May 1, 2010

Best Selling Study Bibles of 2009


See this
post by Louis McBride on the best selling study Bibles of 2009.

Resources for the Book of Joshua


Nijay Gupta has a brief post on resources that he found helpful in preparation for teaching Joshua
here.

Hebrews Carnival


Those of you interested in the Book of Hebrews might be interested in Brian Small's latest Hebrews Carnival
here.

Apr 30, 2010

Bibliotheca Sacra 21-30


Rob Bradshaw at BiblicalStudies.org.uk continues to scan and post past volumes of
Bibliotheca Sacra, the theological journal of Dallas Theological Seminary, online. Volumes 21-30 are now available. See here.

Apr 29, 2010

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:


Paul N. Anderson, Felix Just, S.J., and Tom Thatcher, eds.
John, Jesus, and History, Volume 2: Aspects of Historicity in the Fourth Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7317

Reviewed by Tobias Hagerland

John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan, eds.
Household and Family Religion in Antiquity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6657

Reviewed by Jason Lamoreaux

Jochen Flebbe
Solus Deus: Untersuchungen zur Rede von Gott im Brief des Paulus an die Römer
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7307

Reviewed by Wayne Coppins

George Kwame Agyei Bonnah
The Holy Spirit: A Narrative Factor in the Acts of the Apostles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7417

Reviewed by Joshua Mann

Nancy C. Lee and Carleen Mandolfo, eds.
Lamentations in Ancient and Contemporary Cultural Contexts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6710

Reviewed by Elizabeth Boase

George W. E. Nickelsburg and Michael E. Stone, eds.
Early Judaism: Text and Documents on Faith and Piety
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7220

Reviewed by Gerbern Oegema

Gail R. O'Day and David L. Petersen, eds.
Theological Bible Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7098

Reviewed by Harold W. Attridge

Dorothy M. Peters
Noah Traditions in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Conversations and Controversies of Antiquity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6943

Reviewed by Claudia D. Bergmann

Baruch J. Schwartz, David P. Wright, Jeffrey Stackert, and Naphtali S. Meshel, eds.
Perspectives on Purity and Purification in the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7172

Reviewed by Jonathan D. Lawrence

Ben Witherington III
New Testament Rhetoric: An Introductory Guide to the Art of Persuasion in and of the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7150

Reviewed by InHee Cho


Apr 28, 2010

Esler's New Testament Theology


I just received Philip Esler's
New Testament Theology from Fortress Press this week. I haven't had much time to go through it but here are some details about th
e book.

Description:


Esler's innovative proposal features a cutting-edge combination of theol
ogy, exegesis, and social analysis. He argues for new thinking about New Testament theology in light of the early social history of Christian communities. His detailed analysis of Paul's letters to the Romans and 1 Corinthians validates his thesis and clarifies its significance for scholarship. Using both the tradition of "the communion of the saints" and social-scientific methods, Esler brings the discipline of New Testament theology back to its theological core. He argues that interpreters also need to take into account both the history of interpretation and the multitude of voices within the contemporary church.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: the New Testament and contemporary Christianity
1. The New Testament, history, and theology: the state of the debate
2. Persons in communion: a socio-theological model
3. Knowing and understanding the message of our ancestors in the faith
4. The place of New Testament authors in interpretation
5. Interpersonal understanding and the spoken word in Schleiermacher’s hermeneutics
6. Face-to-face communion between New Testament Christ-followers: 1 Corinthians 10–14 as a test case
7. New Testament Christ-followers and the effects of writing
8. Communion with the saints: origins and development
9. Communion with the saints: modeling the naturalistic possibilities
10. communion with the saints in the fullest sense
11. The Canon and interpersonal communication
12. History, hermeneutics, and communion: Romans
Notes
Bibliography
Index of subjects
Index of modern authors
Index of Scripture

Here is a
link to a pdf of the introduction.


Apr 27, 2010

Pastoral Thorns in the Flesh


See this helpful post from Brian Croft on pastoral thorns in the flesh or "How do I shepherd a church member who doesn’t like me?"

Mounce on the Challenges Related to Fluidity of Languages


Bill Mounce has
posted on some of the interpretive challenges associated with the fluidity of language, that is, how languages change over time.

Apr 26, 2010

The Resurrected and Non-Resurrected in the Millennial Kingdom


See Fred Butler's post
here for a good discussion on the resurrected and non-resurrected in the Millennial Kingdom.

Triads in Jude


There is some disagreement concerning the exact number of Triads in Jude. although most recognize the literary feature. See here for William Varner's list.

Interesting Post on the Book of Ruth


I found this
post on the Book of Ruth quite interesting. I especially liked these lines:

"However, I do not think the book of Ruth is about love. It’s about חֶסֶד hesed (an amalgam of faithfulness to family or covenant relationships and great kindness). This virtue was a primary family and social value in Ancient Israel. Love was a luxury, but חֶסֶד hesed was what made the world go round."

I have contended that we often read passages in the Bible involving love and marriage with what I call a "Hallmark hermeneutic." That is, we often read these texts based on the sentiments of greeting cards and through the lenses of the current romantic zeitgeist. I think such readings and subsequent applications can be misguided. In any case, read the entire post above.

Apr 25, 2010

The Call of Acts


“The radical theocentricity of Acts highlights the constant temptation to anthropocentricity of our day, whether seen in advertising that panders to human self-centeredness or ‘tribalism’ that will not act outside the parameters of our community In practice, churches-and theologians-find it all too easy to believe that they need not pay attention to asking what God is doing, and therefore fall into the dangers of making God in their own image and limiting what they consider he can do to the parameters of their experience. Acts calls us to real and continuing openness to God and his agenda, and highlights the prayerfulness of the believing community, for that is how their dependence on God is expressed and experienced (e.g., 1:14, 24; 2:42; 3:1; 6:4; 9:40; 10:9; 125; 13:l–3; 14:23; 16:25; 20:36; 215; 28:8).”

Steve Walton, "Acts," in Theological Interpretation of the New Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey, ed. Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 81.