Riding a Dead Horse

I love this bit from Preaching Now:

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in contemporary organizations other strategies have often been tried with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Threatening the horse with termination.

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

7. Appointing an intervention team to reanimate the dead horse.

8. Creating a training session to increase the riders load share.

9. Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.

10. Change the form so that it reads: "This horse is not dead."

11. Hire outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

12. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed.

13. Donate the dead horse to a recognized charity, thereby deducting its full original cost.

14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.

15. Do a time management study to see if the lighter riders would improve productivity.

16. Purchase an after-market product to make dead horses run faster.

17. Declare that a dead horse has lower overhead and therefore performs better.

18. Form a quality focus group to find profitable uses for dead horses.

19. Rewrite the expected performance requirements for horses.

20. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position. (Mikey’s Funnies)

Review of “True for You but Not for Me” Overcoming Objections to the Christian Faith

Paul Copan, “True for You but Not for Me” Overcoming Objections to the Christian Faith, rev. ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2009).

Relativism and pluralism are two major philosophical challenges faced by Christians today. Furthermore, the concept of religious pluralism is a direct challenge to orthodox Christianity’s exclusivist claims. To this end, Paul Copan has done a great service for the church by addressing these challenges head on logically. philosophically, and biblically.

The book consists of a preface and introduction, five major sections containing thirty-three chapters, and endnotes (see the table of contents below). All the chapters are titled after common statements and questions (e.g., “That’s Just Your Opinion”). The chapters contain a brief discussion of the issue expressed by the statement or question, a bulleted summary, and a further reading list. Both the discussion and format are helpful. One minor criticism though, is that some of the discussion gets a bit redundant. It might have been better to have grouped similar statements/questions together for one discussion.

This book would be useful for Christians who have honest questions about their faith and Christians who are involved in evangelism and might need a bit of help in answering common questions. A free PDF study guide tied to the book is available at the author’s website: www.paulcopan.com.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

PART I: Absolutely Relative
1. “That’s True for You, But Not for Me.”
2. “So Many People Disagree—Relativism Must Be True.”
3. “You’re Just Using Western Logic.”
4. “Who Are You to Judge Others?”
5. “Christians Are Intolerant of Other Viewpoints!”
6. “What Right Do You Have to Convert Others to Your Views?”
7. “It’s All Just a Matter of Perspective.”
8. “Perception Is Reality.”
9. “That’s Just Your Opinion!”
10. “You Can Choose Whichever Religion You Want.”

PART II: The Absolutism of Moral Relativism
11. “Why Believe in Any Moral Values When They’re So Wildly Different?
12. “Your Values Are Right for You, But Not for Me.”
13. “Who Are You To Impose Your Morality on Others?”
14. “You Can’t Legislate Morality.”
15. “It’s Arrogant To Say Your Values Are Better than Others’.”
16. “Biological Evolution Explains Morality.”
17. “We Can Be Good Without God”: Part I
18. “We Can Be Good Without God”: Part II

Part III: The Exclusivism of Religious Pluralism
19. “All Religions Are Basically the Same.”
20. “All Roads Lead to the Top of the Mountain.”
21. “Christianity Is Arrogant and Imperialistic.”
22. “If You Grew Up in Thailand, You’d Be a Buddhist.”
23. “Mahatma Gandhi Was a Saint If Ever There Was One.”

PART IV: The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ: Myth or Reality?
24. “You Can’t Trust the Gospels. They’re Unreliable.”
25. “Jesus’ Followers Fabricated the Stories and Sayings of Jesus.”
26. “Jesus Is Just Like Any Other Great Religious Leader.”
27. “But Jesus Never Said, ‘I Am God.’”
28. “People Claim JFK and Elvis Are Alive, Too!”

PART V: “No Other Name”: The Question of the Unevangelized
29. “It Doesn’t Matter What You Believe—as Long as You’re Sincere.”
30. “If Jesus Is the Only Way to God, What About Those Who Have Never Heard of Him?” Response #1: The Agnostic View
31. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …” Response #2: The Inclusivist or Wider-Hope View
32. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …” A Response to the Inclusivist/Wider-Hope View
33. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …“ Response #3: The Accessibilist or Middle-Knowledge Perspective

The Holy Spirit’s Role in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15

“Altogether, the outcome of this most important conference is one of the happiest proofs of the guidance and control of the earliest church leaders by the Holy Spirit the book affords. The unanimity with which the plan proposed by James, which was in no sense coercive is freely adopted by ‘the whole church’ and their acceptance as well of his formulation of it, which is repeated in the official minutes as quoted by Luke, shows that the Lord’s brother rightly read the mind of the Spirit as moving upon that first Ecumenical Council.”

Charles Fremont Sitterley, Jerusalem to Rome: The Acts of the Apostles (New York: Abingdon, 1915), 174.

Preaching as a Theological Task

“Preaching is a theological task. The preacher has the responsibility of taking God's truth and proclaiming that truth to the world. Preachers are schooled in theology and biblical studies. And the best preachers take pride in the time they invest in Bible study and theological thought. They pay attention to the theological nature of the homiletic mandate.”

Dennis M. Cahill, The Shape of Preaching: Theory and Practice in Sermon Design (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 48.

Review of Richard Pervo's Acts Commentary

Richard I Pervo, Acts: A Commentary, Hermeneia, ed. Harold W. Attridge (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2009). The author is well-known for his work in Acts, having written a number of books and articles on Acts, including Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles (1987), Luke’s Story of Paul (1990), Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts (with Mikeal A. Parsons, 1993), and Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists (2006).

Pervo’s commentary on Acts is part of the Hermeneia series published by Fortress Press. This series is known for its comprehensive exegetical examination of the text and an emphasis of historical-critical concerns. In this regard, this volume on Acts is a worthy representative of the Hermeneia series. The comments are often exegetically insightful and occasionally pastorally helpful. There are copious footnotes, extensive bibliography, and four indexes (Scripture and ancient literature, Greek words, subjects, and modern authors). The juxtaposition of translations of the conventional text as represented by NA27 and UBS4 with the so called Western or D-Text at certain points is also a helpful feature.

Many interpreters in general, and theologically conservative interpreters in particular will question Pervo’s conclusions on the dating of Acts to the second century (pp. 5–7), the genre of Acts as a form of popular historical novel or popular apologetic history (pp. 14–16), and the rejection of the traditional affirmation of the unity of Luke-Acts (pp. 18–19). A bigger problem in my view is the author’s ambivalence, skepticism, and at times downright rejection of the historical veracity of Acts (e.g., pp. 58, 60, 76, 115, 151, 239, 302, 331, 334, 519, 538, 684, 688). As Pervo states, “Luke’s achievement as a historian lies more in his success at creating history than in recording it” (p. 18). That being said, Pervo’s idiosyncrasies do not prevent the observant reader from gleaning helpful exegetical insights from the comments in general. His handling of syntax and text-critical issues are often quite insightful.

But, the Hermeneia series in general, and this commentary in particular is probably not the best resource for your average pastor or Sunday school teacher. Critical commentaries such as this one usually provide little to no help in communicating, applying, or illustrating the text. Therefore, Pervo’s commentary is best suited for an academic setting. In this context, one suspects that there will be more appreciation for the novel contributions propagated in this volume.

Free Audio Download of Dante's Divine Comedy

Christianaudio.com is offering a free audio download of Dante's Divine Comedy. Go here and use the coupon code AUG2009.

Total Depravity

Travis Carden has categorized and compiled a list of verses on total depravity. You can access the list 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:

Keith Bodner
1 Samuel: A Narrative Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6924
Reviewed by Tim Bulkeley

J. Bretschneider, J. Driessen, and K. van Lerberghe, eds.
Power and Architecture: Monumental Public Architecture in the Bronze Age Near East and Aegean
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6793
Reviewed by Aren Maeir

Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins
King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, Human, and Angelic Messianic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7034
Reviewed by Stephen Reed

Stacy Davis
This Strange Story: Jewish and Christian Interpretation of the Curse of Canaan from Antiquity to 1865
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6532
Reviewed by David M. Whitford

Michael B. Dick
Reading the Old Testament: An Inductive Introduction
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6512
Reviewed by George C. Heider

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss, eds.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6637
Reviewed by Yael Shemesh

Friedhelm Hartenstein
Das Angesicht JHWHs: Studien zu seinem höfischen und kultischen Bedeutungshintergrund in den Psalmen und in Exodus 32-34
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6916
Reviewed by Mark W. Hamilton

Brad E. Kelle and Frank Ritchel Ames, eds.
Writing and Reading War: Rhetoric, Gender, and Ethics in Biblical and Modern Contexts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6887
Reviewed by Pierre Johan Jordaan

Seyoon Kim
Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6957
Reviewed by Warren Carter

Tat-siong Benny Liew
What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics? Reading the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6869
Reviewed by Jae Won Lee

Evan Powell
The Myth of the Lost Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5230
Reviewed by Sarah E. Rollens

Moses Taiwo
Paul's Rhetoric in 1 Corinthians 10:29b-30
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6983
Reviewed by Mark A. Jennings

James W. Thompson
Hebrews
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6966
Reviewed by Alan C. Mitchell

Jason A. Whitlark
Enabling Fidelity to God: Perseverance in Hebrews in Light of Reciprocity Systems in the Ancient Mediterranean World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7027
Reviewed by Ryan D. Chivington

Archaeology and the Bible

See this helpful post on four approaches to archaeology and the Bible.

The Implications of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15

Here is a nice quote from David Peterson’s just released commentary on Acts:

“However, Acts 15 is to imply commending a particular process of decision-making and the ideal of a community united in discovering and applying the will of God. Subtly and surely, Luke uses the apostles’ statements to shape a new definition of ‘the people of God’ as one based on messianic faith rather than on ethnic origin or ritual observance. Here we find an important manifestation of the church as entity involving local congregations in partnership, working together to maintain the truth of God’s word and promote the work of the gospel. The Jerusalem Council makes the gospel of salvation by faith alone the key to defining the true nature of this church, which involves Jewish and Gentile believers together. At the same time, there is further reflection on the role of the law in the new community created through faith in Christ.”

David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2009), pp. 442–3.

H. A. Ironside the Preacher

Peter Mead has posted a great quote from Warren Wiersbe concerning H. A. Ironside.

Ironside was not a dazzling preacher; he did not aim to be sensational. He stepped into the pulpit with exclamation points, not question marks. A generation of preachers that has tried every gimmick available to get people’s attention would do well to become acquainted with Harry Ironside and to learn afresh the meaning of living by faith and preaching the Word of God in simplicity and love.

Spousal Mistreatment in the Roman World and 1 Peter 3

Josh Mann has a nice post on 1 Peter 3 and spousal mistreatment in the Roman world. You can read it here.

The Scope of the Jerusalem Council Decision

Here is a quote from an older work as part of my ongoing study in Acts in general and the Jerusalem Council in particular.

“The Fact the decree is addressed to the Churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia by name, seems to show that it was drawn up to meet a special difficulty affecting special Churches, and was not meant to be of universal obligation. With this agrees the fact that St. Paul in writing to other Churches never alludes to it ; and further, in his letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. X.27) and in that to the Romans xiv. 2), he speaks of one of its rules (about eating things offered to idols) as an open question, to be answered by each man’s conscience on principles of evangelical expediency.”

John Pilkington Norris, A Key to the Narrative of the Acts of the Apostles (London: Rivingtons, 1871), 74.

I am not sure that Norris is right given Acts 21:25, but the issue of 1 Corinthians is problematic. See this earlier post.

The Latest Issue of Themelios is Out

The Latest Issue of Themelios a international journal for students of theological and religious studies is out as a free pdf download here.

HT: Andy Naselli

Creating a Torah Scroll

Some readers might find this website created to track the progress of a creation of a Torah scroll, a project expected to take eighteen months, by Rabbi Avraham Bloomenstiel. The website contains several short videos explaining some of the intricacies of creating the Hebrew letters.

Applying the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

Timothy Wiarda identifies three models for those “who share a belief that the Jerusalem Council offers a paradigm that may be followed today by those who develop theology to guide the church.”

1. The council as a model of contextualization.
2. The Council as a model for Spirit-led community interpretation of Scripture.
3. The Council as a pattern for a bimodal authority structure (Scripture and Tradition).
4. The Council as an example of canonical conversations (intramural discussions related to theological diversity).
5. The Council as a precedent for theological decision-making based on a concept of progressive revelation.

Timothy Wiarda, The Jerusalem Council and the Theological Task, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46 (2003): 233–43.

Syntactical Diagram of 1 Peter 2 and 3:13-22 and 4:1-19

For those who have facility with Greek, Daniel Doleys has posted his syntactical diagram of 1 Peter 4 (he also has posted chapters 1-3) here.

Polygamy in the Old Testament

See here for V. Philips Long's thoughts on polygamy in the Old Testament.

Hamilton on the Canon of Scripture

Jim Hamilton has an article entitled Scripture: The Evangelical View, or, The Sixty Six Books of the Protestant Canon Are Inspired by the Holy Spirit and Therefore Inerrant." I have not read the article, but I have found that Jim Hamilton is usually worth reading. You can access the article here.

HT: Justin Taylor

Sermon Conclusions

Cal Habig has two nice posts on sermon conclusions. He starts off with a recent personal experience that many preachers can say, been there; done that, followed by some helpful words of advice. Read Cal's posts here and here.

Blomberg on Why He is a Calminian

Craig Blomberg discusses why he is neither a Calvinist or Arminian but a Calminian. You can read it here.

Animated Dead Sea Map

A. D. Riddle and David Parker have produced a nifty animated map of the Dead Sea in Israel. Check it out here.

HT: Mark Hoffman

Four Reasons Not to Give a Altar Call

Larry Moyer has written a thought-provoking piece on altar calls, whether one believes in using them or not. Check it out here.

Preaching the Macro Frame

See Peter Mead's helpful reminder here to note and preach the macro frames of Bible books.Bible exposition properly done should present both the forest and the trees.

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:

Peter Bouteneff
Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6766
Reviewed by Korinna Zamfir

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss, eds.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6637
Reviewed by Amelia Devin Freedman

Frank Holzbrecher
Paulus und der historische Jesus: Darstellung und Analyse der bisherigen Forschungsgeschichte
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6618
Reviewed by Edwin Broadhead

H. A. G. Houghton
Augustine's Text of John: Patristic Citations and Latin Gospel Manuscripts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6861
Reviewed by Craig R. Koester

Patrick Hunt
Poetry in the Song of Songs: A Literary Analysis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6840
Reviewed by Stefan Fischer

Mark J. Keown
Congregational Evangelism in Philippians: The Centrality of an Appeal for Gospel Proclamation to the Fabric of Philippians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7028
Reviewed by James Miller

John S. Kloppenborg
Q, the Earliest Gospel: An Introduction to the Original Stories and Sayings of Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6803
Reviewed by Christopher Tuckett

Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch
Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6608
Reviewed by Kenneth D. Litwak

Vanessa R. Sasson
The Birth of Moses and the Buddha: A Paradigm for the Comparative Study of Religions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6777
Reviewed by Marco Frenschkowski

James T. Sparks
The Chronicler's Genealogies: Towards an Understanding of 1 Chronicles 1-9
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6682
Reviewed by Gershon Galil

Oda Wischmeyer and Stefan Scholz, eds.
Die Bibel als Text: Beiträge zu einer textbezogenen Bibel-Hermeneutik
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6975
Reviewed by Mark W. Elliott