GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally - waholst@telus.net
*****
Dear Friends -
My Special Item this week is a book notice for a colleague and friend who did me the honour of serving as my doctoral advisor and defence supervisor when I graduated from St. Stephens College, University of Alberta in 1989 - that is almost 30 years ago! Adrian was a professor of religious studies, specializing in biblical studies, for many years and I happened to work with him (as a fellow Lutheran) about mid-course in his career. The fact that he taught in a school of a more conservative Lutheran church body than me did not hurt our relationship in the slightest!
I always respected his love of the Bible and no doubt some of that rubbed off even though my specialities were systematics and missiology.
Adrian informed me that his latest book The Prophetic Vision and the Real Jesus had appeared late last year and I am pleased to share some things about it with you now! I hope you find this book on the influence of Hebrew prophetic tradition on a New Testament Christian Gospel will be very enlightening and expansive.
In this issue as usual, I provide Colleague Contributions, Net Notes and Wisdom of the week.
Blessings on your week,
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
THE PROPHETIC VISION
AND THE REAL JESUS
Growth of the Prophetic Vision
and Its Impact on the Mission
of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel
by Adrian M. Leske
Wipf and Stock Publishers
Eugene Oregon, Oct. 2017.
Paperback edition. 248 pages.
$39.00 CAD. $28.40 US
Kindle $10.00 CAD.
ISBN #978-5326-3415-6.
Publishers Promo:
Using the method of intertextuality, Adrian Leske has traced the growth of the prophetic vision from Amos to the Exile, demonstrating how, after the Exile, the dominant influence on that vision down to the time of Jesus is the positive and new message of Deutero-Isaiah. With opposition from the Zadokite priesthood, and exploitation from foreign rulers, the prophetic and Levite communities find refuge in Upper Galilee and surrounding areas. Using the Gospel of Matthew, the most Jewish of the Gospels, Leske demonstrates how that vision impacted the teaching of Jesus to these communities and how he perceived his mission as the Servant/Son of man.
Understanding this prophetic vision and the Jewish nature of Matthew’s Gospel brings new insights to Matthean Christology, as well as the authorship and date of that Gospel in relation to the other Gospels.
--
Author's Bio:
Adrian M. Leske is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada. He is the author of the commentary on Matthew in The International Bible Commentary (1998), and has also published numerous articles in the area of biblical studies.
--
Author's Words:
This book is a study of the development of the prophetic tradition, beginning with the first writing prophets. It traces how the prophets learned from each other and responded to their changing environments as they were impacted by the events of history. It also touches on how the prophets influenced alternative visions, and particularly, how it found its fulfillment in the message and mission of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospel of Matthew.
Having taught both the prophetic literature and the Gospel of Matthew for many years, it became quite apparent to me how closely they were related, and how the Gospel of Matthew and the teaching of Jesus therein were dependent on the prophetic literature.
Of course, it has always been acknowledged that the writings of the New Testament had gained much from the Hebrew Bible for many of its concepts, ideas and terminology. However, the close connection between the Gospel of Matthew and the writings of the prophets, which exceeds that of any other New Testament writing, and in its portrayal of Jesus coming out of that prophetic milieu, has not always been acknowledged.
The prophetic vision was a gradual development over centuries... and met new circumstances as it grappled with social and political change...
So much of New Testament scholarship has been carried on with only superficial acknowledgement of the prophetic heritage from which the Gospels have emerged...
(The author then goes into considerable detail about how Matthew has been treated in modern Christian theological scholarship and quest for the historical Jesus studies. He then argues that Jesus cannot be understood only in the context of the gospel ethos. He emerged, and especially the Jesus of Matthew, from a much more extensive Hebrew prophetic tradition)...
While lip-service has increasingly been given to the Jewish background of the Gospel of Matthew, it is hoped that this study will make that indebtedness clearer. More and more, the author of this Gospel has been regarded as a Jewish follower of Jesus, but the implications of that have rarely been spelled out...
(This focus on the Jewishness of Matthew places into question various assumed theories about the sources of his text, and how many modern scholars have failed to understand the true Matthew, and the Jesus he proclaimed in his Gospel. Leske is not so much interested here in how the various Gospels compare textually, but in how Matthew portrays Jesus against his Jewish background and particularly the prophetic content.)
Jesus was popularly proclaimed to be a prophet. If we wish to find the Jesus of history, the “real Jesus,“ we will find him in the fulfillment of the prophetic vision... and this will help us to better understand the significance of Jesus’ life and teaching for us today.
- edited and paraphrased from the Introduction
(the interpretation is mine)
--
My Thoughts:
One of the major benefits of this study is the author’s skill and clarity in describing the historical development of the Hebrew prophetic tradition. My exposure to biblical studies helped me to encounter the Hebrew prophets on the one hand, and the Christian Gospels on the other.
But this book helps me to see the connection between the two; and especially the connection between the prophets and Matthew.
Another gift of this book is that the author keeps an important question before him throughout. If the true Jesus of history is profoundly part of the Jewish prophetic tradition out of which he arose - so what? What does this mean for people today? How does it help them to understand Jesus better?
I think Leske helps us to move past the textual and critical debates to the matter of essentials, and that is helpful to me. There is a place for understanding these academic debates, but too much concentration on them confuses people and fails to let them come to the point of it all.
It is good to learn from a teacher who takes the Bible (both Hebrew and Christian texts) seriously. Too few of us seem to want to make the effort to do so, and we - as well as our hearers in worship and classroom - are the less because of it.
Finally, I would suggest that a study like this could be used effectively in inter-faith (especially Jewish and Christian comparative) biblical studies. For too long we have looked at these texts in isolation from each other.
It is good to know that books of this quality and substance continue to be written. I thank a teacher of mine - and one who helped me considerably in my vocation - for writing this one.
____
Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
https://tinyurl.com/y8ek8j8m
Buy the book from Wipf and Stock:
https://tinyurl.com/y7xbbtre
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
*****
Dear Friends -
My Special Item this week is a book notice for a colleague and friend who did me the honour of serving as my doctoral advisor and defence supervisor when I graduated from St. Stephens College, University of Alberta in 1989 - that is almost 30 years ago! Adrian was a professor of religious studies, specializing in biblical studies, for many years and I happened to work with him (as a fellow Lutheran) about mid-course in his career. The fact that he taught in a school of a more conservative Lutheran church body than me did not hurt our relationship in the slightest!
I always respected his love of the Bible and no doubt some of that rubbed off even though my specialities were systematics and missiology.
Adrian informed me that his latest book The Prophetic Vision and the Real Jesus had appeared late last year and I am pleased to share some things about it with you now! I hope you find this book on the influence of Hebrew prophetic tradition on a New Testament Christian Gospel will be very enlightening and expansive.
In this issue as usual, I provide Colleague Contributions, Net Notes and Wisdom of the week.
Blessings on your week,
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
THE PROPHETIC VISION
AND THE REAL JESUS
Growth of the Prophetic Vision
and Its Impact on the Mission
of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel
by Adrian M. Leske
Wipf and Stock Publishers
Eugene Oregon, Oct. 2017.
Paperback edition. 248 pages.
$39.00 CAD. $28.40 US
Kindle $10.00 CAD.
ISBN #978-5326-3415-6.
Publishers Promo:
Using the method of intertextuality, Adrian Leske has traced the growth of the prophetic vision from Amos to the Exile, demonstrating how, after the Exile, the dominant influence on that vision down to the time of Jesus is the positive and new message of Deutero-Isaiah. With opposition from the Zadokite priesthood, and exploitation from foreign rulers, the prophetic and Levite communities find refuge in Upper Galilee and surrounding areas. Using the Gospel of Matthew, the most Jewish of the Gospels, Leske demonstrates how that vision impacted the teaching of Jesus to these communities and how he perceived his mission as the Servant/Son of man.
Understanding this prophetic vision and the Jewish nature of Matthew’s Gospel brings new insights to Matthean Christology, as well as the authorship and date of that Gospel in relation to the other Gospels.
--
Author's Bio:
Adrian M. Leske is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada. He is the author of the commentary on Matthew in The International Bible Commentary (1998), and has also published numerous articles in the area of biblical studies.
--
Author's Words:
This book is a study of the development of the prophetic tradition, beginning with the first writing prophets. It traces how the prophets learned from each other and responded to their changing environments as they were impacted by the events of history. It also touches on how the prophets influenced alternative visions, and particularly, how it found its fulfillment in the message and mission of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospel of Matthew.
Having taught both the prophetic literature and the Gospel of Matthew for many years, it became quite apparent to me how closely they were related, and how the Gospel of Matthew and the teaching of Jesus therein were dependent on the prophetic literature.
Of course, it has always been acknowledged that the writings of the New Testament had gained much from the Hebrew Bible for many of its concepts, ideas and terminology. However, the close connection between the Gospel of Matthew and the writings of the prophets, which exceeds that of any other New Testament writing, and in its portrayal of Jesus coming out of that prophetic milieu, has not always been acknowledged.
The prophetic vision was a gradual development over centuries... and met new circumstances as it grappled with social and political change...
So much of New Testament scholarship has been carried on with only superficial acknowledgement of the prophetic heritage from which the Gospels have emerged...
(The author then goes into considerable detail about how Matthew has been treated in modern Christian theological scholarship and quest for the historical Jesus studies. He then argues that Jesus cannot be understood only in the context of the gospel ethos. He emerged, and especially the Jesus of Matthew, from a much more extensive Hebrew prophetic tradition)...
While lip-service has increasingly been given to the Jewish background of the Gospel of Matthew, it is hoped that this study will make that indebtedness clearer. More and more, the author of this Gospel has been regarded as a Jewish follower of Jesus, but the implications of that have rarely been spelled out...
(This focus on the Jewishness of Matthew places into question various assumed theories about the sources of his text, and how many modern scholars have failed to understand the true Matthew, and the Jesus he proclaimed in his Gospel. Leske is not so much interested here in how the various Gospels compare textually, but in how Matthew portrays Jesus against his Jewish background and particularly the prophetic content.)
Jesus was popularly proclaimed to be a prophet. If we wish to find the Jesus of history, the “real Jesus,“ we will find him in the fulfillment of the prophetic vision... and this will help us to better understand the significance of Jesus’ life and teaching for us today.
- edited and paraphrased from the Introduction
(the interpretation is mine)
--
My Thoughts:
One of the major benefits of this study is the author’s skill and clarity in describing the historical development of the Hebrew prophetic tradition. My exposure to biblical studies helped me to encounter the Hebrew prophets on the one hand, and the Christian Gospels on the other.
But this book helps me to see the connection between the two; and especially the connection between the prophets and Matthew.
Another gift of this book is that the author keeps an important question before him throughout. If the true Jesus of history is profoundly part of the Jewish prophetic tradition out of which he arose - so what? What does this mean for people today? How does it help them to understand Jesus better?
I think Leske helps us to move past the textual and critical debates to the matter of essentials, and that is helpful to me. There is a place for understanding these academic debates, but too much concentration on them confuses people and fails to let them come to the point of it all.
It is good to learn from a teacher who takes the Bible (both Hebrew and Christian texts) seriously. Too few of us seem to want to make the effort to do so, and we - as well as our hearers in worship and classroom - are the less because of it.
Finally, I would suggest that a study like this could be used effectively in inter-faith (especially Jewish and Christian comparative) biblical studies. For too long we have looked at these texts in isolation from each other.
It is good to know that books of this quality and substance continue to be written. I thank a teacher of mine - and one who helped me considerably in my vocation - for writing this one.
____
Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
https://tinyurl.com/y8ek8j8m
Buy the book from Wipf and Stock:
https://tinyurl.com/y7xbbtre
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site,
April 23rd, 2018
“The Shortcomings of a Digital Immigrant“
https://tinyurl.com/yaswmhuo
--
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log,
April 23rd, 2018
“One Earth Day a Year is Not Enough“
https://tinyurl.com/y7nywh9a
--
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog
April 27th, 2018
“Loneliness and Connection“
https://tinyurl.com/y73782sc
--
Philip Yancey,
Colorado
PhilipYancey.com
April 26th, 2018
“Unexpected Guest“
https://tinyurl.com/y7ab3hpq
*****
NET NOTES
DOUGLAS JOHN HALL
Celebrating Ninety Years -
An American Appreciation
Sightings,
April 26th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y83zpuey
--
HOW YO-YO MA BECAME GOD
(Or Something Like That)
Religion News Service,
April 24th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yaqk2tdv
--
72% of AMERICANS BELIEVE IN GOD
But Not Necessarily in God of the Bible
Religion News Service
April 25th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yc5gtt9v
--
RELIGION TAKES CENTRE STAGE
IN UPCOMING INDIAN ELECTIONS
Ruling Party Working With Hindu Groups
UCA News
April 25th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yb3ymjxb
--
WILLOW CREEK ELDERS ADMIT
FAILURE IN BILL HYBELS CASE
More Accusations of Abuse Emerge
Christian Post,
April 23rd, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ya3s7bmz
Publishers Weekly,
April 23rd, 2018
Book Publishers Cancel Contracts
https://tinyurl.com/y9x9ooan
--
RUSSIA IS TRYING TO ERASE THE
UKRANIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CRIMEA
It is Using Strongman Tactics in the Process
La Croix International
April 26th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y839a5ze
--
ANCIENT MASS CHILD SACRIFICE SITE FOUND
Possibly Largest - Occurred in Peru 500 Years Ago
National Geographic Magazine,
April 26th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycy7lm8s
--
A PASTORS JOB IS NOT TO MAKE
BAD THINGS SEEM BETTER
It is Best to Stay With the Truth
The Christian Century,
April 14th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y8tt2kkn
--
WILL IT FINALLY BE POSSIBLE TO
BUILD A CHURCH IN SAUDI ARABIA?
The Nation Wants an Image-Change
La Croix international
April 23rd, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ybdn4zdh
--
BEFORE POLICE NAME A MOTIVE,
ISLAMIC TERRORISTS ARE BLAMED
Toronto Terrorism Now Suggests Canada
Included in Global Crisis. But is It?
The Guardian, UK
April 25th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y7wer6sh
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
From Sojourners and the Bruderhof online
Cities have the capability of providing something
for everybody, only because, and only when, they
are created by everybody.
- Jane Jacobs
--
It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off
and put – without delay, and with tenderness – back
on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect
justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect
have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.
- Alice Walker
--
It's ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest
the fruits, vegetables and other foods that fill your tables
with abundance have nothing left for themselves.
- César Chávez
--
The duties and cares of the day crowd about us when
we awake each day – if they have not already dispelled
our night’s rest. How can everything be accommodated
in one day? When will I do this, when that? How will it
all be accomplished? Thus agitated, we are tempted to
run and rush. And so we must take the reins in hand
and remind ourselves, “Let go of your plans. The first
hour of your morning belongs to God. Tackle the day’s
work that he charges you with, and he will give you the
power to accomplish it.”
- Edith Stein
--
Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be
extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting
tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous
input of small drops of oil. If the drops of oil run out, the
light of the lamp will cease, and the bridegroom will say,
“I do not know you” (Matt. 25:12). What are these drops
of oil in our lamps? They are the small things of daily life:
faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others,
our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of
acting. These are the true drops of love that keep your
religious life burning like a living flame.
- Mother Teresa
--
The great and golden rule of art, as well as of life, is this:
that the more distinct, sharp, and wiry the bounding line,
the more perfect the work of art, and the less keen and
sharp, the greater is the evidence of weak imitation,
plagiarism, and bungling. What is it that distinguishes
honesty from knavery, but the hard line of rectitude and
certainty in the actions and intentions? Leave out this
line and you leave out life itself; all is chaos again, and
the line of the Almighty must be drawn out upon it before
man or beast can exist.
- William Blake
--
Be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your
prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new
meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and
you will understand that prayer is an education.
Remember, too, every day and whenever you can,
to repeat to yourself, “Lord, have mercy on all who
appear before you today.” For every hour and every
moment thousands of people leave life on this earth,
and their souls appear before God.…How touching
it must be to a soul standing in dread before the
Lord to feel at that instant that for him too there is
one to pray, that there is a fellow creature left on
earth to love him. And God will look on you both
more graciously, for if you have had so much pity
on him, how much more will He have pity who is
infinitely more loving and merciful than you. And
He will forgive him for your sake.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - Hannah Brencher
Remember: whatever is burrowed deep in one
hungry soul is bound to be tethered to the hearts
of many, many more.
*****
(end)
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