Latest Issue of the Criswell Theological Review

  
The Spring 2011 issue of the Criswell Theological Review is now out. The table of contents are as follows.

Editor’s Page

"The Authorship of Hebrews: Historical Survey of the Lukan Theory"

            David L. Allen

"God and the Human Situation in the Letter of James"

            Peter H. Davids

"Self-Deception in James"

            Dan G. McCartney

"Revelation 6: An Early Interpretation of the Olivet Discourse"

            C. Marvin Pate

"An Examination of Paul's Apocalyptic Narrative in First Corinthians 15:20-28"

            Jeromey Martini

"W. A. Criswell: Scholar, Linguist, and Orator"

            Andrew Hebert

"Index to Criswell Theological Review N.S."

            David L. Brooks and Evan Brooks

Book Reviews

Index of Book Reviews

   

Song of Solomon and Passover

  
Some readers might be interested in this article.
  

Goodacre on Crucifixion

  
Listen to Mark Goodacre's podcast on the horrors of crucifixion here.
 

Yes Indeed

  
Peter Mead has a great reminder to everyone preaching this Sunday. Namely, whatever passage you are preaching on, preach that passage.
 

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.

Ehud Ben Zvi and James D. Nogalski
Two Sides of a Coin: Juxtaposing Views on Interpreting the Book of the Twelve/the Twelve Prophetic Books
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7581
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney
 
Katell Berthelot, Thierry Legrand, and André Paul, eds.
Torah: Genèse
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6931
Reviewed by Kristin De Troyer
 
Gitte Buch-Hansen
"It Is the Spirit That Gives Life": A Stoic Understanding of Pneuma in John's Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7689
Reviewed by Cornelis Bennema
 
Terence L. Donaldson
Jews and Anti-Judaism in the New Testament: Decision Points and Divergent Interpretations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7739
Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Siker
 
Susan E. Hylen
Imperfect Believers: Ambiguous Characters in the Gospel of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7641
Reviewed by R. Alan Culpepper
 
Paul D. Korchin
Markedness in Canaanite and Hebrew Verbs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6874
Reviewed by John Lubbe
 
Michael Lakey
Image and Glory of God: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as a Case Study in Bible, Gender and Hermeneutics
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7592
Reviewed by William O. Walker Jr.
 
Anthony Le Donne
The Historiographical Jesus: Memory, Typology, and the Son of David
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7643
Reviewed by Alan Kirk
 
Jürg Luchsinger
Poetik der alttestamentlichen Spruchweisheit
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7688
Reviewed by James Alfred Loader
 
Michael W. Martin
Judas and the Rhetoric of Comparison in the Fourth Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7730
Reviewed by Tom Thatcher

Revelation as Apocalyptic

   

It is my opinion that many of the critical discussions of Revelation as apocalyptic literature do not give adequate recognition to the differences between Revelation and other so-called apocalyptic works. So I was delighted to see the following two paragraphs from C. Marvin Pate.

"While significant parallels do indeed exist between Revelation and early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic materials, there are critical differences between them as well, none the least of which is that Revelation is a prophetic book (1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19), while the others make no such claim. Revelation is not pseudonymous (1:1; 22:8); neither is it pessimistic about God's intervention in history. Furthermore, while many apocalyptic writers recast past events as though they were futuristic prophecies (vaticinia ex eventu), thus lending credibility to their predictive prowess, John (the author of Revelation) does not follow this procedure. On the contrary, he places himself in the contemporary world of the first century AD and speaks of the coming eschatological consummation in the same manner as did the Old Testament prophets—a consummation that, for John, has already begun to  break into history in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1:4-8; 4-5).

"In addition to being apocalyptic and prophetic in nature, Revelation is encased by an epistolary framework (1:4-8 and 22:10-21). This convention alone sets it apart from apocalyptic materials. The prescript (1:4-8) contains the typical epistolary components—sender, addressees, greetings, and the added feature of a doxology. The postscript (22:10-21), in good ancient letter form, summarizes the body of the writing, as well as legitimates John as its divinely inspired composer. The combined effect of the prescript and the postscript, not to mention the letters to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia (chaps. 2-3), is to root Revelation in the real history of its day. How different from other ancient noncanonical apocalypses. Consider, for example, the opening statement in 1 Enoch, that what the author saw was "not for this generation but the distant one that is coming" (1 Enoch 1:2)."

 

C. Marvin Pate, The Writings of John: A Survey of the Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 337-38.

  

Mounce on Galatians 2:20

  
See this post by Bill Mounce on Galatians 2:20. Something to think about as we approach Resurrection Sunday
 

Hultgren on Romans

  
See this brief bit on Arland Hultgren talking about writing his forthcoming commentary on Romans.
  

Redemptive-Historical Preaching

  
David Murray has a nice introduction to redemptive-historical preaching here.
 

If God, Why Evil?

   

Theodicy is like the elephant in the room for those involved in Christian ministry. We often try to ignore it, but are rarely ever able to avoid it. A helpful resource for those who struggle with the issue is Norm Geisler’s new (2011) book If God, Why Evil? While my bread and butter discipline is more related to the biblical text, I found Geisler’s work to be interesting at a philosophical level.

   

In general, Geisler’s book is helpful in at least two ways. First, it identifies the major issues and/or problems. This can be of immense value because of the breadth of the questions involved. Second, If God, Why Evil?  provides a clear and specific explanation of the issues. In many cases, the issue or problem is laid out in logical form (with premises and a conclusion). The writing is succinct and contains a number of scriptural references (it is too bad that there is no scriptural index).

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy.