Michael Vlach in Has the Church Replaced Israel?, argues that supersessionists (those that hold that the church replaces Israel) need to prove their position in three areas to be considered a biblical doctrine.
1. “Supersessionists need to explain how God can multiple eternal and unconditional promises and covenants to the nation of Israel and then not fulfill these promises with this specific group.”
2. “It must be shown that the church is now considered the new or true Israel.”
3.”Supersessionists need to show that the church inherits national Israel’s promises and covenants in such a way that we should not expect a future fulfillment of these with national Israel.”
I think that Vlach is correct and supersessionists have failed to provide persuasive arguments especially as it relates to 1 and 3.
Michael J. Vlach, Has the Church Replaced Israel? (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010), 2.
Nov 21, 2015
Nov 20, 2015
Adele Berlin on the Message of Job
I do not agree with everything Adele Berlin argues for in her explanation of the main message of the book of Job, but I think that her concluding paragraph is worth thinking about.
“If Job was wise at the beginning of the story, he is even wiser at its end, especially about God’s ways. His wisdom far surpasses that of his friends, who “did not speak correctly” about God as Job did (42:7). And we the readers, who saw in the prologue a God that Job did not see and thought that we knew more about the workings of God than Job knew, must now admit that our knowledge of God was also severely limited. By learning first-hand about God’s wisdom, Job learned about what it means to be human. Our human-ness is most evident in our drive to acquire wisdom at any price, as we see from the Garden of Eden story, a story which, by the way, not only says that the acquisition of wisdom eliminated the possibility of immortality, but also tells us that the result of this acquisition is that the human condition is one of pain and toil. At the same time, despite God’s concern that wisdom renders humans God-like, human wisdom will never reach the level of God’s wisdom. It can only approximate divine wisdom when it is accompanied by the fear of the Lord, the Bible’s sine qua non for wisdom. This, of course, is the teaching of all the biblical wisdom books. Job, however, needed to learn it for himself, for throughout the book Job based his knowledge on personal experience rather than on traditional teachings. Does the book of Job, then, add nothing to the traditional teachings? Does it take us on that tortuous journey of the mind only to return us empty to our starting-place? Yes and no. Like Gilgamesh, whose quest for immortality is the flip side of Job’s quest for understanding, we return home without the answer we set out to find, but we are much wiser for the journey. So what does the book add to traditional teachings? Let me suggest that if traditional teaching says that the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, the book of Job shows that wisdom leads to the fear of the Lord.”
Adele Berlin, “What Is the Book of Job About?” in A Common Cultural Heritage: Studies on Mesopotamia and the Biblical World in Honor of Barry L. Eichler, ed. Grant Frame; Barry Lee Eichler; et al. (Bethesda, MD: CDL, 2011), 119.
“If Job was wise at the beginning of the story, he is even wiser at its end, especially about God’s ways. His wisdom far surpasses that of his friends, who “did not speak correctly” about God as Job did (42:7). And we the readers, who saw in the prologue a God that Job did not see and thought that we knew more about the workings of God than Job knew, must now admit that our knowledge of God was also severely limited. By learning first-hand about God’s wisdom, Job learned about what it means to be human. Our human-ness is most evident in our drive to acquire wisdom at any price, as we see from the Garden of Eden story, a story which, by the way, not only says that the acquisition of wisdom eliminated the possibility of immortality, but also tells us that the result of this acquisition is that the human condition is one of pain and toil. At the same time, despite God’s concern that wisdom renders humans God-like, human wisdom will never reach the level of God’s wisdom. It can only approximate divine wisdom when it is accompanied by the fear of the Lord, the Bible’s sine qua non for wisdom. This, of course, is the teaching of all the biblical wisdom books. Job, however, needed to learn it for himself, for throughout the book Job based his knowledge on personal experience rather than on traditional teachings. Does the book of Job, then, add nothing to the traditional teachings? Does it take us on that tortuous journey of the mind only to return us empty to our starting-place? Yes and no. Like Gilgamesh, whose quest for immortality is the flip side of Job’s quest for understanding, we return home without the answer we set out to find, but we are much wiser for the journey. So what does the book add to traditional teachings? Let me suggest that if traditional teaching says that the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, the book of Job shows that wisdom leads to the fear of the Lord.”
Adele Berlin, “What Is the Book of Job About?” in A Common Cultural Heritage: Studies on Mesopotamia and the Biblical World in Honor of Barry L. Eichler, ed. Grant Frame; Barry Lee Eichler; et al. (Bethesda, MD: CDL, 2011), 119.
Videos on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament
The video for this year's Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop
held on October 5 focusing on the topic of preaching Christ from the Old Testament is available on Youtube using the following links.
Nov 19, 2015
Was Balaam's Donkey an Agent of the Lord?
I am enjoying a read through Kenneth Way's book, Donkeys in the Biblical World. In his discussion of the Balaam story, he addresses the "exceptional treatment" of the animal as evidenced in Numbers 22:33: "The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live" (ESV, my bold). Way proposes the following explanation.
Why is the jenny exceptional? Baruch Levine opines that "she would not have been slain in such an encounter, as she was only an animal." But the fact that "she is "only an animal" may just as well be a reason to slay her along with her rider.Kenneth C. Way, Donkeys in the Biblical World: Ceremony and Symbol, History, Archaeology, and Culture of the Levant (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 190-91
In Num 22:22–30, I would suggest that the jenny has a special function as YHWH's agent (cf. §1.6.4). YHWH not only employs her natural behavior for his purposes (vv. 22–27), he also endows her with supernatural ability for his purposes (vv. 28–30). The jenny is the vehicle that YHWH uses in this story to remind Balaam that he may only speak the words of YHWH. The jenny is therefore quite exceptional and shares a status akin to that of the angel of YHWH. The reason why the angel feels differently about the jenny is that they are both employees of YHWH.
Nov 18, 2015
How to Read Job
Although I do not have a copy yet of How to Read Job, a new book by two well-known Old Testament scholars, John Walton and Tremper Longman, it looks interesting. I look forward to getting it and perhaps incorporating it into my Old Testament wisdom and poetry course. Here is the table of contents.
Acknowledgments
Part One: Reading Job as Literature
1. What Is the Book of Job About?
2. What Is the Rhetorical Strategy of the Book of Job?
3. Job in the Context of the Ancient Near East
4. Is Job a Real Person?
Part Two: Getting to Know the Characters of the Book of Job
5. What Do We Learn About God from the Book of Job?
6. Who Is "Satan" in Job?
7. What Is the Role of Job in the Book of Job?
8. How to Assess Job’s Human Advisers
9. Who Is Job’s Advocate?
10. Behemoth and Leviathan, the Most Powerful Creatures Imaginable
Part Three: The Theological Message of the Book of Job
11. The Retribution Principle and Theodicy in Job
12. The Retribution Principle in Wisdom Literature
13. Does Job Believe in the Afterlife?
14. Learning About the Cosmos from the Book of Job
15. The Theology of Suffering in the Book of Job
16. Job’s View of God
Part Four: Reading Job as a Christian
17. Job and Jesus
18. The Message of the Book of Job for Today
19. Does the Book of Job Provide Comfort?
20. Applying the Book of Job
Appendix: Commentaries on the Book of Job
Notes
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Part One: Reading Job as Literature
1. What Is the Book of Job About?
2. What Is the Rhetorical Strategy of the Book of Job?
3. Job in the Context of the Ancient Near East
4. Is Job a Real Person?
Part Two: Getting to Know the Characters of the Book of Job
5. What Do We Learn About God from the Book of Job?
6. Who Is "Satan" in Job?
7. What Is the Role of Job in the Book of Job?
8. How to Assess Job’s Human Advisers
9. Who Is Job’s Advocate?
10. Behemoth and Leviathan, the Most Powerful Creatures Imaginable
Part Three: The Theological Message of the Book of Job
11. The Retribution Principle and Theodicy in Job
12. The Retribution Principle in Wisdom Literature
13. Does Job Believe in the Afterlife?
14. Learning About the Cosmos from the Book of Job
15. The Theology of Suffering in the Book of Job
16. Job’s View of God
Part Four: Reading Job as a Christian
17. Job and Jesus
18. The Message of the Book of Job for Today
19. Does the Book of Job Provide Comfort?
20. Applying the Book of Job
Appendix: Commentaries on the Book of Job
Notes
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Nov 17, 2015
How I Preach: Paige Patterson
Abraham Kuruvilla continues his "how I Preach" interview series with this interview of Paige Patterson. Here are a few of Patterson's responses that stuck out to me.
Most used English Bible version:
New King James Version.
(I am not at all a King James-only type, but I am so old that I knew some of the 1611 translators personally. Indeed, I even dream in Elizabethan English, so my commitment to the KJV is a matter of habit and memory.).
Use of Greek and Hebrew (light/moderate/heavy)?
Pretty heavy. I never preach without translating the passage for myself.
What tools/aids for sermon prep can’t you live without?
I depend heavily upon my 30,000-volume personal library.
One word that best describes how you preach:
Text-driven or expository.
Now go and read the rest of the entire fascinating interview.
Most used English Bible version:
New King James Version.
(I am not at all a King James-only type, but I am so old that I knew some of the 1611 translators personally. Indeed, I even dream in Elizabethan English, so my commitment to the KJV is a matter of habit and memory.).
Use of Greek and Hebrew (light/moderate/heavy)?
Pretty heavy. I never preach without translating the passage for myself.
What tools/aids for sermon prep can’t you live without?
I depend heavily upon my 30,000-volume personal library.
One word that best describes how you preach:
Text-driven or expository.
Now go and read the rest of the entire fascinating interview.
Nov 16, 2015
New and Improved Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts Website
Five Words that Weaken Sermons
Jason Allen provides interesting insight on five words that weaken any sermon here.
Nov 14, 2015
Nov 13, 2015
The Provenance of Philemon
Phillip J. Long has a nice summary of the proposed provenances of Paul's letter to Philemon here.
Nov 12, 2015
Capturing and Saving Quotes
Wayne Stiles has a helpful post on how to capture and saving great quotes found in a variety of formats here.
Nov 11, 2015
Leland Ryken on What Every Book of the Old Testament Is About
See this post at the Crossway blog in which Leland Ryken provides a brief paragraph explaining what every book of the Old Testament is about.
Nov 10, 2015
Granville Sharp's Birthday
Anyone who has taken Greek in either Bible college or seminary has probably heard of the Granville Sharp rule. The rule regarding a certain construction involving the definite article was first articulated in Sharp's book, Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament: Containing many New Proofs of the Divinity of Christ, from Passages which are wrongly Translated in the Common English Version. In any case, Granville Sharp was born on this day in 1735.
Nov 9, 2015
Free PDF of William Ramsay’s The Cities of St Paul
Rob Bradshaw has made a free PDF of William Ramsay’s classic work The Cities of St Paul available here.
Nov 7, 2015
Kent Hughes Reflecting on 40 Years of Pastoral Ministry
See this blog interview with R. Kent Hughes reflecting on forty years of pastoral ministry.
Nov 6, 2015
Beale on the Garden of Eden as Temple
Although, Beale's book, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical
Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, has been out since 2004, Tony Reinke does a nice job summarizing Beale's argument that the Garden of Eden was the first and prototypical temple here.
Nov 5, 2015
Nov 4, 2015
Recommended Resources on Exodus and the Decalogue
Nov 3, 2015
NIVAC Commentaries on Sale
Zondervan has all volumes of the New International Version Application Commentaries on sale in the ebook format for $4.99 per volume or even a bit less if you buy the volumes in a bundle. For example, the Pentateuch bundle has four volumes for $17.99. To see what is available and links to purchase go here.
Nov 2, 2015
Free Audio: Sex & Money by Paul David Tripp
Christianaudio.com is offering a free audio download of Paul David Tripp's book Sex & Money here.
Nov 1, 2015
Free Logos Book for November: Ulrich Luz's Matthew 1-7
The free Logos
Book for November is Ulrich Luz’s commentary on Matthew 1-7 in the Hermeneia series. You can also purchase Luz's commentary covering Matthew 8-20 in the same
series for $1.99 and
enter to win the entire sixty nine volume Hermeneia series. Go the
Logos' Free Book of Month page here to enter and download your free book today!
Oct 30, 2015
Particle Board Preaching
Nicholas Batzig has a good post on what he calls "particle board preaching" here.
Oct 29, 2015
Oct 28, 2015
Reading the Bible Devotionally in the Original Languages
Todd Scacewater offers five tips on reading the Bible devotionally in the original languages here.
Oct 27, 2015
How to Act Less Stupid
The Washington Post has an interesting article concerning how to act less stupid here. According to a recent psychological study discussed in the article, stupidity commonly involves three kinds of behavior. The first and highest level of stupidity involves "confident ignorance." This occurs "when a person's self-perceived ability to do something far outweighs that person's actual ability to do it." Second, "lack of control" "is when someone does something because they have, on some level, lost their ability to do otherwise." Finally, "absentmindedness — lack of practicality" occurs when people "weren't paying
attention or simply weren't aware of something." The Bible would also indicate that stupidity has a spiritual component as well, either in rejecting the Lord or His wisdom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)