Steve Walton on the Ascension

Steve Walton has made some of his resources on the ascension available here. These include a recent sermon and accompanying presentation slides.

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 to read them.

Jennifer Garcia Bashaw, Scapegoats: The Gospel through the Eyes of Victims (Fortress)
Kathleen Gallagher Elkins

Christoph Heilig, The Apostle and the Empire: Paul’s Implicit and Explicit Criticism of Rome (Eerdmans)
William Horst

Jerry Hwang, Contextualization and the Old Testament: Between Asian and Western Perspectives (Langham Global Library)
Elaine Goh

Bin Kang, Honor and Shame in 1 Samuel 1–7 (Langham Monographs)
Tony W. Cartledge

Margaret M. Mitchell, John Chrysostom on Paul: Praises and Problem Passages (SBL Press)
Wendy Mayer

John and Anti-Judaism: Reading the Gospel in Light of Greco-Roman Culture
Jonathan Numada,  (Pickwick)
Adele Reinhartz

J. Warren Smith, Ambrose, Augustine, and the Pursuit of Greatness (Cambridge University Press)
John Moorhead

Markus Zehnder and Hallvard Hagelia, eds., The Bible and Money: Economy and Socioeconomic Ethics in the Bible (Sheffield Phoenix)
Benjamin D. Gordon

Assurance of Salvation

Jeff Weddle has some helpful thoughts on the assurance of salvation here. I tend to use the designation eternal security for what Weddle calls objective proof and assurance as what he calls subjective proof. But his general conclusions are spot on.

Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart

I think Duane Garrett expresses well how I explain God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart.

Interpreting the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart, therefore, we should not deny God’s power to bend and move the human heart, but neither should we imply that Pharaoh was coerced into doing something that he did not really want to do. God stiffened Pharaoh’s resolve, but the will to oppress Israel and resist God was his own.

Duane A. Garrett, A Commentary on Exodus, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2014), 374–375. 

Free Webinar: Herodian Jerusalem – In Light of New Finds from the Western Wall Tunnels

You can tune into a free webinar on "Herodian Jerusalem – In Light of New Finds from the Western Wall Tunnels" by Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah. It is sponsored by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. Go here for details and registration.

Marriages in Ancient Israel

Stuart Miller has a fascinating article here on celebrating marriages in ancient Israel. Miller looks at the topic both biblically and in Jewish tradition.

Jerusalem Tracker

Chandler Collins has a very helpful compendium of news, links, and resources related to Jerusalem. You can check it out here.