This collection of essays on the theme of repentance/penitence emerged from an assembly of biblical scholars, systematic theologians, and church historians at the 2003-2004 meetings of the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature. Walter Brueggemann, one of the respondents to the project, calls this collection ?a wondrous and rich collage of historical and contemporary probes into the specific teachings and practices of penitence.? This volume is a major resource for the interpretation, theology, and practice of communal and individual penitence. Each chapter begins with the examination of a particular aspect of the theme?repentance in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, private confession in the German Reformation, a Pentecostal understanding of penitence, the Catholic call to conversion. Implications of that aspect to the overall theme are given, along with a list of further readings and interpretative reflections by the assembly on the results of the project. This volume gives teachers, preachers, and serious students of theology an exhaustive source of information and inspiration for renewing the initial call of Jesus to ?Repent and believe in the Gospel? (Mark 1:15).? . . . a wonderful resource for further reflection on the Christian faith life, both in the academy and in the churches.? Catholic Studies? . . . created to be a major resource for the interpretation, theology and practice of communal and individual penance. Each chapter begins with the examination of a particular aspect of the theme. Implications of that aspect to the overall theme are given along with a list of further readings and interpretive reflections by the assembly on the results of the project.? Crux?With wayward politicians and movie starts continually giving lip service to repentance when their embarrassments and sometimes crimes are discovered, the theologians and professors of religion of the 18 collected articles bring readers back to the fundamentals of genuine repentance. Repentance has always had a central place especially in Christianity.? Midwest Book Review?This is a welcome collaboration! It pulls together an impressive assemblage of scholars, representing an unusually rich array of traditions and commitments. It focuses on what is surely one of the most central concerns of Christian faith: the character of human response to the gracious initiative of God. If these were its only major features, this would already make for an exceptional volume. There is more. The origins and format of this collaboration are such that we also have before us and important contribution to our efforts at uniting what has for so long been divided: biblical studies, theological studies, and the practices of the church.?Joel B. Green, Ph.D.Professor of New Testament Interpretation Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Asbury Theological Seminary"Repentance is a theme that is both essential to Christian faith and practice and of renewed interest in academic studies. This book represents a hopeful conjunction of serious disciplinary analysis and broad theological reflection. The contributors create an interdisciplinary, ecumenical, and multicultural forum, offering a model for generous scholarly exchange that engages the realities and concerns of the contemporary church." Katherine M. Hayes Seminary of the Immaculate Conception Huntington, New York