[Oe List ...] Bibliography

[John Montgomery]

I had been circulating this individually to folk, but will post it more widely.

Hi George and all!
I've got four books that I keep coming back to.
 
They are not new in terms of publishing date, but are new in terms of perspective.

1) Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus
Ched Myers - Orbis 1997

Pretty thick, but helpful reference from a liberation perspective.

2) Reinventing Paul
Paul G. Gager - Oxford University Press 2000

Best summary of the new paradigm in Pauline discussions - takes up the banner 
of Krister Stendahl's challenge to find an interpretation of Paul that does not
include anti-semitism - "Paul among Jews and Gentiles" 

3) Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews 
Paula Fredricksen - Vintage 2000

Great teacher who understands what it really means to take Jesus seriously as a 
Jew.
Best book I have read in several years.

4) Jesus Unplugged
Bert Gary  - see www.faithwalkpub.com

This is not a scholarly book, more made for a Sunday School class - a bit repetitive,
but provocative picture of Jesus - again in Jewish context - almost turns Jesus
into a bully, but it is worth the read.

I thought I would also share a construct that I have been working on. I am only 
sharing the broad outline - maybe it will generate some further discussion.

Taking a Second Look at the Scriptures

Four Guidelines and Values for Individual and Congregational Study of Scripture

(draft 3/2005 - JCM)

1) Celebrating the Textual Diversity: Resist pre-mature temptation to harmonize 
or smooth over textual discrepancies or disagreements.

2) Broadening the Conversational Resources: Utilize a wide variety of commentaries
and studies, but always remember that your own feelings and intuitions are an equally
important resource as well. Repeatedly return to the stubborn fact that these texts
are finally stories, therefore give some priority to methods of literary analysis
when reflecting on the textual depth.

3) Avoiding the Contextual Confusion: Read these texts through Jewish eyes. Resist
the premature superimposition of later Greek Christian understandings and theological 
assumptions on what are primarily Jewish texts.

4) Acknowledging the Religio-political Frame of Reference: As you engage the texts,
seek to recognize the plain meaning of terms such as empire, legion, Christ, and
gospel as "proto-political"language used self-consciously by the writers. Stand
in the shoes of First Century Jews experiencing "cognitive dissonance" between
the promise of being a chosen people with a strong national identity and the reality
of Roman rule.



John Montgomery
monkeyltd at mindspring.com
678-468-4913 - c
770-409-8035 - home/fax
404-892-3333x222 - w