Mark & Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies, 2nd edition
 edited by Janice Anderson and Stephen Moore (Fortress Press, 2008; 288 pages; $22, paper )
Have you ever heard someone ask: “Aren’t there are many ways to read the Gospels?” Mark & Method gets to the heart of this issue by presenting a variety of those “ways,” providing us with a variety of tools, all developed in the last 50 years, for interpreting the Gospels. As the subtitle of the book proclaims, these are “new approaches.”
Originally published in 1992, the book has been reissued with a new introduction and updated to include the most recent developments in interpretation. The book opens with an introductory chapter on the history of interpretation, beginning with the early church and moving through the Reformation, modernity and post-modernity. Most importantly, this overview shows how and why each age developed different methods.
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See all the Media Picks book reviewsThe following chapters are devoted to the recent methods of biblical interpretation. These range from the diverse methods of narrative and feminist readings, to reader-response and postcolonial readings. While the format varies, each chapter generally devotes 10–20 pages to the description of the method itself and 10–20 pages to a detailed example from the Gospel of Mark. The authors are not afraid to draw out the conclusions of their methods, producing results that are sometimes interesting and intriguing and other times bizarre and challenging. By the end of each chapter, the reader will have a good sense of the system presented.
My chief criticism of this book (a relatively minor one in relation to its accomplishments) is that each chapter interprets a different text from Mark. This makes it difficult to compare the methods. The reader never quite gets the sense of comparing “apples to apples.” A second criticism is that the authors don’t help the reader decide which method is most appropriate for him/her. Each method is based on certain basic assumptions; by comparing these, the authors could have helped the reader sort through the possible methods of interpretation, by asking: Which assumptions best match the reader’s assumptions? Which assumptions best fit into the reader’s theology?
Despite these critiques, this volume is highly recommended for the serious layperson and pastor. The reader will come away with a clear grasp of each of the modern methods of biblical interpretation and the kinds of results that each delivers.
—Eric Douglass, adjunct instructor at Randolph-Macon College
Prayers for Sale
 by Sandra Dallas (St. Martins Press, 2009; 320 pages; $24.95, hardcover)
An old woman, a young bride, a shared love of quilting — Sandra Dallas, takes these ingredients and weaves them together in a heartwarming tale set in the mountains of Colorado during the Great Depression. Dallas is the author of many other novels, including Tallgrass.
Hennie Comfort’s daughter insists that her mother can no longer live alone through another winter at age 86. One day in the last summer before she must leave her beloved mountains, Hennie is startled by a knock on her door. A young woman, Nit, approaches her house because of a sign that says “Prayers for Sale.”
Nit wishes to purchase a prayer for the infant daughter she left buried in Kentucky. Hennie didn’t put the sign up and doesn’t sell prayers, but she invites Nit inside. Thus begins a lasting friendship during Hennie’s last summer in Colorado.
Little by little, Hennie shares stories of her past with Nit as the two become close. They visit over their quilting, or on long walks in the mountains as Hennie tells stories. She also introduces Nit to the Tenmile quilters. These women share a rare friendship spanning generations in the face of uncertainty, as Nit awaits the birth of another baby. Hennie gives Nit the courage to embrace her new home.
This book is for fans of Sandra Dallas or quilting or for anyone looking for a delightful read about friendship.
—Judith Klamm, a member of Southminster Presbyterian in Prairie Village, Kan.
We Were Not Orphans: A Story of faith, family and forgiveness
 by Geraldine Messina Smith (Booklocker, 2008; 192 pages; $17.95, paper)
Tragedy and triumph, brokenness and healing, separation and reconciliation — these themes, like a thread of gold, knit together the story of a large family that is able to remain a family against all odds, even after the mother is sent to a state hospital.
The book opens in 1944, with the author describing being taken with her siblings to an orphanage. This story could have been a “woe is me” narrative. It is not.
Throughout, it portrays how a healthy community and mutually supportive relationships can reveal the presence and loving care of God. The author has avoided the temptation to identify the absence of God and to pose the question, “Why me?” Though she presents the unvarnished truth as she sees it — not failing to confront the ugly — her thrust throughout is to note places where God is present. She demonstrates how impossibilities are transformed into breathing, living, harmonious realities as one grows in relationship with God.
For those who may be skeptical about God’s relevance or reality or who doubt God can transform the messiness created when one chooses to live on one's own terms, this story graphically portrays what may happen when one lovingly allows one’s life to be placed in the hands of God. Smith does not suggest that life will be a breeze, devoid of trials. She illustrates instead how even in the most uncomfortable and traumatic experiences of life, God’s blessings emerge. She shows that God’s promises can be trusted even “in the valley of the shadow of death.”
—Ronald D. Case, an elder at Grosse Ile (Mich.) Presbyterian Church
I Told Me So: Self Deception and the Christian Life
 by Gregg A Ten Elshof (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009; 158 pages; $15, paper)
My only serious encounter with philosophy was a single introductory course as a college freshman — more years ago than I care to count. I did well enough, but didn’t enjoy it. I blamed the teaching assistant.
So you probably wouldn’t think of me as the target audience for I Told Me So. Author Gregg A. Ten Elshof is an associate professor and department chair of philosophy at Biola University. He takes a philosopher’s approach to the role that self-deception plays in a modern American Christian’s life — from the self-trickery involved in setting the alarm clock a few minutes ahead, to the way we avoid asking ourselves if driving a less expensive car would free up resources we could give to the poor.
This book asks “big questions,” but remains accessible, even entertaining, to the non-expert reader. It was eye-opening to have such a well-trained mind look at issues such as self-esteem in the workplace. (It’s much easier to convince yourself that you’re above average than to do the work necessary to become “above average.”) The author concludes that the ability to deceive ourselves can be valuable, arguing that it is a necessary skill for allowing us to see a subject from another vantage point or to enjoy great literature.
The book manages to be both enlightening and amusing and is a fine read for personal enjoyment or for group discussion. Especially haunting — though always presented in a warm and light-hearted tone — were the examples of how Christians deceive ourselves about how carefully we’ve thought through the tough questions that arise within our faith. Readers should be prepared for many self-revelations. (As a side note, I decided that I probably deceived myself about the role the teaching assistant played in my unsatisfying philosophy course, and that the real problems were with me.)
—Beverly Bartlett |
