Journal of Biblical Literature 134.4

The lasted volume of the Journal of Biblical Literature is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Ancient Prayers and the Psychology of Religion: Deities as Parental Figures
David A. Bosworth
abstract

Left-Handed Benjaminites and the Shadow of Saul
Suzie Park
abstract

The Levite of Judges 19–21
David Z. Moster
abstract

The Book of Malachi, Manuscript 4Q76 (4QXIIa), and the Formation of the “Book of the Twelve”
Mika S. Pajunen and Hanne von Weissenberg
abstract

Greek Philosophical Discourse in the Book of Judith?
Lawrence M. Wills
abstract

Were the Psalms Collections at Qumran True Psalters?
William Yarchin
abstract

The Oddity of the Reference to Jesus in Acts 4:13b
Chris Keith
abstract

Paulus Tragicus: Staging Apostolic Adversity in First Corinthians
Courtney J. P. Friesen
abstract

Community Is a Body: Sex, Marriage, and Metaphor in 1 Corinthians 6:12–7:7 and Ephesians 5:21–33
Jill E. Marshall
abstract

JBL FORUM The JBL Forum, an Occasional Exchange
Adele Reinhartz
abstract

Twice Called, Thrice Rebuked: Doing African Biblical Scholarship
Gerald O. West
abstract

The Making of Gershom’s Story: A Cameroonian Postwar Hermeneutics Reading of Exodus 2
Kenneth N. Ngwa
abstract

Memories of Midwives
L. Juliana Claassens
abstract

Space and Human Agency in the Making of the Story of Gershom through a Senegalese Christian Lens
Aliou C. Niang
abstract

A Luta Continua: Toward Trickster Intellectuals and Communities
Musa W. Dube
abstract

Five Errors to Drop from Your Christmas Sermon

See Andreas Kӧstenberger and Alexander Stewart's article in Christianity Today here.

Psalm 121

Randy McKinion has a nice treatment of Psalm 121 here.

2016 Expository Preaching Workshop

I know that it seems a bit early to be talking about 2016 but Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is hosting another one of its expository preaching workshops on March 7. This year's theme is "Recapturing the Voice of God: Preaching the Genres of Scripture." The workshop will cover preaching the Law, Psalms, Parables, NT Letters, and Revelation. You can read more about it here but it does not appear that you can register yet.

Christianity Today's 2016 Book Awards

I would have thought that these would be the 2015 book awards but you can check Christianity Today's list here.

A Reminder that Neither Bible College or Seminary Replaces the Local Church

See the reminder here.

HT: Michael Cooper

Videos of I. Howard Marshall on Acts

Rob Bradshaw has posted 5 videos with I. Howard Marshall on Acts. The videos are from the Moore College Lectures in 1991. You can check out the post and videos here.

The Zondervan Blog's Top 12 Biblical-Theological Posts in 2015

The Zondervan Blog's lists their top 12 biblical-theological posts for 2015 here.

I. Howard Marshall (1934–2015)

It is being reported that the New Testament scholar I. Howard Marshall has died. You can read more information here.

Hezekiah's Tunnel Video

I am not sure how long this video has been out but it was new to me.

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.

Deborah Levine Gera
Judith
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10052
Reviewed by Patricia Ahearne-Kroll

Christopher B. Hays
Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10064
Reviewed by Brad E. Kelle
Reviewed by Victor H. Matthews

Thomas Hieke
Levitikus: Erster Teilband: 1–15 and Levitikus: Zweiter Teilband: 16–27
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10134
Reviewed by Erhard S. Gerstenberger

Doohee Lee
Luke-Acts and ‘Tragic History’
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9849
Reviewed by Gregory Sterling

Meir Lubetski and Edith Lubetski, eds.
New Inscriptions and Seals Relating to the Biblical World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8651
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Piotr Michalowski
The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8287
Reviewed by T. Sharlach

J. Brian Peckham
Phoenicia: Episodes and Anecdotes from the Ancient Mediterranean
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10174
Reviewed by Josette Elayi

Matthew Thiessen
Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8264
Reviewed by James C. Miller
Reviewed by Rafael Rodríguez

Some Westminster Bookstore Sale Titles

I recently stopped by the Westminster Bookstore website and noted that the following volumes are on sale. 

Paul and Judaism Revisited: A Study of Divine and Human Agency in Salvation by Preston Sprinke – $12 (50% off).

Galatians: Gospel Rooted Living by Todd Wilson – $14.99 (50% off). 

Ecclesiastes (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom & Psalms) by Craig Bartholomew – $20 (50% off).

Privilege the Text!: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching by Abraham Kuruvilla – $18 (50% off).

Daily Life in Biblical Times (Archaeology and Biblical Studies) by Oded Borowski – $7.97 (50% off).

Paul and the Faithfulness of God: Two Book Set by N. T. Wright – $44.50 (50% off).

The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures by James Pritchard – $24.98 (50% off).

Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective by Andreas Kostenberger  – $14.99 (50% off).

Grace in Galatia: A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians by Ben Witherington – $22 (50% off).

New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction by Donald Hagner – $25 (50% off).

Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms by Daniel Estes – $18 (50% off).

Two Perspectives on Online Seminary Education

Brett Younger discusses how seminaries are reluctantly selling their souls here. Ron Crawford responds to Younger by discussing how seminaries are forging a future here.

The Number of Textual Variants in the Greek New Testament

Peter Gurry has a nice post at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog here on the number of variants  in the Greek New Testament.

Hauerwas on Writing Theology

I found this story interesting: "Stanley Hauerwas tells Wycliffe College how to write a good sentence."

Two New Biblical Studies Titles

The T & T Clark blog has noted the release of two new titles that might be of interest.

Luke’s Christology of Divine Identity

by Nina Henrichs-Tarasenkova

Nina Henrichs-Tarasenkova employs a narrative approach to establish how Luke binds Jesus' identity to the divine identity of YHWH and concludes that the Lukan narrative does in fact portray Jesus as God, when it shows that Jesus shares YHWH's divine identity. She argues against a long tradition regarding how best to represent Luke's Christology.

The Return of the King: Messianic Expectation in Book V of the Psalter
 
by Michael K. Snearly 

In this work, Michael Snearly argues that the arrangement of Book V of the Psalter witnesses to a renewed hope in the promises made to David.

Logos' Days of Advent Giveaways So Far

Just in case you missed it, Logos Bible software is giving away a resource a day in celebration of Advent. The giveaways so far are:

Day 1: Scripture and the Authority of God by N. T. Wright
Day 2: Calvin's Calvinism
Day 3: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary by Linda Belleville, Jon Laansma, and J. Ramsey Michaels
Day 4: 11 issues of Tabletalk magazine devoted to Christian History
Day 5: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther, International Critical Commentary by Lewis Paton

You can still access all of these giveaways here.

Andreas Köstenberger's Top Ten Books of 2015

Andreas Köstenberger identifies and discusses his top ten books of 2015 here.

Preaching from a Manuscript: Writing or Using?

Michael Kruger has some good advice on manuscripting sermons here.

Free Audio: Matt Chandler's Recovering Redemption

Christianaudio.com's free audio selection for December is Matt Chandler's Recovering Redemption. You can access the offer here.

Free N. T. Wright's Scripture and the Authority of God

Logos is helping to celebrate Advent by offering N. T. Wright's Scripture and the Authority of God free today. You can access this offer here.

Free Logos Book for December: Ephesians by Stephen Fowl

The free Logos Book for December is Stephen Fowl’s commentary on Ephesians in the New Testament Library series. You can also purchase Hebrews by Luke Timothy Johnson in the same series for $1.99. You can also enter to win 15 volume NTL series. You can access these deals here.

Inerrancy Matters in Preaching

David Allen explains why here.

Some Possible Sales of Interest for Bibliophiles

Here are some sales that might be of interest.

Amazon has a 30% off sale of one item until 11/30. Use the code "HOLIDAY30." But do note that it caps out at $10 so you won't get a great break on more expensive volumes. If you don't have Prime then free shipping starts at $35. You can check it out here.

Barnes and Noble has a true 30% off sale on one item until 11/29. Use the code "30BFRIDAY." Free shipping starts at $25. You can check it out here.

Oxford University Press has 50% off of volumes here until 1/15/2016. On the downside, free shipping starts at $150. Standard shipping charges for US orders is $5.50 for the first book and $1.50 for each additional book You can check it out here.

Elliott Johnson Festschrift

A new festschrift honoring Dr. Elliott Johnson was presented

at the recent Dallas Theological Seminary alumni breakfast at the Evangelical Theological Society. The volume entitled, The Theory and Practice of Biblical Hermeneutics: Essays in Honor of Elliott E. Johnson. The volume consists of an introduction by E. D. Hirsch and seventeen essays from Walter Kaiser, Norm Geisler, and others. This work is also one of the new offerings of a publishing venture led by H. Wayne House called Lampion Press.

 Here is a picture of Dr. Johnson and me at the breakfast.