The Latest Issue of the 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.

Walter Ameling, Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck, Avner Ecker, Benjamin Isaac, Alla Kushnir-Stein, Haggai Misgav, Jonathan Price, Peter Weiß, and Ada Yardeni, eds., Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palestinae, Volume 4: Iudaea/Idumaea
Reviewed by Lester L. Grabbe

Daniel Castelo and Robert W. Wall, The Marks of Scripture: Rethinking the Nature of the Bible
Reviewed by J. Michael Thigpen

Bart van Egmond, Augustine’s Early Thought on the Redemptive Function of Divine Judgment
Reviewed by Evgenia Moiseeva

Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher and Maria Häusl, eds., Prayers and the Construction of Israelite Identity
Reviewed by Carol A. Newsom

Jordan Guy, United in Exile, Reunited in Restoration: The Chronicler’s Agenda
Reviewed by Yigal Levin

John R. Levison, The Holy Spirit before Christianity
Reviewed by Richard S. Briggs

Matthew McAffee, Life and Mortality in Ugaritic: A Lexical and Literary Study
Reviewed by Timothy Hogue

Michael J. Morris, Warding Off Evil: Apotropaic Tradition in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Synoptic Gospels
Reviewed by Archie T. Wright

V. George Shillington, James and Paul: The Politics of Identity at the Turn of the Ages
Reviewed by James Hanson

Paul T. Sloan, Mark 13 and the Return of the Shepherd: The Narrative Logic of Zechariah in Mark
Reviewed by Barry L. Blackburn

Bradley K. Storin, Self-Portrait in Three Colors: Gregory of Nazianzus’s Epistolary Autobiography
Reviewed by B. Lee Blackburn Jr.

Leonard J. Swidler, Three Jesus Certitudes: Pacifism, Feminism, and the Birth of Christianity
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Jonathan R. Trotter, The Jerusalem Temple in Diaspora Jewish Practice and Thought during the Second Temple Period
Reviewed by Benjamin D. Gordon

Antoinette Clark Wire, 2 Corinthians
Reviewed by Annelies Moeser

Jennifer S. Wyant, Beyond Mary or Martha: Reclaiming Ancient Models of Discipleship
Reviewed by Jennifer Knust

Free Logos Book for August: History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel, 3rd ed.

The free Logos Book for the Month for August is History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel, 3rd edition (New Testament Library). You can also purchase 1 Peter (Hermeneia) by Paul Achtemeier, The Book of Exodus (Old Testament Library) by Brevard Childs, and Daniel (Hermeneia) by John J. Collins, and the two-volume Theology of the Old Testament (Old Testament Library) by Walter Eichrodt for $1.99, $3.99, $5.99, and $9.99 respectively. While you are at it, you can register for a chance to win the 33-volume Westminster Bible Companion Series. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

To Cite or Not

Recently a prominent biblical scholar was convicted of possessing child pornography. A number of years ago I was tasked with reviewing a book that was part of a major commentary series. As I was looking for material on the author to include in the review, I found that he had also been convicted of a similar crime. A decision was made not to include that as part of the review. I still wonder whether that was the right decision. The issue of whether to interact with and/or cite works from tainted authors was also part of an online conversation that I had a few days ago. For some, the issue is straightforward and clear-cut. But I for one, find it more complicated. The fact is, every human author has shortcomings of some kind, albeit some are considerably more serious than others. This editorial by Mary Beard raises some of the complexities of the issues involved. In the end, I feel that it is a judgment call involving a variety of factors that could go either way. One thing I am sure of though, sin always makes things more complicated.

Matthew 14: The Feeding of the 5,000

Ian Paul has a good post here on Matthew's account of the feeding of the 5,000.

University of Facebook

Seen on Facebook.

Teaching 1 Chronicles

Nancy Guthrie talks to Richard Pratt about teaching 1 Chronicles here.

Psalm Songs

Brett McCracken lists seven different musical renditions of eight different psalms (19, 23, 46, 73, 90, 119, 121, 131) here. I was aware of some but not all of these. I created a Spotify playlist devoted to Psalm songs a while back and hope to add some of these.

Carta Books on Sale

Hendrickson Academic is offering Carta titles at a 60% discount here. Note that this sale is only good from July 27-31 so you will need to act quickly. 

Reconstructing Solomon’s Temple

Madeleine Mumcuoglu and Yosef Garfinkel have a nice article here trying to envision the architectural features of Solomon's temple based on archaeological discoveries.