Wright and Witherington on Acts 15 and Galatians 2

In academic circles it is common to dismiss the idea that Galatians was written before Acts 15 and that therefore, Galatians 2 and the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 refer to separate events. So, it is with a bit of delight that I see that N. T. Wright and Ben Witherington both apparently hold that Galatians was written before the Jerusalem Council. I was previously aware of Witherington's position but I was not sure about Wright's view. In any case, Witherington's review of Wright's new Galatians commentary where he discusses this issue can be read here.

Witherington, Dispensationalism, and the Rapture

The Euangelion Blog recently posted this video by noted New Testament scholar, Ben Witherington III. While the better part of wisdom might suggest ignoring the video outright, I posted the following in the comments section. 
"There are numerous problems here. Let me note a few. First, there appears to be confusion and conflation between Dispensationalism and the rapture (note the title at the top pf the video and then the title later). While Dispensationalists tend to believe in a pretrib rapture, the rapture is but a subset of the theological system. Charles Ryrie has articulated an oft-repeated and accepted list three sine qua non of Dispensationalism. They are: (1) a grammatical-historical hermeneutic (or less technically a normal reading) of Scripture, (2) a distinction between Israel and the Church, and (3) the glory of God as the main purpose or goal of God’s work in the world. Ryrie articulated this perspective in Dispensationalism Today in 1965 (nearly fifty years ago). So critics of Dispensationalism cannot claim that this is a novel or obscure development. Perhaps more importantly, note that the rapture is not listed among Ryrie’s sine qua non.

"Another problem is the assertion that a Dispensational reading of Scripture did not begin until the nineteenth century. While the articulation and formulation of the theology might have relatively modern roots, Dispensationalists would argue that their approach to the Bible was shared by the authors of Scripture and the early church. For example, the idea of a distinction between Israel and the church, Dispensationalist would argue is found in Paul (e.g., Romans 9–11). Furthermore, it is interesting is that Witherington is a Methodist, a theological tradition that is barely older than that of Dispensationalism and also to one degree or another, tied to a revivalist movement. Calvinism is not much older either. This raises a methodological question. For example, am I free to dismiss Amillennialists simply because the early church appears to have been Chiliasts?

"Witherington statements concerning the Scofield Bible are open to challenge. Witherington states that the Scofield Bible contains a heading that reads “Jesus predicts the rapture.” (Witherington does qualify his statement with “like.”) The problem is that I cannot find such a heading any such heading in Scofield. Furthermore, when I do a search for the term “rapture” in Scofield, it only yields two references, both related to Revelation 19. I might add that Witherington’s association of Matthew 24 with the rapture is simply wrong. Most pretribulationist see the bulk of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24–25 to relate to the Second Coming and not the rapture. Those that know the pretrib position know that this is an important distinction of pretrib proponents. Furthermore, the off-hand comment related to people confusing notes in a Bible with the actual text of the Bible is unpersuasive if not irrelevant. The same could be said of the notes in the Geneva Bible which predates Scofield by over 400 years. And although it is a more recent vintage, there is even a Wesley Study Bible out there. Will some people confuse the notes with text? Of course.

"Is Witherington’s statement that, “This was a theological movement not based on the study of the Greek New Testament or the Hebrew Old Testament” fair or accurate? It is interesting that Witherington does mention the founding of Dallas Theological Seminary. Here is bit from the website related to the history of DTS: 

“In 1935 the Seminary pioneered the four-year Master of Theology (ThM) degree, which is a year longer than the three-year Master of Divinity (MDiv) offered at most other seminaries. The ThM gives all the essential theological courses offered in a three-year curriculum with additional emphasis in systematic theology, Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis, Greek and New Testament exegesis, and Bible exposition.” 

"Note then from its inception, DTS has required the study of both Hebrew and Greek. Interestingly, a cursory check this morning indicates that the Dallas ThM require 5 semesters of Greek and 4 in Hebrew. Asbury, where Witherington teaches, requires its MDiv students at most 2 semesters of Greek and 2 semesters of Hebrew. Just saying.

"I could go on, but this response is already too long."

By way of conclusion let me state my sincere appreciation for Witherington's work in general. According to Zotero, I have 28 of his books in my personal library and have probably spent the equivalent of a small country's GDP to get them. But I usually consider it a small price to pay for the benefit that I receive. Witherington is no scholarly hack, and so I am especially grieved by this ("wait for it") "hatchet job." 

Free: What’s in the Word: Rethinking the Socio-Rhetorical Character of the New Testament

Logos in conjunction with Baylor University Press are offering Ben Witherington's What’s in the Word: Rethinking the Socio-Rhetorical Character of the New Testament for free.I can't speak for all of the essays in the volume but I did find the one on eidolothoton helpful. Go here to get your free book. 

Witherington on a Hypothetical Fictional Gospel

  
Ben Witherington posts a link to an interview related to what the Gospels would look like if they were fictional. Witherington's link takes you to the Christian Meets World site where there are other helpful links and a link to a podcast of the interview.
 

Witherington: A Week in the Life of Corinth

  

The nice folks at IVP Academic have sent me a copy of Ben Witherington III's latest book, A Week in the Life of Corinth. I have not read any of Witherington's fictional works, but this looks intriguing. According to the publisher, A Week in the Life of Corinth is about,"a fictitious Corinthian man named Nicanor through an eventful week of business dealings and conflict, you will encounter life at various levels of Roman society--eventually meeting Paul himself and gaining entrance into the Christian community there." The book also contains, "Numerous full-page text boxes expand on a variety of aspects of life and culture as we encounter them in the narrative."

  

Free Witherington New Testament Introduction Audio

  
I am not sure how long ago this was uploaded, but Biblicaltraining.org has posted free audio for a New Testament Introduction course taught by Ben Witherington. You can check it out here.
  

Witherington on 1 John 4

  
See Ben Witherington's post on 1 John 4, namely, his explanation of the idea that God is love.
   

Witherington's Indelible Image, Volume 2

I was so excited to receive my copy of the second volume of Ben Witherington III’s Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament: The Collective Witness. Readers might recall that I reviewed the first volume here. Here is the publisher’s description of the book and the table of contents.

All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, "behavior affects and reinforces or undoes belief." Having completed commentaries on all of the New Testament books, a remarkable feat in itself, Witherington now offers the second of a two-volume set on the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. The first volume looks at the individual witnesses, while the second examines the collective witness. The New Testament, says Ben Witherington, is "like a smallish choir. All are singing the same cantata, but each has an individual voice and is singing its own parts and notes. If we fail to pay attention to all the voices in the choir, we do not get the entire effect. . . . [If the first volume was] about closely analyzing the sheet music left to us by which each musician's part is delineated, [this second volume attempts] to re-create what it might have sounded like had they ever gotten together and performed their scores to produce a single masterful cantata." What the New Testament authors have in mind, Witherington contends, is that all believers should be conformed in thought, word and deed to the image of Jesus Christ--the indelible image.

Table of Contents:
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
REWIND: A Brief Synopsis of Volume One
PROLEGOMENA: Is New Testament Theology or Ethics Possible

1 Preliminary Considerations: From Symbolic Universe to Story to Theologizing
2 What is the Symbolic Universe of Jesus and the New Testament Writers?
3 The Narrative Thought World of Jesus and the New Testament Writers
4 New Testament Theology: A Census of the Christological Consensus
5 A Census of the Consensus: The God of the Old Testament as the Father of Jesus and his Followers
6 A Census of the Consensus: The Holy Spirit: God's Mighty Presence in Person
7 A Census of the Consensus: Salvation Now and in the End
8 A Census of the Consensus: New Testament Ethics--Preliminary Considerations
9 A Census of the Consensus: The Ethic of Jesus and its Influence on New Testament Writers
10 Ethics for Jewish Christians (Matthew, John, James, Jude, Hebrews, 1-3 John, 1 Peter, Revelation
11 Ethics for Gentile Christians (Paul's Letters)
12 Ethics for Gentile Christians (Mark, Luke, and 2 Peter)
13 The Matrix of Meaning--the Thought Worlds of the Old Testament and New Testament and the Way Forward

SUBJECT INDEX
SCRIPTURE INDEX

Thanks to Adrianna Wright and InterVarsity Press for the review copy.

Paul's Ethical Strategy

"In general, Paul's ethical strategy is to urge his audiences to (1) imitate Christ, following and fulfilling the normative pattern of Christ’s teaching and life; (2) walk in the spirit, not fulfilling the works of the flesh; (3) live as a community in unity. The Christian life, then, has theological, cognitive, experiential, and social dimensions."

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), 244.

Witherington on the Rhetorical Nature of Hebrews

You can read the text text (but not the notes) of Ben Witherington's Society of Biblical Literature paper on "The Rhetorical Nature of Hebrews" here.

Witherington on Hermeneutics

See Ben Witherington's post entitled, "Hermeneutics-What is it, and why do Bible Readers need it?" here.

Witherington on Relating the OT and NT Thought Worlds

Ben Witherington has an interesting post on relating the Old Testament and New Testament thought worlds. This post is a section from his forthcoming volume on New Testament theology. You can read it here.

Witherington on Recent Jesus Studies

Kar Yong has noted that a series of three lectures by Ben Witherington III given at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on the theme "What Have They Done with Jesus," has been posted at the Gordon-Conwell website.

Lecture 1: What Have They Done With Jesus?

Lecture 2: The Talpiot Tomb - The Family Tomb of Jesus?

Lecture 3: The Jesus History and the Pseudo-Christ of Gnosticism

Witherington: When is a Text not a Text? When is a Reader not a 'Reader'?

See this interesting excerpt from Ben Witherington's forthcoming volume in New Testament rhetoric.