Five Signs You're Watching a Bad Church Video

  
See this article on five signs that you are watching a bad church video.
  

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Bertil Albrektson
Text, Translation, Theology: Selected Essays on the Hebrew Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7443
Reviewed by Corrado Martone
 
Rob Barrett
Disloyalty and Destruction: Religion and Politics in Deuteronomy and the Modern World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7543
Reviewed by Jerry Hwang
 
David A. Bernat
Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Priestly Tradition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7283
Reviewed by Michael Hundley
 
Pierre Bordreuil and Dennis Pardee
A Manual of Ugaritic
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7347
Reviewed by Ian Young and Lucy Davey
 
Paul Borgman
David, Saul, and God: Rediscovering an Ancient Story
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6985
Reviewed by Andrew E. Steinmann
 
Athalya Brenner, Archie Chi Chung Lee, and Gale A. Yee, eds.
Genesis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7448
Reviewed by Phillip Michael Sherman
 
R. T. France
The Gospel of Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6051
Reviewed by Leslie Robert Keylock
 
Robert D. Holmstedt
Ruth: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7436
Reviewed by Marjo C. A. Korpel
 
Anders-Christian Jacobsen, ed.
The Discursive Fight over Religious Texts in Antiquity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7229
Reviewed by Matteo Grosso
 
Philip Peter Jenson
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah: A Theological Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6952
Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock
Reviewed by Daniel L. Smith-Christopher
 
Edward Kessler
An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7616
Reviewed by D. Andrew Kille
 
Richard N. Soulen
Sacred Scripture: A Short History of Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7478
Reviewed by Sean Kealy
 
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ed.
Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6968
Reviewed by William A. Tooman
 
Howard N. Wallace
Psalms
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7507
Reviewed by John E. Anderson

Biblical Studies Info Page

  
Check out Ferrell Jenkins' Biblical Studies Info Page here.
  

One-Sentence Messages of the Entire Bible

   
See this post.

HT: Kevin DeYoung
  

The Text and Personal Response

   

"I usually prefer to make the connections between the text and the need for personal response as I move through each major point of the sermon, rather than waiting until the conclusion to do this. The connections we make may be of various kinds: (1) cause and effect- Given this cause, should it not produce this effect or result in is? (2) ethical- Why am I living this way when God's Word demands a totally different lifestyle? (3) apologetical- Why am I holding this grudge against God? or, Why do I think that there is no way some of the principles taught in scripture can apply to anyone who is living and operating in the real world?

Walter C., Kaiser Jr., "Keeping a Finger on the Text," in Inside the Sermon, ed Richard Allen Bodey (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 175.

  

Luke 16:1–9: The Clever Rascal

   
I was recently working in T. W. Manson's The Sayings of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957). Manson has short headings for each of the sayings and for Luke 16:1–9 he has "The Clever Rascal." What a great and appropriate title. 
  

The Implications of the New Covenant Sacrifice of Christ in Hebrews 9:23–28

The implications of the New Covenant sacrifice of Christ are at least threefold. First, the death of Christ cleansed the heavenly tabernacle so that He can “appear in the presence of God for us” (vv. 23–24). Second, the sacrificial death of Christ was both final and complete (in contrast to the sacrifices of the earthly priests) (vv. 25–26). Third, since Christ has already died once in order to bring salvation in His First Coming, His Second Coming, will not be to die for, but to deliver “those who eagerly await Him.”

HEBREWS 9:11–28
S U P E R I O R I T Y	The blood of Christ is superior to the blood of animals (9:13–22).	The place of Christ’s offering was in the heavenly tabernacle not the earthly tabernacle (9:23–24).	The offering of Christ was eternal not temporal (9:25–28)
R O L E	Christ as Redeemer (9:11)	Christ as High Priest (9:24)	Christ as Returning Lord (9:28)
T I M E	PAST	PRESENT	FUTURE

The Centrality of the Jerusalem Church

  

Yesterday we noted the centrality of the city of Jerusalem for Luke-Acts. Here is a quote which notes the centrality of the church in Jerusalem.

"That the Jerusalem church held a uniquely important and authoritative place in earliest Christianity is also plainly evidenced in Acts. The earliest circle of believers is ordered by the resurrected Jesus to remain in Jerusalem (1:4), where the first Christian proclamation occurs (chaps. 2-7). As in Gal 2:1-10, it is to Jerusalem that a delegation from the church of Antioch goes for a definitive ruling on the question of Gentile admission. Similarly, it is to James and the elders of the Jerusalem church that Paul presents himself in Acts 21. This list could be extended considerably, but the point should be obvious: in Acts, Christianity begins and remains centered in Jerusalem." 

Craig C. Hill, "the Jerusalem Church," in Jewish Christianity Reconsidered: Rethinking Ancient Groups and Texts, ed. Matt Jackson-McCabe (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 45.

  

Luke-Acts and the Centrality of Jerusalem

Although some would argue against the centrality of Jerusalem in Luke-Acts, most tend to affirm the pivotal role of Jerusalem. For example, Andrew Rider states,

"The unity of Luke's double volume is achieved in two ways. There is, first of all, an external unity. More than any of the other evangelists, Luke is concerned with geography. For example, he extends Mark's story of Jesus on 'the way' in the central section of his Gospel. The journey to Jerusalem occupies a central portion of the narrative.
. . .

"Jerusalem, then, forms the geographical link between the Gospel and Acts. The account of the ascension from Jerusalem is repeated at the beginning of Acts. The disciples are told to await the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The city is the focal point from which the universal mission of the church radiates-even Paul has to return there. Jerusalem remains the mother-church as the Word of the Lord spreads to the ends of the earth. The city provides the external geographical link that binds Luke's story together."

Andrew Ryder, Following Christ: Modes of Discipleship in the New Testament (Franklin, WI: Sheed & Ward, 1999), 74–5. 

  

One's View of God and Worship

"'The words 'I am thy God' are the standard and measure of everything that can be said about worship.'" These words of Luther show that God and worship belong together. A person's picture of God determines his idea of worship. Indeed, the First Commandment is basic for Luther's idea of worship. Faith itself is the essence of worship; for faith is the fulfillment of the First Commandment, and idolatry is nothing but unbelief. Man must decide between worship and idolatry. There is no other choice. Either God is "our God," and we live in fellowship with him, or else by distrust despise him. The one implies worship, the other idolatry." 

Vilmos Vajita, Luther on Worship: An Interpretation (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1958), 3.

Hemer on Revelation as Apocalyptic

  

I recently found a used copy of Colin Hemer’s The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting. As I was flipping through the book, I came upon the following paragraph under the heading “The Revelation as Apocalyptic.”

”The topic of apocalyptic needs to be considered first. I believe that the connection of the Revelation with earlier works of this genre has been overestimated. If apocalyptic, it is apocalyptic with difference. Previous samples were pseudonymous, and generally imitative and pedestrian. But if John used the machinery of a traditional form, he invested that form with a new dimension, and his work cannot be judged within the limits of a convention. The content is here important, even though the rigid and elaborate structure invites concentration upon the form. The imagery is used in a pointed and allusive way: the whole differs from much other apocalyptic in the kind of way that allegory is regarded as differing from parable. In extra-Biblical apocalyptic only perhaps the earlier Sibylline Oracles display any comparable concern with the details of geography and history, and the Fourth Book, which alone permits confident judgment on its unity and provenance, was written in Asia shortly before the Revelation (cf. J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon, p. 96).”

I agree with Hemer. I have long questioned how some have examined extra-biblical apocalyptic works, identified a set of characteristics that appear to be common to those works, and then use those characteristics as a grid to interpreting the Book of Revelation without giving adequate consideration to the differences in the Book of Revelation itself. In my opinion, such an approach tends to flatten both the material in the extra-biblical works and Revelation.

Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting, Biblical Resource Series, ed. Astrid B. Beck and David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 12.
  

Relevant Preaching

   

"Great preaching will not ignore the fact that men and women need to hear the Word of God against the backdrop of the major ills, dilemmas, and questions of our own day. Therefore, it is as crucial for the preacher to be a student of the times as to be a student of Scripture. Only when a good match has been made between current questions and their biblical answers will preaching be effective, relevant, and challenging."

Walter C. Kaiser Jr., "Keeping a Finger on the Text," in Inside the Sermon, ed Richard Allen Bodey (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 172-73.

Free Audio Download of Bridges' The Pursuit of Holiness

  
Christianaudio.com is offering free audio downloads of Jerry Bridges' book The Pursuit of Holiness. For more details and instructions go here.
   

Ulrich Luz's Matthew 8–20 Commentary

   

Luz, Ulrich. Matthew 8–20: A Commentary. Edited by Helmut Koester. Translated by James E. Crouch. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.

This is the second volume of Hermeneia’s three volume Matthew commentary. This three volume series is based on Luz’s original German four-volume commentary. For the first volume, Matthew 1–7, see here. 

Publisher's Description:

This is the second of a three-volume commentary on the gospel of Matthew from Europe's leading Matthew scholar. Volume 1 Matthew 1–7 was previously published in the “Continental Commentaries” series. Luz’s commentary is especially noteworthy, not only for his incisive exegesis, but also his keen eye for the importance of the history of interpretation and his attention to the relevance of the New Testament for contemporary Christian ethics. This commentary includes excursuses on Son of David; Matthew’s Interpretation of the Parables; Peter in the Gospel of Matthew; and Son of Man.

Abbreviated Table of Contents:

Foreword
Preface
Reference Codes
Editor's Note

Commentary

I Prelude (1:1—4:22)–vol. 1

 
II Jesus' Activity in Israel in Word and Deed (4:23—11:30)–vol. 1

 
A The Sermon on the Mount (5–7)–vol. 1
B Jesus' Miracles in Israel (8:1—9:35)
C. The Disciples Discourse (9:36-11:1)
D Transition: Israel's Crisis Deepens (11:2-30)

III Jesus Withdraws from Israel (12:1-16:20)

 
A The Conflict with the Pharisees (12:1-50)
B The Parables Discourse (13:1-53)
C Jesus' Withdrawal from Israel and the Origin of the Church (13:53—16:20)

IV Jesus' Activity in the Church (16:21—20:34)

A Experiences of the Disciples on the Way to Suffering (16:21—17:27)
B The Community Discourse (18:1-35)
C On the Way to Jerusalem (19:1-20:34)

Indices
1. Passages
2. Greek and Hebrew Words
3. Subjects
4. Medieval Commentators and Modern Authors
Designer's Notes

  

"Jewish Christian" in New Testament Terms

I have been thinking about what we mean when we say "Jewish Christian" in New Testament terms. Craig Hill makes offers the following suggestion.

"It would be possible to call the members of the Jerusalem church 'Jewish Christians' and mean by it only that these were Christian believers whose ethnic identity (to use modern category) was Jewish. That would be little different from saying that someone is an Irish athlete or an African American singer. These designations tell us something specific about the person but nothing particular about the form of athletics or the type of singing. Few people speak of Jewish Christianity in this sense. Instead, the qualifier 'Jewish' is substantive: a Jewish Christian is one whose self-understanding, beliefs, and practices are substantially both Jewish and Christian."

Craig C. Hill, "the Jerusalem Church," in Jewish Christianity Reconsidered: Rethinking Ancient Groups and Texts, ed. Matt Jackson-McCabe (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 45.

 

Happy New Year!

  
I want to wish my readers a very blessed New Year.
 

What Is “the Law and the Prophets” in Luke 16:16?

Yesterday I posted a survey of the treatments of Luke 16:16–18 in some major commentaries. Now I thought I would share with you some of the positions held by the commentators concerning the identification of “the law and the prophets” in Luke 16:16. Here is a table with some results.

The identification of “the law and the prophets”	Commentator/Commentary
Old Testament preaching	Joseph Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke 10–24: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB (1985), 1116
The period of time marked by the law and the prophets or the Old Testament period or age	I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (1978), 628 Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke, ICC (1901), 389 Norval Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke, NICNT (1977), 420 Robert H. Stein, Luke. NAC (1992), 418. Darrell Bock, Luke 9:51–24:53, BECNT (1996), 1351, 54.
The Old Testament	William Hendriksen, The Gospel According to Luke, NTC (1978), 774. C. F. Evans, Saint Luke (1990), 607. Craig Evans, Luke, NIBC (1990), 246. John Nolland, Luke 9:21–18:34, WBC (1993), 821. C. Marvin Pate, Luke. Moody Gospel Commentary (1995), 316 Joel Green, The Gospel of Luke, NICNT (1997), 603. Walter Liefeld and David Pao, “Luke,” in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, rev. ed (2007), 261.
The testimony of the Scriptures	Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, Sacra Pagina (1991), 250. Probably should be included in the OT category.

Discussions of Luke 16.16–18

I have been working recently on Luke 16:16–18. This is an important passage for understanding how Jesus understood the relationship between the proclamation of His kingdom and the Mosaic Law. In my research I consulted a number of commentaries and I thought I might share with you my basic evaluations of the discussions of the passage in each of the commentaries. Please note that these evaluations are by no means complete and therefore may or may not reflect the overall quality of the commentary as a whole. I have listed the commentaries and annotations in alphabetical order.

Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke 10–24: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB (1985). A fairly detailed discussion of the major issues, but after explaining the options, Fitzmyer does not really take a stand on the meaning of biazetai in 16:16. Furthermore, the explanation of continuing validity of the Law begs for further elaboration: “Jesus sees his preaching of the kingdom as something more abiding than the universe itself, because it is the real meaning of the continuing validity of the Law.”

Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, NICNT (1997). Green has one of the most disappointing treatments of the passage. One would expect more detailed exegesis in a full-length commentary in a major commentary series. While Green provides a decent explanation of the flow of the argument he doesn’t deal adequately with the details of the text. For example, the meaning of biazetai in v. 16 is barely addressed.

Walter Liefeld and David Pao, “Luke, in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, rev. ed. (2007). Liefeld and Pao provide a decent explanation of biazetai in v. 16 (although they do not take a position) but not much of an explanation of v. 17.

I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (1978). Good discussion of both the details and meaning of the text. But it would have been more helpful for Marshall to clarify his explanation of the continuing validity of the Law in light of the coming of the kingdom in vv. 16–17.

John Nolland, Luke 9:21–18:34, WBC (1993). Nolland offers a good discussion both in the details of the text and of the meaning of Luke’s argument as a whole. But the discussion of the continuing validity of the Law in v. 17 is a bit confusing. On the one hand, Nolland writes, “The continuing validity of every detail of the law is here being lent the sense of permanence that adheres to the creation itself” and later in the same paragraph he states, “The addition of v 17 makes it quite clear that v 16 is not to be read as implying any kind of supersession of the law,” but then Nolland suggests that “while v 18 to follow suggests that an ethical focus should be given to the sense of v 17” (p. 821). What is confusing is whether Nolland believes that v. 17 is teaching all or some (the ethical) aspects of the Law are being presented as continuing in validity.

Robert H. Stein, Luke, NAC (1992). Stein offers a solid overall discussion of the significant details of the text. Stein also identifies five different views of v. 17: “(1) All the laws in the OT will remain. (2) All the moral but not the ceremonial and civil laws found in the OT will remain. (3) All the promises/prophecies in the OT will be fulfilled. (4) The OT is transformed and fulfilled in Jesus’ teachings. (5) The OT in all its aspects, i.e., its law, promises, and prophecies, will be fulfilled. In light of the following verse it appears that the second interpretation probably was meant” and eventually settling on the second option (p. 419).

Tips for the Th.M.

  
Marc Cortez has a series of posts on tips for doing a Th.M here.
 

Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament on Sale

  

Christian Book Distributor’s Midweek Markdowns has the three-volume Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament edited by Jenni and Westermann on sale for $24.99 (a 79% discount) until tomorrow. They are also offering 10% off (use code 339017) or free shipping (use code 339015) if you spend over $25. You can see TLOT here as well as other midweek markdowns here.

  

Bulletin for Biblical Research 20:4

  

The latest volume of the Bulletin for Biblical Research is out. It contains the following articles.

Labor Pains: The Relationship between David's Census and Corvée Labor
Kyle R. Greenwood

The "Better Righteousness": Matthew 5:20
Don Garlington

The Order and Essence of Canon in Brevard Childs’s Book on Paul
John C. Poirier

The Problem with the Observance of the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian Church
Barry D. Smith

Cosmology, Eschatology, and Soteriology in Hebrews: A Synthetic Analysis
Alexander Stewart

Understanding the Gospel of Judas
Craig A. Evans
  

Christological Titles in Acts 2

"Of all the christological titles or categories, two are clearly of great importance to Luke: Jesus as Lord (kyrios) and Jesus as Christ (christos). It is indeed the explicit justification of the use of these two terms for Jesus which governs the programmatic speech of Peter in Acts 2: the whole of the speech is, in one sense, an attempt to provide a detailed justification for the claim that God has made Jesus to be ‘Lord’ and ‘Christ’ (2:36). Indeed this structure to the speech, and the importance which the speech clearly has within the book of Acts as a whole, must clearly throw into question any claim that Luke is totally uninterested in the christological titles; certainly the way that Luke’s Peter clearly seeks to justify the use of these two terms suggests that Luke does see the terms as having some significance."

Christopher M. Tuckett, Christology and the New Testament: Jesus and His Earliest Followers (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 140.

The Latest Issue of 'Atiqot

  

'Atiqot 64 is now available online at www.atiqot.org.il. "Articles published in 'Atiqot are the result of the numerous salvage excavations conducted each year on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, which provides the most encompassing research on the region and its connections with the neighboring countries."

  

Merry Christmas!

  
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."
 

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Mark Andrew Brighton
The Sicarii in Josephus's Judean War: Rhetorical Analysis and Historical Observations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7070
Reviewed by Shayna Sheinfeld
 
Colleen M. Conway
Behold the Man: Jesus and Greco-Roman Masculinity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7343
Reviewed by Ronald R. Clark
 
Thomas B. Dozeman
Exodus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7348
Reviewed by Wolfgang Oswald
 
Benjamin H. Dunning
Aliens and Sojourners: Self as Other in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7261
Reviewed by Judith Lieu
 
Troels Engberg-Pedersen
Cosmology and Self in the Apostle Paul: The Material Spirit
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7520
Reviewed by L. Ann Jervis
 
Hermann Gunkel; K. C. Hanson, ed.
Israel and Babylon: The Babylonian Influence on Israelite Religion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7143
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore
 
Bruce Hansen
'All of You Are One': The Social Vision of Galatians 3.28, 1 Corinthians 12.13 and Colossians 3.11
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7553
 Reviewed by Kobus Kok
 
William H. Jennings
Storms over Genesis: Biblical Battleground in America's Wars of Religion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6155
Reviewed by Phillip Michael Sherman
 
Isaac Kalimi
The Retelling of Chronicles in Jewish Tradition and Literature: A Historical Journey
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7411
Reviewed by Rivka Ulmer
 
Kirsten Nielsen, ed.
Receptions and Transformations of the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7228
Reviewed by Donatella Scaiola
 
Rodrigo F. de Sousa
Eschatology and Messianism in LXX Isaiah 1-12
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7480
Reviewed by Tyler Mayfield
 
Jerry L. Sumney
The Bible: An Introduction
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7355
Reviewed by Gail Streete
 
Anthony C. Thiselton
The Living Paul: An Introduction to the Apostle's Life and Thought
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7453
Reviewed by Stephan Joubert
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III
 
Richard Valantasis
The Making of the Self: Ancient and Modern Asceticism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6509
Reviewed by Andrew T. Lincoln