Good news! You no longer have to stop for a morning cup of coffee on your way to the library. The Ordinary has set up a coffee bar on the main floor of the Library near the circulation desk. Starbucks coffee and tea are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 1:00 PM. Regular and decaffeinated coffees are available as well as Tazo Tea (hot water provided). A 12 oz. cup of coffee or tea is $1.50. Refills are $1.00. Biscotti are also available for $1.00. A payment box is provided in the expectation that the Honor System will be viable. To comment on this service, contact Chef Dan Murphy at danimur@regent.edu.

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Research Tips
by Harold Henkel, Assistant Librarian

Do You Have a Public Library Card?

	Entrance to Public Library Ellsworth, Maine

One of the Library's core responsibilities is to select the resources necessary for making Regent "a leading center of Christian thought and action" and equipping "Christian leaders to change the world." Selecting new materials presents a major challenge for the Library since we cannot possibly purchase everything we would like to have in the collection.

Using your public library is a great way to augment the research tools available through Regent. Public libraries are not only a great place to find books not in our collection; in many cases, they will offer databases and electronic resources not typically owned or subscribed to by academic libraries. To take just one example, the Virginia Beach Public Library's online reference sources page lists specialized databases for antiques and collectibles, automotive repair, family history and genealogy, and many other subjects. Some of these databases would probably not even be considered for inclusion in our electronic collection because they simply do not fit in with the University mission or curriculum. All that is required to use these resources is a valid Virginia Beach Public Library card. The Virginia Beach Public Library is just one example, but every public library system will have some online resources available to card holders, and it is definitely worth giving them a look. For distance students, the public library plays another important role in your research: interlibrary loan.

Since academic libraries tailor their collections to the scholarly needs of their universities, many students overlook the public library as an important resource for research. If you don't have a valid public library card, you may be passing up on some high quality (and free) sources of information. Two Web directories offer links to thousands of public library websites: Libweb links to all types of libraries in 146 countries, while PublicLibraries.com focuses primarily on public libraries in the United States.

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Library Faculty Recommendations
by Marta Lee, Associate Librarian

Pleasure Reading for Busy Students

	Heidi Wilson, Young Girl Reading Used by Permission

With the amount of required reading for classes, most university students have little time for pleasure reading, and Regent students are no exception. Often reading can be a guilty pleasure when you know that you have a chapter to read for your next class or articles to read for a research project. If you would like treat yourself to extracurricular reading, you might be interested in the Library's Popular Reading Collection, where you will find contemporary Christian fiction, many of which are on historical themes. Some noteworthy Popular Reading titles include:

•  Judith Pella and Michael Phillips' historical trilogy set in Scotland, The Stonewycke Trilogy

•  Pella and Phillips' seven-part series on the Russian Revolution, The Russians

•  Bodie and Brock Thoene's three series on World War II and the founding of Israel, The Zion Convent, The Zion Chronicles, and The Zion Legacy

Another great way to enjoy books outside your studies is to make use of our eAudiobooks . E-Audiobooks are full-text book readings by professional actors and narrators. The Library's eAudiobook collection currently contains 1,764 tiles from virtually every subject, including business, fiction, history, mystery, religion, and science. Also included in the eAudiobook collection are the Pimsleur foreign language instruction series. All that you need to take advantage of this great resource is an mp3. With an mp3 player and the appropriate adaptor for your car, your commuting and driving time is instantly transformed into learning and enriching time.

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Collection Spotlight-- Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics by Jeannine K. Brown
Reviewed by Corné J. Bekker, M.A., D. Litt. et Phil

Roger Ebertz, a Christian Philosopher at the University of Dubuque recently published an inspiring and erudite article in the Christian Scholar's Review on the call for Christian scholarship to be Biblically grounded and engaged.ⁱ Ebertz suggests that Christian scholars should extend the traditional worldview analysis methodology of research, an approach that has mostly become normative amongst Christian scholars, to include a central Biblical hermeneutical component. For Ebertz, Christian scholars carry a double duty in that they should not only be competent in the particular demands of their academic disciplines, but also in appropriate methods of Biblical hermeneutics that fit their field of enquiry. Ebertz's proposal is rooted in the conviction that Christian scholars operate within three defining contexts: (a) a specific social and cultural situation, (b) an academic field governed by specific research agendas and methodologies, and (c) a particular faith tradition. His proposal consists of an integrated research approach where these three contexts work together in the pursuit of truth: "The Christian scholar, then, seeks both to interpret her subject matter and to understand the Bible as it speaks to her and to her work as a scholar in the light of historical situation, her community of scholarship and her community faith. Thus the Christian scholar's hermeneutical task is complex. And yet she aims at the unity of understanding that affirms the sovereignty of one Lord."

Christian scholars looking at the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures often make interpreting mistakes because they do not consider the historical and cultural distance between themselves and the authors and audiences of those texts. Biblical hermeneutical methodology assists the serious interpreter of the Bible in reading these texts in an integrative, reflective, analytical, and yet still devotional manner. These models of interpretation are drawn from the conviction that what is needed is a multi-disciplinary approach to reading the Scriptures that keeps in mind at minimum the literary, social, cultural, historical and theological dimensions of the text and its people. Unfortunately, most Christian scholars have not been exposed to contemporary hermeneutical methodology and may not know where to start. This is where Jeanine Brown's new book on Biblical hermeneutics can be of great assistance.

Jeannine Brown's basic introduction to the discipline of hermeneutics offers a clear and practical interpretative model that highlights the communicative nature of the text of the Christian Scriptures. By rooting this communicative model in the theological concept of the incarnation, Brown bridges the world of systemic theology and Biblical studies and by doing so, makes a significant contribution to the various current theories and debates on the nature of the text and the discipline of interpretation. Brown's inspiring and clear approach makes complex theories of interpretation simple while at the same time communicating the wonder and power of the "Divine breath" of inspiration in the text of the Holy Scriptures.

Brown's book is divided into two parts: the first part lays a thorough theoretical foundation on the communicative nature of Scripture, whilst the second part offers practical guidelines for those desiring to read and understand Scripture as God's ever-present communicative act. Brown does not steer away from contentious or difficult issues in discussing the art of interpretation, but translates them for the reader into simple and palatable concepts, whilst pointing the way towards erudite and practical interpretative strategies. The book does suffer at times from an absence of in-depth discussions on the recent developments in socio-rhetorical and semiotic readings of Scripture, but makes up for this lack in its well structured treatment on the quest to derive meaning from a communicative reading of the text.

"Scripture as Communication" is a highly accessible book that lay readers, students, ministers and scholars alike will find to be rich in interpretive theory yet practical in its application. Brown's book makes an important and timely contribution in our common quest to understand and apply the message of Scripture to our own research.

The motto of Regent University is, "Christian Leadership to change the World." It is my growing conviction that a clearer understanding of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures holds the promise of a resurgence of moral and values-based approaches to leadership today. Only when our understanding and practice of leadership is utterly informed and fueled by the Word of God will we have the kind of Christian leadership that will change the world. Jeanine Brown's inspiring book is a good place to start in our common quest for the recovery of authentic Christian scholarly leadership.

Corné J. Bekker, M.A., D. Litt. et Phil. is an Associate Professor at the School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Regent University.

ⁱ Ebertz, R. P 2006. Beyond Worldview Analysis: Insights from Hans-Georg Gadamer on Christian Scholarship. Christian Scholars Review, Fall 2006; 36,1.

Are you interested in reviewing a resource in the Library collection? If so, please contact Harold Henkel at harohen@regent.edu.

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Librarians Share Regent's Constitution Day Activities at State Conference

Margaret Christiansen, Associate Director of the Law Library, and Sara Baron, Dean of the University Library, gave a presentation on libraries collaborating for Constitution Day at the Virginia Library Association & Virginia Association of Law Libraries Joint Conference on November 2, 2007.

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