the book of Isaiah crafted in light of empire, but current readers cannot help but approach Isaiah in light of imperial realities today. As a neglected area of research, Isaiah and Imperial Context probes how empire can illumine Isaiah through essays that utilize archaeology, history, literary approaches, post-colonialism, and feminism within the various sections of Isaiah. The contributors are Andrew T. Abernethy, Mark G. Brett, Tim Bulkeley, John Goldingay, Christopher B. Hays, Joy Hooker, Malcolm Mac MacDonald, Judith E. McKinlay, Tim Meadowcroft, Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, and David Ussishkin. "Various parts of the book of Isaiah were written when Israel and Judah lived under imperial domination. It is therefore surprising that this multi-faceted topic has not been the subject of extended analysis before. In the kaleidoscope of essays collected here new patterns within the book are exposed and a colorful light is shed on many of its separate parts and themes. I am sure this will prove invigorating for future research and exegesis." --Hugh Williamson, University of Oxford "An excellent and innovative discussion by a group of scholars engaged in a reading of Isaiah centered on imperial empire. The diversity of approaches extends from a focus on historical background, language, and social custom to the present reception of the text, particularly from the perspective of post-colonial theory." --Ed Conrad, University of Queensland "The editors have produced a collection of essays that are sharply focused on . . . reading the texts of Isaiah in the context of the imperial realities of Assyrian and Babylonian military and economic power. The essays are consistently well-written, and the collection is both helpful and even quite provocative. I suggest this book be required reading for any modern studies of Prophetic literature." --Daniel Smith-Christopher, Loyola Marymount University Andrew T. Abernethy is Lecturer in Old Testament at Ridley Melbourne Mission and Ministry College. Mark G. Brett is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Whitley College, MCD University of Divinity. Tim Bulkeley recently retired as Lecturer at Carey Baptist College, Auckland, and is now a freelance scholar. Tim Meadowcroft is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Laidlaw College, Auckland.

About the Contributor(s): Miriam Bier teaches Old Testament at the London School of Theology. Tim Bulkeley has taught Old Testament at the Universite protestante du Congo, the University of Auckland, and at Carey Baptist College.

The God of the Bible is not a member of any class of comparable beings. Beyond and other than all gods and every creature, God is not gendered. However, Christian language for God and the pictures we use to help us talk about God are predominantly male. Among the pictures one of the most often used and appreciated is 'father'. Yet God (unlike many of the gods of the ancient world) is not only a father. The Bible and the early Christian theologians used motherly as well as fatherly language and pictures to speak of God. In this way at least their image of God was richer and deeper than ours This book encourages readers to appropriate this wider range of pictures of what God is like, and to learn again to relate to a God who is beyond all imagining and closer than life itself. This God is not only a father

Synopsis: Today the "land of promise" is a spark in the tinder dry atmosphere of Middle Eastern affairs. Events there continue to wield influence among peoples and in places well beyond the region itself. This raises for Christians the acute theological problem of how to relate to the "land of promise" today and in light of the land of the Bible. Our hope is that this volume of essays will contribute to a more informed and theologically coherent response to the "Land of Promise." It is offered here in the name of peace for all peoples in that place and among those who continue to look to her as a place of promise. Endorsements: "This volume is as important as its topic is serious. We must think clearly and Christianly about what the scriptures tell us concerning land, holy land, the modern Middle East, and biblical promise in a world that entertains enormous theological confusion. These able and provocative essays will offer us skilled guidance in territory few scholars are willing to enter." -Gary M. Burge Wheaton College "I salute the brilliant scholarship, biblical integrity, and keen commitment to justice that emanates from every chapter of The Gospel and the Land of Promise. This book will be a valuable tool in the hands of laypersons, teachers, pastors, and scholars who seek to understand the political and theological realities in Israel/Palestine in the light of God's word. From New Zealand, the farthest country from the land of promise, comes this dynamic voice of reason and compassion." -Alex Awad Bethlehem Bible College "In these excellent essays, Christian scholars in New Zealand--where indigenous land rights have long been at the center of public discourse--reflect on 'land' in the Bible, and particularly the notion of a 'holy land' or 'promised land' in the Middle East. In the main, the book is a rejoinder to Christian Zionism. At the same time, it invites further reflection on the irreducible significance of place or landedness to human existence and Christian identity." -Chris Marshall Victoria University of Wellington "The Christian world remains split down the middle on the issue of how to relate biblical teaching on the land to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here is a serious attempt by scholars of several different disciplines to wrestle with the question of how to read the Old Testament through the eyes of the New and in the light of the painful realities on the ground today. They have effectively thrown down to gauntlet to Dispensationalists and Christian Zionists of every kind: can they come up with equally detailed, heavy-weight scholarship to support their case?" -Colin Chapman author of Whose Promised Land? "This is an immensely important work of biblical scholarship on the theology of the holy land . . . While Christian Zionists invariably see the coming of Jesus as the postponement of the land promises God made to Abraham, the authors demonstrate conclusively from the Scriptures that these promises were fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ." -Stephen Sizer Christ Church Vicarage Editor Biographies: Philip Church teaches biblical studies in the School of Theology, Laidlaw College, Auckland, NZ. Tim Bulkeley teaches Old Testament at Carey Baptist College, Auckland, NZ. He is the author of Amos: Hypertext Bible Commentary (2005). Tim Meadowcroft teaches Old Testament and is Head of the School of Theology, Mission, and Ministry, Laidlaw College, Auckland, NZ.and is the Dean of the Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School, Auckland, NZ. He is the author of Haggai (Readings: A New Biblical Commentary, 2006). Peter Walker is Associate Vice-Principal & Director of Development at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of Jesus and the Holy City: New Testament Perspectives on Jerusalem (1996).