Bibles Bible Studies Books

This book is an awesome study aid to Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapters 5-7. As I read through the book I had so many "WOW!" moments as I began to understand Christ's Words and teaching. It's a deep, but an enriching study. I think studying the Sermon on the Mount and committing ourselves to carrying out the teachings of Christ is what our existence is all about. It's all about Jesus Christ and in keeping it all about Him, life will be full of blessings.

Among all the doctrine, parables, and lessons of the Bible, none is as difficult to walk in as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus' teachings, captured in Matthew 5, challenge and convict all thoughtful believers.

Oswald Chambers offers radical insights into those difficult-to-live-out principles. For example:

"The Sermon on the the Mount produces despair in the heart of the natural man, and that is the very thing Jesus means it to do." p.10 and,

"[Jesus] did not come to teach us only: He came to make us what He teaches we should be." p.10

Even the most mature believer will be challenged by Chambers as he gets infinitely close to our tender spots: "Most of us are pagans in a crisis; we think and act like pagans." p.57

Oswald Chambers, best known for his no-nonsense, plain speaking about the most difficult truths in the Christian experience hits the mark time and time again in this special book.

This is real meat for the hungry soul.

I hasten to incorporate and embrace the review of Oswald Chambers's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount that, due to my own error in posting, was credited to my colleague Terry Dunford.

It was I who wrote the review and who subscribe to it, and I will not burden Amazon with a repeat of that presentation. I hope they will post it, whether crediting it to Terry Dunford or to me.

Richard G. Burns, J.D.

First I would like to point out that the dark cover shown in the first photo for this product is not the one the publisher is shipping at this an on a point, highlight the ability of God in contrast to our inability, and then to challenge you directly to wholly lean on God for your strength to obey God. He emphasizes that the Holy Spirit will come through to help you obey. He's very direct without fancy illustrations. However his typical word picture or illustration usually packs a whale of a punch, driving home the point with a spiritual weightiness not found in many books. I love this guy and highly recommend this particular book. It's worth every penny. An illustration of this is how he couches the idea that you are the salt of the earth against the idea that God has not called us as some seem to believe to be the sugar of the earth. In a few sentences he demolishes what was a very popular view of how Christians should be. He then examines the effects of salt in a few situations (wound dressing for one example) to show that we must impact those around us even if it doesn't feel good for them initially.

He doesn't waste your time with long stories that feel good but don't have a lot of power in them. He packs each paragraph. There are many meaty thoughts in this book. Don't hesitate to purchase a copy if you have an extra eight bucks.

I was delighted to see this particular title listed among your Owald Chambers books for sale. I have devoted 15 years to researching and writing about the Biblical roots and influences in early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship. And no one can fully grasp the story of early A.A., its cures, and its principles and practices without understanding the importance that the pioneers attached to the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5 to 7). Sadly, a number of AAs have settled for the belief that Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount was the cornerstone of A.A.'s sermon emphasis. No so! The fact is that both A.A. co-founders Dr. Bob and Bill W. stated that the sermon itself contained the underlying philosophy of A.A. And my title The James Club: The Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials (http://www.dickb.com/JamesClub.com) contains a verse by verse study of the three parts of the Bible AAs considered essential--the sermon, the book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13. Hence it is with the Bible itself that A.A. students of spirituality should start. Next, however, they need to know how broad was the supplementary reading. And that is where Oswald Chambers comes in. Dr. Bob and his wife stressed the importance of the sermon, and they read it in their groups and in the early meetings. But Dr. Bob also accumulated, read, studied, and circulated the background sermon books. And I found these among his library (that came into the hands of his son and daughter). I encountered Oswald Chambers's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, E. Stanley Jones's The Christ of the Mount, Emmet Fox's The Sermon on the Mount, several books by Robert E. Speer that covered parts of the subject, a number of books by Rev. Sam Shoemaker to the same end, several titles by Harry Emerson Fosdick such as The Manhood of the Master, and a number of books by Glenn Clark. And all of these presented a broad field of interpretive writings on Jesus's sermon that enhanced the early pioneers' understanding. And if one takes Chambers's title and sets it alongside Jones's title, he will see that these two writers were, in effect, contending that the gift of the holy spirit without the sermon on the mount in practice was as inadequate as the sermon on the mount in practice without the power of the holy spirit.

I have written two titles, Dr. Bob and His Library, and The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth. Both include Chambers and his studies as favorites. And people who want to get the full depth of the early A.A. Christian believing will profit immensely by looking at this Chambers book.

As an aside, when I contacted Mrs. W. Irving Harris, widow of Rev. Sam Shoemaker's assistant minister, she provided me with a complete set of the Oswald Chambers books indicating these were part of Sam's favorite books. The set has now been donated to the Griffith Library in East Dorset, Vermont; and one can gain a good understanding of the importance of Chambers to the thinking of the New York A.A. ideas taught by Rev. Sam Shoemaker to Bill Wilson and to the Akron fellowship's focus as led by Dr. Bob.
God Bless, Richard G. Burns, J.D.
Incidentally, it would appear that Amazon has erroneously listed my colleague Terry Dunford as the writer of this review, but it is I who makes the review and recommendations.

Very good book. I led a Bible study on the parables and used this as one of my references and guides. Definitely made the planning and teaching easier.

The Parables of Jesus by David Wenham is a superb book on one of the most important topics in Gospels study. It is not new. It has been on the market since 1989. Even so, it is not "dated". Even after all these years it is quite simply the best book on parables for adults that aren't Bible college or Seminary grads I and most readers have ever seen. (Originally, it was part of a series called the Jesus Library. There were at least 10 volumes by very fine authors [including F. F. Bruce, R. T. France, and Michael Green]. This one is the only one still in print. It's that good.)

It particular is an ideal book for an adult Sunday School class or in-homes study class to use as a textbook, if they want to dig a little deeper than usual, but not get overwhelmed. I have used it that way myself, with the group reading and discussing about half of a chapter per week.

Wenham is a first rate British expert in parables studies, but he writes this book with lay people and college students in mind, not seminarians or grad students.

Even His arrangement is telling: What most technical books on parables start out with he puts at the end in three appendices--The authenticity of the parables, The Interpretation of the Parables, and The Purpose of the Parables and the Interpretation of Mark 4:10-12.

With that arrangement, you can start by studying the parables first, and you can go further to see what the experts are saying about the most controversial topics later--if, that is, you wish to. He does point the way. There is even a select bibliography and a note on further reading, all of which help the reader who gets hooked on the topic and wants to explore it more do so.

Wenham is no ivory tower theorist. Like Jesus engaged his listeners, he engages the reader with Jesus' call to a revolutionary Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, in some sense starting small and ending up dominant, and demanding obedient discipleship. He is very practical, engaging, and calls the reader to commitment.

If you want the best book available on parables, you probably want instead Klyne R. Snodgrass's Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus: (Eerdmans, 2008), say, as the teacher of the Adult Sunday School class or, in particular, as a pastor. But it is the sort of book layfolk might consult. From my experience, I think few of them would sit down and read it, even in small chunks. Still, there is so much vertical whitespace setting off the various topics along the way through the book, that they are intelligible most of the time. And the most difficult issues are dealt with in about 200 pages of end notes (which can be consulted or ignored, depending on the reader's needs).

...this is it!

I have read most of the commentaries currently available as I've written two books about the parables from a Biblically-faithful and creative perspective(Parablelife: Living the stories Jesus told in real time published by FaithWalk and available on amazon.com). Wenham's volume was far and away the most useful. He used the metaphor of revolution throughout this well-written, readable volume to help explain Jesus' use of the words "the Kingdom of Heaven". The book is organized in a creative way - the parables are grouped and discussed as they pertain to the metaphor of revolution.

Wenham's strength is in application, demonstrating both how and why these stories of Jesus can shape our lives. He is an able scholar, and his love of God's Word shows in his careful discussion of each parable. There is a short discussion about various historical and contemporary methods of interpretation at the back of the volume, along with several indexes that make the book even more user-friendly.

I am using this book as the text for a group bible study on the Parables of Jesus. This book is an excellent resource for teachers and students of the Bible. It provides a through basis for exegesis of each of the parables, grouping them logically and explaining them accurately. Wenham lets the historical and literary context drive his interpretations, avoiding the twin pitfalls of assuming the parables are either allegory or single point. Overall, a must-have for anyone who plans to seriously study the parables.

I prepared a series of Bible studies on the parables of Jesus and wanted supplemental material to add to my understanding and class lectures. Specifically, I was interested in Jewish traditions and cultural insights that would add color and clarity to the stories.

I purchased three books, including David Wenham's "The Parable of Jesus." I am not a Bible scholar and not particularly interested in theological debates over allegorical loose ends and old disputes over linguisitc fine points that other books were consumed with.

This book provided me exactly what I needed - clear, concise insights into the culture, traditions and context of the times. For example, in the Prodigal Son, Wenham pointed out that by asking his father for his inheritance while the father was still living, in the meaning of the legal traditions, the prodigal was actually implying that he wished his father dead.

In the parable of the Good Samritan, he observes that the road from "Jericho to Jerusalem" drops 2,500 feet along a treacherous and winding path; ideal for robbers and thieves to hang out. Further, he points out that "two denari" was enough money to pay for twenty-four nights at the inn.

These details helped me to put meat on the bones of the story and bring to life these precious parables. These are not earth-shattering biblical truths, but they were very helpful to me in making the topic interesting and relevant. Just like Wenham's book.

This is one of the greatest Christian resources in print. Every serious student should have a copy of this wonderful resource. Dr. Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe reveal the often times fascinating solutions to every conceivable error, or contradiction in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I can't recommend it more highly.

Note: This book was formerly published under the title: When Critics Ask. This is largely the same book although it has been updated with approximately 12 new entries (passages that were not in the previous title).

I've sometimes bought a commentary or other book just to get insight into a single passage. This book tackles many of the more difficult in a single book. What I like here is that you aren't just given the opinions of the authors, but will sometimes see other solutions they may not agree with. So you don't always feel like you're being force fed the authors position but instead given pertinent information to digest for yourself. With a page or less devoted to most passages you're not going to get in depth exegesis here, but you will find decisive insight that often clears things up. You can dig deeper elsewhere if necessary.

5 stars for being a handy study aid.

I have not read this book enough to give a fair opinion on it. I will say though, I bought this book thinking that it was a brand new Q/A book about bible difficulties and it ended up not being that. This book is a republication of an older book titled, When the critics ask, a popular hand book on bible difficulties by Norman L. Geisler and Thomas Howe which was published in 1992. I checked and compared both books and it had the same information or wording. The book does say on one of it's beginning pages that it's a republication of the other book I mentioned but I felt misled because there was no way for me to check that on Amazon.com and the book was passed off as if it's brand new and not a republication. Plus I was looking for a Q/A and commentary bible difficulties book that would present current issues that skeptics are using to discredit the bible, like about the stories of Jesus being a copy of other ancient myths, etc. From what I read from the book so far, it is easy to read, the answers are clear but I'm looking for a more up-to-date book that includes some of the newer criticisms on the bible and not just the older or well-known ones. Maybe there's not that many new criticisms and not that different from the older criticisms but I'd still like to try a new book published some time recently and that covers some of the new criticisms of the bible I've been hearing. I would still say this book is useful for some of the criticisms that are typically well-known at least and it could be used for that since some of the well-known criticisms still present a challenge to Christians and Jews.

All scripture is God's word. God is all powerful. God doesn't make mistakes and he does not try to confuse people. Therefore no difficulties are in the Bible.

I really had to hunt to get all these, but I am seriously disappointed for 2 reasons. First, the presenter. Oh dear. OH DEAR. I am sure he's a great guy and all, but a presenter fit for filming he simply is not. His attempts to appear spontaneous and unscripted make him look VERY silly. VERY SILLY. You can see straight through it as clear as day. This ties in with the cinematography. Each presenter is teaching an invisible person. The camera angles follow the person if they are walking, or still, slightly to the side of the person. But where is the person the presenter is talking to? Oh my gosh. EYE CONTACT. They never eyeball the camera. It makes you feel very weird. I have never seen anything filmed like this. So the whole entire time you're watching you just want to see who the HECK are you talking to? but you never see, because there isn't anyone, and it is insanely frustrating. So it's like the presenters are talking to you, but they NEVER look at you. Argh. It's an exercise in patience as it just makes you want to slap the guy and say, "HEY, I'm over HERE, LOOK at me". The way I am expressing it, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but watch it and you'll find out. Imagine watching Katie Kuric on the evening news, but she's looking to the diagonal all the time, never at you, you'd want to slap the TV.

Another problem is the continual stop-start nature of the teachings. Every few minutes you need to hit play to keep going.

My second serious gripe is the way they have encoded the DVD. Clearly the DVD producer didn't know how to create scripts in the project because every chapter has been saved as a title. This means ripping the DVD to watch on your AppleTV or iPod, computer etc is impossible. To some this will not matter, but for me it's a big issue.

I am sure the teaching is great, if only I could stand to watch it, which I just can't. I have tried several times over the last few months and it's just frustrating. Overall it's an incredibly amateurish project totally out of character for something with Zondervan's name on it. This is why it simply must have a 1 star rating.

The three-volume Deeper Connections series produced by Zondervan is unique. Unlike any other Bible study available, this visually stunning DVD series is taught and written by biblical experts - six professors with specialized areas of knowledge. The three volumes in this study series are :

1. The Parables of Jesus
2. The Prayers of Jesus
3. Miracles of Jesus

The Teachers featured on the series are : Dr. Gary Burge, Wheaton College; Dr. David Garland, Truett Theological Seminary; Dr. Mark Strauss, Bethel Seminary; Dr. Michael Wilkins, Talbot School of Theology; Dr. Matt Williams, Biola University; Dr. Ben Witherington III, Asbury Theological Seminary.

Hosted by Jarrett Stevens and filmed in locations as diverse as Gloucester harbor, the Holy Land, Boston's Old North Church, and Chicago's lakefront, each volume consists of six fascinating sessions. Each session is taught by a different instructor and consists of three components:

1. Historical and cultural background
2. An engaging, close look at the biblical text and its meaning
3. Accurate, encouraging, and challenging applications of the Bible's message to life today

Each volume is accompanied by a Participant Guide which is available separately allowing participants to make deeper connections with a knowledge of historical background of the Bible, biblical text, and real life applications.

'The Parables of Jesus: Six In-depth Studies Connecting the Bible to Life' is one of the volumes of the Deeper Connections series focusing on parables of Jesus. Jesus communicated deep spiritual truths through simple, vivid, and engaging stories. Woven from the stuff of everyday life, the parables of Jesus made the kingdom of God understandable and accessible to his listeners. The study helps you gain new insights into his parables and their meanings that will help you to appreciate more fully their relevance for your own life.

Six Sessions included on this DVD are:

The Coming of the Kingdom
The Grace of the Kingdom
The God of the Kingdom
The Demand of the Kingdom
The Mission of the Kingdom
The Fulfillment of the Kingdom

Highly recommended for all students of the bible!

I am glad I happened to come across IA's review shortly after it was posted. IA's review is not only unacceptable but incomplete. If you're looking for one opinion about the dvd format and production, he/she may be of help. However, he/she even states "I am sure the teaching is great, if only I could stand to watch it" which implies that the review has nothing to do with the (outstanding) teaching but his/her opinions of camera angles and eye contact. Allow me to briefly introduce you to the actual content - the main reason why people buy Bible studies like Deeper Connections.

Unlike IA's experience, my small group and I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from this Bible study. The guide (or presenter) is actually over in Israel as he introduces each teaching, thus helping bring the text and teachings to life. Simply getting a glimpse of where Jesus walked, taught, etc. helped me to connect to the text in new ways. Moreover, his presentations were not cheesy, but informative and natural.

IA may not like the lack of eye contact, but we personally thought it was insightful (plus, why give a 1/5 stars for something like that?). It felt more like the teacher was part of the small group instead of having someone talk 'at' me. The difference with eye contact was noticeable at first, but my small group quickly and easily adjusted and it never became a problem. Please do not write-off this Bible study series based on a poor review. You will be missing out on quality teaching from these six professors who have a pastoral heart and a gift to communicate God's Word to His people. Zondervan has done an excellent job (also, the Participant Guide is excellent as well).

Highly recommend this book to any men's group that wants to take a look at the lessons we all can learn from a wide range of men in the Bible. You actually end up reading through the Bible as you study these 52 men since they are listed chronologically from Adam to Paul. Buy an extra one for your accountability partner and sharpen each other as you study these men together.

We use this book for a Men's Group at church. We normally spend 2 weeks going over each man.

I purchased this book for my husband, who is a new Christian. He is not very familiar with the Bible and found the idea of reading the Bible very daunting. I've had this book's counter part, "Women of the Bible" for a long time and have really enjoyed it. My husband loves Men of the Bible, he has found it very helpful in helping him understand the Bible and how it relates to our everyday life. This is a great devotional tool.

Good review of sometimes difficult to understand Bible verses. Written for daily readings with Bible verse references and good summary at the end of each chapter. Questions in each chapter help stimulate a hearty conversation.

My husband LOVES this book. He has been using it this past year and we are now buying it for friends!

Frances Taylor Gench brings new insight into Jesus' encounters with women. No matter how much you have studied the Bible, this book will be an eye-opener for you! Wonderful scholarship and insight.

Very very helpful to any serious student of the Bible. The Bible is written from an Eastern Civ background. This helps one to understand sometimes confusing verses of where the verse is coming from.

The book is very useful in my studies of the Bible. Is a great book for preachers and teachers.

I do not write may reviews but I feel compelled to comment about this book. I started reading this book and comparing what the author was saying with the passages in the Bible. In most of the cases, it fell on interpretation, or were blantantly wrong, and in the best of cases, the author would give his personal interpretation.

A book about the Bible needs to be unbiased, in other words, it allows the reader to come to his or her own conclusions. I could not read pass chapter one because I felt the information was incorrect and misleading.

For example, the author talks about the garment used on a marriage ceremony and he cites Isaiah 9:6 which talks about the coming of Christ. Where is the similarity?

Another example, he is explaining how the first born gets double share of the inheritance because of his birthright as a first born, and then he compares is with Elisha asking for a double portion of the spirit of Eliah. Again, where the similarity? Furthermore, in biblical times, it was a custom to call Father a prophet or a teacher. By reading this book, you may conclude that Eliah was the father of Elisha. This is not true.

One last example, the author talks about how that in a tent, they have a section or department for women, which is correct, but then he goes to say that because Sisera went to the women's section in Heber's tent, Jael killed him. That is incorrect. First, the Bible does not say where Sisera was. Second, Jabel killed Sisera for political reasons and thridly and most importantly, it was a prophecy given by Deborah (Judges 4:9).

All these examples were gathered from the first few pages.

Finally, was version of Bible did the author used? I would read this book very carefully since contains information that is inaccurate.

I must rate this book 3 stars for two reasons.

1. As noted by another reviewer, the book has no bibliography and makes no references to any other text besides the Bible.
2. The author frequently slips in his own theology and views, often blatantly wrong.

This book describes the "manners and customs" of the Bible times, and as such is a work of history and should include some references to sources. There are frequent references to Bible passages pertaining to the topic being discussed. However, more often then not, the book is offering no additional information or insights than could be obtained from reading that passage in the Bible. This indicates to me that there may have been limited use of archaeological data and non-Biblical texts.

This lack of sources prevents the reader from verifying claims made by the author. In the words of Philip Schaff "Every historian rests on the shoulders of his predecessors." and "Only he should always carefully indicate his authorities and verify facts, dates, and quotations. A want of accuracy is fatal to the reputation of a historical work."

Worse than a lack of sources for this work is the erroneous theology of the author that he inserts, often without even indicating when the "truth" he presents is controversial and other views exist.

Even worse, is when he attempts explain away a miracle in ways that are ridiculous. For example, the author uses 2 Kings 2:19-22 to support his claim that salt was believed to have healing properties. Take a moment and read those verses and ask yourself; did they throw salt in the spring because they thought it would purify the water? No! A better explanation is that the use of salt, which would normally ruin the spring, was proof that God worked a miracle.

Another example is when the author suggests that in John 21:4-6 Jesus' suggestion to cast the net on the other side of the boat was based on having a better vantage point of where the fish were. Reread this passage and ask your self if a man standing on the beach at day break could see into the water about 100 yards (200 cubits) out. Only after the miraculous catch of fish did the disciple recognize the work of Jesus and realize that the man on the beach was Jesus. Proof that they recognized a miracle and not just a kind tip from a passing stranger.

Some are not as bad (theologically) as others but are just as wrong. The author makes the claim that it was a _sin_ to eat alone based on Job 31:17. This claim is just absurd! The point Job was making is that he had always shared what he had. Yes, we should share that which we have, but you may eat alone without worry of sinning.

The author also likes to slip in his opinions even when it does not have anything to do with the subject matter of this book. For example, under "Government and Society" he adds a box that claims that on the basis of 1 Samuel 17 and 2 Samuel:19 that David was called "Elhanan" prior to his coronation. While this is one possible view, the author neglects to mention any other possibilities or the evidence found in 1 Chron. 20:5.

The list just goes on and on. The poison of his words creeps into this book when you least expect it. While talking about the ways that Israel's prophets spoke to the people, the author claims telepathy was used based on 2 Kings 6:12.

Many other examples exist, too many to list here.

The book is not all bad, much of the content appears to be correct and reasonable. The many illustrations are very valuable. Though some seems to be added to boost the illustration count and are duplicates or add no additional information.

The book is of good quality with thick paper and sewn binding. It should stand up to a beating.

In short, if you have good discernment you may find this book helpful. But if not, this book may mislead you in many ways. I suggest purchasing a book written by an author interested in presenting unbiased history and not his personal views.

I only read portions of the book. While it contains interesting information, it's difficult to judge how much of it to believe.

A complete lack of documentation means the reader must take everything on the author's say-so (the only citations are from Scripture, and as another reviewer pointed out, they don't always support the author's points or are open to sundry interpretations).

Additionally, the author's authority is questionable. He seems to explain things from his own rationale, rather the researching the issue. My favorite example is that Joseph inherited because Rachel "was always to be" Jacob's first wife. Ridiculous. Joseph inherited because the rightful heir, Reuben, lost his birthright for sleeping with one of his father's concubines (Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4).

If the author hasn't done his research, then pretty much everything he says is suspect. Read with discernment.

She does a great job telling the stories of these women with a feministic view, but notice the tombstones before the chapters. She takes the whole Bible out of context. "She was wounded for our transgressions?" Not in my Bible. Great stuff, but the her "tombstones" upset me.

This is one of the most eye opening books I have read! Tribble writes clearly and candidly. Her stories of what happens to some of the women in the Bible are frightening. She is good at reading between the lines. Her chapter on the Levite's concubin in Judges is truly frightening. Her book definately makes the point that the Old Testament writings by and large were not kind to women. This is putting it mildly!

While this book was originally published several years ago, the stories it presents may be new to many, even to practicing Jews and Christians. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the rape of Tamar? Trible's readings of these stories may also be new to many readers. I was so engaged by her work on these difficult texts that I literally could not stop reading until I had finished the whole book. I especially found interesting her insightful word studies. But the most significant aspect of Trible's book is her "reclaiming" of these stories so that they can be used to motivate us to work actively for justice so that others are not victims of such terror.

Phillis Trible, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, is a noted authority on feminist interpretation and literary analysis of biblical stories of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. From the start of her career, Trible has addressed the topic of how gender and gender/sex relationships are represented in the bible. She looks for biblical themes that have a 'depatriarchalizing principle', which she admits is a relatively minor theme in the biblical texts.

However, this particular book, 'Texts of Terror', addresses the situation from a different view - these are stories in which women suffer tremendously under the weight of different kinds of patriarchal and male-dominated societal mores. Trible employs feminist critique and literary analysis to four particular stories - that of Hagar, Sarah's maid and mother of Ishmael; David's daughter Tamar; the daughter of Jephthah, sacrificed for her father's promise; and an unnamed concubine from Judges 19, who was brutalised in an astonishingly violent episode in the bible. These stories are offered up in way of a memoriam - the text has graphic openings with tombstones to each of the women, including an epitaph for each.

Trible offers her own translations of the Hebrew texts, translating as literally as possible in most instances. She goes into great detail, drawing out the contradictions and paradoxes in the stories, and makes every aspect important. These are sad stories, as Trible says, and they deserve honesty as they come to us. Trible highlights in her introduction various pitfalls - placing the stories in a disconnected past, recasting the Hebrew stories in a solely New Testament context, and to find an inappropriately happy or redemptive ending in these without allowing the honest conclusion, that sad stories have sad endings. Her idea is rather to let the texts speak and be difficult to wrestle with, in the same manner as Jacob wrestled with the mysterious figure near the Jabbok river. We should not let the stories go until they bless us, but be aware that they may not bless us in the manner we expect.

This is an excellent book for students and scholars. There are multiple indexes (subject, scripture, Hebrew word, author/editor), extensive footnoting, and well-supported scholarship. These chapters come from the Beecher Lectures at Yale. As scholar Walter Brueggemann states in the foreword, Trible's work with the method of rhetorical criticism, operating on the presumption that every word is intentional and nothing is left to chance, is equally true of Trible's own words.

Trible's purpose, beyond the scholarship, is to offer honest and sympathetic readings of these texts of terror in the hopes that we as modern readers will recognise the kinds of conditions and issues still operative in the world, and work to end such terrors.

"Feminists have called upon bible readers to focus on the women in various texts, to read their stories through feminine eyes, so that we agonize over the rape of Tamar or the dismemberment of the unnamed woman of Judges 19."


Feminist approach:
In his review of Contemporary hermeneutics, John Newport classifies feminist Biblical scholars, in three groups. One seeks to just explore the biblical books, narratives, themes and characters relevant to modern woman situation. Another require a reading of the whole text from a female perspective, evaluating the gender impact. A third group is motivated by demolishing the 'patriarchy myth', exposing scriptures innate prejudice against women, but the social approach is the uniting theme of all three.

Biblical Terror Narratives:
In an upper-level seminar on Women's Studies, intended to develop deeper thinking with regard to the various roles of women in the Hebrew bible text and what can be learned from them. The in-depth study included some of the tragic stories and writings about women in the Old Testament within a variety of different literary genres and from a variety of different viewpoints, in the context of other ancient Near Eastern texts. Critical analysis, with an informed awareness of the sociological gender-biases that have molded both the text and its traditional interpretations are examined. Readings included:
- Reading the Women of the Bible, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, (2003)
- Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader, Alice Bach (Ed), (1998)
- Discovering Eve, Carol Meyers, (1991)
& Texts of Terror, Phyllis Trible, (1984)

Texts of Terror:
Focusing on four Hebrew bible violent tragedies, Trible seeks to reinterpret, in memoriam, the sad stories of those four ancient women: Hagar, Tamar, unnamed concubine, and Jephthah's daughter whose tragedy haunted me as a teenager. Trible, while inviting the reader to recognize the tragedies of those women, ignored and/or neglected in a male-dominated interpretation. Using rhetorical criticism, probing the language of the text, examining the narrative flow of textual ideas, and expecting a reader response to her analysis.

Response to Sad Stories:
James Williams of Syracuse University, who praises the book as a series of exegetical essays, relates her texts to other biblical narratives, but neglects to show how the stories fit into the greater drama of the Hebrew Scriptures. He has come to the final conclusion that: "Trible does not communicate a sense of larger biblical patterns."