This book invites readers to assume responsibility for their own interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount through a practice of "critical study of the Bible as scripture." Such a practice takes as a starting point the conclusions about "the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount for believers today," which Christian believers of all walks of life formulate for themselves, which non-Christian ordinary readers readily envision as they observe Christians, and which scholars imply in their sophisticated interpretations. Assuming responsibility for one's interpretation involves becoming aware that it results from a series of choices among equally legitimate and plausible options, and self-consciously deciding whether or not one wants to claim "it is the best for believers today" - or, for Christian interpreters, "I believe (credo) it is Word of God for us today." Through a series of exercises, readers - whether simple believers or scholars are invited first to formulate their own conclusions about teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and then to recognize the choices implied in their interpretations by comparing them with five kinds of readings proposed by scholars. "Daniel Patte shows respect for every interpretation, be it those of 'ordinary people' or those of scholars, and clarifies underlying presuppositions of each option. In a fascinating and new way, he relates critical insights to matters of faith, ultimately to help Christians affirm their credo as truly theirs." Christina Grenholm, Uppsala University Daniel M. Patte is Professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt University and the author of Discipleship according to the Sermon on the Mount (Trinity 1996).

The book of Hebrews presents interpretive challenges and theological comparisons unrivaled in the New Testament. Charts on the Book of Hebrews puts this demanding yet rewarding information in an accessible and useful format. The charts fall into four categories:

1. Introductory matters (e.g., authorship of Hebrews)
2. Influences in Hebrews (e.g. Second Temple messianic figures)
3. Theological issues (e.g. words of exhortation)
4. Exegetical concerns (e.g. figures of speech)

Students will find this an invaluable companion to classes on Hebrews. Pastors and teachers will benefit from these insightful charts to quickly clarify difficult concepts while teaching. And all visual learners will find that these charts make Hebrews more comprehensible.

In this series of reflections on the mystery of Jesus and the questions that surround him, noted New Testament scholar Wayne Meeks redirects the course of the Jesus debates. Insisting that we cease focusing on who the historical Jesus was and ask instead, who is Christ? Meeks demonstrates with electric and lucid prose that Jesus is not a permanent artifact whose precise nature can be traced back through history but, rather, a figure whose identity continues to emerge as contemporary persons engage him in their daily lives.

Brevard Childs here turns his sharp scholarly eye to the works of the apostle Paul and makes an unusual argument: the New Testament was canonically shaped, its formation a hermeneutical exercise in which its anonymous apostles and postapostolic editors collected, preserved, and theologically shaped the material in order for the evangelical traditions to serve successive generations of Christians.

Childs contends that within the New Testament the Pauline corpus stands as a unit bookended by Romans and the Pastoral Epistles. He assigns an introductory role to Romans, examining how it puts the contingencies of Paul's earlier letters into context without sacrificing their particularity. At the other end, the Pastoral Epistles serve as a concluding valorization of Paul as the church's doctrinal model. By considering Paul's works as a whole, Childs offers a way to gain a fuller understanding of the individual letters.

Despite its rather austere appearance, the Codex Sinaiticus is a treasure beyond price. Produced in the middle of the fourth century, its bound parchment pages hold the full canon of the Christian Bible and more the handwritten Greek text of the earliest surviving copy of the complete koine New Testament; the earliest and best copies of some Septuagint texts, the Old Testament Scriptures as they were adopted by the first-century church; and two late fi rst-century Christian texts, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. The sections are heavily marked by early correctors.

Told here is the compelling story of how the Codex Sinaiticus was created and used in the ancient church; how it was preserved for centuries at the monastery of St. Catherine s, Mount Sinai; its subsequent history and how its pages came to be divided and dispersed; and how it has been compiled again and made accessible to a worldwide audience for the first time.

D. C. Parker s outstanding research and excellent storytelling skills simultaneously illuminate the chronology of bookmaking in Western culture and the effects of that technology on the presentation of the biblical canon. Offering a fascinating look at the task of making a Bible in the year, AD 350, he discusses how included books were chosen or not; physical elements of production layout, ink, parchment, binding, and budget; the jobs of scribes and correctors; and the role of annotators. As readers follow the travels of the pieces of the Codex Sinaiticus through the twentieth century, they ll discover key personalities and places, and absorb the details of the current production of the Internet electronic edition of this singular document. Full-color illustrations and suggestions for further reading add much to the journey.

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