Posted February 2, 2006 Book: Reading Luke: Interpretation, Reflection, Formation Editors: Craig G. Bartholomew, Joel B. Green, Anthony C. Thiselton Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2006, pp. 484 An Excerpt from the Jacket: Attention to hermeneutics must lead us to a deeper understanding of the biblical text itself, otherwise it is in vain. Indeed, hermeneutics at its best enables us to know better how to listen to Scripture so as to better hear God’s address. In this volume the Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar brings its reflections to bear on a specific biblical text, namely the gospel of Luke. The result is a rich tapestry of reflections connected to the preceding volumes published by the Seminar and leading into deep engagement with Luke as Scripture. An Excerpt from the Book: When you pray, say: “Father . . .” Jesus, the Messiah, in whom we are blessed and who brings the age of the Israel-specific temple to a close, invites us to share in his prayer life, that is, to ‘know’ the goodness of God and relate to him the way he did – as our Father. He who knows the Father uniquely (Lk. 10:21-22) invites us to call upon his Father as our ‘Father’ ((11:2b). Thus the model prayer given by Jesus is a prayer befitting those who come to God like little children (10:21; 18:15-17). The true Sone (3:22, 38; 4:3, 9; 9:35 10:21-22; 23:46) who magnifies his Father’s name (10:21) invites us to orient our lives for the same purpose: ‘Father, may your name be regarded as sacred.’ We are to identify God as ‘Father’ and consecrate ourselves as his true children by setting his name apart for honor. The inaugurator of the kingdom – because he is the eschatological sone of David, Israel’s true King who must reign over the nations until all his enemies are put under his feet – teaches us to pray for its consummation (112c). That it, again, we must learn to see ourselves as children who want their Father’s authority to spread rather than recede. The one who taught concerning the reliability of the Father, who taught of his unfathomable beneficence and of our great worth in his estimation (11:1-13; 12:22-23), teaches us to ask his and our Father for our daily bread (11:3). Only those who know him as kind and merciful Father will be able to live like Jesus’ brothers and sisters and as the Father’s true children (6:27-36; 8:21; 9:46-48; 12:22-32; 23:34, 46). Table of Contents: 1. The hermeneutical dynamics of ‘Reading Luke’ as interpretation, reflection and formation 2. Learning theological interpretation from Luke 3. The purpose of Luke-Acts: Israel’s story in the context of the Roman Empire 4. Preparing the way of the Lord: Introducting and interpreting Luke’s narrative: A response to David Wenham 5. Reading Luke’s gospel as ancient Hellenistic narrative: Luke’s narrative plan of Israel’s suffering messiah as God’s saving “plan” for the world 6. Political and eschatological language in Luke 7. The role of money and possessions in the parable of the prodigal son 8. Reading Luke, hearing Jesus and understanding God: reflections on some hermeneutical issues: a response to John Nolland 9. A critical examination of David Bosch’s missional reading of Luke 10. Luke and the Spirit: renewing theological interpretation of Biblical pneumatology 11. Kingdom and Church in Luke-Acts: from Davidic Christology to kingdom ecclesiology 12. A cononical approach to interpreting Luke: the journey motif as a hermeneutical key 13. Prayer in/and the drama of redemption in Luke: prayer and exegetical performance 14. The reception and use of the gospel of Luke in the second century 15. Looking for Luke in the second century: a dialogue with Francois Bovon 16. Illuminating Luke: the third gospel in Italian renaissance and baroque painting Afterword