Coins, Politics, and History

Christopher Howgego makes the following comment about Grecian coins but the same would apply to biblical period coinage as well.

"Coins cannot compare with literary sources in revealing the complexity of intentions and shifting sands of allegiance which make up political life, but they do have several advantages for the historian. First, in periods of autocracy they generally present the official line, and hence provide an important supplement to an often meagre body of surviving official literature and monuments. Second, while literary sources may illuminate brilliantly short periods or episodes, coins offer a much more continuous chronological and geographical coverage. Third, for many periods we may be confident that we have a comparatively complete knowledge of the typology of the coins, in sharp contrast to the low and uneven survival rate of literary sources. Finally, coins are a strictly contemporary source, lacking the disadvantages (and advantages) of the element of retrospect characteristic, for example, of historical writing."

Christopher Howgego, Ancient History from Coins (London: Routledge, 1995), 62.

The Beatitudes

If you are preaching or teaching from the Beatitudes in Matthew or Luke you might want to take a look at these links provided by Christianity Today.

The Foundations of an Effective Sermon

David Allen shares seven of them here. I generally agree but would differ a bit in how the content is divided and presented. For example, I hold that illustration is subset of explanation and application is part of exposition.

Christian Distance Education Models

Melissa Travis has a nice discussion and evaluation of three different Christian Distance Education models here.

HT: VT Clark

Preaching for the First Time

Tim Challies has some really good advice here.

The Latest Issue of the 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.

Melanie Baffes, Love, Loss, and Abjection: The Journey of New Birth in the Gospel of John
Reviewed by Douglas Estes

Jamie A. Banister, The God of Thunder and War in Micah, Habakkuk, and Zechariah
Reviewed by Bob Becking

Mark J. Boda, The Heartbeat of Old Testament Theology: Three Creedal Expressions
Reviewed by Ryan P. Bonfiglio

Rick Brannan, The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Unperceived Continuity of Isaiah
Reviewed by LarsOlov Eriksson

Philip R. Davies, The Bible for the Curious: A Brief Encounter
Reviewed by John T. Strong

Ronald Hendel and Jan Joosten, How Old Is the Hebrew Bible? A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study
Reviewed by Richard Friedman

Joshua W. Jipp, Reading Acts
Reviewed by Renee Dutter Miller

Gregory R. Lanier, Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and the Christology of Luke’s Gospel
Reviewed by Bart B. Bruehler

Roland Meynet, Le fait synoptique reconsidéré
Reviewed by Alex Damn

William E. W. Robinson, Metaphor, Morality, and the Spirit in Romans 8:1–17
Reviewed by William Horst

Teodozja I. Rzeuska, Chronological Overview of Pottery from Asyut: A Contribution to the History of Gebel Asyut al-Gharbi
Reviewed by John Coleman Darnell

What Happened between David and Bathsheba

Four recent articles/posts (see links below) have sought to clarify what exactly happened (or did not happen) between David and Bathsheba. More specifically, did David rape Bathsheba? The issue is complicated and there is a measure of ambiguity in 2 Samuel 11. My reading of the text suggests that David acts despicably but his actions probably do not qualify as rape, at least not in the biblical definition of the term (see Burk below).

Unsigned article but discusses Rachael Denhollender's view
Denny Burk
Anne Kennedy
Ruth Graham

Genre and Preaching Jonah

Ed Scott raises the important question of how one's understanding of the genre of Jonah influences the preaching of Jonah here. But unfortunately he does not really address the issue other than affirming the book's historicity. I agree with that the book reflects a historical event but that is not all there is to the issue of genre. And the issue is an important one as Steven Smith in Recapturing the Voice of God has pointed out, text-driven preaching not only preaches the text but also the genre of the text.

Teaching 2 Timothy

John Currie talk to Nancy Guthrie about teaching 2 Timothy here.

The Council of Acts 15

Ian Paul has a pretty good discussion here of the Jerusalem Council event in Acts 15. I don't agree with his understanding of the origins of the prohibitions and which I think weakens other points he makes but overall it is a good summary.

Jude's Three Wishes

Clint Archer talks here about the three "wishes" in Jude. Some in biblical studies call such statements wish-prayers.

Review of Biblical Greek Made Simple

H. Daniel Zacharias, Biblical Greek Made Simple: All the Basics in One Semester. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2018, 360 pp.

In my pre-Bible college, pre-seminary days, I wanted to learn Greek. So, I began looking around for a text to help me. Two in particular caught my attention. One had “Do It Yourself” in the title and the other had “30 Minutes a Day.” I ended up buying both books but never made it through either one and reading Greek remained elusive. Neither one of these works were really to blame. It was only later that I discovered in learning a language there is a difference between simple and easy. To say that something is simple is to say that it is not complicated. But mastering and applying the simple is often not easy. The work under review promises simple and to that end it is successful but readers who pick this book up should understand that it will probably not make learning Greek easy. This book can provide the simple but the reader will need to supply the blood, sweat, and tears!
 
But now to Biblical Greek Made Simple. Here Daniel Zacharias has provided a simple Greek grammar. He identifies four features that make it “unique” (probably distinctive is better) (pp. XXIV–XXV). First, it is designed to cover all the basics in one-semester (12-weeks or so). Second, it attempts to incorporate Logos Bible software into the process. Third, because of the first two distinctives, it attempts to ask different kinds of questions. And fourth, the volume is set up to allow one the option for going further and deeper.
There is much to like about the approach taken in this volume. Zacharias is often able to navigate the pedagogical tension between gross oversimplification and pedantic overqualification. The definitions and explanations are clear and at times entertaining. There are a number of helpful tables and diagrams and color coding is used in a helpful way. Budget-conscious students will be glad to know that there is no separate workbook to purchase since all the exercises are built in.
That being said, there are two concerns that I have about this volume. First, Zacharias is big on the idea of familiarization rather than memorization (either paradigms or patterns) and that is certainly a consolation to the beginning student. Casual familiarization is probably not going to get the job done and a robust familiarization looks a lot like memorization. Second, hitching the grammar to Logos is fine but what of the student who might not be able to afford the often-sizeable investment any decent package entails. There are also two additional issues related to the use of Logos. (1) The temptation to misuse the software as a crutch is ever present where the spirit is willing but the flesh is week. (2) The possibility that the already stretched thin student is forced to learn both Greek and Logos at the same time.

In the end though, there is much to commend this entry into the crowded field of introductory Greek texts. I imagine that more than a few will respond favorably to Zacharias’ approach. He has done an admirable job of trying to make things simple. This is great. As noted earlier, simple is not the same as easy. But of course, many of the best things in life are simple but not easy.

Thanks to the folks at Lexham who provided the volume used in this unbiased review.

Word & World on Romans

The latest issue of the journal Word & World focuses on Romans. You can access a free PDF here.

HT: Nijay Gupta