Free Theology Books for Kindle

Matt Capps has a helpful list of free theology books that are available for Kindle. You can see Matt's post here.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below. 

Rainer Albertz and Rüdiger Schmitt
Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8992
Reviewed by Raz Kletter

James Bollhagen
Ecclesiastes
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8300
Reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán

Peter W. Flint, Jean Duhaime, and Kyung S. Baek, eds.
Celebrating the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Canadian Collection
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9005
Reviewed by David M. Maas

Edith M. Humphrey
Scripture and Tradition: What the Bible Really Says
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9185
Reviewed by Nijay Gupta

Didier Lafleur
La Famille 13 dans l’evangile de Marc
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9042
Reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus

Mark Leuchter and Jeremy M. Hutton, eds.
Levites and Priests in Biblical History and Tradition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8383
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Ellen A. Robbins
The Storyteller and the Garden of Eden
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8660
Reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo

Gunnar Samuelsson
Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9718
Reviewed by John Granger Cook

Zoltán S. Schwáb
Toward an Interpretation of the Book of Proverbs: Selfishness and Secularity Reconsidered
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9358
Reviewed by David Penchansky

Jakob Wöhrle
Fremdlinge im eigenen Land: Zur Entstehung und Intention der priesterlichen Passagen der Vätergeschichte
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8839
Reviewed by Marc Vervenne

10 Kinds of Pastors to Be Concerned About

Scott Postma has some challenging but insightful words in his post: "10 Pastors I'm Concerned About." You can read it here.

A Training Manual for Demons

Jared Moore has a Screwtape Letters-like post that is worth reading here. In the post, Jared mentions 20 ways to lead God's people astray. One might not agree with all 20 points but I think Jared nails it more often than not. In any case, here is his list but you really must read the entire post.

1. Christianize popular ideas.
2. Put heresy in a Christian song with Christian lingo and a good beat.
3. Appeal to adolescence.
4. Put heresy in a song with some sentimentality.
5. Create an atmosphere that makes people feel good.
6. Appeal to the sinful nature.
7. Tell amazing stories.
8. Appeal to the idolatry of your hearers.
9. Speak in non-absolutes.
10. Dress it up in new clothes.
11. Major on specific Bible verses while intentionally ignoring those that contradict your interpretation.
12. Change definitions.
13. Accustom your hearers to statements you tout as facts that cannot be proven.
14. Appear cool, sweet, hip, or simply different from other pastors.
15. Pray like you’re a priest in the pulpit.
16. Get everyone to like your personality.
17. Create a CANON within the Canon.
18. Grow the crowd numerically.
19. Speak of previous heretics as martyrs.
20. Increase giving and baptisms.

Morning of the Rolling Stone

Starting a Mid-Week Sermon Feedback Meeting

Eric McKiddie argues that pastors really should consider starting a mid-week sermon feedback meeting. You can read his thoughts here.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 36:3

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.

Tyrant or Servant? Roman Political Ideology and Mark 10.42-45
Adam Winn

The Eschatological Conversion of ‘All the Nations’ in Matthew 28.19-20: (Mis)reading Matthew through Paul
Benjamin L. White

Jesus as 'The One who Entered his Rest': The Christological Reading of Hebrews 4.10
Nicholas J. Moore

Fashions, Fallacies and Future Prospects in New Testament Studies
Larry W. Hurtado

Happy Blogiversary

This blog has now completed six years with my first post being on this day in 2008. In 2008, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII, Bill Gates stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, and Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. While the start of this blog does not compare in significance to these events, it has been a blessing to me and I hope of some benefit to the body of Christ.

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shape of Stories

HT: Dylan Cope

2013 Preaching Survey of the Year’s Best Books for Preachers

See the article in Preaching magazine entitled, "The 2013 Preaching Survey of the Year’s Best Books for Preachers" here.

Genesis: A Theological Commentary for Preachers

Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla's new commentary on Genesis is now out. Check out this link at the author's own website devoted to preaching: Homiletix. You can download a chapter and there are links to purchase the book. You might also want to check out the author's commentary on the Gospel of Mark here. I hope to feature Dr. Kuruvilla in an interview soon.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below. 

Angelika Berlejung and Michael P. Streck, eds.
Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C.
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9425
Reviewed by John MacGinnis

David Alan Black
Paul, Apostle of Weakness: Astheneia and Its Cognates in the Pauline Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8827
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

James M. Bos
Reconsidering the Date and Provenance of the Book of Hosea: The Case for Persian-Period Yehud
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9302
Reviewed by Pamela J. Scalise

J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays
Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8594
Reviewed by Frank England

Sebastian Fuhrmann and Regina Grundmann, eds.
Martyriumsvorstellungen in Antike und Mittelalter: Leben oder sterben für Gott?
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8746
Reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus

Mercedes L. García Bachmann
Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9191
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Joel B. Green, ed.
Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8928
Reviewed by Kevin Jung

Kyoung-Shik Kim
God Will Judge Each One according to Works: Judgment according to Works and Psalm 62 in Early Judaism and the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8647
Reviewed by Travis B. Williams

Dominik Markl, ed.
The Decalogue and Its Cultural Influence
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9419
Reviewed by Bernhard Lang

David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling, eds.
Studia Philonica Annual: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism, Volume XXII, 2010
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7898
Reviewed by John Martens

Herod Agrippa I at the Eretz Israel Museum

A few days ago, I posted about a Sidonian coin that was on display at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Today, I will post about another item at the museum. It is a bust of King Herod Agrippa I. This sculpted head was prepared by the Israel Museum Restoration Laboratories in which a three dimensional head was created from a coin containing Agrippa's likeness. Among other things, King Agrippa I (AD 41-44) was the notorious king who put the apostle James to death and had Peter imprisoned (Acts 12:1-4).

Hurtado on N. T. Wright's Discussion of Paul's Eschatology

Larry Hurtado has some interesting and insightful comments here related to N. T. Wright's treatment of Paul's eschatology in his Paul and the People of God.

Reading Fiction and Preaching

See this helpful post entitled "How to Read Fiction and Become a More Interesting Preacher." One might be able to adapt some of these thoughts as it relations to movies and music as well.

A Sidonian Coin

One of the places that I visited in my most recent trip to Israel was the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Among other things, this museum has a nice collection of ancient coins. I was particularly interested in the coin pictured below. The picture is from a postcard from the museum related to a special exhibit.

The scan did not turn out at clear as I would have liked. You can see the coin well enough but the writing is hard to read. So this is what it states.

Special Exhibit:
Sidon, silver double shekel, 27.63 gms, c. 400 BC.
War-galley lying before the towered fortress of Sidon, beneath two lions tail to tail.The King of Persia in a chariot driven by a charioteer and inscription in Phoenician letters.

The city of Sidon is mentioned a number of times in Scripture. For example, Ezekiel prophesies against the city (28:20-23). Many Interpreters understand the fulfillment of this prophecy to relate to the conquests of the Babylonians or Greeks. Nonetheless, the Persians also subdued Tyre. This is apparently reflected by this coin.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below. 

Mark J. Boda and Lissa M. Wray Beal, eds.
Prophets, Prophecy, and Ancient Israelite Historiography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9204
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Walter Brueggemann
The Practice of Prophetic Imagination: Preaching an Emancipating Word
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8481
Reviewed by Ron Clark

Constantine R. Campbell
Paul and Union with Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8689
Reviewed by Jonathon Lookadoo

Ron Clark
The God of Second Chances: Finding Hope through the Prophets of Exile
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8834
Reviewed by Gerda de Villiers

Zeba A. Crook
Parallel Gospels: A Synopsis of Early Christian Writing
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8404
Reviewed by Thomas Bergholz

J. K. Elliott
New Testament Textual Criticism: The Application of Thoroughgoing Principles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8709
Reviewed by Daniel B. Wallace

Jeffrey S. Lamp
The Greening of Hebrews? Ecological Readings in the Letter to the Hebrews
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8865
Reviewed by Amy L. B. Peeler

Paul L. Redditt
Zechariah 9–14
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8813
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Helen Rhee
Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich: Wealth, Poverty, and Early Christian Formation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8778
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

Joseph Verheyden, ed.
The Figure of Solomon in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Tradition: King, Sage and Architect
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9211
Reviewed by Anthony Swindell

Resources for After Your Holy Land Tour (or Before)

Wayne Stiles has a great post entitled, "Great Resources to Get After Your Holy Land Tour." He does not mention magazine resources so I would add Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible and Spade. By the way, if you are interested in the Holy Land you really should be reading Wayne's blog.

A Museum to Visit

This article highlights a New York museum, the Living Torah Museum, that I would like to visit at some point. The museum contains a walk-in replica of the biblical Tabernacle, an intact three-handled clay wine storage jug purportedly used by Judean soldiers from the reign of Hezekiah, and an ivory seal, with the bird-image imprimatur as well as the name of King Ahab. Since this is a private collection, provenance might be an issue for some of the items. But it would be interesting to see nonetheless. The museum's website allows you to take a virtual tour of some of the artifacts. Have any of my readers been to this museum?

New Bibliographic Resource for 1 and 2 Corinthians

See this post by David Pettegrew related to a bibliographic resource for 1-2 Corinthians using Zotero. This looks like a great resource for those working in and and with 1 and 2 Corinthians,

The Preacher's Library

“If there is a thinker behind every great movement, there is a library behind every great preacher. What tools are to mechanics, books are to preachers. Just as no mechanic can do an effective job without adequate tools to perform precision work, so no pastor can ever hope to expound the Bible without good books. It is the height of folly for any pastor to attempt to preach God’s Word without proper exegetical and expository tools. We are never so competent in our knowledge of the Scriptures that we can afford to despise the help provided by the great minds of the past and the present.”

David Alan Black, Using New Testament Greek in Ministry: A Practical Guide for Students and Pastors (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 34.

Reading the Old Testament Missiologically

"Mission is often thought of as a New Testament and post–New Testament phenomenon. Is it possible to read the Old Testament also as a missional text? The clearest justification for doing so is that Jesus himself told his disciples to read it that way. In Luke 24 he twice surveys the whole canon of Old Testament Scripture and claims that ‘this is what is written’: both that the Messiah would come, suffer, die, and rise again; and that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to the nations (vv. 45-47). The first claim reads Scripture messianically; the second reads Scripture missiologically — and Jesus urges this double hermeneutical strategy on those who read the Old Testament in conscious relation to himself.”

Christopher J. H. Wright, “Mission and Old Testament Interpretation,” in Hearing the Old Testament: Listening toGod’s Address, ed. Craig G. Bartholomew and Dvaid J. H. Beldman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 186.

Embracing Shared Ministry

Check out Joseph Hellerman’s recent book entitled Embracing Shared Ministry: Power and Status in the Early Church and Why It Matters Today. Whether you agree with every point or not, one can appreciate the careful presentation and application of a historically contextualized examination of the New Testament to the church today. You can read an excerpt here.

An Illustrated Guide to the Holy Land for Tour Groups, Students, and Pilgrims

At last years Society Biblical Literature meeting I picked up a copy of An Illustrated Guide to the Holy Land for Tour Groups, Students, and Pilgrims by Lamontte Luker. I selectively worked through this compact volume in preparation for a trip that I am helping to lead this year. Here are some preliminary thoughts.

The size (4.25 x 5.5 in.) makes it easy to slip into a pocket or purse. Given its size, I was pleasantly surprised about how much was packed into this 184-page volume. The entries I read usually contained enough information to be helpful. It will not replace something like Jerome Murphy-O’Conner’s The Holy Land but few, if any, resources could. The one thing that would help this guide to be more user-friendly is to provide a site index. This would probably not add more than a few pages. One can use the table of contents, but this is set up by region and requires the user to know what sites are located within which regions. But if you already know what is located the Shephela for example, then you might not need a book like this. That being said this is still a helpful but not an indispensable resource.

The New Testament Was Written for Believers

"The NT was written for believers, not for doubters. Believers are the implied readers of the NT texts, and therefore believers are in the best place to make sense of the NT texts. It is to believers that the texts open themselves most readily. This is contrary to the frequently encountered claim that faith is an obstacle to the proper understanding of the NT. Only, however, when faith is characterized by openness rather than an a priori dogmatism is it an aid to the study of Scripture.

"The advantage that the believer has in the study of Scripture is openness to the truth of the narratives. A hermeneutic of trust can have the salutary and paradoxical effect of making us better historians and scholars of Scripture than those who do not believe. Options that arise from the material itself may be given fairer consideration; helpful constructions may emerge from a positive approach that would not be seen in a negative orientation. Certainly the approach of the believer will be more fruitful and truthful than a hostile approach of one who is predisposed to deconstruct the Christian faith. Theological presuppositions, of course, inevitably enter into the discussions, as indeed they do for those who consider themselves “neutral.” Without question presuppositions will remain crucial. “The wise course is to recognize those presuppositions, to make allowance for them, to ensure that they do not exercise an undue influence on our understanding of what we read. It is the unconscious and unsuspected presuppositions that are harmful.”

"It should be stressed once again that the critical method is indispensable to the study of Scripture. It is the sine qua non of responsible interpretation of God’s word. The believer need have no fear of the method itself, but need only be on guard against the employment of improper presuppositions. J. B. Lightfoot gave helpful counsel:"

The timidity, which shrinks from the application of modern science or criticism to the interpretation of Holy Scripture, evinces a very unworthy view of its character. If the Scriptures are indeed true, they must be in accordance with every true principle of whatever kind. It is against the wrong application of such principles, and against the presumption which pushes them too far, that we must protest. It is not much knowledge, but little knowledge, that is the dangerous thing here as elsewhere. From the full light of science or criticism we have nothing to fear: the glimmering light—which rather deserves the name of darkness visible—hides and distorts the truth.

Donald A. Hagner, The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 10-11.