Calvin’s Most Influential Books
Written by Calvin on June 15th, 2009I’ve been tagged by Adam, and so has Mandy–so presumably she will also post on this topic. I find these types of memes somewhat fascinating since its interesting to see how people have been influence and shaped in various ways. The idea is that you have to either share your top five most influential books or the top five scholars that had the most immediate and lasting influence on how you read the Bible.
1. Inspiration and Incarnation by Peter Enns. This book, hands down, has been one of the biggest influences in my study of the Hebrew Bible. Enns put in writing much of what I was already thinking regarding critical Biblical scholarship and the Hebrew Bible. In this way I was able to maintain my Christian faith (albeit in a different form from what it once was) and still deal in an intellectually honest manner with the vast amounts of scholarship on the Hebrew Bible. This is a book I recommend to everyone who wants to study the Hebrew Bible.
2. The Psalms and the Life of Faith by Walter Brueggemann, edited by Patrick Miller. If Enns’ book shaped the way I deal with critical Biblical scholarship, this book shaped the way in which I appropriate the plethora of lament literature within the Bible. This book is a collect of Brueggemann’s essays on the Psalms. The most important of these, in my opinion, is “The Costly Loss of Lament.” That essay influenced how I communicate with God to a very large extent.
3. Biblical Hebrew by Kittel, Hoffer and Wright. This is the book from which I learned Biblical Hebrew. Although my love of Hebrew is due in no small part to my undergrad Hebrew professor, it is also due to Kittel’s excellent text. I really can’t recommend her approach enough. The book isn’t perfect, by any means, but is much closer to perfect than any other first year grammar I’ve had the opportunity to look at. If not for this book, I probably would not be an aspiring scholar of the Hebrew Bible.
4. Proverbs 1-9 Anchor Bible; by Michael V. Fox. This commentary is a large part of the reason that I love the Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible. Adam has already said most of what needs to be said about this book, so I will simply quote him:
Fox is a master interpreter and his work has greatly influenced my understanding of this book (which is also my favorite biblical book [well, his not mine–I prefer Job). Fox’s book is the first title I pick up when I am beginning to study a particular passage in Proverbs 1-9 (outside of my BHS).
5. Genesis 1-11 by Claus Westermann. This was one of the first critical commentaries I read. As such, it was my introduction to how various higher critical theories worked out in practice. Aside from being a solid commentary on Genesis and helping me see what it meant to interact with the Bible critically, it was also fun to read and I learned–and still learn–a ton from it.
I won’t tag anyone, since A) many of those I’m most interested in hearing about have already been tagged and B) Mandy still has to go. I’ll give her a few suggestions for who to tag.
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Hi Calvin,
Given your interest in Job, would Newsom’s book make your list? It would also be interesting to see what were the books in this decade that influence the field, for better or worse – the ones that have changed approaches to particular subjects or biblical books. In addition to Enns and Newsom, I say in order:
Tod Linfelt (2000) Surviving Lamentations (set the tone for the renewal of Lamentatons scholarship in this decade).
David Carr (2005) Writing on the Tablet of the Heart (shifted the conversation in Pentatuachal criticism in terms of orality/textuality)
William Schniedwind (2004) How the Bible Became a Book (also related to textuality and composition issues and is very readable)
Bernard Levenson (2008)Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel (this book will have an increased impact on intertextuality – the best one on the subject since Sommer’s book on Isaiah)
Jeremy Schipper (2006) Disability Studies and the Hebrew Bible (set the tone for the other books on the growing number disability books since then and even got Brueggemann’s attention on the backcover)
Jacob Wright (2004) Rebuilding Identity (influenced the discusssion of Ezra-Nehemiah, especially in terms of composition).
I listed only monographs rather than commentaries or textbooks although those are important resources as well.
Jill
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Jill, it would be interesting to see a meme concerned primarily with books published in the last decade. In that case I’d certainly say the Enns’ makes the cut, and Mandy might argue for Daughter Zion Talks Back to the Prophets by Mandolfo.
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Opps. I listed six rather than five, but I guess Carr and Schniedewind deal with similar subjects. If I had to include one with a DtrH focus, I’d MAYBE say Marvin Sweeney (200O) King Josiah of Judah or Burach Halpern (2001) David’s Sercet Demons. Okay, since that’s 8 books now, I’ll leave the Psalms or Proverbs scholarship to others.
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Halpern would certainly have to be on such a list.
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Yes, Mandolfo’s book is great. But Mandolfo’s work is a great example of Linafelt’s influence of Lamentations scholarship. Her book certainly shows the influence of Linafelt’s book which shifted the focus from the man in ch. 3 to Zion in ch. 1-2. I’m pretty sure that Mandolfo and Linafelt overlapped as grad students at Emory in the mid-1990s (both studied under Newsom).
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I’m actally not sure if Sweeney’s book was 200 or 1990, so maybe I cut get my list down to seven
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I’m actally not sure if Sweeney’s book was 2000 or 1990, so maybe I cut get my list down to seven
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I might 2000 or 1999 (third times a charm!)