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Insights
The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary 
B
OOKS
L
INCOLN
IGBY 
M
ILES
B
LACK 
 J
OHNSTON
 A 
LSUP
• F
OX 
• B
LAIR 
• D
EARMAN
• M
ILES
• J
INKINS
FALL 2000
 
Contents
2
I
NTRODUCTION
Robert M. Shelton
B
OOKS
3O
FTHE
M
 AKINGOF
B
OOKS
Timothy Lincoln
9T
IMOTHY 
L
INCOLN
: D
O
B
OOKS
S
TILL
M
 ATTER 
?
 An Interview 
14J
UST
B
E
I
T
: T
HE
P
 ASTORAS
T
HEOLOGICAL
EADER 
Cynthia Rigby 
15M
 Y 
EADING
L
IFE
: T
HE
OLEOF
B
OOKSINTHE
L
IFEOF
P
 ASTOR 
David Miles 
24
A
ND
M
ORE
B
OOKS
 W 
ILLIT
P
REACH
?
by Scott Black Johnston
; T
RANSLATIONAS
H
 ABITUS
by John Alsup;
 A P
 ASSIONFOR 
B
OOKS
by E. Quinn Fox;
 W 
OMEN
S
 W 
RITES
by Christine E. Blair;
IEWSON
EVIEWS
by J. Andrew Dearman;
T
HE
P
REACHERAS
M
 ATCHMAKER 
by Carol Antablin Miles 
B
OOKSOFTHE
F
UTURE
ECENT
I
MPORTANT
B
OOKS
T
HE
T
OP
T
EN
T
HEOLOGICAL
B
OOKSOFTHE
20
TH
C
ENTURY 
43
C
HRISTIANITY AND
C
ULTURE
B
 ANNED
B
OOKS
: T
HE
C
OSTOF
C
ENSORSHIP
 Michael Jinkins 
Insights
The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary 
Fall 2000
Volume 116Number 1
Editor:
Michael Jinkins
Editorial Board:
Scott Black Johnston, Timothy Kubatzky,Michael Miller, and Randal Whittington
The editorial board of  
Insights
wishes to express its gratitude for the work Terry  Muck did as editor (1991-2000); for the energy, intelligence, imagination, humor,and grace with which he engaged in this work.
Insights:The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary 
is published each spring and fall by AustinPresbyterian Theological Seminary, 100 East 27th Street, Austin, TX 78705-5797e-mail: mjinkins@austinseminary.eduhttp://www.austinseminary.edu/
Entered as non-profit class bulk mail at Austin, Texas, under Permit No. 2473. POSTMASTER:Addressservice requested. Send to
Insights 
, 100 East 27th Street, Austin, TX 78705-5797.Printing runs are limited. When available, additional copies may be obtained for $1 per copy. Permission tocopy articles from
Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary 
for educational purposes will be given by the editor upon receipt of a written request.Some previous issues of 
Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary,
are available on microfilm throughUniversity Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 (16 mm microfilm, 105mm microfiche, and article copies are available). This periodical is indexed in
Religion Index One: Periodicals,Index to Book Reviews in Religion, Religion Indexes: RIO/RIT/IBRR 1975- on CD-ROM 
and the
 ATLA ReligionDatabase on CD-ROM 
, published by the American Theological Library Association, 820 Church Street,Evanston, IL 60201-5613; e-mail: atla@atla.com; http://www.atla.library.vanderbilt.edu/atla/home.html/;ISSN1056-0548.
COVER:
“Job Lot Cheap,” by William Harnett, 1878. Reproduced with permission fromReynolda House, Museum of American Art.
Never judge a book by its cover—nor an issue of  
Insights
. William Harnett’s enigmatically titled “Job Lot Cheap” exemplifies 19th-century 
trompe l’oeil
(trick of the eye) painting; this edition of  
Insights
is dedicated to a century of books that, in one way or another, have illuminated or illustrated the truth of the gospel. Harnett's work is a masterpiece of surfaces;this journal urges readers to lose themselves in deep landscapes of fiction, theological inquiry,cultural critique, and personal reflection. Paying homage to 17th-century Dutch still lifes,Harnett’s painting is a meditation on the theme of  
memento mori
(transitory symbols of  death);
Insights
is dedicated to those works of recent years that will endure and bring life and imagination to future generations. Perhaps one analogy rings true: “Job Lot Cheap” heaps twenty-two volumes together on one common table; we pray that this issue of  
Insights—
replete with offerings from our twenty-two contributors—will nourish and sustain you with food for thought.
 
3
O
F THE
M
AKING OF
B
OOKS
T
IMOTHY 
L
INCOLN
Timothy Lincoln has directed the David L. and Jane Stitt Library at Austin Seminary since 1994. A graduate of Concordia College, Simmons College, and Yale University Divinity School, Lincoln is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
W
hy devote an entire issue of our faculty journal to the subject of books? Isit because we fear for the future of books? Is it because we believe we needto advocate the practice of reading books, fearful that the present andoncoming generations will not be avid readers of books; that they will turn more andmore to other media for education, enrichment, and enjoyment? Whatever our con-scious or unconscious motivations, this volume presents a variety of testimonies to thevalues books have and have had for the writers and for others.The lead article is written by Timothy Lincoln, the director of the Seminary’s StittLibrary. He highlights the important role books, and particularly the publication of books, has played in the Christian movement from the 15th century until our day. Ashas been our recent practice, this article is followed by an informative interview withthe article’s writer.Several brief articles by our faculty and administrators ensue on assorted book-related topics. The subjects vary widely: from banning books to writing book reviews;from being obsessed with books to reading women authors; from learning how to reada theology book to books that enrich preaching; from matching books with people toreading disciplines for pastors to translating books into another language. Also included in this edition are lists of books professors value as the “Top Ten”theological volumes published in the 20th century. These lists may well evoke a num-ber of responses from you, among them being the compiling of your own list of themost significant books in the last 100 years from your perspective. Even more useful would be for you to think through why the books are on your list. At least that was avaluable exercise for me as I made my list. And I admit that the criteria for my list werefar more personal and subjective than objective and critical.The world of books! What a fascinating world it is! Now, which book shall I taketo read on my next flight?Robert M. Shelton
President 
I
NTRODUCTION
2n his 1539 preface to the Wittenburg Edition of his writings, MartinLuther wrote: “The Holy Scriptures constitute a book which turns the wisdom of all other books into foolishness, because not one teaches abouteternal life except this one alone.”
1
Luther restates a fundamental Christ-ian conviction: In a world full of books, there is only one to which Christians can reli-ably turn for instruction in the things of God. The Bible is the book par excellence. Yetvirtually no Christian group has remained content with the Bible alone. Even the most“Bible-believing” Christians write tracts and entire books to help believers grasp evermore tightly the Word of God as revealed in the Bible. Paradoxically, the Christian con-viction that the Bible alone is a reliable guide for faith and life has led Christians to con-tinue to express themselves in books.In this article I want to talk about these books and readers. Although I will beselective, I will look backward to ways in which books have helped to embody Christ-ian faith, examine current trends and issues in publishing, and muse about the futureof the book.
 A W 
HIRLWIND
H
ISTORYOFTHE
B
OOK 
Today Americans tend to take books for granted, since they are found every- where from airport specialty stores to the gift shops of zoos. It has not alwaysbeen so. The earliest texts that Christians used were all hand copied. Gener-ations of Christian copyists, mostly monks, devoted their lives to the careful transcrip-tion of the Bible, prayer books, and books of theology.Books are functional objects. The ancient scroll was a continuous roll of writing
II
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