Buswell Bulletin: Book Highlights – May/June 2022
Each month we highlight recently acquired books that are of particular interest or importance. (Inclusion on this list is not an endorsement.)
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4th ed.)
Edited by Andrew Louth
Oxford University Press, 2022
Publisher Description:
Uniquely authoritative and wide-ranging in its scope, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is the indispensable reference work on all aspects of the Christian Church. It contains over 6,500 cross-referenced A-Z entries, and offers unrivalled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; other church leaders; saints; and mystics.
In this new edition, great efforts have been made to increase and strengthen coverage of non-Anglican denominations (for example non-Western European Christianity), as well as broadening the focus on Christianity and the history of churches in areas beyond Western Europe. In particular, there have been extensive additions with regards to the Christian Church in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Australasia. Significant updates have also been included on topics such as liturgy, Canon Law, recent international developments, non-Anglican missionary activity, and the increasingly important area of moral and pastoral theology, among many others.
Since its first appearance in 1957, the ODCC has established itself as an essential resource for ordinands, clergy, and members of religious orders, and an invaluable tool for academics, teachers, and students of church history and theology, as well as for the general reader.
John Dickson
Zondervan, 2022
Publisher Description:
A Doubter's Guide to World Religions presents each of the world's five major religions and carefully outlines the history, belief systems, and spiritual practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam so that the interested and curious doubters can explore their similarities and differences.
Geerhardus Vos
Reformation Heritage Books, 2022
Publisher Description:
Biblical and natural theology may not appear to mix, but the two actually do belong together. Vos's reputation as the father of contemporary biblical theology is not negated by his earlier teaching of natural theology, appearing here for the first time in English.
Gathered from source material found in the Heritage Hall archives at Calvin Seminary and University, these are the earliest notes of Vos's lectures on natural theology. They demonstrate his understanding of Reformed orthodox approaches as well as extensive knowledge of contemporary developments in the subject.
The present volume could be regarded as, and may have formed, a partial introduction to Reformed Dogmatics since it lacks a prolegomenon and because Natural Theology discusses religion and the proofs for the existence of God.
Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors (5th ed.)
Douglas Stuart
Westminster John Knox Press, 2022
Publisher Description:
For years, Douglas Stuart’s Old Testament Exegesis has been one of the most popular ways to learn how to perform exegesis—the science and art of interpreting biblical texts properly for understanding as well as proclamation. This new edition includes a major revision and expansion of online and other resources for doing biblical research and updates past editions by including a helpful configuration of the format for the exegesis process. Stuart provides guidance for full exegesis as well as for a quicker approach specifically tailored to the task of preaching. A glossary of terms explains the sometimes-bewildering language of biblical scholarship, and a list of frequent errors guides the student in avoiding common mistakes. No exegetical guide for the Old Testament has been more widely used in training ministers and students to be faithful, careful interpreters of Scripture.
Theological and Theoretical Issues in the Synoptic Problem
Edited by John S. Kloppenborg and Joseph Verheyden
T&T Clark, 2020
Publisher Description:
The expert contributors to this volume address the Synoptic Problem and how it emerged in a context closely connected with challenges to the historical reliability of the gospels, questions about the ability of scholarship to arrive at a compelling reconstruction of the historical Jesus, the limits of the canon, and questions of the relationship between the historical reliability of gospel material and ecclesial dogma. The contributors probe various sites and issues in the 19th and 20th century to elaborate how scholarship on the synoptics was seen to complement, undergird, or complicate theological views.
Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges
John Swinton
Eerdmans, 2020
Publisher Description:
People living with mental health challenges are not excluded from God's love or even the fullness of life promised by Jesus. Unfortunately, this hope is often lost amid the well-meaning labels and medical treatments that dominate the world of mental health today. In Finding Jesus in the Storm, John Swinton makes the case for reclaiming that hope by changing the way we talk about mental health and remembering that, above all, people are people, regardless of how unconventionally they experience life. This means accepting the reality and ramifications of suffering while also affirming that there is more to humanity than cells and synapses. Finding Jesus in the Storm is a call for the church to be an epicenter of compassion for those experiencing depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and related difficulties. Part of this compassion means breaking free of the assumptions that often accompany these diagnoses, allowing for the possibility that people living within unconventional states of mental health might experience God in unique ways that are real and perhaps even revelatory. In each chapter, Swinton gives voice to those experiencing the mental health challenges in question, so readers can see firsthand what God's healing looks like in a variety of circumstances. The result is a book about people instead of symptoms, description instead of diagnosis, and lifegiving hope for everyone in the midst of the storm.
Francis Turretin (1623-87) and the Reformed Tradition
Nicholas A. Cumming
Brill, 2020
Publisher Description:
In this biography of Reformed theologian Francis Turretin (1623-87), Nicholas A. Cumming provides critical context for the life and theology of this important seventeenth-century theologian and his impact on the Reformed tradition as a whole. Turretin has commonly been identified as a strict scholastic theologian; this work places Turretin in his broader context, analyzing his life and theology in terms of the political and religious aspects of post-Reformation Europe and his posthumous influence on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Reformed theology. This work begins with a biography of Turretin, including his education and ministry, then proceeds to the context of Turretin's theology in the early modern and modern periods, particularly in relation to his major work The Institutes of Elenctic Theology.
Ancient Greek Grammar for the Study of the New Testament
Heinrich von Siebenthal, translated from the German
Peter Lang, 2019
Publisher Description:
The Ancient Greek Grammar for the Study of the New Testament is a tool for theologians and others interested in interpreting the Greek New Testament. It is a reference grammar that systematically covers all areas relevant to well-founded text interpretation including textgrammar. Combining accuracy with accessibility was one of the main objectives in producing the book. The information it provides is based on the best of traditional and more recent research in the study of Ancient Greek and linguistic communication. Differences between classical and non-classical usage are regularly indicated. The mode of presentation is largely shaped by the needs of prospective users, who are typically unacquainted with the details of linguistic research. Aiming at both a professional quality of content and user-friendly presentation, a tool was produced that aims to be of service to novices and more experienced exegetes alike
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5-TR
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022
Publisher Description:
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), is the most comprehensive, current, and critical resource for clinical practice available to today's mental health clinicians and researchers. DSM-5-TR includes fully revised text and references, updated diagnostic criteria and ICD-10-CM codes since DSM-5 was published in 2013. It features a new disorder, prolonged grief disorder, as well as codes for suicidal behavior available to all clinicians of any discipline without the requirement of any other diagnosis. With contributions from over 200 subject matter experts, this updated volume boasts the most current text updates based on the scientific literature. Now in four-color and with the ability to authenticate each printed copy, DSM-5-TR provides a cohesive, updated presentation of criteria, diagnostic codes, and text. This latest volume offers a common language for clinicians involved in the diagnosis and study of mental disorders and facilitates an objective assessment of symptom presentations across a variety of clinical settings-inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinical, private practice, and primary care. Important updates in DSM-5-TR include 1) fully revised text for each disorder with updated sections on associated features, prevalence, development and course, risk and prognostic factors, culture, diagnostic markers, suicide, differential diagnosis, and more; 2) addition of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) to Section II; 3) over 70 modified criteria sets with helpful clarifications since publication of DSM-5; 4) fully updated Introduction and Use of the Manual to guide usage and provide context for important terminology; 5) considerations of the impact of racism and discrimination on mental disorders integrated into the text; 6) new codes to flag and monitor suicidal behavior, available to all clinicians of any discipline and without the requirement of any other diagnosis; 7) fully updated ICD-10-CM codes implemented since 2013, including over 50 coding updates new to DSM-5-TR for substance intoxication and withdrawal and other disorders.
Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5-TR
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022
Publisher Description:
The Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria From DSM-5-TR is a concise, affordable companion to the ultimate psychiatric reference, DSM-5-TR. It includes the fully revised diagnostic classification, as well as all the diagnostic criteria from DSM-5-TR in an easy-to-use format. This handy reference provides quick access to the information essential to making a diagnosis. Designed to supplement DSM-5-TR, this convenient guide will assist all mental health professionals as they integrate the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria into their diagnoses.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders stands alone as the most authoritative reference available for clinical practice in the mental health field. The Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria From DSM-5-TR distills the most crucial, updated diagnostic information from this volume to provide clinicians with an invaluable resource for effectively diagnosing mental disorders, ranging from the most prevalent to the least common.
The Ethical Lives of Clients: Transcending Self-Interest in Psychotherapy
William J. Doherty
American Psychological Association, 2022
Publisher Description:
Clients often come to therapists for assistance with ethical dilemmas, so this casebook provides therapists with the skills and knowledge they need to be effective ethical consultants while respecting client autonomy. Bill Doherty blends decades clinical experience with deeply personal and philosophical experience and uses detailed case examples to form a roadmap for other psychotherapists to follow. He outlines a framework for addressing clients' moral quandaries: the LEAP-C model, which applies traditional therapeutic skills of listening, exploring, affirming, and offering perspective, as well as challenging clients to recognize ethical issues they don't perceive. Doherty addresses specific types of ethical dilemmas, such as keeping and ending commitments, having affairs, lying and deceiving, and causing psychological or physical harm. His guidelines incorporate a pluralistic view where therapists help clients balance their personal needs with their sense of responsibility for others. He also explores how psychologists can serve as citizen therapists who lend their expertise as ethical consultants to help solve larger societal concerns, such as political division and police brutality.
Beyond Profession: The Next Future of Theological Education
Daniel O. Aleshire
Eerdmans, 2021
Librarian Andrew Stout comments:
Beyond Profession is an entry in Eerdmans’ Theological Education Between the Times series. The series already has several excellent and diverse entries, and Aleshire’s contribution might be the most helpful so far. It includes a historical survey of approaches to theological education in North America, noting the various ways that seminaries and divinity schools have adapted to their changing contexts. Aleshire then sketches his vision for “formational theological education,” which aims at forming “deep, abiding, resilient, generative identity as Christian human beings,” and offers practical proposals for carrying out this kind of formation. Aleshire’s reflections on theological education are rooted in decades of experience working with diverse schools as the executive director of the Association of Theological Schools. His insistence that older models of education need to adapt to new contexts is all the more convincing for his thorough knowledge of those older models. The book also challenges dominant paradigms of mainline Protestant, Catholic, and evangelical models of education by paying particular attention to historically Black schools.
Rembrandt Is in The Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith
Russ Ramsey
Zondervan, 2022
Publisher Description:
Rembrandt Is in the Wind, by Russ Ramsey, is an invitation to discover some of the world’s most celebrated artists and works, through which we can witness the gospel of Christ in a way that speaks to the struggles and longings common to the human experience. The book is part art history, part biblical study, part philosophy, and part analysis of the human experience—but it’s all story. The lives of the artists in this book illustrate the struggle of living in this world and point to the beauty of the redemption available to us in Christ. Each story is different. Some conclude with resounding triumph, while others end in struggle. But all of them raise important questions about humanity’s hunger and capacity for glory, and they all teach us to see and love beauty.
1 & 2 Chronicles: A Message for Yehud: An Introduction and Study Guide
Leslie C. Allen
T & T Clark Study Guides to the Old Testament
T&T Clark, 2021
Chris Knights, writing in The Expository Times 133, no. 7 (April 2022), 304-5:
“[Allen] takes the line that Chronicles is post-exilic and written after Ezra-Nehemiah, using Samuel-Kings as its main source. He argues that Chronicles was written to exhort the community of Yehud to seek the LORD, particularly through the Temple cult. He makes much use of Ezekiel 18 and 2 Chronicles 7.14 as providing the rationale for the Chronicler’s assessments of the Judean Kings. He also provides a chapter exploring ‘Chronicles as Communication,’ which applies insights from both Rhetoric and Speech-Act Theory to the Biblical text, while the following chapters work through Chronicles section by section. While there is much of value here, the book is generally quite dense and refers to a wide range of other works on Chronicles, in a way that seems more suitable for advanced students, rather than for beginners.”
Gender Identity and Faith: Clinical Postures, Tools, and Case Studies for Client-Centered Care
Mark A. Yarhouse and Julia A. Sadusky
InterVarsity Press, 2022
Publisher Description:
Helping people navigate gender identity questions today is complex and often polarized work. Filled with assessments, therapeutic tools, and case studies, this practical resource from Mark Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky offers mental health professionals a client-centered, open-ended approach that makes room for gender exploration while respecting religious identity.
Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting Churches
Peyton Jones
Zondervan, 2022
Publisher Description:
The first comprehensive textbook on effective church planting from a veteran church planter.
The Apostle Paul was a veteran church planter who "laid a foundation like a wise and master builder" and there is much we can learn from his example. Paul indicated that there were basic skills and experiences required to successfully plant a church. Church Plantology examines the wide variety of church planting methods and ideologies in contemporary pastoral practice and outlines a biblical model based on the New Testament.
During his time in prison, Paul spent much of his time writing to Titus, Timothy, and others who'd served alongside him in the trenches to complete their training as church plantings. We can continue to apply these time-tested, proven methods, following the pioneering example of the early church.
Today, the casualty rate in is high. What if we could reduce the odds of failing? Church Plantology by Peyton Jones is a robust guide to planting that will help planters to provide the foundation necessary to survive beyond the initial first years so that they don't end up a walking statistic.