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.

Henry Hanoch Abramovitch
The First Father Abraham: The Psychology and Culture of a Spiritual Revolutionary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7758
Reviewed by D. Andrew Kille
 
Faith Cimok
The Hittites and Hattusa
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7663
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore
 
Andreas Dettwiler and Uta Poplutz, eds.
Studien zu Matthäus und Johannes/Études sur Matthieu et Jean: Festschrift für Jean Zumstein zu seinem 65. Geburtstag/Mélanges offerts à Jean Zumstein pour son 65e anniversaire
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7770 Editor(s):
Reviewed by Boris Paschke
 
Toshikazu S. Foley
Biblical Translation in Chinese and Greek: Verbal Aspect in Theory and Practice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7678
Reviewed by Ken Chan
 
Paul Hoffman
Jesus von Nazaret und Die Kirche: Spurensicherung im Neuen Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7593
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek
 
Jae Hyun Lee
Paul's Gospel in Romans: A Discourse Analysis of Rom 1:16-8:39
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7677
Reviewed by Eve-Marie Becker
 
Mark Leuchter and Klaus-Peter Adam, eds.
Soundings in Kings: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7613
Reviewed by Frank H. Polak
 
J. Ramsey Michaels
The Gospel of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7781
Reviewed by D. A. Carson
 
G. Sujin Pak
Judaizing Calvin: Sixteenth-Century Debates over the Messianic Psalms
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7429
Reviewed by Susan Gillingham
 
Begonya Palau
Les aparicions de Jesús Ressuscitat a les dones (Mt 28, 8-10) i also Onze (Mt 28, 16-20) com a textos complementaris
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5866
Reviewed by Sylvie Raquel

    

Fee on the Hermeneutics of Acts

   
Gordon Fee in discussing the hermeneutics of Acts notes,

“The crucial hermeneutical question here is whether biblical narratives that describe what happened in the early church also function as norms intended to delineate what must happen in the ongoing church. Are there instances from Acts of which one may appropriately say, ‘We must do this,' or should one merely say, ‘We may do this'?

“Our assumption, shared by many others, is this: Unless scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not function in a normative (i.e. obligatory) way—unless it can be demonstrated on other grounds that the author intended it to function in this way. There are good reasons for making this assumption.”

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 118–19.

  

Absence of Evidence

   

"Those who discount the Bible stories because of archaeological data are working in outdated "prove the Bible mode," along the lines of correspondence theories. They likewise have not realized that archaeology and the Bible provide different information, which is largely incapable of being compared and, most often, elusive. Information from the Bible and archaeology is parallel, not perpendicular; it supplements/complements, but rarely intersects. For true understanding to emerge, we must look beyond a "prove the Bible" (or "disprove") synthesis and draw on a coherence theory model.

"In the end, the relationship between the Bible and archaeology is fluid, not static. Both can help us better understand the other, but neither can, nor should, be used as a critique of the other. They must live separately and be blended and amended together cautiously."
  

David Merling, "The Relationship between Archaeology and the Bible Expectations and Reality," in The Future of Biblical Archaeology, ed. James K. Hoffmeier and Alan Millard (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 33.

  

Why Did Moses Go up Mount Sinai Twice?

  
See this article by Alexander Zvielli in the Jerusalem Post. I am not sure that there is much new here for those who are aware of ancient Near Eastern covenant practices, but I found the discussion involving Josephus and Philo interesting.
   

Early Rabbinic Texts Online

  
David Instone-Brewer has announced that he has created an online resource for accessing and studying early rabbinic texts. This looks to be a great resource. Check it out here. 
  

The Difference Between Allegory and Parable?

I have been thinking through Thiselton's statement that,  

"An allegory therefore presupposes shared understanding; a parable creates shared understanding. There are two further differences. An allegory addresses insiders who are in the know; a parable attacks, or seeks to win over outsiders. Further, it is crucial that on the whole a parable presents an entirely coherent narrative world; an allegory can contain a string of independent applications. Often this is expressed by insisting that a parable has only one point. But although this often follows, it does not always follow, and this view has been attacked" (Anthony C. Thiselton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009], 38).

Not in the Bible

  
See this article by John Blake.