Sandra M. Schneiders

Jesus Risen in Our Midst mines the Resurrection Narrative of John's gospel as a rich resource for understanding and developing Christian spirituality. In this series of essays, which can be read independently of one another, Scripture scholar Sandra Schneiders draws out especially fascinating insights on the place of the Resurrection in the overall structure of the Gospel of Johnthe important structure of John 20, which presents a series of episodes that are internally related to each other and constitute a distinctive synthesis of Christian spiritualitywhat the Resurrection story reveals about the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah and Ezekielthe anthropology and eschatology that is operative in John's account of the Resurrectionthe distinction in John between the Glorification and the Resurrection of Jesus

One of the most surprising discoveries of our time is that the universe is an unfolding and highly creative story: a cosmogenesis. In Journey of Faith, Journey of the Universe, Br. Ivan Nicoletto reveals how very insightful the Scripture and its commentary tradition are to these deep and cosmic perspectives, thus surprising even seasoned Bible-hearers with fresh understanding. It will serve as rich nourishment to anyone involved in the ministry of preaching or who wants to explore the lectionary in a new way. The distinction of the book is Br. Ivan’s capacity to speak with depth and originality on both the Scripture readings and the cosmic spirituality, in fact, to blend them usefully, insightfully. This selection of homilies offered on various Sundays and holy days of the three-year lectionary cycle offers fresh insights on the readings for the day to those who are also open to the challenge to theology and Scripture that comes from new cosmology.

In her remarkable first book, God Dwells With Us: Temple Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, Mary L. Coloe, P.B.V.M., explored the profound insight of John's Gospel expressed in Jesus ' invitation to his disciples: Make your home in me, as I make mine in you (John 15:4). For the gospel's author and audience, the dwelling of God among humans was, above al, the Jerusalem Temple. The gospel traces how 'after the trauma of the destruction of the Temple 'the Johannine community came to expand and deepen its knowledge of God's dwelling among humans, finding it now in the person of Jesus and in the community of believers.Dwelling in the Household of God moves us from seeing God's dwelling place as the Temple to seeing God's dwelling place within the community of believers. The starting point now is an image in John 14:2: my Father's house, which is given its Old Testament meaning of my father's household. Our awareness thus moves, like that of the first Christians, from understanding My father's house as the Temple (John 2:16) to My Father's Household as a community of believers drawn into Jesus ' own divine filiation. Coloe invites us to re-read the gospel from the post-Easter perspective of those who have become brothers and sisters of Jesus and living Temples of God's presence. What emerges is nothing less than a profound mysticism of the mutual indwelling of God and believers.Mary Coloe, PBVM, DTh, holds a joint teaching position at the Australian Catholic University and St Paul's Seminary, Brisbane. Her publications include numerous articles and God Dwells With Us: Temple Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel (Liturgical Press, 2001).

Here is a revised edition of a landmark text by one of our most distinguished authors and theologians. In Beyond Patching, Sandra Schneiders clarifies the language and concerns of feminist spirituality and effectively addresses the excruciating tensions that have arisen because of the sometimes morally unacceptable way that women are treated in the Church. She asserts that the current half-hearted attempts to "patch" things up must be replaced with a whole-hearted renewal, or the Church stands in danger of losing touch with many of its women. Beyond Patching supports meaningful change by presenting the feminist theological agenda in a manner that does not undermine the foundations of Christian faith. It includes such fundamental theological problems as the function of scripture for women once its patriarchal and misogynist content has been identified, the spiritual struggle of women who feel alienated by the church, and Catholic feminism in relation to the larger feminist movement. Beyond Patching is an excellent tool that not only gives hope to women but serves as a warning to Church authorities: just as an old garment can be beyond repair, so, too, the Church, in this case, is beyond patching. †

In this new edition of her major study of the New Testament, Sandra Schneiders proposes a comprehensive hermeneutical theory for New Testament interpretation, which takes full account of the Bible as both sacred Scripture and as a historical-literary classic. Designed to spur reflection on the role of Scripture as revelatory text in the life of the Church and in the lives of individual believers, The Revelatory Text shows that an integral hermeneutical theory can ground a transformational hermeneutical praxis to make the biblical text available as a faith resource to the oppressed as well as to the privileged. Schneiders investigates the meaning of the theological claim that the Bible is the Word of God" and the "Church's book," along with the implications of these claims for biblical interpretation. She then examines the historical, literary, and religious-spiritual dimensions of the New Testament, highlighting the implications for interpretation theory and methodology, and concludes by putting her theory to the test in a feminist interpretation of John 4. The author argues that the comprehensive object of biblical interpretation is not merely information but transformation. She suggests that an adequate hermeneutical theory must include a wide range of exegetical and critical methods within a theologically and philosophically adequate understanding of Scripture as sacred text. She writes specifically to educated believers who wonder how sound biblical criticism can be incorporated into a faith- filled reading of the New Testament; biblical scholars who struggle with the question of whether or how faith can function legitimately in biblical scholarship; and those whose task it is to teach and preach the faith that looks to the New Testament as source and norm. Chapters are "The Problem and Project of New Testament Interpretation," "The New Testament as Word of God," "The New Testament as the Church's Book," "The World Behind the Test: History, Imagination, and the Revelatory Text," "The World of the Text: Witness, Language, and the Revelatory Text," "The World Before the Text: Meaning, Appropriation, and the Revelatory Text," and "A Case Study: Feminist Interpretation of John 4:1- 42."Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, is professor of New Testament studies and Christian spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California."