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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Giuseppe de Carlo
Il Bagliore delle luci antiche: Una lettura sapienziale della Bibbia ebraica
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10935
Reviewed by Andrea Ravasco

Robert Evans
Reception History, Tradition and Biblical Interpretation: Gadamer and Jauss in Current Practice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9987
Reviewed by William Lamb

Thomas Fabisiak
The “Nocturnal Side of Science” in David Friedrich Strauss’s Life of Jesus Critically Examined
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10413
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Joseph Lam
Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11165
Reviewed by Ryan P. Bonfiglio

Ekaterina Matusova
The Meaning of the Letter of Aristeas: In Light of Biblical Interpretation and Grammatical Tradition, and with Reference to Its Historical Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10580
Reviewed by Sean A. Adams

J. Gordon McConville and Lloyd K. Pietersen, eds.
Conception, Reception, and the Spirit: Essays in Honor of Andrew T. Lincoln
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10787
Reviewed by Joseph Azize

Mark D. Owens
As It Was in the Beginning: An Intertextual Analysis of New Creation in Galatians, 2 Corinthians, and Ephesians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10945
Reviewed by Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr

Josaphat C. Tam
Apprehension of Jesus in the Gospel of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10779
Reviewed by Deolito Vender Vistar Jr.

Moulie Vidas
Tradition and the Formation of the Talmud
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10751
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

William O. Walker
Gospels, Jesus, and Christian Origins
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11030
Reviewed by J. Andrew Doole

Stephen I. Wright
Jesus the Storyteller
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10886
Reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff

Six Keys for Better Sermon Preparation

Jason Allen provides some solid advice and encouragement here for the hard work of sermon preparation.

Three Essential Elements of a Funeral Sermon

What 3 elements need to be in every funeral sermon? An answer can be found here.

Interpretation Commentaries eBook Sale

There is a three-day sale on volumes in the Interpretation series with prices as low as $1.99. The sale ends Friday, March 24. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christian Book Distributors should all have the sale prices. See here.

Do You Love the Psalms?

Robert Godfrey explains why he does here.

Renovations at Jesus' Tomb

Recent renovations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been completed. You can read about it here.

Lot in Genesis 19

In Genesis 19, there are several clues that Lot may have compromised morally and spiritually. Consider the following list.

• Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom (19:1).
• Lot addressed the wicked men of Sodom as “brothers” (19:7).
• Lot was willing to offer his two daughters to the wicked men of Sodom (19:8).
• Lot was willing to let his daughters marry men from Sodom (19:14).
• Lot’s sons-in-law do not take his warning seriously (19:14).

For these reasons, we might be somewhat surprised that Lot can be described as righteous and implied as godly (2 Pet 2:7-9). But there might be clues that Lot's character was more righteous than it might first appear.

• Abraham's attempted negotiations in the previous chapter might suggest that Lot was "righteous" (18:16-33).
• Lot's hospitality towards the visitors is commendable (19:1-3).
• Lot's attempt to protect the visitors and dissuade the men of Sodom (19:6-8).
• The men of Sodom's view of Lot as an outsider and as a judge (19:9).
• The angel's favorable treatment of Lot might imply it (19:10, 12, 15, 16, 21).

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