McKnight on Jesus Studies

See this interesting article by Scot McKnight on historical Jesus studies in Christianity Today here. Make sure that you also check out the linked responses of N. T. Wright here, Craig Keener here, and Darrell Bock here.

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:

Michael Bachmann
Anti-Judaism in Galatians? Exegetical Studies on a Polemical Letter and on Paul's Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7235
Reviewed by Kevin McCruden

Michael F. Bird
Are You the One Who Is to Come? The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7239
Reviewed by Christopher W. Skinner

Mark J. Boda
A Severe Mercy: Sin and Its Remedy in the Old Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7269
Reviewed by Erhard S. Gerstenberger

Walter Brueggemann
Divine Presence amid Violence: Contextualizing the Book of Joshua
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7156
Reviewed by Gerrie Snyman

R. Crumb
The Book of Genesis Illustrated
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7316
Reviewed by David Petersen

Robert Daly, ed.
Apocalyptic Thought in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7237
Reviewed by Martin Karrer

W. Edward Glenny
Finding Meaning in the Text: Translation Technique and Theology in the Septuagint of Amos
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7312
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

T. Muraoka
A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7273
Reviewed by Frederick Danker

James Reitman
Unlocking Wisdom: Forming Agents of God in the House of Mourning
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6823
Reviewed by Craig G. Bartholomew

Akira Satake
Die Offenbarung des Johannes: Redaktionell bearbeitet von Thomas Witulski
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7162
Reviewed by Russell Morton

Two Testaments, One Bible

I recently received the third edition of David Baker's Two Testaments, One Bible: The Theological Relationship Between the Testaments in the mail courtesy of the publisher InterVarsity. For readers unfamiliar with the this work, or previous editions, here is the publisher's description.

Do we need the Old Testament today? Is this collection of ancient writings still relevant in our postmodern and increasingly post-literary world? Isn't the New Testament a sufficient basis for the Christian faith? What does the Old Testament God of power and glory have to do with the New Testament God of love whom Jesus calls 'Father'? Are these two very different Testaments really one Bible?

In this thoroughly revised, updated and expanded edition of Two Testaments, One Bible, David L. Baker investigates the theological basis for the continued acceptance of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, through a study of its relationship to the New Testament. He introduces the main issues, surveys the history of interpretation, and critically examines four major approaches. He then considers four key themes, which provide a framework for Christian interpretation of two Testaments in the context of one Bible: ‘typology,’ ‘promise and fulfilment,’ ‘continuity and discontinuity,’ and ‘covenant.’ He completes his study with a summary of the main conclusions and reflection on their implications for the use of the Bible today.

Table of Contents:

Preface
Abbreviations

PART 1: THE PROBLEM

1 Biblical Foundations
2 History of Biblical Interpretation

PART 2: FOUR MODERN SOLUTIONS

3 The New Testament as the Essential Bible
4 The Two Testaments as Equally Christian Scripture
5 The Old Testament as the Essential Bible
6 The Two Testaments as One Salvation History

PART 3: FOUR KEY THEMES

7 Typology
8 Promise and Fulfillment
9 Continuity and Discontinuity
10 Covenant

PART 4: CONCLUSION

11 The Theological Relationship between the Testaments

Bibliography
Index of Bible references
Index of authors
Index of subjects

Peter Flint's Dead Sea Scrolls Website

Peter Flint, the Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, has a nice website at deadseascrolls.org. I am not sure how long this site has been around but it is worth checking out.

Bibliotheca Sacra 1-10

Rob Bradshaw at BiblicalStudies.org.uk has announced that the first ten volumes of Bibliotheca Sacra are now available online. See here.

Online Bible Index for the Church Fathers

This looks to be a helpful resource for finding quotations on the Church Fathers.

HT: Mark Hoffman

James VanderKam's Dead Sea Scrolls Today

Those interested in a pretty good introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls might want to consider James Vanderkam's book Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Although some might consider it a little dated (1994), it is still worth looking at and I noticed that Westminster Bookstore has it as a 50% off clearance special ($9.50) here. You can buy a cheaper used copy at Amazon, but Westminster offers a better new price.

Mounce on Titus 1:6

See Bill Mounce's post on Titus 1:6. You might also want to access his position paper on eldership here.

While we are on the issue of the Pastorals some might be interested to know that Logos Bible software is currently offering I. Howard Marshall's ICC commentary at 75% off as part of their March Madness promotion (see here).

Diligent Preparation for Preaching

I was recently flipping through an older book by Andrew Blackwood entitled Preaching from Samuel. I was stunned and convicted to read the following paragraph.

"In order to master the twin books of Samuel the parish minister needs to map out a fairly extensive course of study at home. Ideally he would begin with the original Hebrew, and then work slowly. The present writer has done that in many parts of the twofold record. At one time he went rapidly through First Samuel in the Hebrew and the Greek, the Latin and the French, as well as the German. In the coming pages he will refer mainly to the American Revised Version, partly because of the division into paragraphs. He regrets that he has not had access to the forthcoming revision by present-day American scholars. That work should prove worthy of note for accuracy of translation and beauty of English prose" (Andrew Blackwood, Preaching from Samuel [New York: Abingdon, 1946], 13).

I wonder how many of us pursue our study of a text that we will be preaching with the same kind of diligence.

He is Risen!

Here is an empty post in remembrance of an empty tomb.