Making Wise the Simple: The Torah in Christian Faith and Practice

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Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Sep 14, 2005 - Religion - 329 pages
Too long restricted to children's storybooks and cinematic extravaganzas, the Torah -- comprising the first five books of the Bible -- is an underappreciated mother lode of divine instruction, vitally important for Christians and the church. Convinced that both those who take the Torah too literally and those who neglect it are guilty of a naïve simplicity, Johanna van Wijk-Bos presents guidelines to help ordinary Christians recover this treasure in their faith and practice.

Having lived in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, van Wijk-Bos recognizes that after the attempted annihilation of the Jews from Christian Europe, it cannot be business as usual for Christianity. In light of the Holocaust, Christians must commit themselves to the restoration of just relations between Christians and Jews. This commitment to address all that fractures human relations undergirds van Wijk-Bos's call for Christians to reengage the Torah.

Making Wise the Simple points out how God's care for and engagement with the whole world in the Torah set the tone for the entire biblical story. The book pays special attention to how our treatment of strangers lies at the heart of the Torah's teaching. Without attempting a purely Jewish reading of the Torah, van Wijk-Bos reclaims the Torah as a vibrant word for the Christian community in covenant with God.

Written in a personal style conversant with current scholarship but sprinkled with anecdotes, this book is for everyone who has a hunger and enthusiasm for what the biblical text may convey, the courage to ask disturbing questions of the text, and an openness to old words that may bring forth new things, perhaps even making one wise.

 

Contents

I
xxiii
II
1
III
3
IV
5
V
13
VII
17
VIII
20
IX
23
LXX
153
LXXI
155
LXXII
162
LXXIII
165
LXXIV
167
LXXVII
169
LXXVIII
174
LXXIX
177

XI
27
XII
31
XIV
33
XV
38
XVII
46
XVIII
47
XIX
48
XX
49
XXI
50
XXII
54
XXIII
56
XXV
60
XXVI
64
XXVII
67
XXVIII
69
XXX
72
XXXI
76
XXXIII
77
XXXIV
79
XXXV
81
XXXVI
82
XXXVII
83
XXXVIII
84
XXXIX
88
XL
90
XLI
92
XLII
93
XLIII
94
XLIV
100
XLV
103
XLVI
107
XLIX
108
L
111
LI
112
LII
113
LIII
115
LIV
117
LV
119
LVI
120
LVII
124
LVIII
127
LIX
131
LXII
134
LXIV
140
LXV
143
LXVI
147
LXVIII
151
LXIX
152
LXXXI
178
LXXXII
183
LXXXIII
186
LXXXIV
190
LXXXV
191
LXXXVI
192
LXXXVII
193
LXXXVIII
195
LXXXIX
196
XC
199
XCI
201
XCIII
202
XCIV
205
XCV
211
XCVI
213
XCVII
216
XCIX
217
C
221
CI
225
CII
228
CIII
229
CIV
231
CV
232
CVI
240
CVII
244
CVIII
249
CIX
251
CX
260
CXI
261
CXIII
262
CXIV
265
CXV
266
CXVII
268
CXVIII
270
CXIX
273
CXX
274
CXXI
276
CXXII
279
CXXIII
280
CXXIV
282
CXXV
288
CXXVI
290
CXXVII
294
CXXX
298
CXXXII
304
CXXXIII
314
CXXXIV
319
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Page xxii - JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series...

About the author (2005)

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos is Dora Pierce Professor ofBible and professor of Old Testament at LouisvillePresbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Anordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she isalso the author of Reformed and Feminist: A Challenge tothe Church and Reimagining God: The Case forScriptural Diversity."

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