Clark M. Williamson – författare

With concise and practical guidelines for recovering the identity of the church, Clark Williamson and Ronald Allen demonstrate that the central task of ministry is teaching the Christian faith. The authors believe that how well ministers understand what is required of them and how well they do what is required of them is part of the problem of churches today, as well as part of the solution.

In this thought-provoking book, Clark Williamson challenges churches and theologians to become aware of the inherited ideology of anti-Judaism that has distorted their teaching, even on such key matters as Jesus, the Scriptures, the church, and God. Williamson bases his study on a wide range of confessional literature from Roman Catholic to Protestant doctrines. He demonstrates that both the people of Israel and the church stand in relation to God only by the grace of God and suggests a radical, constructive alternative to the "teaching of contempt."

In this third and concluding volume of their lectionary commentary collection (Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews and Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law), Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson encourage the church and its preachers to rediscover the Old Testament as a vibrant wellspring of Christian faith and life. Preachers often neglect the Old Testament, misrepresent it, or regard its theological content as superseded by Jesus and the New Testament, Allen and Williamson claim. The authors help preachers avoid these traps by explaining how a text was understood before the Common Era without any reference to Jesus or Christian doctrine, mentioning representative New Testament passages or themes that are informed by the older material, and commenting briefly on the relationship between the lections in those cases when readings from the Old Testament are paired with readings from the New Testament.

This unique commentary helps preachers see how knowledge of first-century Judaism can help them avoid incorporating misunderstandings and stereotypes into their sermons on the letters. Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson explore insights from recent Christian-Jewish dialogue, continuities between Judaism and the theology of Paul, and the Roman occupation to help preachers understand the Jewish context of the letters. As in their previous book, Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, they also suggest how today's preacher can deal with issues or comments in the text that are inappropriate or controversial in today's context.