New Book by Knut Backhaus

Mohr Siebeck has just announced a new book on Hebrews by Knut Backhaus entitled Der sprechende Gott: Gesammelte Studien zum Hebraerbrief. The catalog gives this description of the book:

"This volume includes thirteen articles on the interpretation of Hebrews written between 1993 and 2009. They focus on the concept of God, Christology, the intertextual and figurative modes of generating and developing biblical theology, the relationship between Israel and the church, the history of Christian hope and anxiety and the ethical foundation of Christian sociality. The Epistle to the Hebrews shows the connection between these areas in the first sentence: God's self communication in Israel's history of promise, completed and guaranteed in the Christ drama. Thus the book presents the multifacted image of a pioneer of theology who has often been underestimated by the church and by scholars. Biblically oriented, thoughtful, rhetorically skilled and (contrary to many a prejudice) practically competent, Hebrews explores the 'speaking God' in order to define and deepen Christian identity in the crisis of its liminal period."

In addition to this collection of articles, Backhaus has authored another book on Hebrews: Der Neue Bund und das Werden der Kirche: Die Diatheke-Deutung des Hebraerbriefs im Rahmen der fruhchristlichen Theologiesgeschichte. Neutestamentliche Abhandlungen 29. Munster: Aschendorff, 1996. [It seems I have an autographed copy of this book in my collection]

He was professor of New Testament Exegesis at Paderborn (1994-2003) and since 2003 has been chair of New Testament Exegesis and Biblical Hermeneutics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich.