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        Crossan starts by talking nicely and safely about parables, sharing little stories telling us to be nice. He identifies riddle parables (allegories) (Mark 4:23-27), example parables (practical, moral, religious)(Luke 15), and challenge parables. Challenge parables reverse the expectation and judgements, the presuppositions and prejudices of conventional hierarchically driven society, where ‘best people’ act badly and ‘worst people; act well.

        Crossan examines how the gospel writers often changed the material presented by Jesus, so that challenge parables become example parables (eg the Good Samaritan, Luke 10). A challenge parable challenges the normalcy of audience expectations, hierarchical prejudices and ethnic presuppositions (p 59).

        We find it difficult to hear the challenge. Eg the phrase ‘good Samaritan’ has become a redundant cliché, a simple term for somebody who helps another. We do not hear it as first century Jewish ears would have—as a cultural paradox, a social contradiction (p 60). ‘It is a story that challenges its listeners to think long and hard about their social prejudices, their cultural presumptions and even their most sacred religious traditions (p 62).

        Of particular interest to me was his treatment of Ruth, Jonah and Job as old testament book length challenge parables. ‘Ruth challenges a part of the Bible, Jonah challenges the whole of the Bible, and Job challenges the G-d of the Bible’ (p 67).

        Of exegetical interest is Crossan’s treatment of the gospel of John. John’s gospel speaks so readily against the Jews because it comes not from a Jew converted to Christianity, but from a Samaritan converted to Christianity. And the challenge is to both ‘the Jews’ and to the Roman Empire (p 242). ‘The power of Jesus’ parables challenged his followers to co-create with G-d a world of justice and love, peace and non-violence’ (p 257).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        I find this older book continually useful in my current seminary teaching as we look at biblical themes in the 21st century. Grant sketches early Christianity and provides historical data about other religions and their theological ideas. This results in a lively summary of what the concept of G-d was in the first two centuries of the church, the concept of G-d and of Jesus as the early church sought to articulate the defining elements of G-d and of the nature of Jesus.

        Acts provides a wide geographical range of the material and the process that throughout the eastern Mediterranean world dealt with the picture of paganism in conflict with Christianity. (Grant could have given a little more detail of the conversation of faith in terms of the content of the sermons.)

        Grant writes clearly of the attraction Paul’s readers have of the gods of paganism, and sketches what ordinary people thought the gods did to humans (p 57). Gods had specialized functions (Athena taught the arts, Apollo taught divination (in fact, divination) predicting the future, was a key characteristic of the gods.

        Two chapters are given to the philosophical doctrines of G-d (in the pagan and in the Jewish-Christian writings). And Grant looks at early Christian theology (the questions), at the beginnings of Christology, at the contributions of Paul, at the contribution of other early theologians. One chapter treats the Holy Spirit.

        Other religions had no creeds, no councils with debates over philosophical theology. Christianity took the faith traditional in the second century and then the ’logical implications of philosophy were worked out on the basis of the leading philosophers’ (p 174).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        Rasmussen is one of our most creative thinkers, whose concern with ethics keeps religious faith relevant and forward looking. Voyager 1 was on its way out of the solar system when it photographed each planet it had passed In some of the photos a pale blue dot appeared. Carl Sagan featured that dot. ‘That’s home,’ he said; ‘That’s home for everyone you ever heard of, lived there on that mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam’ (p 3).

        On a different scale, ‘our very being was shaped by a seamless series of an ever changing ecosphere… Its ability to support humans into a distant future was not on the line…. But now it is… We’ve been burning through the five pools of relatively non-renewable energy, the first of which is soil. (Forests, coal, oil, and natural gas are others.) (p 205)

        Earth can industrialize but once in the manner and on the scale it has. ‘Not good ideas but anticipatory communities meeting adaptive challenges’ are needed (p 226), and religious communities are essential for these challenges. ‘Those who believe and humble themselves before their Lord, they will be companions of the garden.’ (Qur’an, Sutra 11:23). ‘There is no separation between what our surroundings do to us and what we do to our surroundings’ (p 19). Key is the loss of ‘fertile crescents’.

        A study of the soils of the middle east found sobering results: washed off soils, silted canals, meagre flora and fauna, ruins of dead cities (p 195). The zoo in us makes up 10% of our dry body weight; we have an inner ecosystem in which each of us is home to something like 100 trillion microbes (p 21).

        The book is a wondrously evocative treatment of us bipeds with giant dreams. ‘We need to confront the disorder that believes G-d cares only for human beings, and that people can flourish while the memberships of creation languish (p 359). We need to cultivate the empathetic mind in contrast to the reductionist, utilitarian mind (p 363).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        The Christian’s hope, says Wright is intertwined with how we live today; Christianity’s most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death.

        If G-d intends to renew the whole creation (begun in Jesus’ resurrection), the church cannot stop at ‘saving souls’ but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working in G-d’s kingdom in the wider world. Earth is where G-d’s reign will take place, which is why the new Testament regularly speaks not of our going to be where Jesus is (going to heaven) but of his coming to where we are: earth (p 190).

        Teaching about King Jesus as Lord (G-d’s kingdom) has as its basis the resurrection—not his parable, not his healings, not even his death (p 243). ‘The power of Easter (resurrection) must be put into effect both at the macro level, in applying the gospel to the major problem of the world and to the intimate details of our daily lives’ (p 253). ‘The church that takes sacred space seriously not as a retreat from the world but as a bridge head will go straight from worshipping in the sanctuary to debating in the city council chambers’ (p 265).

        The church must learn the arts of celebration without compromise and of opposition without dualism (p 269). The new creation which Jesus brings to us (not the ‘left behind stuff’ when we leave the creation behind as we are swept into the clouds) will be characterized by justice (p 213), beauty (222) and evangelism (p 223). ‘Precisely because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, G-d’s new world has already broken in to the present’ (p 213).

        A wonderful treatment of the centrality of Jesus’ resurrection for our daily life.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        Ehrman sketches the diverse, variegated Christian groupings in the modern world, and in the first three centuries of the church’s story, summarizing varied practices and beliefs of those who called themselves Christians.

        Most of these ancient forms of Christianity eventually came to be reformed or stamped out, and the sacred texts Christians used to support their religious perspectives have been destroyed or forgotten or lose. Ehrman sketches the wide range of writings of the early church—acts, gospels, epistles, gospels, apocalypses—and reflects on ‘what was both lose and gained when these books, and the Christian perspectives they represented, disappeared from sight’ (p 4). This process represented both gain and loss; what if some other form of Christianity had won the early struggle for dominance?

        Ehrman identifies especially three groups: Jewish-Christian Ebionites, anti-Jewish Marcionites, gnostics. And standing over against each of these groups was the form of Christianity that endorsed the beliefs and practices that eventually dominated the religion toward the middle of the third century (he calls this expression of Christianity the ‘Proto-orthodox’); out of these conflicts the New Testament being. (Significantly, these confrontations were waged on largely literary grounds, thereby shaping the canonical process.)

        Ehrman comments on the significance of this one form of Christianity over the others, and what was lost when so many forms of Christianity and the texts they espoused came to be lost to posterity—only to be found again in our time.

        He stresses that we need to recognize that alternative understandings of Christianity from the past can be cherished today; they can provide insights about our world and G-d’s actions in that world. Our own religious histories are comprised not only of the beliefs and practices that remerged as victorious (proto-Orthodox), but also ‘those that were overcome, suppressed and eventually lost’ (p257).

        A book that reminds us of the complex history of our religion.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        Church governance has had several forms (from ancient Israel to the current): governing institutions (from Nehemiah’s simple project to Herod’s elaborate bureaucracy), elder leadership in the early church, charismatic leadership gave way to more power in episcopal offices (institutional form), the contemplative movement (monastic life), valuation of daily work, and business enterprise (Jesus as CEO).

        Zimmer sketches each of these contributions to church governance theory and practice, and adds another contributor: spirituality, the nurture of the soul (‘imagination’) in the world of work (p 22). (Cf Marx’ theory of alienation as another call to work validation.) Spiritual discernment focuses on listening prayer, liturgy, story telling and reflection as ways of listening more attentively to G-d and to one another, the basis of holistic spirituality. Zimmer details insights for church governance from the natural order and from scripture.

        •From scripture. Called to be servants, blessed by differences (diversity), Christ’s image bearers in our society, gifted by the spirit, saved by grace for good works, called to rest and renewal (Sabbath), part of a highly interrelated world. These seven themes are not automatic steps but organic, coming from within.

        •From the natural order. Wholeness (creation is an unbroken whole), unique identity (eg DNA particularity), self organization, facility of information transfer, openness (physics suggests how the world works—‘creation is more sacramental than scientific’ p 72).

        Effective church governance means listening to G-d’s corporate spiritual discernment (simplicity, where we ‘centre down’; boards need to listen together and yield to G-d’s call. p 102).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        Here are 19 essays that describe significant interaction between religion and culture, eg religious ethics, education, death, film, music (and others). The essays have a global vision—processes of religion and culture are not the specific property of the west.

        Each part of this volume demonstrates the interweaving of religion and culture, according to three spaces. First, power relationships that deal with issues of conflict, science, sexuality—outlining how religions and cultures create societies and communities. Second, private space where individuals are moulded. Third, the tension between public and private, or political and ethical, eg the public preservation of Elvis Presley’s grave becomes intensely private for individuals on pilgrimage there. The article demonstrates the interweaving of religious and culture eg religion can’t be separated or compartmentalized, operating only within the walls of religious institutions or during religious events and dates.

        I found some of the essays in Religion and Culture more fascinating than others (there were 19 to choose from!). Eg ‘Conflict and Peace Building’. ‘Because religion plays a role in the dynamics of conflict, religion may play a role in peace building as well’ (p 3). We need to clarify whether religion is a cause or a rhetorical cloak.

        The essay on civil religion does a good job of historical examination of the articulation of civil religion. American exceptionalism—that the United States has a unique and/or divinely sanctioned role in the political and social history of the world. Civil religion utilizes practices, symbols, myth, ritual and consecrated time and space that integrate the disparate parts and individuals into a cohesive whole. Religion needs to become an intentional, multilingual conversation of particular traditions and identities (religious and non-religious, theistic and non-theistic) (p45).

        A wealth of detail and reasoned interpretation.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        York teaches in the philosophy and Religious Department at Western Kentucky U; he asks us to question our true allegiance, to examine our discipleship, to be people who hunger and thirst for justice. He calls us back to the subversion of grace and nonviolence.

        He has moving references to modern day saints whose lives focused on the practice, politics and worship expressions of our faith, a faith lived as a Christian under the post-Christian, religious empire that is the United States of America. The fact that we follow a crucified G-d suggests that discourse about this G-d will be provocative. And his reflections range widely.

        •All creatures are included in G-d’s care; all are on G-d’s heavenly mountain (Jonah, Isaiah 11, Psalm 24)

        •Steve Irwin, the Australian ‘Crocodile Hunter’; Isaiah 11 that dreams of creation with the eyes of a child.

        •Clarence Jordan, farmer, Greek scholar, Christian activist; Jesus’ disciples should not support a political order based on the subordination of some humans to others. Millard and Linda Fuller were moved by Jordan’s vision and started Habitat for Humanity.

        •Dorothy Day who started the Catholic Worker Movement (jailed multiple times)

        •Annekeen Hayndriches, sixteenth century Anabaptist, burned at the stake.

        •Philip and Daniel Berrigan, priests, burned draft files with home-made napalm to protest the Vietnam war. For burning paper, they served time in jail; those who burned human beings were national heroes.

        York points out the irony of a culture that hated eg Martin Luther King, but has made him part of that empire; ‘the best way to deal with a dangerous radical like King is to domesticate him. Give him a national holy day’(p 98).

        And the list continues. But the point is simple: Christians are called to embody an ethics different from others in dealing with enemies: forgive them.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        Johnson sketches the history of American imperialism, seeing its beginnings in 1898 with the Spanish-American war, portraying its brutal colonization of the Filipinos as ‘divinely ordained racially inevitable and economically indispensable’ (p 43).

        Intellectual foundations of American imperialism replaced the militaristic formulation (eg manifest destiny),reaching new heights(depths?) during WW II. The Korean and Vietnamese wars furthered the spiral.

        Johnson cites three hallmarks of militarism: a withering of the influence of non-military options (eg decrease of the State Department’s influence), increased presence of military officers or representatives of arms industry in high government position, military preparedness becomes the highest priority of the state.

        The United States is ‘drifting away from regarding treaties as an essential element in global security to a more opportunistic stand of abiding by treaties only when it is convenient/ (p 73). President Clinton signed the treaty creating the International Criminal Court, but the Bush administration ‘unsigned’ it.

        Johnson points out that Roman imperial sorrows mounted up over hundreds of years; our experience will lead to lack of resemblance to the country once outlined in our constitution in a much shorter time-frame. First, there will be perpetual war, leading to more terrorism. Second, there will be a loss of democracy as the presidency eclipses Congress. Third, truthfulness will be replaced by propaganda, disinformation and glorification of war, power and the military legions. Fourth, there will be bankruptcy. (p 285)

        These are the lessons learned by the early church as it confronted the empire of its day; Johnson outlines the issues (non-theologically) that the church faces today in an empire given over to militarism.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

        A Spiritual Life is a moving selection of the writings of poets, prophets and pastors who reflect on what makes for a vibrant spiritual life, drawing on a wide spectrum of personal experiences, exposing the reader to a wonderfully diverse group of people with a wide range of Christian experiences. Cole identifies three ways of discerning and living an authentic spiritual life: poets (8 entries), prophets (9), preachers (6). He admits the limits of using these three categories for discerning and living a spiritual life, and many of the articles in this anthology could easily fit any of the three categories.

        A word about some of the entries.

        ‘Spirituality and Chronic Illness’ talks of living with multiple sclerosis. ‘On Spirituality’ emphasizes the community dimension of spiritual formation; spiritual formation is more than private discipline; spiritual formation is an essential concern and a legacy of the community of faith—faithfulness to G-d and service to others’ (p 115). A moving reflection on his baptism—as a four-year old—marks Cole’s written comments (“More religious than Spiritual’). An insightful essay (sermon?) by William Willimon probes the relevancy of his book, Resident Aliens, and the claim that we don’t have to cultivate a tedious set of practices (eg Sabbath) in order to live in G-d’s time ( p 230).

        Cole’s work is a wonderful contribution to daily life with G-d.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.