Review of The Return of the Kosher Pig

Reading The Return of the Kosher Pig will leave some feeling a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Strange names, unfamiliar terms, an unconventional hermeneutic, and a challenging train of argumentation could prove to be a challenge. But if the reader is willing to enter into the world of this book, he or she will find truths worth considering.
 
The author states that this book is the result of his quest to discover the Jewish Messiah. The title is derived from a quote from the Rabbi Menachem Schneerson that, “In the Messianic Era, when the true divine nature of every creature will be openly revealed, the pig will stand vindicated as a kosher animal.” The author, Rabbi Itzhack Shapira, ties this idea in with the widely held view within Judaism that Jesus of Nazareth like a pig, is unclean. Shapira, does not intend this to be a derogatory connection. Indeed, his book is a sustained attempt to prove the idea of a divine Messiah and that Jesus is that Messiah, all from a Jewish perspective. Shapira’s argument is divided into five parts: (1) Framework—Defining the Historical and Theological Background of the Case of the Kosher Pig, (2) Identification—Understanding the Case of the Case of the Kosher Pig Within a Traditional Jewish Framework, (3) Evidence—Examining the Primary Evidence in the Case of the Divine Kosher Pig, Yeshua of Natzeret, (4) Exploration—Weighing the Secondary Evidence in the Case of the Kosher Pig, and (5) Reconciliation—Proposal for Reconciliation between the Kosher Pig(and His followers) and Traditional Judaism. The book also includes a glossary of over 300 terms (and most readers will need it), a directory of all major rabbinical works on the issue of Messiah in the last 2,000 years, an index of all references from the Torah, Prophets, Writings, New Testament, and the Talmud, and a fairly extensive bibliography.

By way of evaluation, I cannot but commend Rabbi Shapira for his desire and effort. Whether one is persuaded or not, he has presented a comprehensive case and amassed much evidence to support it. This book is not for the casual reader. It will require sustained effort. The author does try to define his terms an explain his concepts, but I did not always find these definitions or explanations to be sufficient. Shapira provides helpful summaries on pages 107, 137, 165, 192, 226, 263. It might be helpful to start with these summaries so that one would get a clearer idea of where the argument is going and what the main points are. The difficulties aside, I wish that there was more consistency in the Hebrew fonts that are used and a bit more consistency in the use of pointed and unpointed texts.

I see The Return of the Kosher Pig as having a fairly limited readership. But if one is interested in looking at a case for Jesus as a divine Messiah from a Jewish perspective, then this book may be for you.
Thanks to Lederer Press for providing the free review copy used in this review.

New SBL Research Website

The Society of Biblical Literature has launched a web page providing resources for text-critical research, writing, and collaboration. SBL members who log in will find the reading text (the upper text without critical apparatus) of four GBS editions available in several file formats, including downloadable PDFs and texts viewable via a GBS online platform:

• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 5th revised edition
• Septuaginta, edited by Alfred Rahlfs, 2nd revised edition
• Biblical Sacra luxta Vulgatam Versionem, 5th revised edition
• UBS Greek New Testament, 4th revised edition

This web page also includes links to the SBL Fonts and the SBL Greek New Testament.

You can access the website 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. 

William Baird
History of New Testament Research, Volume 3: From C. H. Dodd to Hans Dieter Betz http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9240
Reviewed by Benjamin A. Edsall
Reviewed by Joshua Jay Stigall

Athalya Brenner and Gale A. Yee, eds.
Joshua and Judges http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9241
Reviewed by Ginny Brewer-Boydston

John K. Goodrich
Paul as an Administrator of God in 1 Corinthians http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8683
Reviewed by Kathy Ehrensperger
Reviewed by Korinna Zamfir
Reviewed by Jason Weaver

J. Edward Owens
Deuteronomy http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8937
Reviewed by H. F. van Rooy

Peter R. Rodgers
Text and Story: Narrative Studies in New Testament Textual Criticism http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8987
Reviewed by Thomas P. Nelligan

Luise Schottroff and Marie-Theres Wacker, eds.
Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Compendium of Critical Commentary on the Books of the Bible and Related Literature http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8781
Reviewed by Lynn R. Huber 

Jens Schröter
From Jesus to the New Testament: Early Christian Theology and the Origin of the New Testament Canon http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9387
Reviewed by Lee Martin McDonald

The 10 Least Popular Books of the Bible

I am surprised to see Jonah in this list but not surprised by the rest. I am also a bit surprised that Chronicles did not make the list. Go here for a bit of explanation and the source of the infographic.



HT: George Hillman.

Holman Bible Atlas

It looks like the Holman Bible Atlas has been revised or at least reformatted and repackaged. The 1998 edition was 11.25 X 8.75 X 1 inches and 256 pages. The 2014 edition is 11 X 8.5 X .75 inches 304 pages. But I see no indicated that this is a second edition or that the contents have been revised. I hope to have a hardcopy soon so I can make a comparison. For now you can access an excerpt here.

Free Book: Theological Interpretation of the New Testament

This week only you can get Kevin J. Vanhoozer’s Theological Interpretation of the New Testament for free. You will need to provide your email and sign up to receive emails from Baker Publishing. To sign up you can use this link.

HT: Greg Williams

Ezekiel's Temple

John W. Schmitt and J. Carl Laney, Messiah’s Coming Temple: Ezekiel’s Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014).

I was excited to receive a copy of the second edition of Messiah’s Coming Temple: Ezekiel’s Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple by John W. Schmitt and J. Carl Laney in the mail. I remember working my way through this original edition in seminary. It was the most comprehensive examination of Ezekiel’s temple that I had read and I have yet to encounter anything to surpass it.

The original edition was published in 1997. This second edition does not include a new forward so I am not sure how much has changed. The publisher notes that, “this newly expanded work [is] based on extensive research and discussions with leading Jewish leaders and rabbis in the United States and Israel.” But this is rather vague. I can say that the original edition’s 192 pages has been expanded to 248 (not 224 as noted by Kregel) and that there are three new chapters: Ezekiel’s Temple and Archaeology, Predictions of a Different Temple, and Can Sacrifices Be Part of a Future Temple? There are also more figures/maps (from 15 to 22), photographs (from 10 to 11), and the addition of six charts. Although I have only had the opportunity to scan through this updated edition, everything that I have seen so far indicates that it remains the go-to resource for studying Ezekiel’s temple.

You can read an excerpt here.

Why Study the Book of Job

Christopher Ash provides seven reasons for studying the book of Job here.

Calvin and the Pastor/Scholar

See Philip Ryken's post on Calvin and the need for pastor/scholars here.  Here is one paragraph from the post.
  

"Calvin’s example as a pastor-scholar is instructive today. For pastors, his life serves as a call to work hard in ministry, giving our best efforts to understanding the Scriptures. For parishioners, Calvin’s ministry can help us understand the God-given calling of our pastors. In devoting their time to prepare for preaching, they are not serving themselves but Christ and His church."

Aren Maeir New Light on the Biblical Philistines: Recent Study

 
HT: Rob Bradshaw

Biblical Word Versus. Theological Concept

See Christopher Cowan's helpful discussion on biblical words and their relation to  theological concept here. I am grading some biblical theology papers right now where many fail to either discuss the relevant terminology or to only discuss the passages where the terminology occurs and thus ignoring other passages where the concept but not the terminology occurs.

Dr. Pentecost's Memorial Service

Here is the memorial service for Dwight J. Pentecost.

Recovering Eden: The Gospel according to Ecclesiastes

The Westminster Bookstore is offering Zack Eswine's Recovering Eden: The Gospel according to Ecclesiastes for $5. This is a 67% discount. I don't know much about the book, but it comes with some pretty prominent endorsements. Ecclesiastes can be a challenging book so this might be a resource worth checking out. You can read an excerpt here. The sale is only good until next Tuesday, May 13.

A Case for Seminary

Kyle Rohane makes one here.

N. T. Wright at the Lanier Theological Library

Lecture by N.T. Wright
from Lanier Theological Library on Vimeo.

A Review of Chisholm's Commentary on Judges and Ruth

Robert B. Chisholm Jr., A Commentary on Judges and Ruth, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013).

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to take a class that covered Judges taught by the author of this book. In fact, I believe that the class notes were an earlier version of this commentary. The class was excellent. I appreciated Dr. Chisholm’s careful handling of the text combined with his interest in homiletical presentation.
 
These two emphases are reflected in this commentary on Judges and Ruth as well. The commentary on Judges begins with a fairly thorough introduction of 89 pages. Two parts in the introduction are noteworthy. First, the section on the chronological problems associated with the rules of the various judges was very good although I do not agree with the proposed solution. Second, the section on the “modern proclamation of Judges” is helpful for those involved in preaching and teaching this challenging book. Here the author discusses the exegetical idea, theological idea, homiletical trajectories, and primary preaching idea for each section. The introduction to Ruth is 33 pages. I found the discussion on literary structure interesting although I am not comfortable with using dramatic terminology (acts, scenes, etc.) since this might suggest that the genre of Ruth is theatrical and related to ancient drama (a genre that I believe postdates the composition of Ruth). As with Judges, Chisholm provides the reader help with preaching and teaching the book.

The commentary proper follows a similar format. Each section of the commentary begins with a translation (a slightly revised version of his translation from the NET Bible) that is parenthetically identified with narrative structure labels (e.g., mainline clauses, offline clauses, and quotations). This is followed by an outline, a discussion of the literary structure, and an exposition of the text. The exposition is followed by a discussion of the message and application of the passage. Here the preacher/teacher is given helpful material from which to craft a sermon or lesson. One will need to have some training in Hebrew to get the full benefit of this work though.

Overall this commentary is an excellent resource for the study of Judges and Ruth. The comments are detailed enough to be helpful but concise enough to be useful. The author is fair and balanced in his treatment of textual difficulties and carefully articulates his preference. Chisholm’s discussion of Jephthah’s treatment of his daughter is a good example of this (pp. 350-65). Also, as noted previously, this commentary is preacher/teacher friendly. Even the chapter titles have a sermonic flavor. Rather than utilizing something as linguistically sterile as “the Samson narrative” for chapters 13–16, this section is cleverly labeled, “Samson: Lion Killer with a Sweet Tooth.” There is not much to offer by way of criticism. My lone suggestion would be a Scripture index.

Anyone who is planning to preach or teach through either Judges or Ruth should consider this book, especially if he or she has some facility with Hebrew.

You can access a 25-page excerpt here.

Thanks to Kregel for providing the review copy used in this unbiased review.

Free Logos Book for May: 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans

The free Logos Book for May is 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans. You can also enter to win the entire 12-volume Pastorum series. Go the Logos' Free Book of Month page to enter and download your free book today!

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. 

Mary Ann Beavis
Mark
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9018
Reviewed by Jeff Jay

Katherine M. Hayes
Proverbs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9251
Reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán

Jerry Hwang
The Rhetoric of Remembrance: An Investigation of the “Fathers” in Deuteronomy
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8633
Reviewed by Joel Barker

Paul S. Jeon
To Exhort and Reprove: Audience Response to the Chiastic Structures of Paul’s Letter to Titus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8919
Reviewed by David P. Parris

Ann E. Killebrew and Gunnar Lehmann, eds.
The Philistines and Other “Sea Peoples” in Text and Archaeology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9178
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins
Reviewed by Raz Kletter

Yung Suk Kim, ed.
1 and 2 Corinthians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9155
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

Timothy Michael Law
When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9277
Reviewed by Martin Rösel

Dina Stein
Textual Mirrors: Reflexivity, Midrash, and the Rabbinic Self
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8812
Reviewed by Simon Lasair

Travis B. Williams
Persecution in 1 Peter: Differentiating and Contextualizing Early Christian Suffering
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9039
Reviewed by Torrey Seland

A Review of Bible Revival

Kenneth Berding, Bible Revival: Recommitting Ourselves to One Book (Wooster, OH: Weaver, 2014).

Back in the 1970s a book called The Battle for the Bible was a clarion call to return to biblical fidelity. Although not perfect, many heard that call. I see Kenneth Berding’s Bible Revival: Recommitting Ourselves to One Book in the same vein. “This book answers the question of why we need a revival of the Bible in our generation and what it will take to see it happen” (p. 12). The author is a professor of New Testament studies at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University.

Bible Revival is composed of a brief introduction, six major chapters, and two appendices. The six chapters include the following: (1) A Revival of Learning the Word: Confronting Distractions, Priorities, and the Pretext of Being Too Busy; (2) A Revival of Valuing the Word: Confronting Haziness, Self-Sufficiency, and the Perception That the Bible Isn’t Enough; (3) A Revival of Understanding the Word: Confronting Superficiality, Superiority, and the Assumption That It Should Come Easily; (4) A Revival of Applying the Word: Confronting Special Interests, Therapeutism, and a Lack of Dependence on the Spirit; (5) A Revival of Obeying the Word: Confronting Sentimentality, Avoidance, and the Opinion That I Have the Right to Decide; and (6) A Revival of Speaking the Word: Confronting Fear, Excuses, and the Idea That It’s the Responsibility of the Clergy. The two appendices are “The Easiest Way to Memorize the Bible” and “A Method for Attaining Bible Fluency.”

This work is clearly and concisely written (128 pp.). These two characteristics make it a good resource for classes and small groups. Each chapter concludes with a prayer and review questions to further help facilitate this purpose. I appreciate the author’s passion for and commitment to the Bible. For many who will likely read this book, Berding will probably be “preaching to the choir.” But every now and again, the choir needs to be reminded that we are in a battle for the Bible.

You can read an excerpt here. You can also access an interview with the author here.

Much thanks to Weaver Books for providing the free review copy used in this unbiased review.

Free Audio Book: J. I. Packer's Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

Christianaudio.com is offering J. I. Packer's classic Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God as their free download for the month of May. This is a great book and typical Packer. To read more about the book and to get your free audio download go here.

Free Audio: Expository Preaching Workshop: Preaching 1 John

You can now access free audio to the Expository Preaching Workshop held in March 2014. The focus this year was on preaching 1 John although a few of the messages are not from 1 John. You can access the audio here.

Advice for Preaching the Gospels

Steven Mathewson has more good advice about preaching from the Gospels. I have summarized five suggestions that he offers.

1. Read and reread the Gospels.
2. Purchase a couple of the best commentaries of the Gospel you intend to preach.
3. Do some background reading in Second Temple Judaism.
4. Select a couple of narratives and compare them in a synopsis.  
 5. Listen to or read good sermons on the Gospels.

Steven D. Mathewson, Preaching the Four Gospels with Confidence (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013),153-56.

Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost (1915-2014)

Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, or "Dr. P." as he was affectionately known, has gone to meet his Lord. He celebrated his 99th birthday last week. He has had a profound impact on many men and women around the world including myself. I count it one of God's gracious blessings that He allowed my path to cross his. He will be missed. 

Review of Exploring Christian Theology: The Church, Spiritual Growth

Holsteen, Nathan D., and Michael J. Svigel, eds. Exploring Christian Theology: The Church, Spiritual Growth, and the End Times. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2014.

This volume of Exploring Christian Theology is authored and edited by Drs. Nathan Holsteen and Michael Svigel, professors at Dallas Theological Seminary, with contributions from other DTS professors. The focus of the volume is spiritual growth and the end times, or in more technical terms, sanctification and eschatology. Holsteen authors the section on spiritual growth and Svigel on the end times. Each section contains a “high-altitude survey” or overview of the topic, “passages to master” or the main biblical texts related to the topic, a retrospective look at the topic from the perspective of church history, principles to put into practice, key facts to never forget, dangers to avoid, quotations from Christian voices from the past and present, and shelf space: recommendations for your library, an annotated list of significant works. The volume is rounded out by a glossary and Scripture index. There are numerous user-friendly diagrams and sidebars.

There is much to like in this volume. It is comprehensive without being laboriously extensive. At around 250 pages, it is not a long work, but there is much here. The authors take seriously theological traditions and church history and treat both with respect and fairness. There are extensive selections from past and present Christian thinkers. Although the topics are academic, this volume is also pastoral and one gets the sense of the authors’ passion for both God and His church. This is usually most evident in the facts to remember and dangers to avoid sections. Bibliophiles will enjoy the annotated bibliography. The writing style of Holsteen and Svigel is serious but accessible and lively.

As far as criticisms go, I only note two observations. The first is one more of preference. Namely, I would prefer footnotes to endnotes. Second, I wonder whether it might be easier on the reader to combine the retrospective and voices from the past and present sections. I can see how separating these sections might have some benefit, but the voices from the past are just presented without any context other than a heading which identifies the particular church period in which it falls. I wonder whether those who will likely read this book have enough background to benefit from these excerpts as they stand. It may also make it easier for less-diligent readers to forgo these primary sources altogether by skipping the section (which would be unfortunate).

In sum, this volume of Exploring Christian Theology is to be commended. It could be useful for pastors, church study groups, Bible college students, and maybe even introductory-level seminary classes (though this would probably need to be supplemented with other texts).

Much Thanks to Bethany House for providing the text used in this unbiased review.

Conference on the Pericope Adulterae

Jacob Cerone has a nice summary here of a recent conference held at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary on the Pericope Adulterae.

HT. Brian Fulthrop