Member of Grace First releases new book “Rendering Divine Names on Coins” (Wipf & Stock)
Grace First Presbyterian Church member David Bentley just released a new book along with Brad Yonaka “Rendering Divine Names on Coins: Images from Antiquity to Modern Times” (Wipf & Stock). This work is 5 years of wonderful scholarship and theological reflection that has now come to fruition. Grace First’s Senior Pastor, Rev. Jonas Hayes, wrote the foreword to the book.
From the foreward: “David Bentley and Brad Yonaka, in their work ‘Rendering Divine Names on Coins,’ offer a timely interfaith discussion, encouraging all people to learn more of the divine, our higher power, whom we call upon with many different names. Through their extensive and thoughtful research, Bentley and Yonaka thoroughly explore ancient and modern coins from a variety of contexts as a way for readers not only to learn about our various societies and cultures, but also to find clues about God.
Bentley and Yonaka introduce a fresh and thought-provoking claim of St. Paul and other early Christians as ‘tabernacle-makers’ (silversmiths) instead of ‘tentmakers,’ as most commonly thought. Bentley’s innovative biblical scholarship paired with Yonaka’s metallurgic expertise reveal how openly St. Paul and his companions engaged a topic that many find uncomfortable – financial stewardship – as a necessary and meaningful way to do God’s work. Such a perspective prods congregations and faith-based leaders today to consider how God calls us to ‘love God with all of our possessions,’ as the Torah says, and how our stewardship of our body’s well as our resources, offers a lens into our faith.”