1 Peter 3:19, Again

Jarvis Williams tackles this difficult text here. The view is similar to my own.

The Holy Kiss

Ken Berding has a good word here on understanding the "holy kiss" (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thess 5:26; cf. 1 Pet 5:18).

Preaching 1 Peter

Peter Mead offers eight reflections here.

Pastors as Pastoral

In the ecclesiastical tradition I participate in, the title pastor is often preferred over others like elder or minister. One could debate the merits of this preference but what I find more troubling is that too many "pastors" forget that the title relates to shepherding. And all too many build their ministry model more around business practices and CEOs than the practice of caring for sheep. 

Recently while teaching Acts 9:36-43, I was struck how Peter served like a shepherd. Peter came when he was called in response to death of Tabitha/Dorcas (v. 39). Although, Luke tells us that "Lydda was near Joppa," it was around a twelve-mile journey and likely traveled by foot. Peter does not say that he is too busy vision casting nor send someone else. He simply goes. One can imagine that apostles have places to go and people to see but Peter seems to have understood that pastors ought to be pastoral (1 Pet 5:1-4).

New Photo Resource: Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and 1, 2, & 3 John

BiblePlaces has released their latest volumes in the "Photo Companion to the Bible" series. These resources contains nearly 5,000 photos related to Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and 1, 2, & 3 John. The BiblePlaces photo companions are excellent resources for teaching and preaching. The photos are carefully curated, painstakingly researched, attractively presented, helpfully organized, and currently on sale.

Hebrews - 1,950 photos; reg. $59; on sale: $39
James - 950 photos; reg. $49; on sale: $39
1 & 2 Peter, Jude - 1,400 photos; reg. $59; on sale: $39
1, 2, & 3 John - 650 photos; reg. $49; on sale: $29

Or you can purchase all four collections for the special sale price of $49. These companions are available as either a  DVD+download or as a download-only.

Check out these free downloads excerpted from the collection if you are still uncertain.

Hebrews 7 PowerPoint (145 slides).
James 3 PowerPoint (185 slides
1 Peter 2 PowerPoint (175 slides)
1 John 4 PowerPoint (90 slides)

What to Remember When Grieving

Matt Klingler posts here about two truths drawn from 1 Peter for those who grieve. I found the this to be profound in its simplicity.

Spiritual Gift Quiz

I just had to chuckle at this spiritual gifts inventory in Babylon Bee.

Old Testament Quotations in 1 Peter

Mahlon Smith posts about them here.

Royal Priesthood

William Barrick discusses the royal priesthood here.

Review of Interpreting the General Letters

Herbert W. Bateman IV, Interpreting the General Letters, Handbook for New Testament Exegesis, ed. John D. Harvey (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013).

Interpreting the General Letters is the third of four volumes intended to introduce and demonstrate a methodology for interpreting and communicating the books of the New Testament. The volume at hand covers Hebrews through Jude. The book consists of seven chapters. The first three relate more to background issues, namely, the genre, background, and theology of the General Letters. The next three chapters present a nine-step process moving from translation, text-criticism, exegesis, to homiletics. The final chapter uses two passages (Jude 5–7; Hebrews 10.19–25) to demonstrate the nine step process. This volume includes a nice bibliography and brief glossary.

Interpreting the General Letters has at least three commendable qualities. First, Bateman packs a lot in. This is a 315-page work that in many ways could stand alone as a general handbook on interpretive process. There are also additional features that add value to the work. For example, the discussion on choosing commentaries will prove valuable to many. Second, the author communicates well. The writing is clear and there are numerous charts, tables, and diagrams for the more visually inclined. The discussion on Greco-Roman letters is a good example of this. Third, I believe that the methodology presented is sound, even if a bit ambitious for many pastors and teachers. (For example, I am not sure that generating a fresh translation of a given passage is a realistic goal for the average pastor/teacher with limited time and skills.)

While Interpreting the General Letters provides significant help and insight in the process of moving from exegesis to exposition, there are a few minor critiques that can be made. First, I am not sure that all the material included is truly necessary. A case in point is Bateman’s brief history of the English Bible (pp. 135–39). While the discussion is interesting, it is doubtful that it is essential for the task at hand. Second, the importance of some material is not really demonstrated well. For example, after an extended discussion of Greco-Roman letters (pp. 19–54) a few comments, mostly speculative, are made related to how understanding this material contributes to a specific understanding of the General Letters (pp. 54–56). It would be nice to see specific ways in which this background material impacts the interpretation of specific texts. It is also puzzling that so much is made about Greco-Roman letter forms and little is noted about ancient homiletical practices. This absence is significant since many interpreters today believe that Hebrews and perhaps James are more homily than letter. Third, while one hesitates to mention typos (since all works have them), they are somewhat conspicuous in this work (see pp. 77, 78, 88, 91, 102, 105, 109, 111, 114, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 292, 295, 298, 304). Finally, many will not be convinced that Bateman has the provenance correct in seeing Jude’s antagonists as Jewish rebels rather than the more traditional identification of false teachers (pp. 84–87). This idiosyncratic thesis would need to discuss the striking similarities between Jude and 2 Peter, another letter often held to address false teachers. Unfortunately, Bateman does not do this.

At bottom, Interpreting the General Letters is a solid resource for anyone interested in interpretation generally, and in the General Letters specifically. A reader will need some working knowledge of Greek to get the most benefit from this book but those lacking such facility could still benefit from much of the content. Bateman has done his homework and summarized and packaged much helpful information for students of the Bible.

You can access an excerpt here.

Thanks to Kregel for providing the free book used in this unbiased review.

First Peter and the Old Testament

“First Peter makes abundant use of the Old Testament, with at least eighteen direct citations and twenty-five allusions. The references are predominantly from four books—Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms, and Proverbs—and Peter normally makes

 Use of the Greek version, the Septuagint (LXX).”

Daniel Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 20. 

  

The Aim of 1 Peter

I am always interested to see how other interpreters sum up a book of Scripture. Here is one for 1 Peter.

 

“It was the common practice of the early Church commentaries on the Bible to identify the aim of a given biblical book right from the start. What then is the aim of 1 Peter? Peter writes to the churches in five regions (see 1:1) to prepare them for suffering in imitation of Christ. As members of God’s household, they need to know their new identity in Christ, learn how to relate to others both within and outside the Church, and be ready to undergo affliction for their faith. In fact, the characteristic feature of the letter is the sharp contrast between the sober call to suffer in imitation of Christ and the ‘indescribable joy’ (1:8) that is ours because of our new standing in Christ. Like a sympathy that moves back and forth between major and minor keys, 1 Peter oscillates between the expression of profound joy on the one hand and the call to endure trials on the other. Peter’s aim is to show that the Christian life, characterized by a living hope and deep joy, will also be marked by suffering for the sake of Christ.”

Daniel Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 17–8.

  

Free Audio to the Baptists and the Cross: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives Conference

The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptists studies has made the audio for their recent conference on Baptists and the Cross: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives (August 30-31, 2010) available here. I am particularly interested in Tom Schreiner's contribution, "The Atonement in the Pastoral Epistles, Petrine Epistles, and Hebrews."

HT: Trevin Wax

Theology of the Catholic (or General) Epistles

Michael Bird highlights the following three recent treatments related to the theology of the Catholic (or General) Epistles (James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude).

Peter H. Davids, “The Catholic Epistles as Canonical Janus: A New Testament glimpse into Old and New Testament Canon Formation,” Bulletin of Biblical Research 19 (2009): 403-16.

David R. Nienhuis, Not by Paul Alone: The Formation of the Catholic Epistles and the Christian Canon (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2007).

Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr and Robert W. Wall, eds., Catholic Epistles and Apostolic Tradition (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009).

Hairstyles and the New Testament

Josh Mann has an interesting post on ancient hairstyles and the New Testament (1 Pet 3:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 1 Timothy 1:9). Read the post here. If this interests you then you might also want to see this post.

McKnight Recommended Commentaries on 1-2 Peter and Jude

See this post for Scot McKnight's recommendations concerning commentaries on 1-2 Peter and Jude. McKnight lists:

John H. Elliott: 1 Peter (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) .

Paul J. Achtemeier: 1 Peter: A Commentary on First Peter (Hermeneia).

J. Ramsey Michaels: 1 Peter (Word).

Karen Jobes: 1 Peter (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)

Joel B. Green: 1 Peter (Two Horizons New Testament Commentary) .

R Bauckham: 2 Peter, Jude (Word).

J. N. D. Kelly: Epistles of Peter and Jude (NT in Context Commentaries).

Jerome Neyrey: 2 Peter, Jude (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries).

Gene Green: Jude and 2 Peter (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament).

Civil Submission and 1 Peter

Josh Mann has a thoughtful discussion on how to apply the submission to the government passage in 1 Peter 3:13-17. Read it here.

Spousal Mistreatment in the Roman World and 1 Peter 3

Josh Mann has a nice post on 1 Peter 3 and spousal mistreatment in the Roman world. You can read it here.

Syntactical Diagram of 1 Peter 2 and 3:13-22 and 4:1-19

For those who have facility with Greek, Daniel Doleys has posted his syntactical diagram of 1 Peter 4 (he also has posted chapters 1-3) here.

Syntactical Diagram of 1 Peter 2 and 3:1-12

For those who have facility with Greek, Daniel Doleys has now posted his syntactical diagram of 1 Peter 2 and 1 Peter 3:1-12, here and here respectively.