The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary

<p>Kay Higuera Smith (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.</p>
<p>Jarvis J. Williams (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including <em>Redemptive Kingdom Diversity: ABiblical Theology of the People of God, Christ Redeemed ‘Us’ from the Curse of the Law: A Jewish Martyrological Reading of Galatians 3:13</em>, and a commentary on Galatians in the New Covenant Commentary Series.</p>
<p>Esau McCaulley (PhD, St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for the <em>New York Times</em>. He is the author of <em>Reading While Black</em> and <em>Sharing in the Son's Inheritance</em>, as well as the children's book <em>Josie Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit</em>. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife and four children.</p>
<p>Amy Peeler is the Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College and Associate Priest at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Geneva, IL. She is the author of <em>Women and the Gender of God</em> and a commentary on Hebrews.</p>
<p>Miguel Echevarría (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of <em>The Future Inheritance of Land in the Pauline Epistles</em>,<em>40 Questions about the Apostle Paul</em>, <em>Engaging the New Testament: A Short Introduction for Students and Ministers</em>, and <em>Reading the Bible Latinamente: Latino/a Interpretation for the Life of the Church</em>. He has also publishedshort commentaries on the Gospel of John and the Johannine Epistles in IVP Academic’s <em>New Testament in Color</em>. </p>
<p>T. Christopher Hoklotubbe (ThD, Harvard) is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is the director of graduate studies of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, the first accredited Indigenous designed, developed, delivered, and governed theological institute. He is also assistant professor of classics at Cornell College (Mount Vernon, Iowa). He is the author of <em>Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire</em>, which was awarded the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two daughters and live near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.</p>
<p>Osvaldo Padilla (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author of <em>The Acts of the Apostles</em>, <em>The Speeches of Outsiders in Acts</em>, and numerous articles and reviews.</p>
<p>H. Daniel Zacharias (PhD, Highland Theological College/Aberdeen) is a Cree-Anishinaabe/Métis and Austrian man originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty One territory), with ancestors also residing in Treaty Two, Treaty Three, and Treaty Five territories. He lives in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) with his wife, Maria, and four children in Wolfville, NS. He is associate dean and professor of New Testament studies at Acadia Divinity College, where he has worked since 2007. He also serves as an adjunct faculty for NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.</p>
<p>Dennis R. Edwards (PhD, Catholic University of America) is associate professor of New Testament as well as vice president for church relations and dean of North Park Seminary, Chicago. He has worked in urban ministry for over three decades, including serving as a church planter in Brooklyn and Washington, DC. His books include <em>Might from the Margins</em> and the Story of God Bible Commentary on 1 Peter.</p>
<p>Gene L. Green (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the dean of Trinity International University-Florida and professor emeritus of New Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School. He is the author of <em>Vox Petri: A Theology of Peter</em> and coeditor of <em>Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective</em>.</p>

<p>"While it is not uncommon to encounter socially located interpretations grounded in a hermeneutic of suspicion, this work speaks from one of trust in the biblical text and a commitment to the central tenets of the Christian faith. It also moves beyond theories about these interpretations (although it does provide those discussions) to commentary on every New Testament book. This volume is a constructive contribution to debates about fundamental matters of interpretation from an impressive set of scholars of diverse ethnicities."</p><p><em>M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas), Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy, Wheaton College</em></p>
<p>"In my own theological education, I was pressured to suppress my ethnic perspective and experiences, to conform to some sort of disembodied neutrality. Since then I have come to learn that my background, culture, and reading lens can actually enhance my ability to understand Scripture. I am thrilled to recommend <i>The New Testament in Color</i> because this 'library-in-a-book' reflects the beautiful mosaic of a many-colored hermeneutic. I wish someone had handed this book to me twenty-five years ago, and I hope many will read it now."</p><p><em>Nijay Gupta, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church</em></p>
<p>"<i>The New Testament in Color</i> is informative, prophetic, reflective, and inspiring. The authors, drawn from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, are self-aware of their social location and write with a hermeneutic of trust in Scripture. This volume makes an extraordinary contribution to New Testament studies and sets the standard for future commentaries."</p><p><em>Lynn H. Cohick, distinguished professor of New Testament and director of Houston Theological Seminary, Houston Christian University</em></p>
<p>"McCaulley, Ok, Padilla, Peeler, and the volume's contributors have broken new ground with <i>The New Testament in Color</i>. Its essays and commentary, written by scholars of the New Testament from across racial, ethnic, and gender identities, emerge from critical, socially located methods and insights that are also informed by the writers' ecclesial perspectives and experiences. The result is an important one-volume commentary on the New Testament that speaks from and reaches out to both academic and ecclesial communities."</p><p><em>Mary Foskett, Wake Forest Kahle Professor of religious studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest University</em></p>
<p>"The contributors of <i>The New Testament in Color</i> are experts not only in the biblical subject matter but also in identifying and sharing the gifts their social location brings to the hermeneutical task. The scope of this one-volume commentary provides a nearly kaleidoscopic vision of richly varied perspectives together with solid exegesis of the texts. The editors and authors have done the church and academy a great service, shaping a resource that promises to be a boon for seminary reading lists, a go-to in church and university libraries, and a must-have on every pastor's desk."</p><p><em>Kara Lyons-Pardue, professor of New Testament, Point Loma Nazarene University</em></p>
<p>"The American evangelical church has desperately needed this book, <i>The New Testament in Color.</i> For those of us who value the power and authority of God's Word while aware of the diverse experiences and realities that shape our own culturally unique stories, we have longed for this book. This text reminds us that God is a transcendent God who speaks through a transcendent source, but that God is also God with us, immanent in the Word and also in our lives."</p><p><em>Soong-Chan Rah, Robert B. Munger Professor of Evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of The Next Evangelicalism</em></p>
<p>"Reading the New Testament, intentionally, through one's ethnic point of view (African American, Asian American, Hispanic, or Native American) does not violate an objective, traditional reading of Scripture. Rather, reading the Bible in and out ofone's location exposes the bias of the (formerly so-called) 'objective' reading as a Euro-white reading and, at the same time, offers to the traditional readings fresh perspectives. Over and over, I thought the essays were worth the price of this book, but I was wrong. The commentaries interact with the essays in a manner that makes this book a required desk companion for anyone who wants to hear all the Word of God has to offer. A must-have for all Bible teachers and pastors."</p><p><em>Scot McKnight, author of The Second Testament: A New Translation and Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary</em></p>
<p>"<i>The New Testament in Color</i> is a book I long hoped would eventually be written and is in many ways overdue. The editors have done a superb job of gathering scholars from diverse ethnic backgrounds who interpret the biblical text adeptly using the familiar critical tools of exegesis, and who also demonstrate how reading from their particular social location provides theological insight germane to all of God's people. They show how the New Testament addresses a range of issues importantto today's readers, including topics of restorative justice, immigration and hospitality, racial bias and violence, the priority of families and ecclesial communities, and so much more. Not to be missed are the excellent introductory essays, which trace the ethnic histories of peoples of color and their practice of reading the Bible with a hermeneutic of trust. Exegetically precise, theologically orthodox, and prophetically challenging, this book—in a word—preaches!"</p><p><em>Max J. Lee, Paul W. Brandel Professor of biblical studies at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois</em></p>
<p>"Rooted in a confessional commitment to the trustworthiness of Scripture, this book draws together a diverse group of theologically minded scholars. Together they explore the multiple interpretive possibilities that emerge when Christians read across and within racial and ethnic difference. Here the promise is that God's Word will be more faithfully understood when the colorful tapestry of God's creation of multiple cultures and peoples is embraced. In these ways, this book joins a vital chorus of minoritized biblical scholars who invite readers to ponder the Bible and its readers in rich multiplicity."</p><p><em>Eric Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary</em></p>
<p>"This is the book I've been searching for throughout my teaching career. There is academic excellence here, coupled with a prophetic call to hear God's Word through the rich diversity of the authors' cultural, ethnic, and racial perspectives and wisdom. There is pastoral sensitivity to the varied experiences of readers, from the emotional and psychological toll of racialized oppression to the exhortation to humility directed toward White Christians (like me). Professors, students, and all participants in the body of Christ will find <i>The New Testament in Color</i> to be a valuable, instructive, and challenging resource for understanding the Bible, the church, and Christian discipleship."</p><p><em>Caryn A. Reeder, professor of New Testament at Westmont College</em></p>