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:

Walter Brueggemann
An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7350
Reviewed by Eric A. Seibert

Erasmus Gaß
Die Moabiter: Geschichte und Kultur eines ostjordanischen Volkes im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr.
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7097
Reviewed by Sven Petry

Joel B. Green, ed.
Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7470
Reviewed by Coleman A. Baker
Reviewed by Margaret E. Lee

Sarah Lebhar Hall
Conquering Character: The Characterization of Joshua in Joshua 1-11
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7465
Reviewed by Anton Cuffari

Michaela Hallermayer
Text und Überlieferung des Buches Tobit
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6800
Reviewed by Bradley Gregory

Luke Timothy Johnson
The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7524
Reviewed by Patrick J. Hartin

Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles
The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7456
Reviewed by Patrick J. Hartin

Michael Root and James J. Buckley, eds.
Sharper Than a Two-Edged Sword: Preaching, Teaching, and Living the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6911
Reviewed by Richard S. Briggs

Thomas D. Stegman
Second Corinthians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7530
Reviewed by Raymond F. Collins

Sobering Analysis of Teens and Christianity

See this article on teens and Christianity.

Resseguie on Narrative Criticism of the New Testament.

Recently, I have been working through James Resseguie’s book Narrative Criticism of the New Testament. I plan on sharing several posts over the next few weeks on this helpful work.

Let me begin by quoting a definition of sorts. For Resseguie, “Narrative criticism focuses on how biblical literature works as literature. The ‘what’ of a text (its content) and the ‘how’ of a text (its rhetoric and structure) are analyzed as a complete tapestry, an organic whole. Narrative critics are primarily concerned with the literariness of biblical narratives—that is, the qualities that make them literature. Form and content are generally regarded as an dissoluble whole” (Narrative Criticism in the New Testament: An Introduction [Grand Rapids: Baker, 20905], 18–19).

For Prospective Seminary Students

HT: Darrell Bock

Hamilton on Genesis 3:15

See this brief post by Jim Hamilton on Genesis 3:15.

Echoes of Exodus in the Prologue of John's Gospel

See this post on echoes of Exodus in the prologue of John's Gospel.

Full Sentence Points in Preaching

This post is not really an argument for full sentence sermon points, but rather an explanation of some of the deficiencies of single-word sermon points.

John Piper on Learning to Preach

Four Reasons to Study the Old Testament Sacrificial System

One of the least popular areas of Bible study appears to be the Old Testament sacrificial system. For many Christians these passages seem alien at best and embarrassing at worst. Yet there are at least four reasons why we should study the Old Testament sacrificial system.

1. The Old Testament sacrificial system is part of the Bible.
2. The Old Testament sacrificial system provides insight into important theological concepts such as sin, sanctification, faith, forgiveness, imputation, restitution, restoration, etc.
3. The Old Testament sacrificial system sheds light on worship that is acceptable to God.
4. The Old Testament sacrificial system contributes part of the background necessary for understanding and appreciating the person and work of Christ.

Diagrams of the Genres of the Bible

C. Michael Patton has created two nice diagrams of the different genres contained in the Bible. You can access them here.

Darrell Bock's Sabbatical Report

See Darrell Bock's sabbatical report 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:

Hector Avalos, Sarah Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper, eds.
This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7175
Reviewed by William R. G. Loader

Joseph Blenkinsopp
Judaism, the First Phase: The Place of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Origins of Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7402
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Roland Boer
Political Myth: On the Use and Abuse of Biblical Themes
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7123
Reviewed by Gilbert Lozano

Roland Boer and Jorunn Økland, eds.
Marxist Feminist Criticism of the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6678
Reviewed by Michael J. Lakey

Detlev Groddek and Maria Zorman, eds.
Tabularia Hethaeorum: Hethitologische Beiträge: Silvin Kosak zum 65. Geburtstag
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6845
Reviewed by Paul Sanders

Joel S. Kaminsky
Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7662
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia

Mosheh Lichtenstein
Moses: Envoy of God, Envoy of His People
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6420
Reviewed by Danny Mathews

Hanne Loland
Silent or Salient Gender? The Interpretation of Gendered God-Language in the Hebrew Bible, Exemplified in Isaiah 42, 46, and 49
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7372
Reviewed by Claudia D. Bergmann

Robin Routledge
Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7153
Reviewed by Don Collett

C. Kavin Rowe
World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7214
Reviewed by Rubén Dupertuis