Thursday, March 26, 2009

VTS Press Release on "Lamentations" and "Obadiah"


Alexandria, VA – The books of Lamentations and Obadiah have been added to Virginia Theological Seminary’s (VTS) online Bible Briefs collection, a series of tract-size, highly readable pamphlets introducing the books of Scripture. Offered in collaboration with Forward Movement, Bible Briefs is a long-term project that aims to produce texts to all 66 books of the Bible.

The Lamentations addition to the Bible Briefs collection was written by the Rev. Dr. Christian M. M. Brady, dean of the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University and Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies. He has written many articles on the rabbinic interpretation of the Five Scrolls and a book on the rabbinic Targum of Lamentations.

“The book of Lamentations is one of the smallest works in the Bible and yet one of the most powerful and enigmatic.” writes Brady. “It’s not just an outpouring of emotion, however, it also contains a profound theological reflection and response to the problem of sin and suffering.”

The Bible Briefs pamphlet on Obadiah was written by Dr. Jim West, adjunct professor of Biblical Studies at the Quartz Hill School of Theology and pastor of Petros Baptist Church, Petros, Tennessee. He has written a number of books and articles and serves as Language Editor for the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament.

States West, “Obadiah is seldom read in many corners of Christendom because it has some of the harshest language against enemies outside of Psalm 137… [yet] even in a book on the surface thoroughly about punishment and vindication, in the end it is really God’s grace that is vindicated and proven in the right.”

The Bible Briefs are offered on the VTS web site free of charge.

To view the actual press release, click here.

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