Telford Work

Pastors and leaders of the classical church--such as Augustine, Calvin, Luther, and Wesley--interpreted the Bible theologically, believing Scripture as a whole witnessed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Modern interpreters of the Bible questioned this premise. But in recent decades, a critical mass of theologians and biblical scholars has begun to reassert the priority of a theological reading of Scripture.The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret Scripture for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places. In the eighth volume in the series, Telford Work presents a theological exegesis of Deuteronomy.

It can be a shock in our culture for a Christian to encounter evolutionary biology and conversely for a Darwinian to encounter biblical Christianity. Can a devout Christian with a high view of scripture accept scientific views of evolution? Some proponents of biblical Christianity or Darwinian evolution are quick to claim their incompatibility. However, as strong believers in both Christ and the sciences, we find more harmony than friction between them. If you or someone you care about sees a tension between evolution and Christian faith, we want to help you understand their interaction. This book, written by a biologist, a pastor/biblical scholar, and a theologian, addresses questions from the gifts of each of their disciplines. We acknowledge the insights and authority of the Bible, explain the science of evolution, explore their mutual relevance, and argue that holding the two together deepens our understanding of the world and its creator.

It can be a shock in our culture for a Christian to encounter evolutionary biology and conversely for a Darwinian to encounter biblical Christianity. Can a devout Christian with a high view of scripture accept scientific views of evolution? Some proponents of biblical Christianity or Darwinian evolution are quick to claim their incompatibility. However, as strong believers in both Christ and the sciences, we find more harmony than friction between them. If you or someone you care about sees a tension between evolution and Christian faith, we want to help you understand their interaction. This book, written by a biologist, a pastor/biblical scholar, and a theologian, addresses questions from the gifts of each of their disciplines. We acknowledge the insights and authority of the Bible, explain the science of evolution, explore their mutual relevance, and argue that holding the two together deepens our understanding of the world and its creator.

Karl Barth's legendary image of preaching with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other now has a matching image for praying. In Ain't Too Proud to Beg Telford Work encourages praying with a social documentary in one hand and the Lord's Prayer in the other. The result is neither a commentary on the Lord's Prayer nor a theology of prayer. Instead it is an exercise book that uses prayer to strengthen our theological muscles. Work proposes that we take whatever is happening in our world -- a political election or the latest war will do -- and set the Lord's Prayer in the middle of it. Let that prayer shed light on the scene and expose what matters. Then pray it. Then look again and see how the prayer is a response to what matters. These three movements give structure to the book as a whole and to each chapter within it. Prayed this way, the Lord's Prayer is always new and never quite the same. Ecumenical, evangelical, postmodern, and irenic in tone, Ain't Too Proud to Beg ends not with a neat scholarly wrap-up but with an open-ended -Amen- -- three sparkling, joyful sermons -- a fitting ending to Work's provocative exploration of prayer as a theological process.

Telford Work examines some of the most important ways Jesus is "the omega and the alpha"--the end and the beginning. Jesus alone fulfills the divine purpose for all things, brings about the end of the old world's evil and suffering, and begins eternity's new creation. This core conviction is one of the deepest logics that shapes Christian thinking and life. The author offers a unique, big-picture introduction to how Jesus's life and death shape Christian theology and practice and helps readers fully understand Jesus's transformation of all things.

For all of the Bible's popularity both in the church and in Western culture, confusion reigns about what the Bible is, its relationship to God, its relationship to its human authors and readers, and its proper use. Living and Active answers these fundamental questions by looking anew at Scripture from the perspective of Christian doctrine. Rather than treating the Bible as a sourcebook for theology, Telford Work uses systematic theology to build a compelling new doctrine of Scripture: the doctrine of God establishes the Bible's triune character and purpose; the doctrine of salvation explains the mission of Scripture in ancient Israel, in the career of Jesus, and in the life of his followers; the doctrine of the church relates the Bible's qualities to those of its reading communities, describes the relation of Scripture and tradition, and appreciates the Bible's role in worship and in personal salvation. Drawing in this way on the full resources of Christian dogmatics allows us to see the Bible at work accomplishing God's purposes in the world.Throughout the book, Work incorporates insights from the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anabaptist, and evangelical traditions in order to produce a truly ecumenical doctrine of Scripture. He also interacts with patristic theology and practice, historical-critical methods of interpretation, and postmodern thought, refusing to draw lines between biblical studies, ethics, history, philosophy, and theology. As a result, Living and Active is the most comprehensive, balanced, and relevant statement of Scripture now available. It clearly portrays the Bible as integral to the economy of salvation and the life of the church, it offers solutions to the current crisis of biblical authority and practice, and it prescribes fruitful ways to preach, teach, and live Scripture in today's world.