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. 

Bradford A. Anderson
An Introduction to the Study of the Pentateuch
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11666
Reviewed by Reinhard Achenbach

Pablo Andiñach
El Dios que está: Teología del Antiguo Testamento
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10438
Reviewed by Osvaldo D. Vena

Eugene Cruz-Uribe
The Demotic Graffiti from the Temple of Isis on Philae Island
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11206
Reviewed by John Gee

April D. DeConick
The Gnostic New Age: How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion From Antiquity to Today
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11396
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Alan Kirk
Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory, and Early Scribal Transmission of the Jesus Tradition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11394
Reviewed by Akiva Cohen

Michael J. Kruger
The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10146
Reviewed by Chris S. Stevens

Benjamin W. Porter
Complex Communities: The Archaeology of Early Iron Age West-Central Jordan
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9691
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Brian S. Rosner, Andrew S. Malone, and Trevor J. Burke, eds.
Paul as Pastor
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11967
Reviewed by Scot McKnight

Lauri Thurén
Parables Unplugged: Reading the Lukan Parables in Their Rhetorical Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10139
Reviewed by Susana de Sola Funsten

David Willgren
The Formation of the ‘Book’ of Psalms: Reconsidering the Transmission and Canonization of Psalmody in Light of Material Culture and the Poetics of Anthologies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11966
Reviewed by Erhard S. Gerstenberger

Three Books for Preaching Ecclesiastes

Matt Capps writes about three books that he found helpful for preaching Ecclesiastes here.

How to Read Faster in Seminary

Just in time for the spring semester, Seminary Survival Guide has some helpful infographic on surviving the reading demands of graduate school here. I question whether the 200 pages per week per course number for at least master's level students is correct. But I suppose this might vary quite a bit from class-to-class and institution-to-institution. 

One other point needs to be made. One has to be careful that if the professor requires you to report your reading, then integrity demands that you accurately report what you have read. Some professors will allow skimming, others will not.

That being said the information is helpful.

John Piper on the Value of the Old Testament

You can read or listen to John Piper's comments on the value of the Old Testament for the Christian life here.

The Complexity of Translation

The New Yorker has an interesting article here related to the recent translation of a Korean novel into English. This is a great illustration of the complexity of the process of translation, whether it relates to the Bible or a novel.

Donald Campbell (1926–2018)

Donald Campbell, former professor and president of Dallas Theological Seminary, has gone to be with the Lord. There is a nice write-up here. Although I met Dr. Campbell on a few occasions, I mainly profited from his preaching and popular level expositions.