Fee on How to Read the Bible Better

  

See this post which summarizes an article by Gordon Fee on how to read the Bible better. I wholeheartedly concur with Fee's suggestions.

HT: Todd Bolen
 

Outreach Resources of the Year

  

Some might be interested in this list of the best outreach resources of 2010.

  

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:

Matthew E. Carlton
Translator's Reference Translation of the Gospel of Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7165
Reviewed by Sylvie Raquel
 
Youn Ho Chung
The Sin of the Calf: The Rise of the Bible's Negative Attitude toward the Golden Calf
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7633
Reviewed by Raz Kletter
 
Werner H. Kelber and Samuel Byrskog, eds.
Jesus in Memory: Traditions in Oral and Scribal Perspectives
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7538
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek
 
Michael Lattke
The Odes of Solomon
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7349
Reviewed by Majella Franzmann
 
Adrian Long
Paul and Human Rights: A Dialogue with the Father of the Corinthian Community
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7496
Reviewed by Ronald R. Clark
 
Mark Allan Powell, ed.
Methods for Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7412
Reviewed by InHee Cho
 
Thomas Römer, ed.
The Books of Leviticus and Numbers
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7002
Reviewed by William A. Tooman
 
David Rosenberg
A Literary Bible: An Original Translation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7446
Reviewed by John Engle
 
Gerd Theißen
Erleben und Verhalten der ersten Christen: Eine Psychologie des Urchristentums
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6521
Reviewed by Wayne Coppins
 
Ellen van Wolde
Reframing Biblical Studies: When Language and Text Meet Culture, Cognition, and Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7410
Reviewed by Frank Polak 

Slinging: This Way or That?

  
Seth Rodriquez, has a fascinating guest post at Todd Bolen's excellent BiblePlaces blog on ancient slinging technique. By the way, I recently made a sling in preparation for an upcoming presentation of the David and Goliath story but I haven't tried it out. I think that it would be wise to hide the women and children regardless of which technique I use!
    

Michael Vlach Has a Blog

  
If you have appreciated the work of Michael Vlach as I have you might be interested to know that he has a blog which can be found here.
 

Varner on Lessons Learned in the Study of the Psalms

  
William Varner has a nice post on the lessons he learned in his study of the psalms. Check it out here.
 

Timothy Keller's New Book King's Cross 60% Off

  
I don't know much about the book, but Timothy Keller's King's Cross is on sale for one week only (Sale Ends Monday, Feb. 28th) at 60%  off (or $10.38) at the Westminster Book store. Go here. You can browse the book here.

A Comparison of the Healing Accounts in Acts 9:32-43

  

I was looking through some of my files and came upon this table I created several years back. Maybe it will be of interest to someone.

   

SOME DIFFERENCES
Acts 9:32–35	Acts 9:36–43
Peter comes to Lydda on his own	Peter asked to come to Joppa
Miracle occurs in Lydda	Miracle occurs in Joppa
A certain man	A certain female disciple
Nature of the problem: paralysis	Nature of the problem: death
No prayer mentioned	Prayer mentioned
SOME SIMILARITIES
Both miracles involve Peter
Peter addresses both people by name
Peter tells both people to arise
Both are restored immediately
Both miracles result in people being converted

Learning Greek: Expectations and Reality

  

"First year students of New Testament Greek often imagine that they will quickly discover all kids of hidden secrets of Scripture that few in their churches know. They think they will be able to solve the major doctrinal and exegetical controversies of the faith, or at least know which of the existing options is 'right.' More careful reflection on these issues, however, should suggest to them that, if all it took to attain such depths of insight were a year or two of Greek, then the tens of thousands of students who had traversed this path before them, with the identical resources, would all have come to agreement on most every important exegetical question."

Craig L. Blomberg with Jennifer Foutz Markley, A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010), 37. 
  

House on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

  
See Paul House's article, "Christ-Centered Zeal: Some Concerns from an OT Scholar" posted at The Gospel Coalition website here. The Gospel Coalitions has also set up a site on preaching Christ in the Old Testament which looks to have some excellent resources here.
 

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:

John J. Collins
Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7404
Reviewed by Philip R. Davies
 
David Lyle Jeffrey and C. Stephen Evans, eds.
The Bible and the University
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6773
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow
 
Timothy Jay Johnson
Now My Eye Sees You: Unveiling an Apocalyptic Job
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7514
Reviewed by Scott C. Jones
 
Jason Kalman and Jaqueline S. du Toit
Canada's Big Biblical Bargain: How McGill University Bought the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7649
Reviewed by Matthew A. Collins
 
Edward W. Klink III
The Audience of the Gospels: The Origin and Function of the Gospels in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7491
Reviewed by Theodore J. Weeden Sr.
 
Daniel A. Machiela
The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation with Introduction and Special Treatment of Columns 13-17
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7425
Reviewed by Benjamin Ziemer
 
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Qumran and Jerusalem: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7591
Reviewed by Sidnie White Crawford
 
Michael E. Stone, Aryeh Amihay, and Vered Hillel, eds.
Noah and His Book(s)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7661
Reviewed by Emma England
Reviewed by Anthony Swindell

Helps for Learning Hebrew Prepositions

  
See this post.
  

Hurtado on Scribes vs. Copyists

   
See this interesting post by Larry Hurtado on some possible distinctions of scribes versus copyists and the possible implications for textual criticism.
  

Excavations Began at Qumran on this Day in 1949

  
See this brief article on the anniversary of the excavations at Qumran.

 

Textual Stability of the New Testament Manuscripts

  

See Larry Hurtado's interesting post which interacts with K. Martin Heide's forthcoming essay entitled “Assessing the Stability of the Transmitted Texts of the New Testament and the Shepherd of Hermas."

 

"The Rise and Fall of the Bible"

  

See this article in Salon magazine about how "American Christians buy millions of Bibles they seldom read and don't understand." You don't have to agree with all the conclusions in the article to know that this is a real problem.

 

Nijay Gupta's Interview with Brenda Colijn

   
See Nijay Gupta's interview with Brenda Colijn concerning her book Images of Salvation in the New Testament (IVP, 2010).
  

Nine Aberrant Forms of Christian Leadership

  
See Michael Jensen's post here.
  

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:

Johanna Brankaer
Coptic: A Learning Grammar (Sahidic)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7598
Reviewed by Hans Förster

Kevin R. Brine, Elena Ciletti, and Henrike Lähnemann, eds.
The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies across the Disciplines
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7772
Reviewed by Lawrence M. Wills

Everett Ferguson
Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7108
Reviewed by Hennie Stander

G. Walter Hansen
The Letter to the Philippians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7397
Reviewed by Angela Standhartinger

Bengt Holmberg, ed.
Exploring Early Christian Identity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7771
Reviewed by Cornelis Bennema

Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons
Illuminating Luke: Volume 3: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Painting
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7476
Reviewed by John F. A. Sawyer

Leroy A. Huizinga
The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7389
Reviewed by Russell C. D. Arnold

Luke Timothy Johnson
The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7524
Reviewed by Ken Olson

Matthijs J. de Jong
Isaiah among the Ancient Near Eastern Prophets: A Comparative Study of the Earliest Stages of the Isaiah Tradition and the Neo-Assyrian Prophecies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7646
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia

R. Steven Notley, Marc Turnage, and Brian Becker, eds.
Jesus' Last Week: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels-Volume One
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7424
Reviewed by Daniel M. Gurtner

Why Study Biblical Languages?

  
Nicholas Frankovish has an article in First Things entitled, "Why Study Biblical Languages?" In the article Frankovich argues for the importance for studying biblical languages. He is preaching to the choir here. Unfortunately and ironically, the author's example from John 21 is probably an instance of misunderstanding the Greek.
 

Varner on Genesis 6:1-3

  
See William Varner's post on Genesis 6:1-3.
 

Blomberg on the Implications of Textual Criticism on Pastoral Ministry

"The average reader of Scripture is not at any great peril if he or she does not understand the text-critical  process; however, the pastor or teacher who wants to instruct with the greatest amount of accuracy and precision but who bypasses this step in exegesis risks relying on an inferior text at some point without even knowing it. Ignorance of textual criticism will become a more serious obstacle for pastors or teachers when they are unable to answer parishioners' questions about how the text has come to us in the forms in which we have it, or about why different modern-language translations opt for different textual variants. They will be unable to respond to the charges of the ‘far right’ that contemporary translations have corrupted the supposedly pure, inerrant King James Version, and of the ‘far left’ that careless copying or theologically motivated distortions prove so pervasive that we cannot be confident that anything remaining resembles the original documents."

Craig L. Blomberg with Jennifer Foutz Markley, A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010), 26.
 

Commentaries on James

  
See Shane Lems' nice annotated discussion of commentaries that he found helpful as he preached and taught through James. 
  

Videos on Greek Accents on Youtube

   
I know that this has been noted here and there, but just in case you missed it John Schwandt of the Institute of Biblical Greek has three videos on Youtube explaining Greek accenting. You can view the first videos here. Double click the video and it will take you to the Youtube site where you can access all three videos.
  

Placher on Mark 1:1

  

"The implicit reference: Mark's first audience was familiar with a book that started with archē (beginning)—Genesis, the first chapter of the Torah, in its Greek translation. Starting another book that way suggests a comparison between this story of a recently crucified teacher and the story of God's creation of the whole universe, the beginning of God’s sacred Work. History, creation itself, is beginning again. Can what follows possibly be that important?

William C. Placher, Mark: Belief, a Theological Commentary on the Bible, ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2010),13.