Hello, I am not trying to start a new thread promoting New Interpreter's Bible (12 vols.) exactly but I did have a few questions. This commentary covers the entire Roman Catholic (Alexandrian) canon of Scriptures. It is true not all contributors are RC, but dose that fact keep you from purchasing an item like the NIB? I am just curious, I am anxious to promote this fine ecumenical work. I have listed most of (all i think) the RC contributors (one professor of Hebrew is also listed since he teaches at a major catholic university) below. Also a collection of samples gathered from every book of the Bible (in some cases like the gospels and psalms numerous samples are given rather than just one). And at the very bottom is a list of 12 snippets i gleaned from NIB that I thought were good examples of the soul nourishing scholarship i find in the 12 volumes.
So basically I am just asking if you are RC and have not pre-ordered the NIB, what is the reason. I realize it may be cost, not a purely catholic work or many other reasons might be but I am a curious soul and beg your indulgence in for a brief moment considering the NIB.
-Dan
https://www.evernote.com/pub/danielwilliamfrancis/nibsamples
RCC Contributors to NIB_______________________________
GARY A. ANDERSON
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to Israelite Religion
JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP
John A. O’Brien Professor of Biblical Studies
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to the Pentateuch
RICHARD J. CLIFFORD
Professor of Old Testament
Weston School of Theology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to Wisdom Literature
JOHN J. COLLINS
Professor of Hebrew Bible
The Divinity School
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to Early Jewish Religion
TONI CRAVEN
Professor of Hebrew Bible
Brite Divinity School
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to Narrative Literature
DANIEL J. HARRINGTON
Professor of New Testament
Weston School of Theology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to the Canon
LUKE T. JOHNSON
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins
Candler School of Theology
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia
(The Roman Catholic Church)
James
MICHAEL KOLARCIK
Assistant Professor
Regis College
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Book of Wisdom
FREDERICK J. MURPHY
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, Massachusetts
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature
IRENE NOWELL
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Benedictine College
Atchison, Kansas
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Tobit
KATHLEEN M. O’CONNOR
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies
Maryknoll School of Theology
Maryknoll, New York
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Lamentations
CAROLYN OSIEK
Professor of New Testament
Department of Biblical Languages and Literature
Catholic Theological Union
Chicago, Illinois
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Reading the Bible as Women
PHEME PERKINS
Professor of New Testament
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Mark
ANTHONY J. SALDARINI
Professor of Biblical Studies
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Baruch; Letter of Jeremiah
EILEEN M. SCHULLER
Associate Professor
Department of Religious Studies
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Malachi
FERNANDO F. SEGOVIA
Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity
The Divinity School
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Reading the Bible as Hispanic Americans
MICHAEL A. SIGNER
Abrams Professor of Jewish Thought and Culture
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
How the Bible Has Been Interpreted in Jewish Tradition
GALE A. YEE
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Department of Theology
University of Saint Thomas
Saint Paul, Minnesota
(The Roman Catholic Church)
Hosea
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Here are my 12 Gems from the 12 Volumes of the New Interpreter's Bible. I realize one person's gems may well be another persons, stones to be scattered but I hope you enjoy. http://www.logos.com/product/8803/new-interpreters-bible
-Dan
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In Leviticus, the people of God are called to be holy, not because holiness is an arbitrary religion game that God wants played, but because God is holy. Because God is holy, God’s people are to be holy by being like God in the world. We can, therefore, do away with all the cartoon pictures of the sanctimonious holy person wearing a halo and a prudish glare. To be holy is not to be narrow-minded and primly pious; it is, rather, to imitate God. To be holy is to roll up one’s sleeves and to join in with whatever God is doing in the world. --Leviticus: Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Volume 1
The songs of mothers remind us that our story as the church is a part of what God has been doing since creation itself (1 Sam 2:8b), since the first giving of God’s promise to raise up a people (Luke 1:55). The history of God’s salvation does not originate with Jesus or with the church. The church is a part of the larger activity of God from creation onward. To be the community of Jesus as the Messiah is to be related to a God whose story is always larger than the church’s story. It is to be related to a God whose transforming power on behalf of the powerless does not originate in Jesus Christ but was already known to Hannah and simply finds new expression in the song Mary sings for the church. --The First and Second Books of Samuel: Bruce C. Birch, Volume 2
Along with other stories pertaining to Elijah, the miracles in this chapter have been commemorated in music and in art. In these re-creations of the story, attention is invariably drawn to the supramundane origin of Elijah's experiences. That is, indeed, the main point of the passage: It is the Lord, the God of Israel, who brings about these wonders. So, too, we dare to believe that things that seem impossible to human beings can be brought about by the Lord: Birds of prey may provide nourishment; the poor may have their victuals wondrously replenished; and even the dead may be resurrected. It is the Lord and no other god who performs such miracles. So we are called to believe as well. --The First and Second Books of Kings: Choon-Leong Seow, Volume 3
The Misfit represents what Psalm 1 and the rest of the psalter call wickedness—the conviction that we are doing all right by ourselves, that we need no help. It is not surprising that the Misfit’s words conclude the story: “ ‘It’s no real pleasure in life.’ ” He is telling the truth. Failing to trust God and to make connection with God as the source of life, persons cannot be “happy.” It is not surprising that contemporary societies of isolated selves consistently fail to produce people who are “happy,” even though these societies are among the wealthiest, healthiest, and most educated in human history. In biblical terms, to be autonomous, to be alienated from God and other people, is to “perish.” --Psalms: J. Clinton McAnn Jr., Volume 4
The appearance of wisdom and achievement of the aged is not to be confused with virtue. As with the earlier cases of the tragic death of a virtuous person and the apparent fruitlessness of a barren person, the author calls for an examination of the true nature of human strength and wisdom. What appears to be a tragic loss of life in the case of the wise youth indeed is not. Presumably the author could have chosen other figures to signify human strength, such as people of wealth or those with educational and political might. Instead he uses three extreme examples of human misfortune to highlight with clarity the significant values of virtue and justice for determining the dignity of human beings. The true failures, tragedies, and disasters in life are not what the wicked think they are. Moral vacuity expressed through a life of evasive pleasure, exploiting the weak, and perpetrating violence brings on a death and destruction that is far more devastating than the experience of mortality, which all human beings encounter. --Book of Wisdom: Michael Kolarcik, Volume 5
Pastoring is not, however, the sole responsibility of ordained ministers. To the contrary, authentic leadership requires “pastoral” care. Everyone who, in one way or another, in one arena or another, exercises authority and influence would do well to consider how the shepherd metaphor might impact his or her mindset and actions. Pastoring begins with the psalmist’s full awareness that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,/ the world, and those who live in it” (Ps 24:1). As leaders and caretakers, we are not to use persons, things, and situations to personal advantage. Neither exploitation nor neglect is acceptable. Rather, we are to act as God’s stewards, protecting and providing for those who are entrusted to our care, but belong to God. Ezekiel 34 has much to say to leaders of every ilk, be they politicians, health care providers, supervisors, teachers, pastors, or parents.--Book of Ezekiel: Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, Volume 6
Amos was inspired to recognize that the daily life of Israel had completely given up the ethical standards of the Yahwistic religion. Whether he thought in terms of “covenant theology” or not, he clearly saw the treatment of the poor in Israel as a fundamental rejection of the relationship that Yahweh had established with Israel, which required obedience not only in worship but also in the maintenance of a just society. We might describe his evaluation in this way: It was an unhealthy society, so sick it could not survive much longer. But Amos spoke in terms of God’s activity in history. The death of Israel would not be from “natural causes”; it would be God’s work. We must not then conclude that God prefers to work via killing and burning.52 God allows human beings to chart their own courses, then finds ways to work through, or in spite of, what they do. --Amos: Donald E. Gowan, Volume 7
The move to the future tense indicates that the life of the kingdom must wait for ultimate validation until God finishes the new creation. The future tense of the beatitudes resists all notions that Christianity is a “philosophy of life” designed to make people successful and calm today, in the present moment. Christianity is not a scheme to reduce stress, lose weight, advance in one’s career, or preserve one from illness. Christian faith, instead, is a way of living based on the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way of God, that righteousness and peace will finally prevail, and that God’s future will be a time of mercy and not cruelty. So, blessed are those who live this life now, even when such a life seems foolish, for they will, in the end, be vindicated by God. --Matthew: Eugene Boring, Volume 8
The Word becoming flesh is the decisive event in human history—indeed, in the history of creation—because the incarnation changes God’s relationship to humanity and humanity’s relationship to God. The incarnation means that human beings can see, hear, and know God in ways never before possible. The Father-Son relationship of God and Jesus is the key to this changed relationship. God’s Son, because he is the incarnate Word, derives his identity from God (1:1, 18). The relationship between divine and human is transformed, because in the incarnation human beings are given intimate, palpable, corporeal access to the cosmic reality of God. --John: Gail R. O’Day, Volume 9
Shared worship, indeed, is central to Paul’s vision. He does not say that one should wait to share in worship until all aspects of belief and practice have been hammered out. On the contrary. He sees the mutual welcome, allowing people from very different backgrounds literally to worship together with one voice, as of the essence of the quest for a deeper unity. When we read this alongside Gal 2:11-21, we discover that this is not just a bit of good advice; it grows directly from the doctrine of justification by faith itself. The point of that doctrine is that all who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead belong in the same worshiping family, and at the same table. Shared eucharistic fellowship should not be the reward awaiting us at the end of ecumenical negotiations and agreements. It should be a central means by which we travel together along that road. --The Letter to the Romans: N. T. Wright, Volume 10
Whatever the reason for the special reference to those who held office in the Philippian church, the letter is addressed to the whole community. All are “in Christ Jesus” and so belong to the fellowship of God's people. Once again, the terms have become so familiar that we no longer appreciate their real significance. We think of “saints” as very special people and forget that we are all called to be saints—to be members of God's people and, therefore holy, like God. This new status belongs to those who are “in Christ,” who claim their new relationship with God because of their relationship with Christ. It is because Christ is God's holy one that those who belong to him are “saints” (the Greek word a{gioi [hagioi] means “holy ones”). Our proper emphasis on individual responsibility has tended to make us think of sanctity as something personal and private, but Christianity is primarily a calling to belong to a community. The church is not simply a group of individuals who happen to have responded to the gospel; it is the community of God's people, whose corporate life is an essential expression of their divine calling. Paul would certainly have endorsed John Wesley's maxim that “Christianity is essentially a social religion; and that to turn it into a solitary religion, is indeed to destroy it.” Paul's emphatic “all” (1:4, 7-8) will remind us how important this idea is. --The Letter to the Philippians: Morna D. Hooker, Volume 11
In contemporary America, the “appearances” of race and gender are instantly recognizable, for they have, through titanic struggles, finally been brought to general consciousness. On these fronts, the church's record has been mixed; despite some strong efforts toward genuine inclusiveness, racial and gender discrimination is still a reality within most denominations. The sort of discrimination of the poor person that James describes is less easy to see, partially because denominations tend to sort themselves out along socioeconomic lines. But to imagine a dirty and bewildered street person wandering into a Sunday morning fellowship seeking warmth and coffee is in most cases also to imagine a deeply uncomfortable fellowship. Such instances—and it is easy to multiply the ways in which people can, because of appearance, size, gender, sexual orientation, and status, seem to be “poor by the world's standards”—challenge the church's recollection that it is supposed to be a “kingdom” made up of just such inconvenient and unacceptable persons. When the poor cannot find a place in a Christian church, that church no longer has any connection to Jesus. --The Letter of James: Luke Timothy Johnson, Volume 12
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+PAX
