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. 

Jason D. BeDuhn
The First New Testament: Marcion's Scriptural Canon
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9528
Reviewed by Richard I. Pervo

Joseph Blenkinsopp
David Remembered: Kingship and National Identity in Ancient Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9309
Reviewed by Walter Dietrich
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Claudia V. Camp
Ben Sira and the Men Who Handle Books: Gender and the Rise of Canon-Consciousness
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9325
Reviewed by Ibolya Balla

Esther G. Chazon and Betsy Halpern-Amaru, eds.
New Perspectives on Old Texts: Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 9–11 January, 2005
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8034
Reviewed by Bennie H. Reynolds III

Terence E. Fretheim
Reading Hosea–Micah: A Literary and Theological Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9376
Reviewed by David W. Baker

W. Edward Glenny
Hosea: A Commentary based on Hosea in Codex Vaticanus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9235
Reviewed by Richard G. Smith

Giovanni B. Lanfranchi, Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Cinzia Pappi, and Simonetta Ponchia, eds.
Leggo! Studies Presented to Frederick Mario Fales on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8615
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

Néstor O. Míguez
The Practice of Hope: Ideology and Intention in 1 Thessalonians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8878
Reviewed by Raymond F. Collins

Jane Dewar Schaberg; Holly E. Hearon, ed.
The Death and Resurrection of the Author and Other Feminist Essays on the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9067
Reviewed by Susanne Scholz

The Syllabus

Those involved in the academic side of things might want to read Allan Metcalf's examination of the origin of the word syllabus here.

Review of Elders in the Life of the Church

Phil A. Newton and Matt Schmucker, Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership, updated ed. (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014).

Elders in the Life of the Church is an updated edition of the 2005 Elders in the Congregational Life. Not only has Matt Schmucker been added as a contributor, but the content has been significantly bolstered by at least eighty pages. In essence the book examines elder plurality from three angles: historical, biblical, and practical.

The historical angle is primarily concerned with Baptist history. A short but enlightening survey of statements and confessions make a solid case that at least some of the Baptist forebears believed in a polity that included plurality of elders.

In the biblical section, the authors focus on four key texts: Acts 20:17–31; 1 Timothy 3:1–7; Hebrews 13:17–19; and 1 Peter 5:1–5. Strangely, Titus 1 is not treated independently in this section, although the authors do interact with Titus a number of times in the book.

Newton and Schmucker also discuss practical issues related to the elder model. This discussion really involves two aspects. First, the authors unpack the practical advantages of elder plurality. Second, significant attention is paid to practical implementation, that is, how one makes the shift from the more common single pastor plus deacons to the elder model.

This book is easy to read, with short chapters. The authors’ call to consider the elder model is one worth hearing. There is a transparency in the discussions with frequent references to personal anecdotes highlighting Newton and Schmucker’s successes and failures in taking their own churches through a transition to the elder model. Those seeking to make a similar transition will find plenty of practical advice. Even those already in elder-led churches will probably find at least some of the suggestions to be helpful.

The greatest weakness in the book is the biblical section. It is not that a biblical case cannot be made, but ironically, insufficient attention is paid to the details and specifics of the biblical text. Also puzzling is the omission of Titus 1, even if there are parallels to the 1 Timothy passage. The placement of some of the chapters appears to be strange or forced. For example, it is unclear how chapter 2 flows from chapter 1 or transitions to chapter 3. 

Nonetheless, Elders in the Life of the Church is a helpful primer to the plurality of elders model, especially from a Baptist context. Baptist pastors and leaders who want to know more about the elder model or how to transition to such a model should find help here.

You can read an excerpt here. 

Thanks to Kregel for providing the free review copy used in this unbiased review.

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. 

Thomas L. Brodie
Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus: Memoir of a Discovery
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9079
Reviewed by Benjamin I. Simpson

Richard J. Clifford
Wisdom
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9036
Reviewed by Lawrence M. Wills

David J. A. Clines and J. Cheryl Exum, eds.
The Reception of the Hebrew Bible in the Septuagint and the New Testament: Essays in Memory of Aileen Guilding
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9319
Reviewed by Benjamin J. M. Johnson

Joan E. Cook
Genesis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8934
Reviewed by Jonathan L. Huddleston

Avraham Faust
Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8652
Reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo

James E. Harding
The Love of David and Jonathan: Ideology, Text, Reception
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9116
Reviewed by Katherine Low

Charles E. Hill and Michael J. Kruger, eds.
The Early Text of the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8864
Reviewed by Amy M. Donaldson

Irene Nowell
Numbers
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8935
Reviewed by Timothy R. Ashley

Naomi Steinberg
The World of the Child in the Hebrew Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9068
Reviewed by Karin Finsterbusch

Joshua Marshall Strahan
The Limits of a Text: Luke 23:34a as a Case Study in Theological Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8808
Reviewed by Claire Clivaz

Three Ways to Incorporate Psalm Singing into Worship Services

Brian Croft has identified three helpful ways to incorporate singing the Psalms into a worship service here.

Five Suggestions for Studying and Retaining Your Greek

Andreas J. Köstenberger, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Rob Plummer offer five suggestions for studying and retaining  your Greek here. Make sure to read the explanations in the post but here are the five suggestions.

1. Read the GNT in your daily devotions.

2. Include Greek study in your weekly ministerial preparations.

3. Take a “Greek retreat” once or twice a year in which you read longer sections of the GNT, a technical Greek resource, or a Greek grammar.

4. Consider what elements of accountability and self-discipline may be applied to incorporate study of the GNT into your life.

5. Teach Greek.

After Paul Left Philippi

Paul's ministry in Philippi in Acts 16 is one of the highlights of his second missionary journey. Similarly, Paul's epistle to the Christians in Philippi is a favorite among Bible readers. But this biblical material might give the impression of a thriving and influential Christian community in Philippi. But extrabiblical evidence seems to challenge this impression. As Fatih Cimok notes,  

"Following the enthusiasm with which some Philippians embraced Paul's message one would expect Christianity to have flourished in the region in a short time. The scarcity of Christian tomb reliefs and their late date (post-Constantinian), in contrast to the popular continuity of pagan ones, the reliefs of various deities, especially the reliefs of Artemis/ Diana  and the elaborate shrines dedicated to the Roman god of nature  Sylvanus, on the rocks of the acropolis in the period following Paul's visit do not confirm this. Some scholars speculate that the absence of any reference to a bishop in Polycarp's letter written in the 150s to Philippi may also point in the same direction, the relatively late development of Christianity in the region. The fact that the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Acts of Andrew the Philippians are converted through a series of miracles may also point to a strong pagan trend, requiring miracles. The events in Acts, the city's location on the Via Egnatia would make Philippi a very important pilgrimage site only after the time of Constantine the Great."

Fatih Cimok, Journeys of Paul: From Tarsus to the Ends of the Earth (Istanbul: A Turizm Yayinlari, 2004), 134.

Crossway eBooks

Westminster Bookstore has partnered with Crossway to make eBooks available. For the next 48 hours they are offering 300 titles for only $1.99. You can see all titles here. Here is a list of some of the sale titles.

James Hamilton, God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (ebook)

James Hoffmeier, ed., Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?: A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture (ebook)

R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) (ebook)

Bruce Ware, Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ (ebook)

Gordon Wenham, The Psalter Reclaimed: Praying and Praising with the Psalms (ebook)

N. T. Wright and Taking Out the Garbage

Randall Hardman has a nice post on N. T. Wright that includes a pretty funny fictional argument between N. T. and his wife over taking out the garbage. You can check it out here.

HT: Shaun Tabatt

Eisenbrauns' Sale on Jesus Studies

Eisenbrauns is offering a 60%-off, 10-day sale, on select Jesus studies. Among the volumes on sale are the first two volumes of John Meier's Marginal Jew series. You can check out the sale here.

“Altar to the Unknown Sermon Method”

See David Allen's post entitled “Altar to the Unknown Sermon Method” here. This post is a slightly revised version of Allen's introduction in Text-Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon. This is an excellent book. You can read an interview with Allen on the book here.

Bible Odyssey

I meant to mention this the other day, but the Society of Biblical Literature's initiative "Bible Odyssey" is up and running here. Looks interesting.

Six Counterproductive Bible Study Approaches

This infographic was produced by Crossway. See this post on their blog.

2014 Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop

This year's Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2014 in The Riley Center on the campus of Southwestern Seminary. The focus of this workshop will be the book of Jonah. Registration, including lunch, is only $25. For more information go here or call 1.877.474.4769. You can also email at RileyCenterCalendar@swbts.edu.

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. 

Harold W. Attridge
The Acts of Thomas
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9253
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

George E. Demacopoulos
The Invention of Peter: Apostolic Discourse and Papal Authority in Late Antiquity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9289
Reviewed by Matthew R. Crawford

Katie B. Edwards
Admen and Eve: The Bible in Contemporary Advertising
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9063
Reviewed by Cynthia M. Baker

Eric J. Gilchrest
Revelation 21–22 in Light of Jewish and Greco-Roman Utopianism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9283
Reviewed by Thomas Hieke

Tremper Longman III
Job
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8611
Reviewed by Richard G. Smith

Donald P. Moffat
Ezra’s Social Drama: Identity Formation, Marriage and Social Conflict in Ezra 9 and 10
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9303
Reviewed by Hannah K. Harrington

Daniel C. Owens
Portraits of the Righteous in the Psalms: An Exploration of the Ethics of Book I
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9396
Reviewed by Beat Weber

Daniel Patte and Cristina Grenholm, eds.
Modern Interpretations of Romans: Tracking Their Hermeneutical/Theological Trajectory
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9174
Reviewed by I. Howard Marshall

Franz Sedlmeier
Das Buch Ezechiel: Kapitel 25-48
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9341
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

Stefan Seiler
Text-Beziehungen: Zur intertextuellen Interpretation alttestamentlicher Texte am Beispiel ausgewählter Psalmen
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9333
Reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo

Annotated Bibliography for Preachers

David Allen has produced a 168-page PDF annotated bibliography for every book of the Bible. This resource is geared specifically towards preachers but all students of the Bible would likely benefit. You can check out the section on Galatians here. You can also download the entire document and two other books by signing up to receive emails from Theological matters here.

Allen on Outlining and Acts 2:41-47

David Allen continues to put good stuff on his blog. Check out this post on sermon outlining and his example using Acts 2:41-47.

Free Logos Book for July: The Righteousness of Faith according to Luther

The free Logos Book for July is The Righteousness of Faith according to Luther by Hans J. Iwand. Here is a description of the book. 

Hans Joachim Iwand’s 1941 monograph, The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther, is an important contribution to contemporary appreciation of Luther’s theological significance. Although Iwand wrote his study three decades after the beginning of the Luther Renaissance, it nevertheless developed some of the central insights of Luther scholarship during that period. Two concepts—in particular, promise and simultaneity—are crucial to an appreciative understanding of Luther’s doctrine of justification. The language of promise presents justification to the believer as a reality that has yet to arrive or is hidden under present reality. And the language of simultaneity attests that humans remain throughout their lives one in the same, sinner and saint. This beautiful translation by Randi H. Lundell makes Iwand’s down-to-earth presentation of the doctrine at the heart of Luther’s theology, at long last, available to English-language readers.

You can also enter to win the entire 15-volume Select Studies in Martin Luther's Life and Influence. Go the Logos' Free Book of Month page to enter and download your free book today!

The "New" Holman Bible Atlas

Sometime back I posted on the Holman Bible Atlas (see here). In that post I expressed my uncertainty as to whether this was a revision or reformatting of the content. Now that I have a copy of the "new" version, it appears that it has merely been reformatted. In fact, even though the publisher lists a 1998 and 2014 edition and two different size and page numbers (see here), the table of contents of both books list the same number of pages. So, if you have the original edition you do not appear to need the "2014" edition unless you just can't live without the new cover design.

As an aside, I like the atlas, although it is not my favorite Bible atlas. I do wish that the atlas would have page numbers on the pages. This would make studying and referencing this work much easier. maybe this will change when this atlas is truly revised.

Peter and Cephas?

Michael Barber has a nice post responding to Bart Ehrman (and others) and interacting with Dale Allison on the assertion that Peter and Cephas refer to different individuals. You can check the post out 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. 

Wm. Randolph Bynum
The Fourth Gospel and the Scriptures: Illuminating the Form and Meaning of Scriptural Citation in John 19:37
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8742
Reviewed by Justin Langford

István Czachesz
The Grotesque Body in Early Christian Discourse: Hell, Scatology and Metamorphosis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8675
Reviewed by Jesse Rainbow

Bart D. Ehrman and Michael W. Holmes, eds.
The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. Second Edition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9041
Reviewed by Larry W. Hurtado

Peter Enns
The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8873
Reviewed by Paul Korchin

Zbyn?k Garský
Das Wirken Jesu in Galiläa bei Johannes: Eine strukturale Analyse der Intertextualität des vierten Evangeliums mit den Synoptikern
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8854
Reviewed by Jeffrey M. Tripp

Gonzalo Haya-Prats; Paul Elbert, ed.
Empowered Believers: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8196
Reviewed by Ron Clark

Kai Kaniuth et al., eds.
Tempel im Alten Orient
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9296
Reviewed by Jason M. Silverman

Christoph Körner and Hans-Winfried Jüngling, eds.
"…denn das ist der ganze Mensch": Jüdische Feste: Kohelet, Ester, Hoheslied, Rut, Klagelieder
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9151
Reviewed by Andreas Lehnardt

Michael Pietsch
Die Kultreform Josias: Studien zur Religionsgeschichte Israels in der späten Königszeit
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9101
Reviewed by Peter Porzig

Michael Wheeler
St John and the Victorians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8453
Reviewed by Judith Lieu

The Jerusalem Council, Acts 15, and the Council of Florence

In William Kurz's new commentary on Acts, a sidebar discusses the Council of Florence's decision regarding the apostolic prohibitions of the Jerusalem Council.

"In 1442 the ecumenical Council of Florence addressed the question of whether the apostolic decree of Acts 15:22-29 remains valid. The council cited 1 Tim 4:4, 'Everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving.' After repeating the Jerusalem Council's decision that the ceremonial laws of Moses no longer oblige Christians, it went on to declare:

"The apostolic prohibition, to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled (Acts 15:29), was suited to that time when a single church was rising from Jews and gentiles, who previously lived with different ceremonies and customs. This was so that gentiles should have some observances in common with Jews, and occasion would be offered of coming together in one worship and faith of God, and a cause of dissension might be removed, since by ancient custom blood and strangled things seemed abominable to Jews, and gentiles could be thought to be returning to idolatry if they ate sacrificial food.

"The Council then stated that where Jews are no longer a significant part of the church, 'since the cause of that apostolic prohibition has ceased, so its effect has ceased.'"

William S. Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013), 243.

Paul, Neapolis, and St. Nicholas

A friend of mine recently let me look through a couple of books that he picked up while leading a trip to Turkey, Greece and Italy. One book was entitled, Journeys of Paul: From Tarsus to the Ends of the Earth by Fatih Cimok. The book contains some really nice pictures and some interesting texts. Unfortunately, the book is a bit on the expensive side for me, at least at Amazon.That being said, here is a short comment from the book related to Neapolis (Acts 16:11) that I found interesting.

"Neapolis (Kavala), the port of Philippi, lay at the end of a wide bay protected by a small peninsula at Paul's time crowned by a statue of Aphrodite. It was the favourite port for travellers from central and northern Europe and those coming from Anatolia. Paul's party probably spent the night at a local inn and next morning joining the cosmopolitan traffic which traveled to the north on the Via Egnatia. Today an altar outside the Church of St Nicholas, which once stood along the water, traditionally, commemorates the place where they landed. The church is said to have, originally, carried the apostle's name ans was turned into a mosque during the Turkish occupation. When the time that the building could again be turned into a church came, the fisherman who met the expense of the restoration cared more for their patron saint Nicolas than the apostle, and named it thus" (pp. 127-28).

Edward Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions

David Stark has provided links to free pdf's of Edward Robinson's three-volume Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions here.

Weeping in the Psalms

David Bosworth had an interesting article in a recent issue of Vetus Testamentum related to weeping the Psalms. I have included his conclusions below.

"Within the Psalter, weeping is most often mentioned to accentuate the pain and misery of the speaker. Even in the psalms of praise, weeping underscores the speaker’s prior pain in contrast to present joy. Writers employ the motif of weeping to enlist the innate power of this non-verbal behavior within verbalized prayers. However, this motif is not commonly employed. Of forty-two psalms that may be categorized as individual petitions, weeping appears in only six of them (14%). Of sixteen communal petitions, weeping appears in only in three (19%). Taking all sixty-two petitions together, 14% include a reference to weeping. If weeping is a powerful attachment behavior that elicits empathy, why is it not verbalized in more psalms of petition? There are at least two possibilities, which are not mutually exclusive. First, poets may have preferred not to overuse the motif lest it lose its power by constant application. Second, because weeping is a powerful attachment behavior and tears can be faked, humans have ways of defending themselves from being easily manipulated or investing too deeply in caring for the weeper. If all the petitions included weeping, then they might provoke a negative reaction from their divine or human audiences.

"Although weeping may be used in a psalm to elicit sympathy, it may also be used to contrast past distress with present happiness in psalms of thanksgiving. Weeping appears in two of fifteen psalms of thanksgiving (13%). The motif also appears in Psalm 78 and 119, which are not categorized as petitions or thanksgivings. However the motif appears primarily in contexts of petition, and the immediate contexts of Pss 78:64; 119:28, 136 involve petition. Of the thirteen psalms that employ the motif of weeping, six (47%) occur in individual petitions, three (23%)in communal petitions, two in thanksgiving (15%) and two (15%) in psalms that are not characterized as petitions or thanksgivings (Psalm 78 and 119)."

David A. Bosworth, “Weeping in the Psalms,” Vetus Testamentum 62 (2013): 45–46