When Moses asked God to show him his glory, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed his name. And from that name cascaded a promise of grace and love, compassion and faithfulness, forgiveness and slowness to anger. The story is told in Exodus 34:5-7, but the resonant name reverberates through the corridors of Scripture. Michael Knowles teases out the rich dimensions and implications of this name by listening carefully to Exodus 34 and its biblical echoes. He particularly tunes his ear to the spiritual meditations of later sages. In tracing the unfolding mystery of the divine name throughout the span of Israel's story, he finds it startlingly resolved in the God of Sinai becoming present in our midst. The manifold name of God has long captivated those who trace their spiritual ancestry to Abraham, whether they are Jewish, Christian or Muslim. This book brings this spiritual quest into dialogue with Scripture and tradition, and invites us to experience this God of the eternal name.

The obvious riddles and difficulties in Exod 3:13–15 and Exod 6:2–8 have attracted an overwhelming amount of attention and comment. These texts make important theological statements about the divine name YHWH and the contours of the divine character. From the enigmatic statements in Exod 3:13–15, most scholars reconstruct the original form of the name as “Yahweh,” which is thought to describe YHWH’s creative power or self-existence. Similarly, Exod 6:3 has become a classic proof-text for the Documentary Hypothesis and an indication of different aspects of God’s character as shown in history. Despite their seeming importance for “defining” the divine name, these texts are ancillary to and preparatory for the true revelation of the divine name in the book of Exodus. This book attempts to move beyond atomistic readings of individual texts and etymological studies of the divine name toward a holistic reading of the book of Exodus. Surls centers his argument around in-depth analyses of Exod 3:13–15, 6:2–8 and Exod 33:12–23 and 34:5–8. Consequently, the definitive proclamation of YHWH’s character is not given at the burning bush but in response to Moses’ later intercession (Exod 33:12–23). YHWH proclaimed his name in a formulaic manner that Israel could appropriate (Exod 34:6–7), and the Hebrew Bible quotes or alludes to this text in many genres. This demonstrates the centrality of Exod 34:6–7 to Old Testament Theology. The character of God cannot be discerned from an etymological analysis of the word yhwh but from a close study of YHWH’s deliberate ascriptions made progressively in the book of Exodus.

Divine Simplicity engages recent critics and address one of their major concerns: that the doctrine of divine simplicity is not a biblical teaching. By analyzing the use of Scripture by key theologians from the early church to Karl Barth, Barrett finds that divine simplicity developed in order to respond to theological errors (e.g., Eunomianism) and to avoid misreading Scripture. The volume then explains how divine simplicity can be rearticulated by following a formal analogy from the doctrine of the Trinity in which the divine attributes are identical to the divine essence but are not identical to each other.

Judgment and the wrath of God are prominent themes in Matthew’s Gospel. Because judgment is announced not only on the hypocritical but also on those who reject God’s messengers—and because this rejection is implicitly connected with the destruction of Jerusalem—the Gospel has often been read in terms of God’s rejection of Israel, with catastrophic results. Anders Runesson sets out to show, through careful study of Matthew’s composition and comparison with contemporary Jewish literature, that the theme of divine judgment plays very different and distinct roles regarding diverse groups of Jews (including Jesus’ disciples) and non-Jews in this Gospel. Runesson examines various assumptions regarding the criteria of judgment in each case and finds that Matthew does not support some of the most popular slogans in Christian theology. The results and implications for our historical understanding of Christian origins and our theological estimation of Matthew’s place in that story will be of vital interest to scholars and students for years to come.

What is your name? It is the first question one person asks another upon first meeting. Once names are revealed, the two parties are well on the way to the formation of some form of social relationship. Unlike our modern world, a name in Bible times was not a mere label, but a profile of character. This is especially the case in terms of God's self-disclosure in the unfolding pages of the Old Testament. The progressive revelation of God's name to the Hebrew people is a veritable theology, or study of the attributes of God. In this book, Michael Gowens examines the meaning and significance of the primary names of God - Elohim, Jehovah, & Adonai - together with several of the more salient compound names of each: El-Shaddai, El-Roi, El-Elyon, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, and more. Study along with him and experience how the revelation of God's name in the Bible is a firm foundation on which to cultivate a closer fellowship with him.

How do evangelism and social concern relate to one another in the mission of the church? How should the Old Testament's emphasis on social justice inform the praxis of modern believers? Does the Bible emphasize individual salvation, or does it teach a broader, more inclusive concept? Theologians, missiologists, pastors, and educators have wrestled with these questions for centuries. But especially since the early part of the twentieth century, this debate has increasingly become a point of contention among evangelical Christians, with few indications that a consensus may soon be forthcoming. Yet few have offered so thorough an answer to these questions as has Carl F. H. Henry. Henry's regenerational model of evangelism and social concern stands on the shoulders of Augustine and many others, and offers what may be the best way forward. This book explores Henry's thoughts on this subject and sets him in dialogue with numerous others who have written on these topics. Thus it will prove a valuable resource for all interested in this topic.

Preachers mount the pulpit steps terribly burdened by the conviction that they are somehow responsible for the growth and spiritual well-being of their congregants. How, they ask themselves, can mere words communicate the reality of God, bring life to a congregation, or foster spiritual growth? This study argues that effective sermons function much like Jesus' parables--by bearing witness to divine power. Parables and preaching both testify to something beyond themselves: to a life-giving dynamic that far outstrips the force of words alone. Preachers are not go-betweens or gatekeepers for the kingdom of heaven: rather, they imitate Jesus by dying to themselves in the very act of proclamation, relying directly on God for their sermons to bear fruit. As well as offering a novel interpretation of Jesus' agricultural parables, Of Seeds and the People of God presents a Christ-shaped theology of preaching. Beyond exegesis or rhetoric alone, faithful proclamation is a question of spirituality, of preachers and listeners together yielding to God's gift of new life.