Introducing the Theology of Paul

Steve Walton has made his presentation slides introducing the theology of Paul available here.

Free PDF: The Future of New Testament Theology.

Joel Green has edited some essays on New Testament theology that are available as a free PDF here.

HT: Sean du Toit

New Testament Use of the Old Testament Course Lectures

Greg Beale has posted his New Testament Use of the Old Testament course here. At the same site, you can access Beale's New Testament Theology course and sermons on Revelation (see here and here).

The Origins of New Testament Theology and Greek Linguistics

Recently Stan Porter gave three lectures as part of The Ellis Lectures at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The topic addressed was "Can Greek Linguistics Inform New Testament Theology?" Three three lectures were given (see below) but I have only provided a link to the first since I don't see the other two online.

Lecture 1: The Origins of New Testament Theology and Greek Linguistics

Lecture 2: The Present State of New Testament Theology and Greek Linguistics

Lecture 3: The Future of New Testament Theology and Greek Linguistic

The Center of the Old Testament

Trying to identify a center for Old Testament has proven to be a daunting task. In a recent article, Richard Davidson notes that he has identified 28 different centers and has added his own seven-fold multiplex suggestion to the pile.[1] The article itself does not provide the list but in an earlier work he lists the following 50 which presumably includes the aforementioned 28.[2]

1. Covenant (Walter Eichrodt)
2. God as Lord (Ludwig Köhler)
3. Holiness of God (Ernst Sellin)
4. The “experience of God” (O. J. Baab)
5. Communion (Theodorus C. Vriezen)
6. Christ (Henry L. Ellison and J. Alec Motyer)
7. God-Man-Salvation (George A. F. Knight)
8. Israel’s election as the people of God (Hans Wildberger and Horst D. Preuss)
9. No center (the early Gerhard von Rad and G. Ernest Wright)
10. Yahweh, with the Deuteronomistic theology of history as the secret center (the later Gerhard von Rad)
11. Covenant-kingdom (Rudolph Schnackenburg)
12. Rulership of God (Horst Seebass)
13. Heilsgeschichte, or Salvation History (Oscar Cullmann)
14. The rule of God and communion between God and man (Georg Fohrer)
15. Covenant of Sinai and covenant of David (Frederick Prussner)
16. The exclusiveness of God (W. H. Schmidt)
17. The Kingdom of God (Günther Klein)
18. Yahweh the God of Israel; Israel the people of Yahweh (Rudolf Smend)19
19. The book of Deuteronomy (Siegfried Herrmann)
20. “I am Yahweh your God”: First Commandment (Walther Zimmerli)
21. God as the dynamic unifying center (Gerhard Hasel)
22. Creation faith (H. H. Schmid)
23. The atoning work of Christ (J. Sidlow Baxter)
24. Promise-blessing (Walter Kaiser, Jr.)
25. A multiplex center “expressed diagrammatically by an elliptical cylinder. The center is Christ; the foci are God (Yahweh) and people (Israel); concentric layers of the cylinder are election, promise, covenant, kingdom, etc.; and the length of the cylinder is the time in which Israel experienced God in history” (D. F. Baker)
26. The dialectic of law and promise (Ronald E. Clements)
27. The elusive presence of God, with a dialectic of the ethical and aesthetic (Samuel Terrien)
28. The dialectic of deliverance and blessing (Claus Westermann)
29. The dialectic of providence and election (the earlier Walter Brueggemann)
30. God’s design (plan and purposes), involving a fourfold center of deliverance, community, knowledge of God, and abundant life (Elmer A. Martens)
31. Righteousness and justice (Rolf Knierim)
32. Messianic eschatology (John Sailhamer)
33. Righteousness (Walter Dietrich)
34. Covenant and the new creation (Graeme Goldsworthy)
35. A drama with five acts—creation, sin, Israel, Christ, church (N. T. Wright)
36. The courtroom trial metaphor/imagery: legal claims—testimony, dispute, advocacy—asserted for Yahweh, God of Israel (the later Walter Brueggemann)
37. Warfare worldview and theodicy (Gregory Boyd)
38. Monotheism—the existence and worship of one God (Paul R. House)
39. God’s steadfast love (Hermann Spieckermann)
40. Geography and genealogy, dominion and dynasty (Stephen G. Dempster)
41. God’s order, God’s servant, God’s people, and God’s way (Charles H. H. Scobie)
42. God’s mission—announcing His kingdom (Arthur F. Glasser)
43. The hermeneutics of grace (J. Clinton McCann, Jr.)
44. A drama with six acts (Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen)
45. The paradigmatic story of Israel—sin, exile, restoration (C. Marvin Pate et al.)
46. The mission of God (Christopher J. H. Wright)
47. The sovereign reign of God through human agency (Eugene H. Merrill)
48. The glory of God in salvation through judgment (James Hamilton)
49. The “in-breaking of God’s rule” (Bruce Waltke)
50. The sanctuary/temple (Roberto Ouro)

[1] “The Legacy of Gerhard Hasel’s Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate Revealed in Old Testament Scholarship of the Last Four Decades,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 26 (2015): 15.

[2] Richard M. Davidson, “Back to the Beginning: Genesis 1–3 and the Theological Center of Scripture, in Christ, Salvation, and the Eschaton: Essays in Honor of Hans K. LaRondelle, ed. Jiří Moskala (Berrien Springs, MI: Old Testament Department, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, 2009), 5-9.

Two Free Resources from Richard Gaffin

In celebrating Richard Gaffin's eightieth birthday, Westminster Theological Seminary is making the following two resources available as free PDFs.

Seeing Christ in All of Scripture: Hermeneutics at Westminster Theological Seminary

Issues in New Testament Theology

Entrusted With the Gospel

One area in the New Testament corpus that often gets short shrift are the Pastoral Epistles. So I was delighted to receive a copy of Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul’s Theology of the Pastoral Epistles from B&H Academic. I hope to post excerpts from some of the essays in this volume shortly. But for now, here is the publisher’s description

Description of the Book:

After a lengthy period during which scholars paid relatively little attention to the Pastoral Epistles, a spate of studies has suddenly appeared in print. However, except for a small number of commentaries, critical scholars have by and large neglected evangelical scholarship on these letters. To fill in this gap, this volume offers a collection of important essays written by evangelicals on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. The book aims to inform readers of the history of scholarship on these letters and examine thoroughly Paul’s theology in the Pastoral Epistles.Contributors include several scholars who have done previous advanced work on these letters: I. Howard Marshall (University of Aberdeen, Scotland; Recent Study in the Pastoral Epistles), Andreas Köstenberger (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary[SEBTS]; Hermeneutical and Exegetical Challenges), Terry L. Wilder (B&H Publishing Group; Authorship), F. Alan Tomlinson (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary [MBTS]; Purpose/Stewardship), Greg Couser (Cedarville University; Doctrine of God), Daniel L. Akin (SEBTS; Christology), Ray van Neste (Union University; Cohesion and Structure of the PE), B. Paul Wolfe (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Use of Scripture), Ben Merkle (SEBTS; Ecclesiology), George Wieland (Carey Baptist College, New Zealand; Soteriology), Thor Madsen (MBTS; Ethics), and Chiao Ek Ho (East Asia School of Theology, Singapore; Missiology).

The chapters:

1. Andreas Köstenberger – “Hermeneutical and Exegetical Challenges in Interpreting the Pastoral Epistles”
2. Terry Wilder – “Pseudonymity, the New Testament, and the Pastoral Epistles”
3. E. Alan Tomlinson – “The Purpose and Stewardship Theme within the Pastoral Epistles”
4. Ray Van Neste – “Cohesion and Structure in the Pastoral Epistles”
5. Greg Couser – “The Sovereign Savior of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus”
6. Daniel Akin – “The Mystery of Godliness Is Great: Christology in the Pastoral Epistles”
7. George Wieland – “The Function of Salvation in the Letters to Timothy and Titus”
8. Benjamin L. Merkle – “Ecclesiology in the Pastoral Epistles”
9. B. Paul Wolfe – “The Sagacious Use of Scripture”
10. Thor Madsen II – “The Ethics of the Pastoral Epistles”
11. Chiao Ek Ho – “Mission in the Pastoral Epistles”
12. I. Howard Marshall – “The Pastoral Epistles in Recent Study”

Esler's New Testament Theology

I just received Philip Esler's New Testament Theology from Fortress Press this week. I haven't had much time to go through it but here are some details about the book.

Description:

Esler's innovative proposal features a cutting-edge combination of theology, exegesis, and social analysis. He argues for new thinking about New Testament theology in light of the early social history of Christian communities. His detailed analysis of Paul's letters to the Romans and 1 Corinthians validates his thesis and clarifies its significance for scholarship. Using both the tradition of "the communion of the saints" and social-scientific methods, Esler brings the discipline of New Testament theology back to its theological core. He argues that interpreters also need to take into account both the history of interpretation and the multitude of voices within the contemporary church.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: the New Testament and contemporary Christianity
1. The New Testament, history, and theology: the state of the debate
2. Persons in communion: a socio-theological model
3. Knowing and understanding the message of our ancestors in the faith
4. The place of New Testament authors in interpretation
5. Interpersonal understanding and the spoken word in Schleiermacher’s hermeneutics
6. Face-to-face communion between New Testament Christ-followers: 1 Corinthians 10–14 as a test case
7. New Testament Christ-followers and the effects of writing
8. Communion with the saints: origins and development
9. Communion with the saints: modeling the naturalistic possibilities
10. communion with the saints in the fullest sense
11. The Canon and interpersonal communication
12. History, hermeneutics, and communion: Romans
Notes
Bibliography
Index of subjects
Index of modern authors
Index of Scripture

Here is a link to a pdf of the introduction.

Free Podcast of Andreas Köstenberger on Johannine Theology

Listen to Andreas Köstenberger being interbiewd on Knowing the Truth radio program by Pastor Kevin Boling here.

HT: Koinonia Blog

The Theology of James

"The theological importance and hermeneutical potential of the letter can best be developed by hearing it and taking it seriously as a message from James, the Lord’s brother, to the people of God living in the Dispersion. This insight is accompanied by the recognition that the theological nature and aim of letter can be derived neither from its relation to Paul and his letters nor from a historical origin hypothetically reconstructed and attributed to any “Christianity of the second of third generation” (which in former times used to be called early Catholicism, horrible dictu). Instead, it should be accepted as a theological position of its own value, derived from the characteristic connection of faith with life. In this context, the letter opening 1:12/13–25, and not the subsection 2:14–26, is of decisive importance. This basic statement of the theology of the letter, seen in connection with the prescript, leaves no doubt that the connection of faith and work to which the author is admonishing his addressees has received its fundamental stimulus from Jesus and is based in the Christ event."

Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, “James in the Minds of the Recipients: A Letter from Jersusalem,” in The Catholic Epistles and Apostolic Tradition: A New Perspective on James and Jude, ed. Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr and Robert W. Wall (Waco, TX Baylor University Press, 2009), 49.

Dunn on the New Testament and a Biblical Theology of Israel

James D. G. Dunn suggests that the New Testament authors inherited four distinct elements related to a biblical theology of Israel. These elements are:

A. The election of Israel
B. Separation, zeal and blessing
C. Jewish factionalism
D. Israel's eschatological hope.

Dunn also states that the New Testament authors, influenced by the “impact” of Jesus and the Spirit, contributed the following elements to the inherited biblical theological concerning Israel.

A. The restoration of Israel
B. Jesus, Gentiles, and ‘sinners’
C. ‘Even on the Gentiles’
D. The fulfillment of Israel's mission
E. The body of Christ
F. The supersession or (re)definition of Israel?
G. One covenant or two?

James D. G. Dunn, New Testament Theology: An Introduction, Library of Biblical Theology, ed. James D. G. Dunn (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009), 98.

New Testament Theology at SBL

There was apparently an interesting panel discussion Sunday night at SBL between James Dunn, Frank Matera, D. A. Carson, and Udo Schnelle on Schnelle's just published New Testament Theology. I had wanted to attend and I purchased the volume, but my travel plans did not allow it. But here are two different blog postings on the discussion for those who were and were not able to attend here and here. Anyone record it?

Witherington on Doing New Testament Theology

"At the end of the day, it is not helpful to arrange New Testament proof texts into preexistent systematic theology categories and then construct a Testament theology or ethics or analyze New Testament theology or ethics on that basis. This puts the ‘dog’ back in dogma, and that dog won’t hunt if we are talking about being fair to the focus and thrusts of the New Testament itself, which are christocentric and christological to the core.”

Ben Witherington III, The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament, Volume One: The Individual Witnesses (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2009), 54,

Witherington on Theological Ethics in James 1

"From the very first paragraph of the letter of James it becomes apparent how very wrong it is to suggest that this homily is simply an ethical miscellany. It would be better to call it ‘theological ethics,’ as it is grounded in a certain view of God and divine activity, as the opening paragraph makes apparent. God is the one who sends wisdom, gives every good gift, including perseverance, and is the model of rectitude—not a shadow of a doubt or of any behavior that could be called questionable. It becomes clear from the outset that by and large James is serving up not commonsense wisdom but rather revelatory wisdom, wisdom that comes by revelation and presupposes a particular view of God and the divine activity that enables human beings to be their best selves."

Ben Witherington III, The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament, Volume One: The Individual Witnesses (Downers Grove, IL, 2009), 299-30.

For a review of this book see here.

Review of Ben Witherington's Indelible Image, Volume One

Thanks to Adrianna Wright at InterVarsity Press for this review copy.

Ben Witherington III, The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament, Volume One: The Individual Witnesses (Downers Grove, IL, 2009), 856 pp.

Ben Witherington III has just published the first of two volumes on New Testament theology and ethics (which he sees as inseparably intertwined). The first volume, and the volume under review here, is analysis of the individual New Testament witnesses (i.e. Jesus and the NT authors). The second volume will apparently be a synthesis or a presentation of the collective witness of the New Testament. In a very real sense both volumes are or will be a culmination of sorts of Dr. Witherington’s prodigious literary output, including published commentaries on every book of the New Testament (p. 13). Witherington argues that a new comprehensive work on New Testament theology and ethics is needed for three reasons (p. 15). (1) The relationship between theology and ethics has not often been treated adequately. (2) Some key terms in the NT are both ethical and theological (e.g., love). (3) One unfortunate side effect of the Reformation was the subordination of ethics to theology. Whether one agrees with these three reasons are not, I suspect that these volumes will provide academic food for New Testament students to sample for years to come.

In general, The Indelible Image, is what one comes to expect from a book authored by Witherington. The book is academic and yet accessible; informative and yet interesting. Matter-of-fact assertions are juxtaposed with rhetorically effective and culturally current turns of phrases. As one might expect, there are echoes of Witherington’s earlier literary work (e.g. The Christology of Jesus, Paul’s Narrative Thought World, etc.). Furthermore, as I noted in a previous post (see here) I especially appreciated the equal time given to other, less well-known, voices in the New Testament (e.g., the General Epistles). Each chapter is concluded with a helpful “Short List” bibliography for those who need/want help for further study. The subject, name, and Scripture indexes in the back of the book appear to be thorough and complete. By the way, the reader may want to begin by reading the “Rewind” section (pp. 813-18) at the end of the book. This section deftly summarizes what the author has sought to argue in the volume as a whole and may help to provide helpful orientation for the reader.

Here is the table of contents for the book:
Foreword
The Overture: The Grand story in Miniature
Prologue: Blueprints and Bylaws
1 Jesus: The Alpha and Omega of New Testament Thought
2 Paul the Paradigm Setter
3 The Kinsmen and Their Redeemer; Peter and His Principles
4 The Anonymous Famous Preacher
5 Beloved Theology and Ethics
6 One-Eyed Gospels
7 The End of All Things and the Beginning of the Canon

Dunn on Israel in the New Testament

"The fact that Israel remains a given for the NT is very striking, not least in view of the fact that by the end of the first century embryonic Christianity must already have been predominantly Gentile in composition. But fundamental it was. Jesus' message can be summed up in terms of a hope for the restoration of Israel. The first believers were all Jews, and the great majority of the NT writings were composed by Jews. The Paul of Acts sums up his mission by reference to ‘the hope of Israel’ (Acts 28:20), just as the Paul of Romans affirms the irrevocability of God’s calling of Israel and purpose for Israel (Rom 1 1:25–32). The chief term for Christian congregations, ‘church’ (ekklēsia), has been taken over from the LXX's translation of the qahal YHWH or the qahal lsrael (qahal = ‘assembly, congregation’).The assumption of the opening verses of James and 1 Peter is that the letters were addressed to (the twelve tribes[!] of) the Diaspora. And the seer of Revelation envisages salvation as embracing 144,000, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev 74–8)."

James D. G. Dunn, New Testament Theology: An Introduction, Library of Biblical Theology, ed. James D. G. Dunn (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009), 97–8.

McKnight on the New Perspective

Scot McKnight sums up the new perspective on Paul in three lines.

1. Judaism was not a works-earns-salvation religion.
2. Paul was therefore not opposing a works-earns-salvation religion.
3. Therefore, the Reformation's way of framing the entire message of the New Testament as humans seeking to earn their own redemption rests on shaky historical grounds.

Read Scot's post here.

New Testament Biblical Theology Bibliography

Rodney Decker has posted a rather extensive New Testament biblical theology bibliography You can access the pdf here.

Must Reads for a Pauline Scholar

Nijay Gupta has posted the following list of books that he considers essential reading for Pauline research and scholarship.

E. Kasemann, Perspectives on Paul (London: SCM, 1971).

Krister Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974) paperback, $12. This includes his classic essay, “Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West.”

E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977) paperback, $30. A landmark study.

Gerd Theissen, The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth, trans. John Schulz (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982).

Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983) paperback, $18. A widely-acclaimed social analysis of the early Christian movement.

J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984)

Abraham Malherbe, Paul and the Popular Philosophers (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989).

Morna Hooker. From Adam to Christ: Essays on Paul. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Jerome H. Neyrey, Paul, In Other Words: A Cultural Reading of His Letters (Louisville, KY: Westminster / John Knox, 1990) hardcover, $23.

Wright, N. T. The Climax of the Covenant : Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.

J. Louis Martyn, Theological Issues in the Letters of Paul (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997) hardcover, $40.

J.P. Sampley, ed. Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook (Continuum 2003).

J.D.G. Dunn, The New Perspective on Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007).

Horsley, Richard A., ed. Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997.

My main quibble with this list is that it basically ignores Evangelical contributions to the study of Paul. A more well-rounded list might include such works as:

Gordon D. Fee, Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007).

Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2001).

Ben Witherington III, Paul's Narrative Thought World (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994).

Themes in Acts

A few years ago I taught a course entitled "Themes from the Book of Acts." In this course I developed the following eight themes.

1. The expansion of the Church
2. The Holy Spirit
3. The spread of the inclusive gospel
4. The sovereignty of God
5. Opposition to the spread of the gospel
6. The person and work of Christ
7. Prayer
8. The ministries of Peter and Paul

As I was reading through Puskas and Crump's An Introduction to the Gospels and Acts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), I noted that they identify the following as key themes in Luke-Acts (pp. 128-52). Although I did not include Luke in my listing of themes I thought that a comparison of themes might be interesting and/or helpful. The themes they identify are:

1. Salvation to the Gentiles
2. The progression of the gospel
3. The Holy Spirit
4. Prayer
5. Wealth, poverty, and the marginalized
6. Faithful Israel
7. Roman tolerance.

It is encouraging to note that there was significant overlap between the lists. But I wonder if there might be some other major themes. Suggestions anyone?