Biblical Training Apps

Bill Mounce has just announced that BiblicalTraining now has iOS and Android apps that will allow you to access and listen to their lectures wherever you are. Go here to find out more.

Blessed Christmas Everyone!

Why Jesus Came

Peter Cockrell has a nice ten-point reminder explaining why Jesus came. Read it here.

Bible Land Blogs

Ferrell Jenkins has a nice annotated list of blogs devoted to the Bible lands here. By the way, if you are not reading Ferrell's blog you should be.

Productivity Principles from Proverbs

Eric McKiddie has a nice post here on "22 Productivity Principles from the Book of Proverbs."

Online Tools for Creating Infographics

See this post for five online tools for creating infographics.

Counting the Ten Commandments

Jason DeRouchie has posted a link to a PDF of his contribution to the recent festschrift to Dan Block entitled "Counting the Ten: An Investigation into the Numbering of the Decalogue."

Questions to Ask Before Preaching Your Christmas Sermon

This post identifies twenty questions to ask before preaching your Christmas sermon. In reality, these many of these questions ought to be asked before preaching any sermon.

Hurtado on Early High Christology

Larry Hurtado has a helpful post clarifying the ongoing discussion related to early high Christology here.

Defining Apocalypse or Apocalyptic

Mark Goodacre pokes a bit of fun at a oft-used definition of apocalypse here. Although the point Goodacre makes is interesting, I think that there are more serious methodological challenges based on how the definition was developed (descriptively) and how it is often used (prescriptively). That is, the definition appears to be developed from certain literature that one already determined was apocalyptic and then taking that very same definition and saying see these books are apocalyptic or that apocalyptic literature has to be characterized in this particular way.  

2014 Expository Preaching Conference

Those already starting to make plans for next year might be interested in the 2014 Expository Preaching Workshop to be held at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on March 3-4, 2014. The workshop will run from 4:00-9:00 pm on Monday and 8:00 am-4:00 pm on Tuesday. The cost is $25 for students and $50 for non-students. The focus of this year's conference will be on 1 John. You can access more information here.

The Story of the Holy Land

The kind folks at Kregel recently sent me a copy of The Story of the Holy Land: A Visual History by Peter Walker. This is an attractive book. The selection of pictures and printing are outstanding. As a visual history, this work is divided into seven chapters.


1. Canaanites and Israelites (1950–1050 BC)

2. Tribes and Kings (1050–587 BC)

3. Refugees and Greeks (587–40 BC)

4. The Crucial Century (40 BC–AD 70)

5. Romans and Byzantines (AD 70–630)

6. Muslims and Crusaders (AD 630–1291)

7. Ottomans and Westerners (AD 1291–1948)

Not everyone will agree with some of the dates presented in the book (e.g., the late date of the Exodus) but this nice resource. 

You can access an excerpt here.

Bethlehemian Rhapsody and Passover Rhapsody Videos

Bethlemian Rhapsody
I have used this one before.




Passover Rhapsody
This was new to me.



HT: Ben Blackwell for the Passover rhapsody

Andreas Köstenberger's Best Books of 2013 List

Andreas Köstenberger has posted a best books of 2013 list here. I have summarized his list below but you really should read his full discussion.

1. William Baird, History of New Testament Research, vol. 3

2. Joel B. Green, gen. ed., Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 2nd edition

3. N. T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God and Pauline Perspectives: Essays on Paul, 1978–2013

4. Thomas Schreiner, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments

5. Michael Bird, Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction

6. James Hoffmeier and Dennis Magary, eds., Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?

7. Steven Cowan and Terry Wilder, eds., In Defense of the Bible

8. Jason DeRouchie, ed., What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About

9. Stanley Porter and Gregory Fewster, Paul and Pseudepigraphy 

10. David Trobisch, A User’s Guide to the Nestle-Aland 28 Greek New Testament 

I am happy to say that I have seven out of the eleven books listed (N. T. has two volumes under #3).

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Ancient Israel

Haaretz has an interesting article entitled "Lifestyles of the rich and famous in ancient Israel" here. You will have to register to read the full article.

Self-Editing for Better Writing

I found this piece on the value of self-editing as a means to better writing to be helpful. 

Poetry Infographic

The following infographic is interesting even if it totally ignores biblical poetry.

A Hardcover Edition of the Satellite Bible Atlas

If you are in the market for a good Bible atlas, I would encourage you to take a look at the new hardcover edition of the Satellite Bible Atlas. This is a nice resource. BiblePlaces now has the hardcover edition for $28. You can also buy a 55" x 20" wall/door map for $7. (Do note that the map is folded not rolled.) You can combine the atlas and the map for $32 (a savings of $3).  You can order the atlas and/or map here.

Themelios 38.3

The latest edition of Themelios is out and available here. The main articles include:

1. D. A. Carson | EDITORIAL: The Hole in the Gospel
2. Michael J. Ovey | OFF THE RECORD: Liberty, What Crimes Are Committed in Thy Name?
3. Keith Ferdinando | Jesus, the Theological Educator
4. Gavin Ortlund | "The Voice of His Blood": Christ's Intercession in the Thought of Stephen Charnock
5. Robert Caldwell | The Ministerial Ideal in the Ordination Sermons of Jonathan Edwards: Four Theological Portraits
6. Melvin Tinker | Secularisation: Myth or Menace? An Assessment of Modern 'Worldliness'
7. Andrew David Naselli | PASTORAL PENSÉES: 12 Reasons You Should Pray Scripture

The Unique One: 18 Distinctives of Jesus Christ

My friend Cecil Price has just published The Unique One: 18 Distinctives of Jesus Christ. "In The Unique One, you will discover how:

• the Bible compares to other ancient documents
• Jesus Christ differs from the founders of other major religions
• both Old and New Testaments harmonize the identity of the Messiah
• major teachings of the Christian faith compare to other religions the words and works of Jesus can improve your life."

 You can get the book using this Amazon link.

Review of Preaching? Simple Teaching on Simply Preaching

Motyer, Alec. Preaching? Simple Teaching on Simply Preaching. Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2013.

While this book is a about preaching, it is a bit different in its approach from other how-to volumes. It is mixture of preaching methodology and biblical exposition. In fact, expositions form a significant portion of the content. Also, unlike most texts on preaching, this one is more conversational in tone. It is like listening to an experienced preacher sharing his insights and advice. There is a logical progression in the order of the topics presented but I get a sense of disconnectedness and I am not sure what the appendices really do for this book (and these appendices are about 20% of the book). I am also a bit puzzled by the question mark in the title. What does it signify?

That being said, the patient reader will find plenty of sound advice about preaching and solid demonstrations of exposition. There is not much new here (as the author admits p. 8) but getting better at preaching often involves being reminded of the fundamentals. This is something that Motyer does well. The book is easy to read and the conversational tone makes one feel that author is talking with you and not merely at you. It is obvious that he cares deeply about preaching, preachers, and the Word of God. This fact alone should encourage one to give this volume a look.

Dr. Alec Motyer is a well-known Bible expositor and former principal of Trinity College, Bristol.

Thanks to Christian Focus Publications for providing the copy used in this unbiased review.

The State of Academic Publishing

Some readers might be interested in this in this article in Publishers Weekly about academic publishing and the recent AAR/SBL meeting. I guess I did my part in helping academic publishing to thrive, although I bought considerably less this year than in recent years.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 36:2

The latest issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament is out. Here is a list of the articles and links to abstracts.

‘The Rock Was Christ’: The Fluidity of Christ’s Body in 1 Corinthians 10.4
Matthew Thiessen
pp. 103-126
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/103

(Why) Was Jesus the Galilean Crucified Alone? Solving a False Conundrum
Fernando Bermejo-Rubio
pp. 127-154
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/127

Apocalyptic and Covenant: Perspectives on Paul or Antinomies at War?
David A. Shaw
pp. 155-171
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/155

Taking the Jews out of the Equation: Galatians 6.12-17 as a Summons to Cease Evading Persecution
Alexander V. Prokhorov
pp. 172-188
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/172

Romans 4: A Critique of N.T. Wright
Jan Lambrecht
pp. 189-194
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/189

Two Possible Book Deals

Barnes & Nobel is offering a 30% off coupon through Sunday, December 1. This can turn out to be a good deal. Here are two examples to demonstrate what you might be able to do. 

N. T. Wright - Paul and the Faithfulness of God is listed at $53.93 or 39% off. This is already better than the $59 price offered at ETS/SBL. But when you add your 30% coupon, this drops the price to $37.75 or a 58% discount. You will probably have to pay your state sales tax but for those who live in Texas for example that would be $3.11. So it comes out to $40.86. But  since the total is over $25 it qualifies for free shipping. So the bottom line is that you get a 54% discount off the list price!

R. Bauckham, J. Davila, A. Panayalov - Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures is listed at $59.34 or 34% off. But if you use the 30% off coupon it drops the price to $41.54. Sales tax for those who live in Texas adds $3.54 for a total of 45.08 with free shipping. This is about 50% off which is still a better than the 40% discount offered at ETS/SBL.

To access the 30% discount enter the discount code BFRIDAY30 at checkout. Keep in mind that this coupon code can be redeemed only once per billing address.

Rahab's Lie

J. Carl Laney has a good discussion of the ethics of Rahab's lie (Josh 2:5). Laney notes that,

"Several key hermeneutical principles are helpful in responding to this question. First, it is important to remember that the Bible often records what God does not necessarily approve. Second, divine approval of an individual in one aspect or area of life does not mean there is divine approval in all aspects of character or conduct. Third, application should be made on the basis of what the Bible obviously blesses or commends, not every detail of the passage."

Read the rest of Laney's post here.