The Point of Biblical Theology

"The point of biblical theology, therefore, is to reaffirm revelation in history within a robust view of the divinely inspired reliability of the biblical text itself, which will require restoring the humility of the theologian before the text and, supremely, before God, whose text it is.”

Scott Hafemann, “What’s the Point of Biblical Theology? Reflections Prompted by Brevard Childs,” in Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future, ed. Corey Walsh and Mark. W Elliott (Cascade: Eugene, OR, 2016), 119.

Archaeological Evidence for King David

Kenneth Way has a good post here discussing the archaeological evidence for King David.

My Screwtape Letter

I was recently going through some of my old seminary assignments and came across a paper that I apparently modeled after C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. I must confess that I do not remember the assignment or the course for which it was created. But, I have lightly edited it and condensed it because I was surprised about how timely it was. So with apologies to the esteemed Lewis, here is a reminder for whom it might be helpful.


Dear Wormwood,

Thank you for enlisting my help concerning Charles. Indeed I have had my eye on him for many years and I can tell you that he is so gullible at times that I even wonder if he is worthy of my expertise. However, I have learned that the Enemy sometimes delights in using one as insignificant as him so we must not take anything for granted. Therefore permit me to suggest possible strategies that you might use against him.

You can help Charles to become dissatisfied with his life by placing those who are more talented, intelligent, and wealthy around him so that he will quickly take his eyes off of the Enemy, forgetting all the undeserved blessings which he already enjoys. Make sure that you remind him how great a sacrifice he is making by going to seminary and is thus entitled to a reciprocal measure of prosperity. Take care though that you do not mention the words “prosperity theology” for he claims to reject it. Allow him to point a finger at the prosperity teachers without recognizing how close he comes to this theology at times. In fact it might even helpful in inflating his pride by reminding him how much more biblical he is than the health and wealth teachers. A little subtlety will go a long way here.

The beauty of cultivating envy is that you can also cultivate greed. By feeding Charles’ envy you can also create an insatiable appetite for more. Let me suggest that you proceed carefully. You must seek to develop this greed within reason. Ideally, greed is most effective when it does not involve much more than a person has, but just a little more than they have now. This approach is effective because most humans feel that they deserve a little more than they have now.

Is It Proper to Preach the Psalms?

To be honest, I have always assumed that the Psalms could and should be preached. But as Sidney Greidanus points out, Claus Westermann, Donald Gowan, and others believe that the Psalms can be prayed and sung but they should not be preached. but Greidanus offers four reasons why the Psalms should be preached.

1. "The editors of the Psalter have placed Psalm 1, a torah (wisdom) psalm, at the head of this collection in order to signal that every following psalm is to be read as part of God's torah, teaching, instruction for Israe1."
2. "Though many psalms originated as a human word to God, every psalm is now part of the Psalter and was accepted in the Canon as God's word for Israel."
3. "The New Testament authors accepted the Psalter not just as Israel's word to God but as God's word to his people"
4. "Jesus not only prayed the psalms but used them, more than any other Old Testament book, for his preaching and teaching."

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Psalms: Foundations for Expository Sermons in the Christian Year (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016), 3-4.

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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Holly Beers
The Followers of Jesus as the ‘Servant’: Luke’s Model from Isaiah for the Disciples in Luke-Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10393
Reviewed by Phillip Long

Simon Chi-Chung Cheung
Wisdom Intoned: A Reappraisal of the Genre ‘Wisdom Psalms’
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11016
Reviewed by Phil J. Botha

Michael V. Fox
Proverbs: An Eclectic Edition with Introduction and Textual Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10903
Reviewed by Richard Clifford

Esther Fuchs
Feminist Theory and the Bible: Interrogating the Sources
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11215
Reviewed by Lisa Davison

Trine Bjornung Hasselbalch
Meaning and Context in the Thanksgiving Hymns: Linguistic and Rhetorical Perspectives on a Collection of Prayers from Qumran
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10246
Reviewed by Blake A. Jurgens

Derek Olsen
Reading Matthew with Monks: Liturgical Interpretation in Anglo-Saxon England
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10516
Reviewed by Brian C. Dennert

Mikeal C. Parsons
Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10245
Reviewed by Joshua W. Jipp
Reviewed by Troy M. Troftgruben

Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch
From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10583
Reviewed by Frederick E. Greenspahn

Bryan A. Stewart
Priests of My People: Levitical Paradigms for Early Christian Ministers
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10651
Reviewed by Richard S. Briggs

Temples as Banks in the Ancient World?

I like many others have often taught that temples in the ancient world often functioned as de facto banks. But if Marty Stevens is correct then such a linkage as at best imprecise or inadequate. Note the following helpful clarification from Stevens.

But the ancient temple as “bank” is imprecise and inaccurate. Most precisely, temples functioned as “treasuries” or “depositories,” a place for the storage and retrieval of (precious) commodities and metals by the depositor. Temple archives demonstrate that the temple held deposits by individuals but did not allow others to access them or in any other way use the negotiable instruments that complete the definition of “banking.” Temples lent their own property, not that of others on deposit with the temple. If the temple used the deposits at all, it was acting as a broker at the direction of the depositor, who retained the risk of the use. The defining issue is the accountability for risk. The broker-intermediary does not assume any risk; a banker-intermediary assumes risks as a creditor. So temples were not “banks” in antiquity. Rather, the more precise designation for the role of the temple in antiquity would be “financial intermediary.” As collector, user, and disburser of goods and financial services, the temple transferred value from the contributor to consumer.”

Marty E. Stevens, Temples, Tithes, and Taxes: The Temple and the Economic Life of Ancient Israel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006), 137.

Syntax of Biblical Hebrew Poetry

Robert Holmsedt has made his paper "The Syntax of Poetry in Biblical Hebrew" available 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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Joel B. Green
Conversion in Luke-Acts: Divine Action, Human Cognition, and the People of God
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11024
Reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff

Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva
Invitation to the Septuagint
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11025
Reviewed by Andrea Ravasco

Benjamin J. M. Johnson
Reading David and Goliath in Greek and Hebrew: A Literary Approach
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10933
Reviewed by Randall X. Gauthier
Reviewed by Joseph McDonald

Othmar Keel and Silvia Schroer
Creation: Biblical Theologies in the Context of the Ancient Near East
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11080
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Matthias Konradt
Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10144
Reviewed by Wesley G. Olmstead

Jordan Penkower
Masorah and Text Criticism in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Moshe Ibn Zabara and Menahem de Lonzano
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10495
Reviewed by Ronald Hendel

Rafael Rodriguez
If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul’s Letter to the Romans
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10048
Reviewed by Philip Esler

Jerry L. Sumney
Paul: Apostle and Fellow Traveler
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10577
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Cockrell

Samer Soreshow Yohanna
The Gospel of Mark in the Syriac Harklean Version: An Edition Based upon the Earliest Witnesses
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10349
Reviewed by Peter A. L. Hill

Free Logos Book for June: Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology

The free Logos Book of the Month for June is Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by John Frame. You can also purchase Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair for $1.99 or enter to win the entire eleven-volume Explorations in Biblical Theological Systems. For all these offers you can go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Free Images: Zondervan Atlas of the Bible

Carl Rasmussen has made all of the images from his Zondervan Atlas of the Bible available for free here.

Free Audio: Darrell Bock on the Historical Jesus

Credo Courses is offering free audio of Darrell Bock's course "The Historical Jesus" here.

Egypt as Divine Incubator

I was reminded recently of how Egypt served as a divine incubator of sorts for Jacob's family (Gen 46-50). The two great dangers facing the incipient nation of Israel was assimilation and/or elimination. Certain aspects related to Egypt provided protection from both. Here is a simple table I created for a recent class on Genesis. (I apologize that I couldn't get the formatting quite right but you get the idea.)

 

Egypt as a Divine Incubator
Isolation to Avoid Assimilation	Protection to Avoid Elimination
·  Egyptians don’t like eating with foreigners (43:32) ·  Egyptians don’t like shepherds (46:34)	·  Protection of the Egyptian army ·  Protection against famines

 

Relationships between Brothers in Genesis

As I was wrapping up a study of Genesis, I was struck by the fact that the final restoration scene between Joseph and his brothers ends well (Gen 50:15-21). This is unlike most of the brotherly relationships in Genesis that tend to end in dysfunction or death. Consider Cain killing Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and the animosity between Jacob and Esau, and the earlier conflicts between Joseph and his brothers might suggest to the reader a similar conclusion. But happily, the story of Joseph and his brothers ends in forgiveness and grace! Perhaps this foreshadows the ultimate reconciliation to be found in Christ.

Ten Theses on Biblical Theology

Scott Hafemann along with Richard Schultz developed the following “Ten Theses on Biblical Theology.”
 
1. Biblical theology should be biblical, taking the canon in its entirety as its starting point and criterion.

2. Biblical theology should be theological, aiming at making synthetic assertions about the nature, will, and plan of God in creation and redemption, as well as their corresponding implications for the nature, will, and purposes of humanity.

3. Biblical theology should be historical, contextual, and thematic in its methodology, integrating historical development, literary structures, sociocultural factors, and theological concepts within an understanding of the history of redemption.

4. Biblical theology should develop its theological categories inductively from the biblical text, not from a predetermined systematic framework.

5. Biblical theology should be exegetically based, taking intertextuality as its starting point., including both the “OT” use of the “OT” and the “NT” use of the “OT” as preserved in the MT and LXX traditions.

6. Biblical theology should be intentionally bi-testamental and unifying, so that neither the OT nor NT are read in isolation from each other nor from the standpoint of a “canon within a canon.”

7. Biblical theology should work toward a unity of canon, going beyond the traditional disciplines of OT and NT theology and beyond providing simply descriptive accounts of the various theological emphases within its individual writings.

8. Biblical theology should strive to incorporate the diversity of the biblical writings within the unity of its theology, without sacrificing either its historical particularity or its overarching history of redemption.

9. Biblical theology should be both descriptive and prescriptive in order to be faithful to its theological task of providing an enduring contribution to the self-understanding of God’s people within their contemporary context.

10. Biblical theology should be pursued by means of an intentional dialogue within the body of Christ in order to overcome the lamentable specialization of biblical scholars and be viewed as a profoundly spiritual calling in order to be faithful to the biblical witness.

Scott Hafemann, “What’s the Point of Biblical Theology? Reflections Prompted by Brevard Childs,” in BiblicalTheology: Past, Present, and Future, ed. Corey Walsh and Mark. W Elliott, (Cascade: Eugene, OR, 2016), 118-19.

Biblical Theology Books

Paul Henebury evaluates a number of biblical theology books here.

Genesis 1 to Exodus 40 as Prelude to Leviticus

L. Michael Morales’ biblical theology of Leviticus is an interesting read. The following quote sets up where Morales sees Leviticus going.

As the fiery glory of YHWH fills the tabernacle at the end of the book of Exodus, the drama of redemptive history thus far comes to a culminating pinnacle. There is even a sense in where one could read Genesis 1 to Exodus 40 as a complete narrative, a story about being expelled from God’s Presence in Eden, then, finally being brought back into that Presence through the tabernacle cultus – a story about Paradise lost and regained. Fittingly, the tabernacle and its furnishings are pervaded in the Edenic imagery. The tabernacle narrative crowning Exodus 40, then, not only forms a bookend with the creation accounts of Genesis 1 – 3, both pertaining to life in the Presence of God, but, further still, the tabernacle cultus is presented as a mediated resolution to the crisis introduced in Genesis 3 with humanity’s expulsion from Eden.

L. Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of Leviticus, New Studies in Biblical Theology 37, ed. D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015), 75.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 39:4

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 Sanctuary of his Body’: Body and Sanctuary in Paul and John: Morna D. Hooker

Accidental Publication, Unfinished Texts and the Traditional Goals of New Testament Textual Criticism: Matthew D.C. Larsen

The Rod as Excommunication: A Possible Meaning for an Ambiguous Metaphor in 1 Corinthians 4.21: Adam G. White

Curses in Acts: Hearing the Apostles’ Words of Judgment Alongside ‘Magical’ Spell Texts: Benedict H. M. Kent

Jesus, Barabbas and the People: The Climax of Luke’s Trial Narrative and Lukan Christology (Luke 23.13-25): Monique Cuany

Paul’s Knowledge of Aristophanes: R. Drew Griffith

Resources on Acts

Mike Bird lists his top ten resources on Acts 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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

John J. Collins
The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11304
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney

Nina Henrichs-Tarasenkova
Luke’s Christology of Divine Identity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11013
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Hannelore Jauss
Der liebebedürftige Gott und die gottbedürftige Liebe des Menschen: Ursprung und Funktion der Rede von der Liebe des Menschen zu Gott als alttestamtentlicher Beitrag zur Gotteslehre
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10702
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

Karl Allen Kuhn
The Kingdom according to Luke and Acts: A Social, Literary, and Theological Introduction
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10274
Reviewed by Frank E. Dicken

R. Reed Lessing
Isaiah 56–66
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10352
Reviewed by Dominic S. Irudayaraj

Rüdiger Liwak; Markus Witte and Dagmar Pruin, eds.
Israel in der altorientalischen Welt: Gesammelte Studien zur Kultur- und Religionsgeschichte des antiken Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9517
Reviewed by Jeremy M. Hutton

Matthew R. Malcolm
Paul and the Rhetoric of Reversal in 1 Corinthians: The Impact of Paul’s Gospel on His Macro-Rhetoric
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10216
Reviewed by Timothy J. Christian

Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch
Social-Science Commentary on the Deutero-Pauline Letters
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9558
Reviewed by Maria Karyakina
Reviewed by Korinna Zamfir

Julia M. O’Brien
Micah
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10990
Reviewed by Bob Becking

Moo on James' and Paul's Use of Genesis 15:6

I think Doug Moo’s explanation of the difference between James’ and Paul’s use of Genesis 15:6 to be helpful.

To borrow a metaphor from the world of photography, Paul uses a telephoto lens to isolate the inherent meaning of the verse whereas James looks at the verse through a wide-angle lens, viewing it in the larger landscape of the Abraham narrative. Paul cites the verse to highlight the adequacy of faith in and of itself to justify a person before God. The faith Abraham exercises here comes before his circumcision (Gn 17) and before his famous “work” of obedience (Gn 22). As so often, Paul gives fuller meaning to the terms of the original text, especially in his strongly forensic interpretation of righteousness. But his application of the text, I have argued, is legitimate, since Gn 15:6 teaches that Abraham’s faith was considered by God as meeting the entirety of his obligation before God. James gives us no reason to think that he ignores or changes the meaning of the text. But he insists that the faith of which Gn 15:6 speaks is, in the larger story of Genesis, a faith that expresses itself in works of obedience and that these works are also to be included in the “entirety of the obligation” that Abraham owes to God.

Douglas Moo, “Genesis 15:6 in the New Testament,” in From Creation to New Creation: Biblical Theology and Exegesis, ed. Daniel M. Gurtner and Benjamin L. Gladd (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013), 162.

Observe Repetition. Observe Repetition

I appreciate the words below from Dale Ralph Davis. I often tell my students that the biblical authors did not have emoticons so one has to read especially carefully and closely. One basic way is to observe repetition.

"Biblical writers did not have the luxury of using bold, italicized, or underlined type as our computer-driven generation does. They had to make their emphases in different ways. Repetition was one means that they used as a substitute for underscoring." 

The Word Became Fresh: How to Preach from Old Testament Narrative Texts (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2006), 22.

Watson on Matthew's Gospel

“Matthew’s gospel bears witness to a Jewish Jesus whose person and work are shaped by his people’s history as interpreted in the scriptural record. The gospel was placed first in the canonical collection because its early readers were convinced by its fundamental claim: salvation has come to the world in the person of a Jew.”

Francis Watson, The Fourfold Gospel: A Theological Reading of the New Testament Portraits of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2016), 49.

Five Pointers on Using Humor in Preaching

Peter Mead has five pointers on using humor in preaching 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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

M. Eugene Boring
I and II Thessalonians: A Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10698
Reviewed by Matthew D. Jensen

Constantine R. Campbell
Advances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10420
Reviewed by Hennie Stander

Roy R. Jeal
Exploring Philemon: Freedom, Brotherhood, and Partnership in the New Society
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11020
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis
Reviewed by S. Matthew Solomon

Lori Khatchadourian
Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11239
Reviewed by Jason M. Silverman

John S. Kloppenborg and Alicia J. Batten, eds.
James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Early Jesus Traditions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10214
Reviewed by Pheme Perkins

David McAuley
Paul’s Covert Use of Scripture: Intertextuality and Rhetorical Situation in Philippians 2:10–16
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10939
Reviewed by Isaac Blois

Young-Ho Park
Paul’s Ekklesia as a Civic Assembly: Understanding the People of God in Their Politico-Social World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10503
Reviewed by Bradley J. Bitner

Alexander Prokhorov
The Isaianic Denkschrift and a Socio-cultural Crisis in Yehud: A Rereading of Isaiah 6:1–9:6[7]
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10581
Reviewed by Csaba Balogh

Stephen Richard Turley
The Ritualized Revelation of the Messianic Age: Washings and Meals in Galatians and 1 Corinthians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10727
Reviewed by Craig L. Blomberg

ETS Videos: Progressive Covenantalism and Progressive Dispensationalism

Videos of the three plenary sessions from the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Southwest Region of the Evangelical Theological Society are now available on Youtube. The theme was “Progressive Covenantalism and Progressive Dispensationalism” and the plenary speakers were Dr. Stephen Wellum and Dr. Craig Blaising.

Plenary Session 1 – Dr. Stephen Wellum, “Progressive Covenantalism”

Plenary Session 2 – Dr. Craig Blaising, “Progressive Dispensationalsim”

Panel Discussion – Drs. Wellum and Blaising