Nov 20, 2020

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.

Elizabeth A. Clark, The Fathers Refounded: Protestant Liberalism, Roman Catholic Modernism, and the Teaching of Ancient Christianity in Early Twentieth-Century America
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Claire Clivaz, Ecritures Digitales: Digital Writing, Digital Scriptures
Reviewed by Clark Bates

Febbie C. Dickerson, Luke, Widows, Judges, and Stereotypes
Reviewed by Abraham Smith

Jutta Jokiranta and Molly Zahn, eds., Law, Literature, and Society in Legal Texts from Qumran: Papers from the Ninth Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies, Leuven 2016
Reviewed by Carol Newsom

Anthony Keddie, Class and Power in Roman Palestine: The Socioeconomic Setting of Judaism and Christian Origins

Reviewed by Benjamin D. Gordon

Daniel Marguerat, Les Actes des Apôtres (13–28)
Reviewed by Abson Joseph

Martti Nissinen, Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
Reviewed by Jonathan Stökl

Jonathan E. Soyars, The Shepherd of Hermas and the Pauline Legacy
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, The End of the Beginning: Joshua and Judges
Reviewed by Gregory Mobley

Eric Ziolkowski, The Bible in Folklore Worldwide: A Handbook of Biblical Reception in Jewish, European Christian, and Islamic Folklores
Reviewed by Dan Ben-Amos


Nov 19, 2020

The Sheep and Goats Parable in Matthew 25

Ian Paul has very good post here dealing with Matthew 25:31-46. The last few years has seen a frequent misuse of this passage and I think this post provides a helpful corrective.

Nov 18, 2020

Esau as a Representive of Christianity

Barry Walfish has a very interesting post here about the presentation of Esau in Jewish Scripture and tradition.

Nov 17, 2020

Psalm 36 Links

I have been working on a commentary on the Psalms. I have decided to compile some helpful links that I discovered during my research. It includes a mix of exegetical and sermonic links. Here is what I have for Psalm 36 (in no particular order). Feel free to mention any that you find helpful in the comments section.

Literary analysis of Psalm 36: http://psalmsstudy.com/psalms-literary-analysis-by-chapter/literary-analysis-psalm-36-source-life-light-light

Analysis by C. J. Labuschagne: https://www.labuschagne.nl/ps036.pdf

William Barrick’s notes: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_036.pdf

Steven Cole Sermon: https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-36-deceived-sin-or-delighted-god 

James Limburg, Commentary on Psalm 36:5-10: https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=498

Nov 16, 2020

Proverbs and Biblical Theology

I have been enjoying the online presentations for this year's Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting. One advantage of having the meeting online rather than in-person is that one can see many more presentations. It is an example of the old adage, "when life gives you lemons . . . ." In any case, one paper I have enjoyed was Daniel Estes' paper, "Proverbs and Biblical Theology: Can This Slipper Fit?" Estes rightly decries the general failure to integrate material from Proverbs in many recent biblical theologies. I often tell my students that the wisdom literature is where biblical theologies go to die!

That being said, Estes does note that there are five contexts in which biblical theologians have tried to incorporate Proverbs. They are (1) connection to Solomon, (2) creation, (3) covenant, (4) general coherence with the worldview that pervades the Bible, and (5) the connection between Jesus and wisdom. Estes also suggests other possible ways but I will leave that for the video in the Biblical Theology: Wisdom and Biblical Theology section.