The Psalter as Witness: Theology, Poetry, and Genre

by W. Dennis Tucker Jr. (Editor), W. H. Bellinger Jr. (Editor)

Overview

The Psalter as Witness considers the complexity of the Psalms as well as their role in bearing witness to the theological claims that comprise Israel’s traditions. While no single volume can readily capture the full range of the Psalter’s theology, these chapters provide rich reflection on significant themes in selected psalms, in collections of psalms, and even across the structure of the Psalter itself. The result of the Baylor-Bonn symposium, The Psalter as Witness employs the full array of methodological approaches to the Psalms practiced in both Germany and North America. The Psalter as Witness thus effectively mirrors the theological, thematic, and generic intricacies of the Psalms in the myriad ways interpreters read the Psalter. The Psalms here become a window into the central, life-giving commitments of Israel in its call to justice and mercy, its practice of ethics and politics, and its worship and life with God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481305563
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2017
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

W. Dennis Tucker, Jr. is Professor of Christian Scriptures at George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

W. H. Bellinger, Jr. is Chair of the Department of Religion, W. Marshall and Lulie Craig Chairholder in Bible, and Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Table of Contents

Part One. Theological Approaches to the Psalms
1. Poetry and Theology in the Psalms: Psalm 133
W. H. Bellinger Jr.

2. Feminine Imagery and Theology in the Psalter: Psalms 90, 91, and 92
Nancy deClaissé-Walford

3. "Who Is Like the Lord Our God?": Theology and Ethics in the Psalms
Harry P. Nasuti

4. David and the Political Theology of the Psalter
Stephen Breck Reid

5. Spatial Theory and Theology in Psalms 46-48
Till Magnus Steiner

Part Two. Theological Themes in the Psalms

6. Human Transience, Justice, and Mercy: Psalm 103
Johannes Schnocks

7. The God of Heaven in Book 5 of the Psalter
W. Dennis Tucker Jr.

8. The Theology of the Poor in the Psalter
Johannes Bremer

9. The Elohistic Psalter: Formation and Purpose
Frank-Lothar Hossfeld

10. The Elohistic Psalter: History and Theology
Joel S. Burnett

Part Three. Genre and Theology

11. The Psalter as a Book: Genre as Key to Its Theology
Egbert Ballhorn

12. Genre, Theology, and the God of the Psalms
Rolf Jacobson

What People are Saying About This

William P. Brown

In a mere twelve essays, the methodological fervor of current Psalms scholarship is well represented. This volume addresses a remarkably wide range of topics, from politics to theology, the performative to space construction, poverty, and aesthetics. Moreover, The Psalter as Witness generously features emerging and well-established scholars.

Susan Gillingham

The Psalter as Witness engages with concerns such as the nature of community, feminism, ethics, politics, the poor, and Zionism in the Psalms; with theological themes such as the mercy and transcendence of God; and with literary issues such as the shaping of the Psalter. Its non-partisan approach makes for stimulating reading for anyone—a specialist or not—who is interested in exploring what the Psalms say about God and his people then and now.

From the Publisher

Depression is difficult to define. It is commonly described as a chemical imbalance, a subjective experience of despondency, or even a semiotic construct. The various theories of depression—biochemical, psychological, cultural—often reflect one’s philosophical anthropology. How one defines the human person is telling in how one defines mental disorder. Philosophy and the sciences tend to offer reductive explanations of what it means to be human, and such approaches rarely consider that we may be spiritual beings and so fail to entertain a theological approach.Peter J. Bellini invites us to reimagine the person in light of the image of God in Christ, the divine enfleshed in human weakness. The Cerulean Soul offers a relational theological anthropology that engages with science and philosophy under a cruciform framework, assuming and affirming human contingency and limitations. With reference to Christ’s incarnation, Bellini reveals how depression is inexorably tied to our relationship with God as his created beings: original, fallen, and renewed. What emerges is a therapeia of depression that fills the gaps in our present attempts to determine the malady’s etiology and treatment.Taking the missio Dei of union with the risen Christ as its goal, The Cerulean Soul opens up the perennial problem of human despondency to an eschatological trajectory of hope and peace, redemption and transformation, given freely in Christ through the healing and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Christoformity, informed by the subversive kingdom of God, gives new form to all persons, "abled" and "disabled." This promise holds true whether we understand disorder of the mind to be part of the natural order of creation, a consequence of fallen choices, or even an instrument of growth.

Editorial Reviews

The abundance of footnotes, technical terms, and Hebrew throughout make this volume particularly useful for those with a professional interest in the study of the Psalms.

The Bible Today - Brother John R. Barker