Aug 23, 2008

My Most Memorable Teacher (or Trainer)


Elliott Masie has produced an e-book entitled
My Most Memorable Teacher (or Trainer). In this book he records over 750 responses to the simple question "Who is your most memorable teacher (or Trainer)."

According to Masie, the responses to his question suggest that the most powerful characteristics of a memorable teacher are:

They were demanding of us,
They were highly accessible,
They were passionate about their content,
They were different or creative,
They were great storytellers,
They added context and relevance to their content,
and They believed in my ability to learn.

Surely there is something to learn here for all of us who are involved in the task of communicating God's Word.

You can download the entire book for free here.

Aug 22, 2008

A New Biblical Theology Blog


A new biblical theology blog can be found
here.

A Review of Christopher Wright's Old Testament Ethics for the People of God


See Phil Sumpter's brief review of Christopher Wright's Old Testament Ethics for the People of God. I interacted with this book several years ago and I believe that Wright has provided a helpful way of making sense of the ethical material in the Old Testament. You can read Sumpter's evaluation
here.

Aug 21, 2008

Top Five Commentaries in 1-2 Kings


Ligonier Ministries has a
list and discussion of their top five commentaries on 1-2 Kings.The list is good. However, I would not have Davis at number one and Walsh (1 Kgs) and Cohn (2 Kgs) both in the Berit Olam series belong in the
top five. A recent work by Marvin Sweeney (OTL) looks promising, but I have not really interacted with it. To the runners-up list I would add Patterson and Austel (EBC). In any case, the top five Keith Mathison has listed are:

1. Dale Ralph Davis -- 1 Kings, 2 Kings (Focus on the Bible, 2002, 2005).
2. Paul R. House -- 1, 2 Kings (New American Commentary, 1995).
3. Iain W. Provan. -- 1 and 2 Kings (New International Biblical Commentary, 1995).
4. Donald J. Wiseman -- 1 & 2 Kings (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1993).
5. Mordechai Cogan (and Hayim Tadmor) -- 1 Kings, 2 Kings (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries, 2001, 1988).

Aug 20, 2008

John Frame on the Problem of Evil


See Andy Naselli's interview of John Frame on the problem of evil
here.

Walt Kaiser on the "Dead Sea Scroll in Stone"


Several weeks ago I posted several items on the so-called "Messiah Stone." See
here and here. Now you can read Walt Kaiser's take on the "Messiah Stone" or what he is calling the "Dead Sea Scroll in Stone." See it here.

Aug 19, 2008

New Website on Commentaries


See John Dyer's new website
here on commentaries. Thanks to Justin taylor for the heads-up.

Witherington on Recent Jesus Studies


Kar Yong has
noted that a series of three lectures by Ben Witherington III given at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on the theme "What Have They Done with Jesus," has been posted at the Gordon-Conwell website.

Lecture 1: What Have They Done With Jesus?

Lecture 2: The Talpiot Tomb - The Family Tomb of Jesus?

Lecture 3: The Jesus History and the Pseudo-Christ of Gnosticism

Philemon Getting its Due


Looks like the little book of Philemon is finally getting its due. See this post at the Resource Pages for Biblical Studies Blog.

Aug 18, 2008

Reading the Bible


See
this handy little excerpt from the forthcoming ESV Study Bible on "Reading the Bible" by David Powlison.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35


Matthew Malcom has a nice post on the textual issues surrounding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. See it
here.

Aug 17, 2008

Top Five Commentaries on 1-2 Samuel


Ligonier Ministries has a
list and discussion of their top five commentaries on 1-2 Samuel.The list is good. However, I would replace Davis with either Bergen or Robert Gordon
in the first slot and one probably needs to have McCarter in the top five. I have not personally worked through much of Tsumura, but what I have used has been solid. I would also suggest that Fokklemann and Hertzberg (OTL) deserve a place among the runners-up list. In any case, the top five they have listed are:

1. Dale Ralph Davis -- 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel (Focus on the Bible, 2000, 2002).
2. David T. Tsumura -- The First Book of Samuel (New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2007).
3. Ronald F. Youngblood. -- "1 & 2 Samuel" (Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1984).
4. Joyce Baldwin -- 1 & 2 Samuel (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1988).
5. Bill T. Arnold -- 1 & 2 Samuel (NIV Application Commentary, 2003).