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The basic premise is that God is the First Missionary in the Old Testament. His goal is to create for Himself a people to serve Him, represent Him, and facilitate the coming of the Servant who is to do the work of redemption for all nations. He uses prophets and surrounding nations to chastise his servants, warning and humbling them through national defeats or temporary exiles. But this is to awaken Israelites to their calling to be a light for all nations and embark as people of God on mission (Isaiah 49, the book of Jonah, the book of Amos, Nehemiah, Esther, etc). This mission is not about forcing a set of beliefs on people, but about being a shining witness for the greatness of the true God.

Genesis 12–50: A Narrative-Theological Commentary uses narrative criticism to bring out the theological aspects of the biblical story. While basing itself on the Christian belief that Christ is the goal of all Scripture, it nevertheless allows the Hebrew Bible to speak for itself and to show how its inner message may receive completion in Christ. Hence, it adopts what the author calls a “two-stage” hermeneutics. A particular contribution of this commentary is the comparison and confrontation of patristic and early rabbinic exegesis as Christians and Jews struggled over the same texts, using them to support their diverse beliefs. The discussion is geared towards the average educated reader.

World and church have changed so much since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). With each change, religious congregations have had to review and update both their charism and mission, with ever new emphases in spirituality and mission. The 122 letters of the post-Vatican II superiors general of the Spiritans give some idea of the paths traced by missiology during the period. They offer a chronicle of missiological thinking through the turbulent time of crisis in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the gradual reclaiming of the Spiritans' essential charism of the evangelization of the poor, but in a very changed world and a very changed church.

Who should read the Bible? What is the biblical word? How is Scripture to be interpreted? How is it to be prayed and lived? How does Scripture call forth the Church's entire life and mission? In October 2008 the Synod on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church took place in Rome. During the synod the bishops addressed these questions on the significance of the Word in the life and mission of the church. Beginning with a helpful explanation of the synod process, James Chukwuma Okoye, CSSp, follows the synod in historical progression, highlighting important topics and issues along the way and concluding with an exposition of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, which Benedict XVI signed on September 30, 2010. Okoye emphasizes that the Synod on the Word of God was not just about Scripture's function in the pastoral life of the church but it was also about tradition and God's continuing self-disclosure in history and in the religions and cultures of humankind."

Genesis 1-11: A Narrative Theological Commentary combines critical acumen with concern for the theological message of Scripture. It is a commentary in two stages. First, the text is allowed to speak for itself, using a narrative approach. Then, specific Jewish and Christian traditions flowing from the text are identified, and the underlying hermeneutical moves analyzed.

No synod in modern times has grappled with so much contention and doubt from personages high in the church’s hierarchy. The author situates this in context, guiding the reader through the theological and canonical footprints leading from Vatican II to the Synod on Synodality and outlining the communio ecclesiology at the base of this Synod. The book studies the Synod documents, especially the Instrumentum laboris and the Synod Synthesis Report, drawing out certain implications for a synodal church renewed by the Spirit and becoming a “community of mutual empowerment” in mission.

Genesis 1–11: A Narrative Theological Commentary combines critical acumen with concern for the theological message of Scripture. It is a commentary in two stages. First, the text is allowed to speak for itself, using a narrative approach. Then, specific Jewish and Christian traditions flowing from the text are identified, and the underlying hermeneutical moves analyzed.

Who should read the Bible? What is the biblical word? How is Scripture to be interpreted? How is it to be prayed and lived? How does Scripture call forth the Church's entire life and mission? In October 2008 the Synod on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church took place in Rome. During the synod the bishops addressed these questions on the significance of the Word in the life and mission of the church. Beginning with a helpful explanation of the synod process, James Chukwuma Okoye, CSSp, follows the synod in historical progression, highlighting important topics and issues along the way and concluding with an exposition of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, which Benedict XVI signed on September 30, 2010. Okoye emphasizes that the Synod on the Word of God was not just about Scripture's function in the pastoral life of the church but it was also about tradition and God's continuing self-disclosure in history and in the religions and cultures of humankind."

World and church have changed so much since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). With each change, religious congregations have had to review and update both their charism and mission, with ever new emphases in spirituality and mission. The 122 letters of the post-Vatican II superiors general of the Spiritans give some idea of the paths traced by missiology during the period. They offer a chronicle of missiological thinking through the turbulent time of crisis in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the gradual reclaiming of the Spiritans' essential charism of the evangelization of the poor, but in a very changed world and a very changed church.

Genesis 12–50: A Narrative-Theological Commentary uses narrative criticism to bring out the theological aspects of the biblical story. While basing itself on the Christian belief that Christ is the goal of all Scripture, it nevertheless allows the Hebrew Bible to speak for itself and to show how its inner message may receive completion in Christ. Hence, it adopts what the author calls a “two-stage” hermeneutics. A particular contribution of this commentary is the comparison and confrontation of patristic and early rabbinic exegesis as Christians and Jews struggled over the same texts, using them to support their diverse beliefs. The discussion is geared towards the average educated reader.