Torrey Seland, ed., "Lær meg din vei…" Kristen trosopplæring i går og i dag. En historisk oversikt. Trondheim, Tapir akademisk forlag, 2009. 199pp.
Cowriters: Ottar Berge, Oddvar J. Jensen, Birger Løvlie og Oskar Skarsaune.

Faith education is important to the church. New plans of such education are being made in Norway these days. But faith education is not something new; it has always existed in the church, being given various names as, for instance, catechesis. In times of changes we need to look back; not in order to copy history, but to learn from history, and to apply that knowledge in promoting faith education for today. This book will help you to get that historical perspective. The books intended readers are all those interested in faith education in the church of today; cathekists, teachers, pastors, lay persons. Get yourself some perspectives, and teach the young people the way to go.

Bård Mæland, eds., Enduring military boredom - From 1750 to the present. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 207 pp.

"It is often said that wars consist of 5% horror and 95% boredom. In this sense, military boredom is historically enduring. But it is also personally enduring in terms of what it demands and requires of individual soldiers who have to endure it. Even in its simpler form, boredom can endanger a military operation. Ignoring boredom is poor military leadership and can easily cause tactical and strategic problems. (...) The aim of this book is to contribute to a deeper understanding – historically, empirically and theoretically – of the complex phenomenon of boredom in a military context. The book takes the reader on a journey through military history and contemporary case studies (...)" (taken from the homepage of the publisher, PalgraveMacmillan; http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=347293).

Magnar Kartveit, The Origin of the Samaritans. Leiden, Brill (Vetus Testamentum Supplements, 128), 2009. 405 pp.

Many Bible readers will think that chapter 17 of the second book of Kings refers to the origin of the Samaritans. This understanding of the chapter has its earliest attestation in the works of Josephus. The present book evaluates the methods often used for finding the origin of the Samaritans, makes an assessment of well known and new material, and ventures into some uncharted territory. It is suggested that the moment of birth of the Samaritans was the construction of the temple on Mount Gerizim. This happened in the first part of the fourth century b.c.e. in accordance with the original commandment of Moses in Deut 27:4. (taken from the homepage of the publisher, Brill; http://www.brill.nl/downloads/Fpubs09.07.pdf).

Hans Austnaberg and Bård Mæland (eds.), Grensesprengende. Om forkynnelse for ungdom 15–18 år. Trondheim, Tapir Akadmisk Forlag, 2009. 282 pp.

When searching for literature on youth preaching in Norwegian, there is not much to find. This book focuses on one of the perspectives in preaching for young people, namely the missional aspect. This means a focus on the nature of the church as sent to the world. The target group is 15 to 18 years old. The first part of the book is based on an empirical investigation and presents what church-going young people in the Stavanger-area think about preaching expanding borders. The second part consists of 12 chapters from different viewpoints, written by researchers and practitioners. “Border-expansion” is the main theme. This is in various ways related to the preacher, the listener, the form and the content.