Miles Van Pelt on Learning Biblical Languages

Miles Van Pelt has passed on some good advice about learning biblical languages.


HT: Koinonia Blog

A Soldier's Letter

I suppose that almost as long as there have been soldiers there have been letters home. Read this fascinating article about a letter written by an Egyptian soldier serving in the Roman army about 1800 years ago. As I was reading this articles, I couldn't help but see some similarities to the language in some of Paul's epistles. I am not suggesting any direct parallel but I did find it interesting.

Helpful Apps for Writers

Josh Philpot has a nice post on some helpful apps for writers. Check it out here.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below. 

Jason David BeDuhn
Augustine’s Manichaean Dilemma, Volume 2: Making a “Catholic” Self, 388–401 C.E.
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9295
Reviewed by Timothy Pettipiece

Hermann V. A. Kuma
The Centrality of [haima] (Blood) in the Theology of the Epistle to the Hebrews: An Exegetical and Philological Study
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8882
Reviewed by James Harrison

Rubén Muñoz-Larrondo
A Postcolonial Reading of the Acts of the Apostles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8943
Reviewed by Christina Petterson

Alissa Jones Nelson
Power and Responsibility in Biblical Interpretation: Reading the Book of Job with Edward Said
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9021
Reviewed by Peter-Ben Smit

Stanley E. Porter and Matthew R. Malcom, eds.
Horizons in Hermeneutics: A Festschrift in Honor of Anthony C. Thiselton
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9196
Reviewed by Donald A. Hagner

Daniel Lynwood Smith
The Rhetoric of Interruption: Speech-Making, Turn-Taking, and Rule-Breaking in Luke-Acts and Ancient Greek Narrative
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9188
Reviewed by Alex Damm

Holger Strutwolf and Klaus Wachtel, eds.
Novum Testamentum Graecum Editio Critica Maior, Parallelperikopen: Sonderband zu den synoptischen Evangelien
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9022
Reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus

James C. VanderKam
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8870
Reviewed by Don Garlington

Markus Vinzent
Christ’s Resurrection in Early Christianity and the Making of the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9002
Reviewed by Howard Williams Tzemah L. Yoreh

The First Book of God
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8249 
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney

Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection: A Review

Thabiti M Anyabwile. Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014.

This book is basically a topical treatment of five questions drawn from five texts (Matt 26:42; 27:46; 1 Cor 15:50-58; Luke 24:5; 18) related to Jesus’ death and resurrection. The acknowledged sermonic origins are evident throughout. Each chapter concludes with study questions to facilitate personal or group study.

On the positive side, this book is well written and is a quick read. I also appreciate the fact that material is theologically sound. I suspect that when these messages were quite powerful when originally delivered.

However, for me this book was just not very captivating. The truths unpacked within are spiritually exciting and powerful but I feel that these thoughts were probably better heard than read. This is not all that unusual for books developed from sermons. I would be glad to recommend the book (there is some good stuff here) but I would suggest that the potential reader scan an excerpt first.

Thanks to Shaun Tabatt and the folks at Reformation Heritage for providing the review copy.

Calculating the Time and Cost of Paul's Missionary Journeys

See this fascinating post that calculates the time and cost of Paul's missionary journeys. Here are the final numbers but see the post for additional details.

Journey	Distance (miles)	Travel Time (days)	Cost per Person (denarii)*
First	1,581	53	237
Second	3,050	100	314
Third	3,307	92	481
Rome	2,344	36	699

HT: Christianity Today

From Gospels to Glory

My friend Dr. Ken Hanna has just published a nice 512-page New Testament survey entitled, From Gospels to Glory: Exploring the New Testament. The book is chock-full of useful information and its format is user friendly. You can buy the book here. Dr. Hanna also has an Old Testament volume as well entitled, From Moses to Malachi: Surveying the Old Testament.

50 Biblical People Confirmed Archaeologically

Biblical Archaeology Review has posted a web-exclusive supplement to Lawrence Mykytiuk's “Archaeology Confirms 50 Real People in the Bible” feature from the March/April 2014 issue of BAR here. This supplement includes a helpful table and listing of the people, the biblical references, and the archaeological evidence.

Free Logos Book for March: Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians

The free Logos Book for January is Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians. You can also enter to win the entire 13-volume Armchair Theologian series. Go the Logos' Free Book of Month page to enter and download your free book today!

Andrew Lincoln Interview

The Eerdman's blog has a fairly extensive interview with Andrew Lincoln related to his recent book on the virgin birth. Whether one agrees with Lincoln or not, he is a careful scholar and his work will likely need to be addressed by those interested in the topic.

Mac Apps for Pastors

I don't use a Mac, but those that do might be interested in this post identifying the best Mac apps for pastors.

Jephthah's Vow

David Murray has a good defense of a positive reading of Jephthah's vow in Judges 11 here. I remain less than convinced but I appreciate David's argument.

Expository Preaching Workshop Focusing on 1 John

You can still sign up to attend the 2014 Expository Preaching Workshop held at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The workshop will take place next week on March 3-4, 2014. Registration for the workshop is $25 for students and $50 for non-students. The workshop will run from 4:00-9:00 pm on Monday and 8:00 am-4:00 pm on Tuesday. You can get more information here.

Philosophy Humor

I saw this picture on Facebook (HT: Abraham Joseph). Although this is not my usual biblical fare, it was too funny not to share.

DIY Mud Bricks

The Biblical Archaeology Society's Bible History Daily has an interesting slide show here on how to make mud brick. This might be a project to consider when teaching Exodus 5:6-21.

The link above also includes the following instructions.

Their efforts produced great results, and although time-consuming, their procedures can be followed to create mudbricks of your own:

1. Mix topsoil and water to create a thick mud.
2. Add straw. While the composition of the mud will affect the exact proportions, as a general rule, add a half pound of straw for every cubic foot of mud mixture. If you have access to grain chaff (a byproduct of threshing), you can use that as temper. If not, chop straw into very small pieces—called straw chaff—and use that.
3. Knead the mud mixture with your bare feet for four days.
4. Once it has fermented (after four days of kneading), leave the mixture alone for a few days.
5. Knead the mixture again on the day you plan to form your mudbricks.
6. Pour the mud mixture into molds (the shape of your choosing) and let them solidify in the molds for at least 20 minutes.
7. Remove from molds and deposit on a drying floor layered with sand and straw to prevent the bricks from sticking to the floor itself.
8. Let the bricks dry for a week. After the bricks have dried, they are ready to be used—whether to build something new or to reconstruct ancient walls!

Two New Books on the Psalms

See this article on two new books written from a Jewish perspective by Conservative rabbis: A New Psalm: The Psalms as Literature, by Rabbi Benjamin Segal and Joy, Despair and Hope: Reading Psalms, by Rabbi Edward Feld.

The Debate about Sodom

Christianity Today has brief summary of the debate regarding Steven Collins' identification of Tall el-Hammam with the biblical Sodom. You can access the article here.

Exodus Videos

The Biblical Archaeology Society’s Bible History Today website has added over a dozen new full-length free lecture videos from the recent Out of Egypt Conference. You can access links to the videos here.

Leadership and Authority

Shane Lems, interacting with Timothy Witmer's book The Shepherd Leader, has enumerated five observations concerning the authority of elders (and I would suggest all church-based leadership). Lems distilled list is further summarized below. See his entire post here.

1. All human authority is derived. 

2. The exercise of authority is designed to serve the well-being of those under its care. 

3. This authority is to be directed by God’s Word. 

4. All who hold derived authority are ultimately accountable to the One who gave that authority. 

5. The flock is called to submit to the authority of the elders.

Camels and the Bible

I have refrained from getting into the recent flood of reports related to camel domestication, archaeology, and the accuracy of the Bible. A great irony here is that many of the same folks who criticize so-called fundamentalist Christians for misusing archaeological evidence (and often rightly so) are doing much the same in this case. The claims have well-exceeded the evidence. Thankfully, Todd Bolen, although not the first, has provided a nice response with a number of links here. To paraphrase and adapt something Mark Twain once said, "the reports of the death of the Bible's accuracy have been greatly exaggerated."