St. Norbert College professor publishes new book "Ezra, Nehemiah"

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From St. Norbert College, May 14, 2012
by Mike Counter, mike.counter@snc.edu, (920) 403-3089

Thomas Bolin, associate professor of religious studies at St. Norbert College, has published "Ezra, Nehemiah." This book is part of the series New Collegeville Bible Commentary. (Liturgical Press-April 2012).
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah relate the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon during the rule of the early Persian kings. For a long time, interpretations of these two books by Christian exegetes characterized the Judaism of the post-exilic age as narrow and nationalistic. This interpretation led to a separation of post-exilic Judaism from its pre-exilic Israelite roots that allowed for a supersessionist reading of the Old Testament based on perceived deficiencies in the religious views of the post-exilic era.
Informed by recent advances in our knowledge of the Persian Empire, this commentary, demonstrates that Ezra and Nehemiah offer a compelling story of a people's attempt to reassemble the fragments of their heritage as they face the future in a greatly changed world.
For more information, go to the publisher's description page at http://bit.ly/IOqsHi
Bolin, who has been a member of the St. Norbert College faculty since 2002, is a specialist in the ancient literary and cultural contexts of the Hebrew Bible. He is well known in Europe as an Old Testament biblical scholar and often presents papers at international conferences.
For more information, contact Thomas Bolin at 920-403-3078 or thomas.bolin@snc.edu.