Hurtado on the Early Church and the Divinity of Jesus

Larry Hurtado, the author of Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity talks about the evidence for the early church's commitment to Jesus divinity.

McKnight Recommended Commentaries on James

See this post for Scot McKnight's recommendations concerning commentaries on James. McKnight lists:

Peter Davids, The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary) ,

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)
Robert P. Martin, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 48, James

Rob Wall, Community of the Wise: The Letter of James (New Testament in Context)

Doug J. Moo, The Letter of James (Pillar New Testament Commentary)

Craig Blomberg and Mariam Kamell, James (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)

"Stupid Statements" Related to the Trinity

Michael Patton has a nice post identifying and interacting with "stupid statements" or examples that are frequently used in trying to explain or illustrate orthodox Trinitarianism. Read the post here.

Great Advice: Preach to Them, But Be You

See Peter Mead's short but spot on post: Preach to Them, But Be You.

Questions to Ask a Potential Church

Colin Adams has posted forty-one questions that pastors should ask a potential church. You can read the questions here.

Free Will

Andy Naselli has written a very good discussion on the topic of free will. Read it here.

The Big Idea of Narrative Preaching

See this article by Paul Borden and Steven D. Matthewson on the big idea of narrative preaching.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Richard Bauckham, Daniel Driver, Trevor Hart, and Nathan MacDonald, eds.
A Cloud of Witnesses: The Theology of Hebrews in Its Ancient Contexts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7111
Reviewed by Scott Mackie

Richard H. Bell
Deliver Us from Evil: Interpreting the Redemption from the Power of Satan in New Testament Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6918
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

Katharina Bracht and David S. du Toit, eds.
Die Geschichte der Daniel-Auslegung in Judentum, Christentum und Islam: Studien zur Kommentierung des Danielbuches in Literatur und Kunst
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7181
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

J. Bradley Chance
Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6893
Reviewed by Kenneth D. Litwak

Mordechai Cogan
The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to Ancient Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6612
Reviewed by Aren Maeir

R. Alan Culpepper
Mark
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6892
Reviewed by John Painter

Thomas R. Hatina, ed.
Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels: Volume 2: The Gospel of Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6954
Reviewed by Daniel Gurtner

Mark A. House, ed.
Compact Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6805
Reviewed by Pierre Johan Jordaan

Steven Leonard Jacobs, ed.
Maven in Blue Jeans: A Festschrift in Honor of Zev Garber
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7045
Reviewed by William H. Krieger

Barry C. Joslin
Hebrews, Christ and the Law: The Theology of the Mosaic Law in Hebrews 7:1-10:18
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7026
Reviewed by David Allen

Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Ellen Bradshaw Aitken, and Jonathan A. Draper, eds.
The Bible in the Public Square: Reading the Signs of the Times
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6813
Reviewed by Holly E. Hearon

Michael Labahn and Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, eds.
A Kind of Magic: Understanding Magic in the New Testament and Its Religious Environment
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6553
Reviewed by Hans-Josef Klauck

Karoline M.Lewis
Rereading the "Shepherd Discourse": Restoring the Integrity of John 9:39-10:21
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7179
Reviewed by Beate Kowalski

J. G. McConville
God and Earthly Power: An Old Testament Political Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7001
Reviewed by Paul Kissling

The Book of Hebrews: A Star Wars MashUp

A creative way to introduce Hebrews 1.



HT: Claude Mariottini

Translating Romans 1:17: εκ πιστεως εις πιστιν

See Alan Bandy's helpful discussion on the challenges of, and options for, translating the Greek phrase εκ πιστεως εις πιστιν.

Resources for the Gospel of John

See this very helpful list of books and sermon resources for preaching and teaching the Gospel of John.

Debunking the Documentary Hypothesis

See John Anderson's helpful summary of R. N. Whybray's eleven reasons for rejecting the Documentary Hypothesis which has long been the standard critical explanation for the composition of the Pentateuch.

20 Non-Preaching Websites for Better Preaching

See this article on "20 Non-Preaching Websites for Better Preaching" from SermonCentral.com.

The Kingdom of God

See this short video on the much discussed topic of Jesus and the kingdom of God. Both Graham Stanton and James D. G. Dunn appear in the video.



HT: Matthew D. Montonini

Bad News and Good News from Jesus’ Genealogy

Genealogies are not normally considered fruitful fields for spiritual edification. Nonetheless, God has chosen to include a number of these lists in sacred Scripture. So it is always interesting to me when I come across an interpreter who is able to draw out spiritual truths from these oft ignored sections of the Bible. Thomas Fuller (1608–1661) an Anglican priest noted the following in his study of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1.

“Lord, I find the genealogy of my Saviour strangely chequered, with four remarkable changes in four generations
Rehoboam begat Abijah: (A bad father begat a bad son)
Abijah begat Asa: (A bad father and a good son)
Asa begat Jehoshaphat: (A good father and a good son)
Jehoshaphat begat Jehorom: (A good father and a bad son).

I see Lord, from hence,
That my Father’s piety cannot be handed on:
That is bad news for me.
I see also that actual impiety is not hereditary,
That is good news for my son!”

Thomas, Fuller, Good Thoughts in Bad Times, Good Thoughts in Worst Times, Mixt Contemplations in Better Times (Liverpool: Edward Howell, 1863), 44.