Customer Reviews

Out of the Depths: The Psalms Speak for Us Today

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A re-issue of an earlier edition, up-dating the study of the psalms with new developments and emphases and entirely new chapters on the poetry of the psalms, the penitential psalms and reading the psalms as whole. Not so much a book about the psalms as a guide through them and requiring a reading of the psalm prior to the commentary.

An opening chapter traces the development of the psalms in Jewish and Christian worship. A chapter on Poetry of Praise and Prayer puts the psalms against the wider background of similar expressions in Israel's neighbours in the ancient near east but never loses sight of the fact that Israel's God was always a Deliverer before he was a creator.

Anderson avoids on the one hand the temptation to fasten on particular verses and `relate them' to contemporary experience and on the other the danger of losing the reader in a mass of theory as to their origin. Instead he digs into the emotions of the psalmist in such a way as to enable the reader to identify with him and find in the experience of the psalmist a helpful and stimulating reflection of himself.

This popular, recently revised introduction to the Psalter breathes life into the dusty taxonomy of form criticism by explaining the structure, purpose, and meaning of the various types of psalms in a readable, ecumenically sensitive manner.

Anderson and Bishop are particularly adept at interpreting the psalms in their original historical and theological contexts while at the same time highlighting their relevancy to current issues. For example, the psalms of praise are related both to the formative experience of the Exodus and to modern environmental concerns. Each type of psalm is thoroughly explained, but insightful, in-depth analyses of well-known individual psalms (e.g., Ps. 2, 23, 121) are also provided.

Though the authors write from a Christian perspective, they do not find direct, unwitting references to Jesus in every verse. Rather, they fully respect that these hymns were and remain Israel's prayers. They do maintain, however, that the psalms depict aspects of a single shared story about humankind and God, a story which Christians believe culminates in Jesus Christ.

As a further benefit, appendixes list all the psalms by type and the psalms quoted in the New Testament, which quotes the Psalter more than any other book of the Hebrew scriptures.

There is the 2000 edition, the only one written by Bernhard W. Anderson with Steven Bishop, which is listed as:

Paperback: 249 pages
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; Rev&Expand edition (May 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN: 0664258328

There is a 1984 edition:

Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr; Rev&Expndd edition (February 1, 1984)
Language: English
ISBN: 0664245048

There is a 1974 edition:

Unknown Binding: 198 pages
Publisher: Westminster Press (January 1, 1974)
Language: English
ISBN: 0664249817

And, just to add to the confusion, when I ordered the 2000 edition I was sent a 1970 edition, which comes from a completely different publisher: Joint Commission on Education and Cultivation, Board of Missions, United Methodist Church, New York, NY (with no ISBN). So apparently there are four editions.

Theologian Bernhardt W. Anderson's Out of the Depths, first published in 1970, provides an excellent introduction to the theological, devotional, and literary aspects of the Psalms. Anderson makes the the "form-critical" approach of Gunkel, Mowinckel, Westermann, et al. accessible to the layperson in a highly readable short study, which should sharpen the reader's appreciation of the Psalter.

In his treatise on the psalms, "Out of the Depths: The Psalms Speak For Us Today", Anderson takes a particularly Christian and devotional point of view, and lets go the culturaly neutral and stoic acedemic perspective of his seminal introduction to the Hebrew Bible, "Understanding the Old Testament".

While I found much in "Out of the Depths" that was useful and informative, I wondered how those who were not Christian would react to the christological interpretation of the psalms and the devotionaly Christain mood of the book. I do not recommend this book for inter-faith fellowship and study. It was clear to me that the "us" in the subtitle "The Psalms Speak for Us Today" refers to Christians and not to Jews or those of other backgrounds who might be interested in this book.