Virtual Tour of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The online version of the Aramco World magazine (Jan/Feb 2009) includes a virtual tour of Al-Haram Al-Sharif (The Temple Mount). You can check it out here.

The Challenge of Applying the Book of Acts

Peter Mead has a short but helpful post on the problems of applying the Book of Acts. Although, he does not use the same terminology that I would (prescriptive vs. descriptive), he does raise and attempt to answer some important questions. Mead strikes a good balnce when he writes, "Just because some of the events may not occur again, this doesn’t mean that the text is irrelevant (think about the crucifixion of Jesus, for instance). All Scripture is useful, applicable, but the challenge is having the wisdom to discern how to apply it. We need to consider Acts in light of the clear teaching of the epistles, as well as the progress seen within the epistles (consider the different emphasis in 1Corinthians as compared to the later Pastoral Epistles – both concerned with health in the local church, but a different emphasis). Let’s be careful not to automatically use “Acts” labels for contemporary experiences that may or may not be the same thing as what occurred back then."

You can read Mead's entire post here.

Don't Be a Greek Moron

Bill Mounce has a good post about some of the dangers of trying to apply more Greek than you know. Read about it here.

Advice for Leading Change in the Church

Michael Duduit offers some helpful advice on leading change in the church. His advice is drawn from Stuart Briscoe's new memoir Flowing Streams.

• Don't be hasty in introducing change.
• Don't knock down a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.
• Do present solid biblical and commonsense reasons for change.
• Do present change as a proposal, not a fait accompli.
• Do allow time for reaction, and don't fail to listen to objections.
• Do invite suggestions, and don't hesitate to incorporate the best ones.
• Do give people a chance to take ownership of the change.
• Don't be disappointed by naysayers, and don't forget you're still their pastor.

Magness on Masada

Jodi Magness has a short but interesting post on Masada at the ASOR blog. You can access it here.

Free Greek Diagramming Software

Eric Sowell is making a Greek diagramming software called Koineworks that he produced and used to sell available now for free download. You can access the software and its accompanying diagramming guide here.

Use of the Old Testament in Revelation

Alan Bandy has a helpful post categorizing the various ways that the author of Revelation uses the Old Testament. The categories are particularly helpful given the fact that Revelation makes extensive use of Old Testament illusions. You can read the post here.

Witherington on New Testament Ethics

Ben Witherington has posted an excerpt from a forthcoming volume, a chapter entitled "A CENSUS OF THE CONSENUS: NT ETHICS—Preliminary Considerations." You can read the post here.

Cohick on Roman Citizenship

Lynn Cohick, one of the coauthors of The New Testanment in Antiquity, has a interesting post on Paul's Roman's citizenship. Cohicl argues that "it is possible that both his parents had been slaves, taken from the Jewish Homeland during one of its altercations with the Roman military machine. They were granted freedom and Roman citizenship, married, and could then bestow Roman citizenship on their son, Paul. If, however, Paul’s father was a citizen, but his mother was not, then their marriage was not licit, and Paul would have taken his mother’s status. As he was a Roman citizen, it is clear that his mother was a Roman citizen – we can only guess as to whether his father was as well."

You can read the entire post here.

Review of Biblical Literature Blog

Regular readers of this blog are awware of the fact that I often publish links to books that are reviewed in the Review of Biblical Literature. Those of you who enjoy thoser reviews might be interested to know that RBL now has its own blog which can be accessed here.

Satirical Advice for Theological Students

Ben Myers has offered some funny theological satire in his "Advice for theological students: ten steps to a brilliant career." You can read it here.

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.