Monday, June 21, 2010

Magzine Recommendation: The Bible In Transmission

Three times a year, "The Bible in Transmission: A Forum for Change in Church and culture" is published by The Bible Society. Its a unique and fascinating magazine in that while it explores contemporary, relevant issues, it is not a news source. Neither is it a scholarly journal with obscure, detailed papers across a range of subjects followed by a plethora of book reviews. Rather - in each edition they pursue an important theme, and invite a range of different scholars to biblically reflect on it, from their position, but in a easy-to-read, non-technical style. Recent editions have looked at environmental issues, the economic crisis, and the influence of Biblical language and categories on British culture and language.

The edition on the economic crisis is fascinating and includes a critique of contemporary capitalism from 'the west' from Alan Storkey, views on globalisation, and the poor from the two-thirds world from Vinoth Ramachandra and Prabhu Guptara. There is also a very eye-opening consideration of the Biblical prohibition on 'usury' and the contemporary acceptance of 'lending with interest' by most Western Christians in the light of the present crisis. This is by an author I haven't come across before called Robert Van der Weyer. Very thought-provoking and stimulating reading. These are just the highlights - there's more too!

When my parents come up from Englandshire they perform many useful tasks, not least of which is child-minding to facilitate my hill-walking! They also usually bring us a case of splendid wine, and also the latest edition of The Bible in Transmission. It is not the kind of read where you expect to agree with every sentence - but it is uniformly worth considering. I'm not on commission here - I just appreciate a good read! It's available online here.

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