Mounce on Synonyms for "Blameless"

See this post by Bill Mounce on the topic of synonyms for blameless (e.g., Eph 1:4; 5:27; Col 1:22).

Theological Humor

Check out these two pieces of theological humor. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Bultmann reads Mother Goose

N. T. Wright Reads Humpty Dumpty

HT: Jim Hamilton

Three Approaches to Christ in the Old Testament

Glen Scrivner has posted on three approaches to Christ in the Old Testament. He suggests:

1) From the OT forwards Basically you point out where the OT reveals an Appearing LORD, the Angel of the LORD, the Commander of the LORD’s army etc. And you say ‘Look – there He is.’

2) From the NT backwards Basically you show how Jesus and the Apostles just assumed that the OT saints knew Christ.

3) Systematically Here you point out how Christ is the Image, Word, Way, Truth and Life of God – and always has been.

Read Glen's entire post here.

Mariottini on King Lemuel

Claude Mariottini has a nice post on the identity of King Lemuel in Proverbs 31:1, 4.

Ten Questions for Pastor's Wives

See Catriona Anderson's interesting post/interview entitled"10 Questions for Pastor's Wives."

HT: Colin Adams

1 Corinthians in a Sentence

Matthew Malcolm has suggested the following as 1 Corinthians in a sentence.

Those in Corinth who consider the foolish (4:10), the defrauded (6:7-8), the obligated (7:5), the weak (8:7), the enslaved (9:19), the restricted (10:23), the subject (11:3), the unimpressive (12:15), the restrained (14:28), and the dead (15:12) – that is, the cruciform – to have no portion with God have fundamentally misunderstood the God who raises the dead.

I am not sure I see the book this way, but I appreciate Matthew's attempt to capture the book in a single sentence.

MacDonald on Discerning God's Will

The March 17 entry in William McDonald's daily devotional One Day at a Time contains the following.

"Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule." (Psa. 32:9)

It seems to me that the horse and the mule picture two wrong attitudes we might have when we are seeking the Lord's guidance. The horse wants to charge ahead; the mule wants to lag behind. The horse tends to be impatient, high-spirited and impetuous. The mule on the other hand is stubborn, intractable and lazy. The psalmist says that neither animal has understanding. Both have to be controlled by bit and bridle, otherwise they will not come near to their master.

God's desire is that we be sensitive to His leading, not plunging ahead in our own wisdom and not holding back when He has shown his will.

Here are a few rules-of-thumb that might be helpful in this regard.

Ask God to confirm His guidance in the mouths of two or three witnesses. He has said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Mt. 18:16b). These witnesses may include a verse of scripture, the counsel of other Christians and the marvelous converging of circumstances. If you get two or three distinct indications of His will, you will not have any doubts or misgivings.

If you are seeking God's guidance and no guidance comes, then God's guidance is for you to stay where you are. It is still true that "darkness about going is light about staying."
Wait until the guidance is so clear that to refuse would be positive disobedience. The children of Israel were forbidden to move until the pillar of cloud and fire moved. No rationalizations on their part could excuse independent action. Their responsibility was to move when the cloud moved - not sooner and not later.

Finally, let the peace of Christ umpire in your heart. That is a free translation of Colossians 3:15. It means that when God is really guiding, He so influences our intellects and emotions that we have peace about the right way and no peace about any other way.

If we are anxious to know the divine will and quick to obey it, we will not need the bit and bridle of God's discipline.

Hess on the Altar at Mt. Ebal

See this a post referring to Richard Hess' article in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

Here is something that I wrote on the issue a few years ago:

Adam Zertal has suggested that an early Iron Age installation located on Mount Ebal is actually an altar.[1] The main structure is approximately nine by seven meters and preserved to a height of 3.27 meters. The structure was filled with a stratum of fieldstones, earth, ashes, pottery, and animal bones. Zertal finds support for his identification in the Mishnah’s description of the second temple altar. Furthermore, Zertal suggests that this installation is the altar described in Joshua 8:30-35. But some have not been persuaded by Zertal’s identification and suggest that the structure is not an altar but a watchtower.[2]

[1] Adam Zertal, “Has Joshua's Altar Been Found on Mt. Ebal?,” Biblical Archaeology Review 11, no. 1 (1985): 26–43.
[2] Aharon Kempinski, “Joshua’s Altar-An Iron Age I Watchtower,” Biblical Archaeology Review 12, no. 1 (1986): 42, 44–49. For Zertal’s response see Adam Zertal, “How Can Kempinski Be So Wrong,” Biblical Archaeology Review 12, no. 1 (1986): 43–53.

Eta Linnemann

It is being reported that Eta Linnemann has died at the age of eighty-two. Here is an obituary for those that can read German. Linnemann was perhaps best known for her repudiation of her earlier career as a critical scholar. You can read her testimony here. I remember meeting Linnemann at a conference in 2001 and her willingness to take the time to talk with me (a master's student) about why she believed that Paul wrote Hebrews.

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:

Noam Adler
A Comprehensive Collection of Oil Lamps of the Holy Land from the Adler Collection
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6855
Reviewed by Jodi Magness

Janice Capel Anderson and Stephen D. Moore, eds.
Mark and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6595
Reviewed by Renate Viveen Hood

David B. Burrell
Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6769
Reviewed by F. Rachel Magdalene

Warren Carter
John and Empire: Initial Explorations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6604
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Raymond F. Collins
The Power of Images in Paul
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6723
Reviewed by Nils Neumann

Craig A. Evans, ed.
Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7022
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Susan Haber; edited by Adele Reinhartz
"They Shall Purify Themselves": Essays on Purity in Early Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6736
Reviewed by Jonathan D. Lawrence

Mika Hietanen
Paul's Argumentation in Galatians: A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6562
Reviewed by Johan S. Vos

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

Marvin Sweeney
Reading the Hebrew Bible after the Shoah: Engaging Holocaust Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6700
Reviewed by Jon D. Levenson

Benedict T. Viviano
Matthew and His World: The Gospel of the Open Jewish Christians Studies in Biblical Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6761
Reviewed by Boris Repschinski

McKnight and Commentaries on 1 Corinthians

See this post for Scot McKnight's recommendations concerning commentaries on 1 Corinthians. There are some notable ommissions here including works by Garland, Hays, Thiselton. In any case, McKnight lists:

Gordon Fee: The First Epistle to the Corinthians.

C. K. Barrett: The First Epistle to Corinthians.

Ben Witheringon: Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians.

Judith Kovac: 1 Corinthians (The Church's Bible).

Audio for the Duke Conference on Archaeology, Politics, and the Media

Audio for the Duke Conference on Archaeology, Politics, and the Media held on April 23-24, 2009 is available on the ASOR blog here.

John Piper on Preaching

In this post, John Piper clearly articulates what he means by preaching. Watch the video and read the post.

Proof-Texting

I found this post helpful on the problems and benefits of proof-texting.

Notes on 2 Timothy

Rick Brannan has made his notes on 2 Timothy, a phrasal interlinear with syntactical notes, available as a single forty-three page pdf 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:

John Ashton
Understanding the Fourth Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6733
Reviewed by Craig R. Koester

Yitzhak Berger
The Commentary of Rabbi David Kimhi to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6210
Reviewed by Amos Frisch

Reimund Bieringer, Emmanuel Nathan, and Dominika Kurek-Chomycz
2 Corinthians: A Bibliography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6708
Reviewed by Victor Paul Furnish

Michael F. Bird
Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6559
Reviewed by Andreas J. Kostenberger

James K. Bruckner
Exodus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6555
Reviewed by Brian D. Russell

Billie Jean Collins
The Hittites and Their World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6174
Reviewed by Willemijn Waal

Cornelia B. Horn and Robert R. Phenix Jr., eds. and trans.
John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6705
Reviewed by Ilaria L. E. Ramelli

Dirk J. Human, ed.
Psalms and Mythology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6461
Reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard

Patricia A. Kirkpatrick and Timothy Goltz, eds.
The Function of Ancient Historiography in Biblical and Cognate Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6671
Reviewed by Ernst Axel Knauf

Stanley E. Porter, ed.
Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6100
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Blazej Strba
Take Off Your Sandals from Your Feet! An Exegetical Study of Josh 5, 13-15
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7043
Reviewed by Ovidiu Creangă

Daniel J. Treier
Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Recovering a Christian Practice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6649
Reviewed by Edward W. Klink III

Robert L. Webb and Betsy Bauman-Martin, eds.
Reading First Peter with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of First Peter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6447
Reviewed by Bonnie Howe

The Armor of God

Mart De Haan has a nice post on the armor of God (Eph 6) here.

Craig Keener on the Bible

The Koinonia blog has posted a brief interview with Craig Keener on his literary influences, first and foremost of which is the Bible. Keener is best known for his exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting, work with background material (see his commentary on John). Yet, in the interview he notes that at times he has read as much as forty chapters a day out the New Testament!

Preaching Versus Lecturing: A False Dichotomy?

There has been a recent discussion in the blogging world about the difference between lecturing and preaching (see here). My problem with the discussion is that this perceived dichotomy assumes too much and draws lines where I am not sure they ought to be. Preaching is presented as being driven by conviction and passionate in delivery. On the other hand, lecturing is presented as being driven by formality and lifeless in delivery. While such distinctions can sometime be true, these distinctions are not necessarily true. Both preaching and lecturing are acts of communication and both can by heartfelt and life-changing. Rather than drawing distinctions, maybe we ought to embrace the differences and the fact that preachers and preaching styles are varied. People tend to prefer some preachers and preaching styles and I think that is okay. I suspect that is why God calls and uses all kinds. I also have my preferences, but I am learning to realize that God has called only one Chuck Swindoll, Mark Dever, or John MacArthur, and I am not any of these men and neither are you. Be who you are and preach the Word!

How to Read Theology Books

Michael Jensen has som helpful advice on how to read theology books here.

How to Choose a Sermon Series

Colin Adams has posted some helpful advice on how to choose a sermon series. He lists the following four major factors involved in the decision.

1. The profile of a particular church (know your church)
2. The challenges/message to THE Church (which can/should be preached in every church)
3. The diet for a congregation
4. Who is involved in the decision about what to preach on?

For further explanation read the entire post here.

McKnight and Commentaries on Romans

See this post for Scot Mcknight's recommendations concerning commentaries on Romans. He lists:

James D. G. Dunn:Romans (WBC).
Douglas Moo: The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT).
Robert Jewett: Romans (Hermenia) .
J. A. Fitzmyer: Romans (Anchor).
N. T. Wright: The New Interpreter's Bible: Romans.

Biblical Genealogies: Genealogies in the Ancient Near East

This post concludes a series on biblical genealogies (see here, here, here, here). Today, I will discuss the genealogies in the ancient Near East.

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Much work has been done in attempting to correlate genealogical records from the ancient Near East with biblical genealogies.[1] Formal comparisons have included Sumerian and Akkadian king lists, genealogies in Mesopotamian royal inscriptions, the genealogy of Hammurapi,[2] and others.[3] Malamat’s seminal article has motivated a number of scholars to pursue the parallels of scriptural genealogies with ancient Near Eastern texts.[4] However, other scholars such as Hartman, Hasel and Hess, have been quick to point to dissimilarities between ancient Near Eastern texts and Scriptural genealogies.[5] The situation is further complicated by the fact that biblical genealogies, especially in the Pentateuch are rather unique.[6] As Wright notes, “Extensive genealogies were not a prominent feature of the ancient Near Eastern literary culture . . . Unlike the Pentateuch, ancient Near Eastern genealogies generally appear within broader literary contexts as brief insertions rather than as an integral part of a larger narrative.”[7] That being said, the study of ancient Near Eastern evidence is helpful but perhaps not determinative in interpretive issues. At the very least the existence of extra-biblical genealogies (some very early) indicate that biblical genealogies need not be considered a late phenomena.

[1] For a survey (albeit somewhat dated) of what has been done see Robert R. Wilson, “The Old Testament Genealogies in Recent Research,” Journal of Biblical Literature 94 (1975): 169–89.

[2] See especially J. J. Finkelstein, “The Genealogy of the Hammurapi Dynasty,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 20 (1966): 95–118.

[3] For a more comprehensive list and discussion see Johnson, The Purpose of Biblical Genealogies, 57-72, 114-32.

[4] Abraham Malamat, “King Lists of the Old Babylonian period and Biblical Genealogies,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 88 (1968): 163-73. For an even more comprehensive treatment see Wilson, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World, 56-136.

[5] See Thomas C. Hartman, “Some Thoughts on the Sumerian King List and Genesis 5 and 11B,” Journal of Biblical Literature 91 (1972): 25–32, Gerhard F. Hasel, “The Genealogies of Gen 5 and 11 and Their Alleged Babylonian Background,” Andrews University Seminary Studies 16 (1978): 361–74, and Richard S. Hess, “The Genealogies of Genesis 1–11 and Comparative Literature,” Biblica 70 (1989): 241–54.

[6] For example, ancient Near Eastern literature contains very few segmented genealogies. Wilson, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World, 134.

[7] Wright, “Genealogies,” 346–47.

The Emerging Church is Dead?

Michael Patton has written an interesting post suggesting that the emerging church movement is dead. Might be a bit premature but check it out here. Read through the comment thread as well.

Bible Exposition Workshop on Zechariah

Colin Adams has posted links to a Bible Exposition workshop which focused on the book of Zechariah. To access the messages go here.