| The Message of Lamentations Contributor(s): Wright, Christopher J. H. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0830824413 ISBN-13: 9780830824410 Publisher: IVP Academic OUR PRICE: $18.00 Product Type: Paperback Published: June 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Commentary - Old Testament - General - Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament |
| Dewey: 224.3 |
| LCCN: 2015014879 |
| Series: Bible Speaks Today |
| Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.4" W x 8.1" (0.45 lbs) 176 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BC is the likely setting for the book of Lamentations. This was the most traumatic event in the whole of Old Testament history, with its extreme human suffering, devastation of the ancient city, national humiliation, and the undermining of all that was thought to be theologically guaranteed like the Davidic monarchy, the city of Zion, and the temple of the God of Israel. It is out of that unspeakable pain that Lamentations speaks, in poetry of astonishing beauty and intricacy, though soaked in tears. If we neglect this book, says Chris Wright, we miss the challenge and reward of wrestling with the massive theological issues that permeate it. How can suffering be endured alongside faith in an all-loving, good God? Even if these events are recognized and accepted as God's judgment, has not the flood of brutality and evil gone beyond all bounds? If anarchy, death and destruction stalk the land, can the center of Israel's faith in the covenant God of faithfulness and mercy hold? In this Bible Speaks Today volume, Wright shows that as Christian readers we must not, and cannot, isolate Lamentations from the rest of the Bible; and equally, that we should not read the rest of the Bible without Lamentations. We must still let it speak for itself, as a book for today. |
Contributor Bio(s): Wright, Christopher J. H.: - An ordained priest in the Church of England, Chris spent five years teaching the Old Testament at Union Biblical Seminary in India, and thirteen years as academic dean and then principal of All Nations Christian College, an international training center for cross-cultural mission in England. He was chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group from 2005-2011 and the chief architect of The Cape Town Commitment from the Third Lausanne Congress, 2010. |