Institutions and ideologies lay down parameters of accepted reading for those who wish to maintain acceptable status in their guilds. This is equally true in the church and in the academy. However, interpretation can refuse and transgress such boundaries. The Greek god Hermes was both a thief and a conveyor of messages, and "hermeneutics," the practice of interpretation, shares in this joint heritage of Hermes. Indeed, interpretative thieves constantly transgress the boundaries of both the permitted and the decorous.
Readings of the canonical gospels have a particular place in this history. Indeed, the gospels are the pride and joy of the church(es), as they are of an academy that scarcely separates itself from the church. The following essays, however, all share a desire to read Herme(s)tically, in heterodox or even heretical directions. In this volume, and against the traditional readings and their keepers, the contributors practice interpretative thefts or, put differently, they pursue "lines of flight" (Deleuze and Guattari 1987), not movements of escape but rather creative ways of contesting prevailing ideologies (cf. also Cohen and Taylor). This pursuit results in marginal readings, readings excluded by dominant Christian and academic ideologies. These readings trace the contours and the effects of the canonical and creedal, as well as the academic, captivity of the gospels. Every ideology has inherent points of weakness, fractures in its assemblage where resistance and deviation become possible - not escape to some ideology-free zone, but sufficient disturbance to open up a space for thoughts and new understandings. The keepers of the various guilds/myths inevitably see this disturbance as, at best, noxious and, at worst, as demonic, but we para-critics see our lines of flight as opening space for human living (Smith 1978: 291). Parabolic interpretations create a living space by negotiating and exploiting difference, not by acquiescing to the deadly sameness of any imperial (political, ecclesiastical, or academic) system (cf. Serres 1982).
Many of the contributors read "from outside" by playing the gospels off a wide variety of secular texts, including recent film and literature. Thus, in "Jesus's Two Fathers," Aichele views the Lukan Christmas story eccentrically by reading it with China Miéville's urban fantasy novel, King Rat. The result is a rather unorthodox understanding of the incarnation. In "Tempting Jesuses," Pippin views askew the identities (God and Satan, gender), ethics, and power of the temptation narratives. She does so by joining those gospel narratives with literary works by Saramago, Kazantzakas, Morrow, McNally, Langguth, and others. In "Matthew 11:28 and Release From the Burden of Sin," Kreitzer traces a peculiar afterlife of one Christian image of salvation by moving from Matthew through Bunyan to Joffee's The Mission. Staley's target is the liberation of the story of the woman taken in adultery. To do so, he lumps that (already suspicious) "Johannine" story with Liar, Liar and moves from a rhetorical to an intertextual reading. Each of these juxtapositions render their respective gospel (texts) newly seen precursors.

In this work, Kenneth Schenck re-presents the complex argument of Hebrews in terms of the salvation story it tells. Written at a level for college and seminary students, Understanding the Book of Hebrews shows how this early Christian sermon utilized the events, settings, and characters of the salvation story line to remind the Christian audience that Christ has provided a definitive sacrifice for sins and that reliance on any other means of atonement is apostasy.

Scott Lewis begins his volume focusing on New Testament apocalyptic with Albert Schweitzer's famous 19th-century book The Quest for the Historical Jesus that concludes that both the worldview and the message of Jesus were thoroughly apocalyptic. And he brings us to the present with the heated debates generated by the historical Jesus research of the last 20 years and the rebirth of apocalyptic fervor at the beginning of the new millennium. The book focuses on five areas: 1) the attempts since Schweitzer to define the apocalypse genre and its constituent eschatology and theology 2) the debate over the question concerning the nature of Jesus' teaching and proclamation, and whether the apocalyptic statements attributed to him are genuine or products of the early church 3) the apocalyptic nature of Paul's proclamation and the central role it plays in his moral exhortation, ecclesiology, and spirituality 4) the nature of the message of the Book of Revelation and the different approaches to its interpretation 5) the application of apocalyptic theology and eschatology to the life of the church in the form of preaching, ethics, spirituality, and social justice; and 6) a concluding reflection A special concern of the book is the reappropriation of the apocalyptic tradition by the modern church in a manner that avoids the many misuses of this genre in the past. To this end, it is most important that apocalyptic theology be recognized for what it is: a theology of hope rather than a theology of fear.

A study of the complexities of narrative criticism in relation to the Bible. It seeks to demystify jargon, explain categories and exemplify techniques.

Fifteen top-rated professors from twelve leading Christian colleges and universities have collaborated to write this succinct, accessible New Testament survey. Unlike similar entry-level textbooks, all the contributors teach undergraduate students and understand their culture. Introductory issues (Who? When? Where? Why?) are condensed to a one-page snapshot of all the most pertinent information. In addition, more than one hundred applications are highlighted in sidebars to clarify how the New Testament authors might apply their writings to Christians living in the twenty-first century. The book's uncomplicated structure and creative format make it a perfect tool for Christian education programs in the church and college New Testament courses.

Praise for What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About:

"I have been using What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About for a full year and have had better response from my university students to this text than any I have used in the past two decades. The question is not whether a text covers everything that I as a Ph.D. In New Testament think should be covered in a survey of the New Testament. Rather, the question is whether such a text covers well and compellingly what can be covered well in a freshman-level class full of students who need to be drawn into a deeper interaction with God's Word. My survey students find the format of this text readable and the content helpful. I highly recommend it."

George H. Guthrie, Union University

"One of the challenges of teaching NT survey courses for general university students is striking the balance between giving them too much information, so that they are overwhelmed, and leaving them with too little, so that they are not stretched. This challenge is epitomized by the choice of text that is used. The great value of What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About is that the editors and authors have thought deeply about this issue, resulting in a volume that succeeds in finding that balance. Based on the confirmation that I have already received from students, I anticipate using this text to great benefit in my survey classes for years to come."

Jonathan Lunde, Biola University

"What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About is unique in that it is written by college professors for college students. Customarily college texts are written by seminary professors. While I have nothing against seminary profs, there is a world of difference between the two settings. This text gets right to the point and highlights the most important content for the target audience. The presentation is clear and attractive and the result is that students have a resource that meets them at their level and leads them to a much deeper understanding of God's Word."

Scott Duvall Ouachita Baptist University

"This book is helpful, informative, and accessible to undergraduates for whom the bottom line generally is, "What's the bottom line]" It contains a good balance between content summary and relevant historical background information to bring the New Testament documents to life. It would make a great text for a one semester New Testament survey course."

Günther H. Juncker, Toccoa Falls College

"While teaching Freshman New Testament Survey courses for more than thirty years, I have been constantly looking for a textbook that will be suitable for these Freshman courses. The book What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About has been the best textbook to meet that need."

Julio C. Vena, Toccoa Falls College