Plowshares Pruning Hooks

What are we to make of Isaiah's image of Mount Zion as the highest of the mountains, or Zechariah's picture of the Mount of Olives split in two, or Daniel's "beast rising out of the sea" or Revelation's "great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns"? How can Peter claim that on the day of Pentecost the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled, with signs in heaven and wonders on earth, the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood? The language and imagery of biblical prophecy has been the source of puzzlement for many Christians and a point of dispute for some. How ironic that is! For the prophets and seers were the wordsmiths of their time. They took pains to speak God's word clearly and effectively to their contemporaries. How should we, as citizens of the twenty-first century, understand the imagery of this ancient biblical literature? Are there any clues in the texts themselves, any principles we can apply as we read these important but puzzling biblical texts? D. Brent Sandy carefully considers the language and imagery of prophecy and apocalyptic, how it is used, how it is fulfilled within Scripture, and how we should read it against the horizon of our future. Clearly and engagingly written, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks is the kind of book that gives its readers a new vantage point from which to view the landscape of prophetic and apocalyptic language and imagery.

In September 1980, eight Catholic activists made their way into a Pennsylvania General Electric plant housing parts for nuclear missiles. Evading security guards, these activists pounded on missile nose cones with hammers and then covered the cones in their own blood. This act of nonviolent resistance was their answer to calls for prophetic witness in the Old Testament: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.” Plowshares explores the closely interwoven religious and social significance of the group’s use of performance to achieve its goals. It looks at the group’s acts of civil disobedience, such as that undertaken at the GE plant in 1980, and the Plowshares’ behavior at the legal trials that result from these protests. Interpreting the Bible as a mandate to enact God’s kingdom through political resistance, the Plowshares work toward “symbolic disarmament,” with the aim of eradicating nuclear weapons. Plowshares activists continue to carry out such “divine obediences” against facilities where equipment used in the production or deployment of nuclear weapons is manufactured or stored. Whether one agrees or disagrees with their actions, this volume helps us better understand their motivations, logic, identity, and ultimate goal.

Readers' Choice Awards Honorable Mention Preaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible Reference From John H. Walton, author of the bestselling Lost World of Genesis One, and D. Brent Sandy, author of Plowshares and Pruning Hooks, comes a detailed look at the origins of scriptural authority in ancient oral cultures and how they inform our understanding of the Old and New Testaments today. Stemming from questions about scriptural inerrancy, inspiration and oral transmission of ideas, The Lost World of Scripture examines the process by which the Bible has come to be what it is today. From the reasons why specific words were used to convey certain ideas to how oral tradition impacted the transmission of biblical texts, the authors seek to uncover how these issues might affect our current doctrine on the authority of Scripture. "In this book we are exploring ways God chose to reveal his word in light of discoveries about ancient literary culture," write Walton and Sandy. "Our specific objective is to understand better how both the Old and New Testaments were spoken, written and passed on, especially with an eye to possible implications for the Bible?s inspiration and authority." The books in the Lost World Series follow the pattern set by Bible scholar John H. Walton, bringing a fresh, close reading of the Hebrew text and knowledge of ancient Near Eastern literature to an accessible discussion of the biblical topic at hand using a series of logic-based propositions.

A current and accessible guide to the literature on Old Testament prophecy.

A collection of startlingly fresh and meaningful prayers, from Walter Brueggemann, a leading Christian thinker and scholar.

We meet the prophets of Israel in our own time and in one place--Scripture. So it might seem odd to consider that they are not all the same, these voices from "back then." In fact, the prophets inhabited a time span of hundreds of years and faced events that on their own terms were more convulsive than our 9/11. They were not uniform in their language, their concerns, their personalities, their remedies or their visions of the future. In this book, Sam Meier explores some recurring themes and features--such as angels, writing, miracles, the future and kingmaking--all with an eye on their transformation over time. And the defining event in this transformation turns out to be the great convulsive event of the story of Israel, the defeat and exile of the kingdom of Judah. Themes and Transformations in Old Testament Prophecy is a book that goes beyond the standard introductions to the prophets. Yet it does so in a way that will inform and intrigue beginning students and anyone curious about the prophets of Israel.

This clear and readable introduction provides guidance on the history and theology of the book of Isaiah.

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore... This is the prophesy of Isaiah, promising the world what it yearns for--a perfect future, a future without war, without hunger, without strife. That such a future awaits us, Isaiah says, is a promise from G-d. When it will dawn is up to us.In Awakening the Spark Within, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh explains how every Jew?man, woman, and child?can live up to this awesome responsibility by cultivating in everyday personal life his or her own innate sparks of leadership. He shows how seemingly insignificant individual efforts can have world-changing consequences and bring the prophetic vision of the future to its ultimate fulfillment.Includes glossary, footnotes, and index.