Apr 20, 2013

Review of Jesus the Messiah



Herbert W. Bateman IV, Darrell L. Bock, and Gordon H. Johnston, Jesus the Messiah: Tracing the Promises, Expectations, and Coming of Israel's King (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2012). 
 
From the beginning, Christians have acknowledged that the Old Testament spoke of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. The question was not if but how? Bateman, Bock, and Johnston attempt to answer this question in Jesus the Messiah


First impressions of the book are quite positive. This hardcover book is attractively produced with slick pages and color. There are over eighty helpful color illustrations, maps, charts, and sidebars. The text is supplemented with an appendix on Genesis 3:15 and four indices. All the authors are to be commended for their general clarity of expression and thoughtful methodology. The only criticism might be a few typos here
and there (e.g., pp. 19, 29, 254). 

As for the content of the book, the introduction is a must-read for understanding the authors’ approach. It is here that one learns that this work is an attempt to offer a “contextual-canonical, messianic, and christological development of God’s promise of “messiah” within the larger framework and unfolding of Jewish history in canonical and extra-biblical literature” (p. 20). The authors understand the messianic revelations of the Old Testament like a puzzle where each piece is provided over time (pp. 22-23). The sum of the pieces provide insight into the part played by each individual piece. The approach in Jesus the Messiah differs from the “traditional approach.” The authors argue that the wording of messianic texts is often more implicitly messianic and such elements only become clearer as the entirety of God’s portrait of messiah is eventually and fully disclosed as revealed by the First Testament and by what Jesus himself does to pull all the messianic pieces together (p. 25). The rest of the book attempts to develop and defend this assertion by examining messianic trajectories in the Old Testament (Johnston in chps. 1–7), the messianic expectations during the second temple period and in second temple literature (Bateman in chps. 8–11), and the messianic presentation in the New Testament (Bock in chps. 12–15). Whether one ultimately agrees with the authors’ approach and specific conclusions, one can still appreciate the careful argumentation and scope of this work. This work will not end the debate, but it does provide a significant contribution to the debate. 

You can read an excerpt here.


Thanks to Kregel for providing a review copy for this unbiased review. 
  

Apr 18, 2013

Free Biblical Encyclopedia

  
Bill Mounce has announced that BiblicalTraining.org has released a 14,000-article encyclopedia. You can check it out here.
 

Apr 17, 2013

Preaching the Decalogue

  
I recently had a conversation about preaching the Decalogue. I see at least five advantages to preaching a series on the Ten Commandments. First, a series on the Decalogue can glorify God by highlighting His ethic. Second, a study on the Decalogue can provide a helpful model for biblical theology as one traces the particular command through Scripture. Third, messages on the Decalogue can highlight the continuing relevance of the Old Testament for the church. Fourth, an examination of the commandments affirms the principle of trans-cultural ethics (or negatively it challenges the idea of ethical relativity). Fifth and finally, a series on the Decalogue provides a convenient theological platform for exploring how the Law relates to salvation and sanctification.
  

Apr 16, 2013

Commentaries on 1 John

  
Erik Raymond has his list of top five commentaries on 1 John here.
 

Apr 15, 2013

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.

Gary M. Beckman, Trevor R. Bryce, and Eric H. Cline
The Ahhiyawa Texts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8569
Reviewed by Paul Sanders

Michael F. Bird, ed.; Thomas R. Schreiner, Luke Timothy Johnson, Douglas A. Campbell, and Mark D. Nanos

Four Views on the Apostle Paul
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8592
Reviewed by Arthur J. Dewey

Markus Bockmuehl
Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory: The New Testament Apostle in the Early Church
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8667
Reviewed by Finn Damgaard

Walter Brueggemann
David and His Theologian: Literary, Social, and Theological Investigations of the Early Monarchy
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8412
Reviewed by Andrea Ravasco

James L. Crenshaw
Reading Job: A Literary and Theological Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8672
Reviewed by Norman Habel

Jonathan Grossman
Esther: The Outer Narrative and the Hidden Reading
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8424
Reviewed by Kelly A. Whitcomb

William Loader
The New Testament on Sexuality
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8643
Reviewed by Colleen M. Conway

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 David M. Maas

John J. Pilch
A Cultural Handbook to the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8684
Reviewed by Jeremiah W. Cataldo

Irene Schulmeister
Israels Befreiung aus Ägypten: Eine Formeluntersuchung zur Theologie des Deuteronomiums
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8042
Reviewed by Peter Porzig