Glorifying God in Your Work

  
A Few days ago, I posted on the topic of work in Proverbs. Now Josh Etter has a nice post on "12 Ways to Glorify God at Work."
 

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33:4

The latest issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament is out. Here is a list of the articles and links to abstracts.

‘Who Can Forgive Sins but God Alone?’ Human and Angelic Agents, and Divine Forgiveness in Early Judaism

Daniel Johansson

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 351-374
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/351

Not the Prologue of John

P.J. Williams

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 375-386
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/375

Exploring the Sense-scape of the Gospel of Mark

Louise Lawrence

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 387-397
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/387

Book Review: Gunnar Samuelsson, Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion (Dissertation, University of Gothenburg, 2010)

Brian Pounds

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 398-405
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/33/4/398

Stoic Physics and the Christ-event: A Review of Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Cosmology and Self in the Apostle Paul: The Material Spirit (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)

John M.G. Barclay

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 406-414
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/406

Paul in the Stoa Poecile: A Response to Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Cosmology and Self in the Apostle Paul: The Material Spirit (Oxford, 2010)

John R. Levison

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 415-432
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/415

Paul’s Body: A Response to Barclay and Levison

Troels Engberg-Pedersen

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2011;33 433-443
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/4/433

Overinterpretation

  
Although this example has been around for awhile it is still a great reminder of the potential folly of overinterpretation.
 

Eleven Questions Worth Asking

  
Trevin Wax has an excellent post entitled "11 Questions Every Pastor Should Ask." Read it here.
 

Choosing a Seminary

  

See this article by William Evans.

HT: David Murray
 

Free Audio Download of A Place of Healing

  
Christianaudio.com is offering a free audio download of Joni Eareckson Tada's book A Place of Healing for the month of June. For more details go here.

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.

Philip W. Comfort
New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate to the Major English Translations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7640
Reviewed by J. K. Elliott
 
Randall Heskett and Brian Irwin
The Bible as a Human Witness to Divine Revelation: Hearing the Word of God Through Historically Dissimilar Traditions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7804
Reviewed by Pieter M. Venter
 
Eric M. Meyers and Paul V. M. Flesher, eds.
Aramaic in Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity: Papers from the 2004 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar at Duke University
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7656
Reviewed by John Engle
 
Carl G. Rasmussen
Zondervan Atlas of the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7583
Reviewed by Wolfgang Zwickel
 
William A. Simmons
Peoples of the New Testament World: An Illustrated Guide
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7588
Reviewed by Moschos Goutzioudis
 
Oral A. W. Thomas
Biblical Resistance Hermeneutics within a Caribbean Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7658
Reviewed by Gerald West
 
Dvora E. Weisberg
Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7120
Reviewed by Obiorah Mary Jerome
 

Obedience

  
See Kevin DeYoung's excellent post on obedience here.
 

Just Read It

“We have done almost everything that is possible with these Hebrew and Greek writings. We have overlaid them, clause by clause, with exhaustive commentaries; we have translated them, revised the translations, and quarrelled over the revisions; we have discussed authenticity and inspiration, and suggested textual history with the aid of coloured type; we have mechanically divided the whole into chapters and verses, and sought texts to memorise and quote; we have epitomised into handbooks and extracted school lessons; we have recast from the feminine point of view, and even from the standpoint of the next century. There is yet one thing left to do with the Bible: simply to read it.”

Richard G. Moulton, A Short Introduction to the Literature of the Bible (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1909), iii–iv.

The Theme of Work in Proverbs

One expects to find the theme of work in the book of Proverbs because work is so much a part of the human condition. From the beginning (Gen 2:15) man was given the responsibility to work. The Book of Proverbs seems to take it for granted that “work” is good and God-ordained. Therefore, Proverbs does not so much provide an apologetic for the goodness of work, but rather it provides an important reminder of the benefits of hard work and the dangers of laziness. Even so, such an approach must not be interpreted to mean that hard work is an end in itself. But rather, work is a means, which God has ordained to provide for the needs of his creatures. In general, God honors and blesses hard work and condemns sloth. [1]

[1] It seems reasonable to assume that the proverbs on work and sloth only apply to those who can work. There are exceptional cases where someone cannot work due to illness, disability, etc.