Book Reviews Archives - Page 12 of 12

Review of Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism

August 17, 2014

My review of Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism, edited by Ansberry and Hays, has been published in American Theological Inquiry. I think this was a very important and timely project to appear in order to show what happens when Evangelicals try to use historical-critical conclusions while still retaining Evangelical tenets, such as inerrancy. I found quite a few internal inconsistencies in this attempt, which suggests the two ways of approaching Scripture simply aren’t as compatible as the authors wish them to be.…

Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature, ed. by Walter Bodine

November 9, 2013

Todd Scacewater

Walter Bodine opens the work with an essay on a brief history of discourse analysis and why biblical scholars should be interested in it. In conclusion, Bodine says the “purpose of the volume is to encourage biblical scholars to join in welcoming into their circle this now established and rapidly growing field (11).

In chapter 1, Robert Longacre examines Exodus 25:1-30:10 with the intention to “delineate clearly instruction as a discourse type and to present in some detail the structure and discourse-effectiveness of this passage” (23). He examines both the macrostructure of each section, as well as microstructures within each section, explains the discourse features of the Hebrew….

Review: Introduction to Discourse Analysis by Gee

November 5, 2013

Todd Scacewater

Gee, James Paul, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2011. 224 pp. This work provides a methodology for doing discourse analysis in terms of critically analyzing the use of language as saying, doing, and being (3). The author utilizes speech act theory as well as later Wittgenstein’s “language game” theory. Language games have rules that produce winners and losers; winners receive “social goods,” which are “anything some people in a society want and value”…

Review: Analyzing Discourse by Dooley & Levinsohn

November 2, 2013

Todd Scacewater

This work is brief and introductory, with most chapters spanning only 4-10 pages. It covers various concepts utilized in discourse analysis and uses language that is, for the most part, accessible for most readers. Chapters 1-4 cover respectively the four different dimensions of a text: (1) number of speakers (monologue or dialogue)….