I was searching at Amazon.com when I came across this:
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E. Bailey.
"Beginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus' relationship to women, and especially Jesus' parables."
"Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead you into a deeper understanding of the person and significance of Jesus within his own cultural context. With a sure but gentle hand, Bailey lifts away the obscuring layers of modern Western interpretation to reveal Jesus in the light of his actual historical and cultural setting."
"This entirely new material from the pen of Ken Bailey is a must-have for any student of the New Testament. If you have benefited from Bailey's work over the years, this book will be a welcome and indispensable addition to your library. If you are unfamiliar with Bailey's work, this book will introduce you to a very old yet entirely new way of understanding Jesus."
While I was wiping the drool off my keyboard, I noticed the release date: November 9, 2007! Arrrrrgh!!! I don't do well with deferred gratification when it comes to books. I have it preordered, but I'm hoping for an early release. If I'm good, maybe IVP will send me an advance copy to review on my blog. (In case anyone at IVP is reading, HINT! HINT!)
I've been leading a Kenneth Bailey class at church using his DVD lecture series. We are one-third of the way into The Parables of Jesus in Luke: A Middle Eastern Cultural View. So far, we have gone through Interpreting the Bible and Women in the New Testament: A Middle Eastern Cultural View. I have had to order additional copies of these two to put in the church library because so many folks want to view them in home study groups or privately. We are starting a second class later in the summer to view the DVDs the first class has already seen. I suspect we may be doing a book study of Bailey's new book in the Winter.
Still, I think there should be a law against putting books on Amazon and making me wait five months. *grin*
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