Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

James W. Aageson
Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6166
Reviewed by David J. Downs

Reinhard Achenbach, Martin Arneth, and Eckart Otto
Tora in der Hebräischen Bibel: Studien zur Redaktionsgeschichte und synchronen Logik diachroner Transformationen
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6288
Reviewed by Kent Reynolds

Bruce Chilton, ed.
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6385
Reviewed by Douglas Estes

Naomi G. Cohen
Philo's Scriptures: Citations from the Prophets and Writings: Evidence for a Haftarah Cycle in Second Temple Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6391
Reviewed by Torrey Seland

James D. G. Dunn
The New Perspective on Paul
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6368
Reviewed by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd
The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6281
Reviewed by Ken Olson

Tryggve N. D. Mettinger
The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-historical Study of Genesis 2-3
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6374
Reviewed by Howard N. Wallace

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
St. Paul's Ephesus: Texts and Archaeology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6423
Reviewed by Jonathan L. Reed

Kuo-Wei Peng
Hate the Evil, Hold Fast to the Good: Structuring Romans 12.1-15.1
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6188
Reviewed by Carl N. Toney

Emerson B. Powery, Brian K. Blount, Cain Hope Felder, and Clarice J. Martin, eds.
True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6179
Reviewed by Gosnell Yorke

Ulrich Schmidt
"Nicht vergeblich empfangen"! Eine Untersuchung zum Zweiten Korintherbrief als Beitrag zur Frage nach der paulinischen Einschätzung des Handelns
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6171
Reviewed by Günter Röhser

Leonard J. Swidler
Jesus Was a Feminist: What the Gospels Reveal about His Revolutionary Perspective
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6342
Reviewed by Eve-Marie Becker
Reviewed by Kathleen E. Corley

Anthony C. Thiselton
Hermeneutics of Doctrine
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6308
Reviewed by Dirk J. Smit

D. A. Carson on Audio

There are now over four hundred audio recordings of D. A, Carson available as free downloads at the Gospel Coalition website. You can access these resources here.

What is the Word of God?

The latest edition of the Church Leaders Intelligence Report makes reference to a recent Harris poll that asked which religious texts are the "Word of God"? According to the poll, "Slender majorities of all adults believe all or most of the Old Testament (55%) and the New Testament (54%) are. Still, only 37% and 36% believe all of these texts are the Word of God. Interestingly, only 26% believe the Torah is the Word of God, even though it is the same as the first five books of the Old Testament."

Apocryphal Rope Tied to the High Priest's Ankle? Redux

I posted on the topic of the old idea that the high priest had a rope tied to his ankle before he went to minister into the temple before (you can access that post here). Although this tradition has been referenced often both in pulpit and print, it appears to be rather late and almost likely apocryphal. See Todd Bolen's good post on the matter here.

Mounce on Greek Testament Versions

Mounce discusses some of the various options available for Greek New Testaments available for purchase. You can access the post here.

Online Septuagint Interlinear

Some might be interested in this online Septuagint interlinear that you can access here. Update: This link no longer works and I have not been able to locate another LXX interlinear.

If you want to access a Greek text you can try here or here.
 

New Testament Scholarship through One Hundred Years of Harvard Theological Review

Several blogs are discussing the article written by Helmut Koester on "New Testament Scholarship through One Hundred Years of Harvard Theological Review." I have not yet had the chance to read the article. In any case, the article is available as a pdf here.

Missiology Gateway

Rob Bradshaw has announced an exciting new project, a missiology (the study of missions) gateway. This gateway will host various resources related to missiology. You can read the announcement here.

Micah 5:2-4

Claude Mariottini continues his series on preaching from the Old Testament with a post on Micah 5:2-4. You can read it here.

A Good Reminder for Bible Teachers

Peter Beck writes, "I heard it in the Army. I heard it in advertising. I heard it in seminary. That old adage just won’t go away. Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach." Go here to read why Beck rightly thinks this adage is wrong.

Getting Theologically Humiliated

C. Michael Patton has posted on getting theologically humiliated. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Read Michael's post here.

Bandy on Seven Tips for Interpreting Symbols in the Apocalypse (Revelation)

Alan Bandy has posted seven tips for interpreting symbols in the Apocalypse, i.e. the book of Revelation. His seven tips are.

1. Recognize the symbolic imagery associated with the description of people and beings, colors, numbers, institutions, places, and events.

2. Look for interpretations of those symbols within the vision.

3. Determine if the symbol stems from an allusion to the Old Testament.

4. Compare it with other apocalyptic writings to see if it is a common symbol with a relatively standard meaning.

5. Look for any possible connections between the symbol and the cultural-historical

6. Consult scholarly treatments of the symbol in commentaries and other works.

7. Remain humble in your conclusions.

For a fuller explanation see the post here.

Sources for Biblically Related Art, Pictures, Music, and Video

Mark Hoffman has a helpful listing of sources for biblically related art, pictures, music, and video. You can access the list here.

Ph.D. in Spirituality

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will become first Protestant school to offer Ph.D. in spirituality. You can read the article here.

Don Carson on Audio and Video

Mars Hill in Seattle has posted audio and video of Don Carson called "A Day with Dr. Don: It's All About Jesus." For links to the audio and video see Justin Taylor's blog here.

Baptist History and the Struggle to Find the New Testament Church

See this article by Ken Camp on Baptist History and its Struggle to find the New Testament Church.

Four Reasons to Preach Biblical Narrative

Peter Mead has posted four alliterated reasons for preaching biblical narratives:

1. Stories are plenteous

2. Stories are pervasive

3. Stories are powerful

4. Stories are preferred.

You can read the entire post here.

The Book of Revelation

The latest issue of the journal Interpretation focuses on the book of Revelation. You can access a pdf of the entire issue here.

How Often Should a Church Take the Lord’s Supper?

Jim Hamilton asks and answers the question above here. In the past I have basically agreed with the view expressed by Milliard Erickson that, "It should therefore be observed often enough to prevent long gaps between times of reflection on the truths it signifies, but not so frequently as to make it seem trivial or so commonplace that we go through the motions without really thinking about the meaning” (Christian Theology, rev. ed., p. 1134). But Jim makes a good point and I may have to rethink my position.

Jensen on the Ten Worst Habits of Preachers

Michael Jensen has posted on the "Ten Worst Habits of Preachers." According to Jenson the ten (or eleven see below) are:

1. Merely 'explaining/teaching the Bible' and not preaching the living Word of God. (I think we should ban the phrase 'we are now going to hear the Bible explained'. I don't need it explained. I need it preached.)

2. Introducing us to the text and not to the issue addressed by the text.

3. Providing overelaborate explanations of the biblical-theological background to no great end.

4. Moralising from the Old Testament.

5. Reading every OT text immediately in terms of Christology without regard to its own particular context and meaning and purpose.

6. Speaking down to the congregation; assuming we are simpletons and do not read or think for ourselves. That our questions just need better information in order to answer them.

7. Getting Penal Substitution (or whatever the hot-button issue is for your church!) from every single text.

8. Illustrations that confuse more than illuminate. That's...most of 'em.

9. Never referring to self and own Christian faith in sermon. (Of course, the opposite is worse: using the pulpit for autobiographical purposes. Yuck.)

10. Making ill-informed generalisations about culture/sociology from a knee-jerk conservative standpoint.

11. (sorry) Pop-psychologising.

You can read the entire post here.

Standing Stones

Bronwen Manning has an interesting post on standing stones (massebot). You can read it here.

Preaching the Superscriptions of the Psalms

Jim Hamilton suggests that we ought to preach the superscriptions of the Psalms as part of the text. He argues his point on primarily on text-critical grounds. In any case, Hamilton is right in that preachers/teachers/translators often pay too little attention to the superscriptions. Read the entire post here.

Mounce on 2 Timothy 3:17

Bill Mounce has a nice discussion concerning translation and gender, in particular as it relates to 2 Timothy 3:17. Read it here.

Quote of the Day

Richard Pervo, commenting on Acts 1:6-8 notes:

“In place of an answer [to the question in1:6], the apostles receive a promise that functions as the indicative and imperative. The indicative resides in the promise of power, which will enable the hearers to fulfill the implicit imperative of world mission. The ends of the earth rather than the end of the world will be the subject of the book.”

Richard I Pervo, Acts: A Commentary, Hermeneia, ed. Helmut Koester (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2009), 41.

Review of The Lord's Supper: Five Views

Michael Thompson has reviewed The Lord's Supper: Five Views, ed. by Gordon T. Smith here. Although I have not purchased or read this book, I find such works helpful. As many of my readers know, the meaning and significance of the Lord's Supper continues to be debated.