Summer release of COSMOLOGY AND NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY

I just read about the summer (July 08 ) release of the edited volume Cosmology and New Testament Theology (eds. S. McDonough and J. Pennington; Edinburgh: T & T Clark). I studied under Sean McDonough at Gordon-Conwell and he is a brilliant and humble scholar and I am excited to see more of his work in print (Amazon has the full text already online HERE).

The cast of contributors include mostly younger scholars, but ones that have already developed weighty reputations for excellence. A sampling of chapter titles include:

‘Graeco-Roman and Ancient Jewish Cosmology’ (Edward Adams)

‘Heaven, Earth, and a New Genesis: Theological Cosmology in Matthew’ (Pennington)

‘Tearing the Heavens and Shaking the HEavenlies: Mark’s Cosmology in its Apocalyptic Context’ (Mike Bird)

‘Revelation: The Climax of Cosmology’ (McDonough)

These kinds of studies are always helpful, but sometimes they become disjointed and lack a unified contribution to the subject at hand. I hope the introduction and conclusion (written by the editors) will do a good job reflecting on common themes and also discussing some theoretical and methodological issues. All in all, this is a needed study – especially as it relates to NT ‘theology’ and not just social-science and literary-rhetorical perspectives.