Calvin Mercer Professor of Religious Studies

Publications (book reviews, critical book notes)

Cyber Zen: Imagining Authentic Buddhist Identity, Community, and Practices in the Virtual World of Second Life, by Gregory Price Grieve. Nova Religio

Virtually Sacred: Myth and Meaning in “World of Warcraft” and “Second Life,” by Robert M. Geraci. Nova Religio 20/2 (August 2016)
American Evangelicalism: George Marsden and the State of American Religious History, edited by Darren Dochuk, Thomas S. Kidd, and Kurt W. Peterson. Catholic Books Review (2/16) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
From Teilhard to Omega: Co-Creating an Unfinished Universe, ed. Ilia Delio. Catholic Books Review (1/15) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Teilhard’s Mysticism: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution, by Kathleen Duffy. Catholic Books Review (10/14) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2^nd ed. Edited by Raymond F. Paloutzian and Crystal L. Park. Catholic Books Review (1/14) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Thomas Merton: Selected Essays, edited by Patrick F. O’Connell. Catholic Books Review (1/14) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Rob Bell and A New American Christianity, by James K. Wellman, Jr. Catholic Books Review (7/13) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Seeking Common Ground: Evaluation and Critique of Joseph Bracken’s Comprehensive Worldview, ed. By Marc A. Pugliese and Gloria L. Schaab. Catholic Books Review (4/13) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
The Singing Heart of the World: Creation, Evolution, and Faith, by John Feehan. Catholic Books Review (2/13) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Genesis Evolution and the Search for a Reasoned Faith, by Mary Katherine Birge, Brian G. Henning, Rodica M. M. Stoicoiu, and Ryan Taylor. Catholic Books Review (2/13) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Sun at Midnight: Monastic Experience of the Christian Mystery, by Bernard Olivera. Translated by Augustine Roberts. Catholic Books Review (12/12) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Monks and Muslims: Monastic and Shi’a Spirituality in Dialogue. Edited by Mohammad Ali Shomali and William Skudlarek. Catholic Books Review (12/12) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Does God Roll Dice? Divine Providence for a World in the Making, by Joseph Bracken. Catholic Books Review (8/12) http://www.catholicbooksreview.org
Hermeneutics An Introduction to Interpretative Theory, by Stanley E. Porter and Jason C. Robinson. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, invited and submitted
Early Irish Monasticism: An Understanding of Its Cultural Roots, by Catherine Thom. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 35/2 (Fall 2008) 383-84
The Bible and Contemporary Culture, by Gerd Theissen. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 35/1 (Spring 2008) 145
The Comical Doctrine: An Epistemology of New Testament Hermeneutics, by Rosalind Selby. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 69 (2007) 834-35
History and Hermeneutics, by Murray A. Rae. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 34/2 (Fall 2007) 367-68.
Peace on Earth: Roots and Practices from Luke’s Gospel, by Joseph Grassi. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 67 (2005) 147-48
Meditation and the Martial Arts, by Michael L. Raposa; Silent Conversations: Reading the Bible in Good Company, by William Apel; and A Journey with God in Time: A Spiritual Quest, by John S. Dunne. Perspectives in Religious Studies 31/4 (Winter 2004) 506-508
The Mutilation of Mark’s Gospel, by N. Clayton Croy. Religious Studies Review 30/2-3 (July 2004) 200
Studying the Historical Jesus: A Guide to Sources and Methods, by Darrell L. Bock. Religious Studies Review 29/2 (April 2003) 196-97
In Search of Jesus: Insider and Outsider Images, by Clinton Bennett. Religious Studies Review 29/2 (April 2003) 197-98
Jesus: Then and Now, by M. Meyer and C. Hughes. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64/2 (April 2002)
Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation, ed. Joel B. Green. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58/4 (October 1996) 788-89
Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship, by Marcus J. Borg. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58/1 (January 1996) 150-52
The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins, by Burton L. Mack. Religious Studies Review 20 (October 1994) 338
Peter in Matthew: Discipleship, Diplomacy, and Dispraise, by Arlo J. Nau. Religious Studies Review 20 (October 1994) 338
Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. Henry Wansbrough. Religious Studies Review 20 (October 1994) 337
New Horizons in Hermeneutics, by Anthony C. Thiselton. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56 (January 1994) 158-60
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: A Narrative Critical Reading of Matthew 26-28, by John Paul Heil. Religious Studies Review 19 (October 1993) 355
Possessions and the Life of Faith: A Reading of Luke-Acts, by John Gillman. Religious Studies Review 19 (April 1993) 166
Let the Reader Understand: Reader-Response Criticism and the Gospel of Mark, by Robert M. Fowler. Religious Studies Review 19 (April 1993) 165-66
Biblical Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective: Studies in Honor of Karlfried Froehlich on His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Mark S. Burrows and Paul Rorem. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 55 (April 1993) 407-408
Liberation Theology and the Liberal Society, ed. Michael Novak. Journal of

Interdisciplinary Studies 4 (1992) 198-99
The Second Naiveté: Barth, Ricoeur, and the New Yale Theology, by Mark I. Wallace. Studies in American Biblical Hermeneutics 6. Faith and Mission 10 (Fall 1992) 116-17
Christology in Context: The Earliest Christian Response to Jesus, by Marinus de Jonge. Faith and Mission 10 (Fall 1992) 110
The Griesbach Hypothesis and Redaction Criticism, by Sherman E. Johnson. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 41. Religious Studies Review 18 (October 1992) 328
The Seven Pillories of Wisdom, by David R. Hall. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 54 (July 1992) 566-67
“Love Your Enemies:” Jesus’ Love Command in the Synoptic Gospels & the Early Christian Paraenesis, by John Piper. Faith and Mission 9 (Spring 1992) 102-103
Liberating Life: Contemporary Approaches to Ecological Theology, ed. Charles Birch, et al. Faith and Mission 9 (Spring 1992) 122
Paul, in Other Words: A Cultural Reading of His Letters, by Jerome H. Neyrey. Faith and Mission 9 (Spring 1992) 103-104
Extracanonical Sayings of Jesus, by William D. Stroker. Religious Studies Review 18 (April 1992) 141-42
The Sermon on the Mount: The Modern Quest for Its Meaning, by Clarence Bauman. Religious Studies Review 18 (April 1992) 141
Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization, by Orlando E. Costas. Religious Studies Review 18 (April 1992) 126-27
Who Was Jesus? The Historical Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels, by Hendrikus Boers. Faith and Mission 9 (Fall 1991) 91-92
Woman, Cult, and Miracle Recital: A Redactional Critical Investigation on Mark 5:24-34, by Marla J. Selvidge. Religious Studies Review 17 (October 1991) 364
Mark 1-8:26, by Robert A. Guelich. Word Biblical Commentary 34A. Religious Studies Review 17 (October 1991) 364
The Road to Emmaus: Reading Luke’s Gospel, by Jan Wojcik. Religious Studies Review 17 (July 1991) 261
Faith as a Theme in Mark’s Narrative, by Christopher D. Marshall. Society for New Testament Studies 64. Religious Studies Review 17 (July 1991) 261
Science and Hermeneutics: Implications of Scientific Method for Biblical Interpretation, by Vern S. Poythress. Faith and Mission 8 (Spring 1991) 98-99
Reading the New Testament, by Patrick Grant. Faith and Mission 8 (Spring 1991) 95-96
On Exodus: A Liberation Perspective, by George V. Pixley. Faith and Mission 8 (Spring 1991) 94-95
Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family, by Cain Hope Felder. Religious Studies Review 17 (April 1991) 145
The Mark of a Man: Peter Spencer and the African Union Methodist Tradition—The Man, the Movement, the Message, and the Legacy, by Lewis V. Baldwin. Religious Studies Review 16 (July 1990) 279
African American Religious Studies: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, ed. Gayraud S. Wilmore. Religious Studies Review 16 (July 1990) 280
Inerrancy and Hermeneutic: A Tradition, A Challenge, A Debate, ed. Harvie M. Conn. Faith and Mission 7 (Spring 1990) 98-99
Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: The Ratzinger Conference on Bible and Church, ed. Richard John Neuhaus. Faith and Mission 7 (Spring 1990) 96-97
God in South Africa, by Albert Nolan. Religious Studies Review 16 (January 1990) 56
The Bible and Bibles in America, ed. Ernest Frerichs. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52 (January 1990) 187-88
Black Witness to the Apostolic Faith, ed. David T. Shannon and Gayraud Wilmore. Religious Studies Review 15 (October 1989) 346
Black Theology in Dialogue, by J. Deotis Roberts. Faith and Mission 6 (Spring 1989) 102-103
The Bible without Theology: The Theological Tradition and Alternatives to It, by
Robert A. Oden, Jr. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 16 (Spring 1989) 155-56
Common Ground: Christianity, African Religion and Philosophy, by Emmanuel K. Twesigye. Religious Studies Review 15 (April 1989) 141
A Place in the Sun: An Introduction to Liberation Theology in the Third World, by
Theo Witvliet. Religious Studies Review 15 (April 1989) 142
Understanding the Teaching of Jesus, by David Abernathy. Faith and Mission 3 (1986) 86