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spoiledmilks's review against another edition
4.0
You can find my review here: http://wp [.] me/p3JhRp-cq
http://spoiledmilks [.] wordpress [.] com/2014/05/30/review-a-mouth-full-of-fire/
"I am putting my words as a fire in your mouth; these people are tinder and it will consume them." (Jeremiah 5:14)
Shead argues that in the book of Jeremiah, the vocabulary of "word" and "words" is a literary and theological blueprint to give the book's final form its narrative and theological shape. It is not Jeremiah, but the phrase "the word of the Lord", who is the main character in the book of Jeremiah. Shead's Structure offers a great outline of Jeremiah (this is seen in ch 2 'Structuring Jeremiah', but is relayed in the following chapters 3-6).
The NSBT series believes there is an inner unity to the Old and New Testaments and works to synthesize the whole-Bible's teaching on the God we worship. "Biblical theology…may be defined as knowledge of God as God in the Bible" (pg. 28). The Bible is one which reveals God in such a way that we may in fact know Him, His character, and His Son, the Word.
(+) Shead's exegesis is excellent. Shead's outline and structure of Jeremiah gives way to pages and pages of note-taking (hopefully in your Bible too!). He provides us with a movie director's perspective, and how the camera draws into Jeremiah's character, and out to show him as an incidental character caught up with the rest of Judah in the destructive power of the Word of God. This was the best part of the book (in my opinion).
(-) While exegesis was gold and alluring, theological discussions were bewildering. Considering this is a book from a pretty academic series, I can't come down hard on Shead. It's not his fault I'm not smart enough to understand. But whether talking about ‘speech’ in the divine agency debate, Goldingay's 'model of scripture' as inspired word, or the difference between prophetic speech and a prophetic book (to name a few), I didn't always know if Shead agreed with an opposing position or not. And whether or not he did, I didn't know why it mattered in the end.
(-) The section on Barth was interesting, but still confusing. If you've read Barth, or have some knowledge on 'word' theology, this will make more sense to you. While there was gold to be found, I had trouble with the overall idea flowing through and the concepts discussed. Thankfully, Shead doesn't present Barth as the enemy.
If you're studying Jeremiah and you want a bigger picture of Jeremiah, his structure, and his portrayal of the power and place of God's word, read Shead.
[Many thanks to IVP UK for providing a review copy of this book. I was not required to provide a positive review in exchange for this book].
http://spoiledmilks [.] wordpress [.] com/2014/05/30/review-a-mouth-full-of-fire/
"I am putting my words as a fire in your mouth; these people are tinder and it will consume them." (Jeremiah 5:14)
Shead argues that in the book of Jeremiah, the vocabulary of "word" and "words" is a literary and theological blueprint to give the book's final form its narrative and theological shape. It is not Jeremiah, but the phrase "the word of the Lord", who is the main character in the book of Jeremiah. Shead's Structure offers a great outline of Jeremiah (this is seen in ch 2 'Structuring Jeremiah', but is relayed in the following chapters 3-6).
The NSBT series believes there is an inner unity to the Old and New Testaments and works to synthesize the whole-Bible's teaching on the God we worship. "Biblical theology…may be defined as knowledge of God as God in the Bible" (pg. 28). The Bible is one which reveals God in such a way that we may in fact know Him, His character, and His Son, the Word.
(+) Shead's exegesis is excellent. Shead's outline and structure of Jeremiah gives way to pages and pages of note-taking (hopefully in your Bible too!). He provides us with a movie director's perspective, and how the camera draws into Jeremiah's character, and out to show him as an incidental character caught up with the rest of Judah in the destructive power of the Word of God. This was the best part of the book (in my opinion).
(-) While exegesis was gold and alluring, theological discussions were bewildering. Considering this is a book from a pretty academic series, I can't come down hard on Shead. It's not his fault I'm not smart enough to understand. But whether talking about ‘speech’ in the divine agency debate, Goldingay's 'model of scripture' as inspired word, or the difference between prophetic speech and a prophetic book (to name a few), I didn't always know if Shead agreed with an opposing position or not. And whether or not he did, I didn't know why it mattered in the end.
(-) The section on Barth was interesting, but still confusing. If you've read Barth, or have some knowledge on 'word' theology, this will make more sense to you. While there was gold to be found, I had trouble with the overall idea flowing through and the concepts discussed. Thankfully, Shead doesn't present Barth as the enemy.
If you're studying Jeremiah and you want a bigger picture of Jeremiah, his structure, and his portrayal of the power and place of God's word, read Shead.
[Many thanks to IVP UK for providing a review copy of this book. I was not required to provide a positive review in exchange for this book].