Christian Board Games

Here is an interesting article on 15 different Christian board games. Here are a couple of more that the article does not mention.

Biblequest Champions of FaithKingdom of Solomon 
Kings of Israel
The Armor of God
Settlers of Canaan 
Egypt to Canaan

New Zechariah Commentary on Sale

The Eerdmans'  Commentary Club Store is offering 40%-off or $34.80 and free shipping for their brand new Zechariah commentary by Mark Boda in the NICOT series. It is so new that Amazon is still listing it as a pre-order (the official Eerdmans website also lists it as a Jan. 25 release). Christian Book Distributors has it but at a 33% discount or $39.99. This deal is only good until January 11 and you have to be a commentary club member but joining is free. You can sign up here. You can read an interview with Boda discussing this commentary here.

Psalm 24:4

Lee Fields has a good post on Psalm 24:4 here.

Hurtado Responds to Gundry's Apostate Peter

Larry Hurtado provides some good push back here to Robert Gundry's recent thesis that Peter is presented as an apostate disciple in the Gospel of Matthew.

Hope for Dysfunctional Churches?

Most students of the New Testament recognize that the church at Corinth was troubled and dysfunctional at a variety of levels. Much is often made of where and how they were wrong. But Matthew Malcolm does a nice job here of reminding us that the Corinthians got some things right.

Review of What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About

Berding, Kenneth, and Matt Williams, eds. What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About: A Survey of Their Writings. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015.

What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About is a concise evangelical survey of the New Testament written for college and university students. It is written by fifteen New Testament scholars and attempts to be pedagogically friendly. There are numerous sidebars, tables, photographs, and wide margins. Most of the discussion is devoted to the content of the books rather than introductory issues. Such issues (who, when, where, why) are limited to one page. There are no footnotes and very few endnotes (13 for the entire book).

Since this is a second edition, one might ask how this version differs from its predecessor. Unfortunately, no indication is given in the volume itself as to what has been changed, added, or removed. But there are some obvious differences. The first edition was softcover and the second is hardcover. The first edition contained 240 numbered pages whereas the second has 333. The additional pages seems to be devoted primarily to an additional chapter on the formation of the New Testament canon and the addition of two appendices (there are actually three appendices but one is an index that was included in the first volume but not as an appendix). The content itself looks to be about the same, although there are a few cosmetic changes such as placing lists in colored boxes and resizing pictures, etc. The authors have also added a brief outline for each book.

There is much to like about this volume. It is succinct, theologically conservative, and well-packaged. It generally does well with what it sets out to do. My criticisms are fairly minor. For one, I did not care for the heading (used in the 2nd ed.) “Carefully Crafted Verses from . . . “ . Apparently what is meant here is a listing of key verses. If so, why not say so? Are the other verses not “carefully crafted”? I also wish that the listing of key words and concepts at the end of the chapter were alphabetized. One of the appendices, “Key New Testament Themes,” is merely a reproduction of the same list contained in the book discussions. This appears to be unnecessary. The space would be better utilized in providing a brief glossary of some of the key terms or a Scripture index.

However, these criticisms should not deter one from considering this volume as a basic and introductory work on the New Testament.

I am thankful to Kregel for providing the review copy utilized in this unbiased review.

How Long to Preach?

Hershel York has some advice on how long one should preach here. 

Free Logos Book for January: Exodus by Nahum Sarna

The free Logos Book for January is Nahum Sarna’s commentary on Exodus in the JPS series. You can also purchase Jonah by Uriel Simon in the same series for $1.99. You can also enter to win the 11 volume JPS series. You can access these deals here.

Free Audio: Common English Bible

Christianaudio.com's free audio selection for January is the audio edition of the Common English Bible. You can access the offer here.

Studying Acts in Greek

Some might be interested in joining William Varner as he leads (through video) a study of Acts, particularly as it relates to advanced Greek grammar. This might make for a great New Year's resolution! You can check out the first video on Acts 1:1 here.

New Testament Scholars Who Died in 2015

 Brian Small on Facebook's Biblical Studies Discussion List provides the following accounting of New Testament scholars who passed away in 2015. It is a humbling reminder of the transitory nature of this life and the importance of believing in and proclaiming the gospel.
 
Marcus Borg - January 21
Luise Schottroff - February 8
Charles E. B. Cranfield - March 4
Fred Craddock - March 6
Harold Greenlee - March 21
Roger Omanson - April 30
J. Louis Martyn - June 4
Verlyn Verbrugge - June 21
Eduard Lohse - June 24
Ferdinand Hahn - July 28
Dietmar Neufeld - September 9
John Howard Schütz - September 27
I. Howard Marshall - December 12
Robert Mulholland - December 20

Top Ten Online Theological Resources

Here is Nathan Busentiz's list.

Coverdale on Reading the Bible

I have seen the following quote a number of times (sometimes it is attributed to John Wycliff) but it is still an important reminder that no matter how sophisticated our hermeneutical method becomes we never move beyond paying attention to the actual text at hand.

It shall greatly helpe ye to understand Scripture, if thou mark not only what is spoken or wrytten, but of whom, and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before, and what followeth.

Myle’s Coverdale, Rules for Reading the Bible (1535) 

Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries of 2015

HeritageDaily lists their top 10 archaeological discoveries for 2015 here. Numbers 5 and 6 are most biblically significant.

The Holy Spirit in Judges

Amos Yong has an interesting post here on he Holy Spirit in the book of Judges.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Virgin Conception

Eric Davis has a helpful post on the virgin conception here.

Thoughts on Peaching the Infancy Narratives

Ian Paul has a good post on preaching the infancy narratives here.

Journal of Biblical Literature 134.4

The lasted volume of the Journal of Biblical Literature is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Ancient Prayers and the Psychology of Religion: Deities as Parental Figures
David A. Bosworth
abstract

Left-Handed Benjaminites and the Shadow of Saul
Suzie Park
abstract

The Levite of Judges 19–21
David Z. Moster
abstract

The Book of Malachi, Manuscript 4Q76 (4QXIIa), and the Formation of the “Book of the Twelve”
Mika S. Pajunen and Hanne von Weissenberg
abstract

Greek Philosophical Discourse in the Book of Judith?
Lawrence M. Wills
abstract

Were the Psalms Collections at Qumran True Psalters?
William Yarchin
abstract

The Oddity of the Reference to Jesus in Acts 4:13b
Chris Keith
abstract

Paulus Tragicus: Staging Apostolic Adversity in First Corinthians
Courtney J. P. Friesen
abstract

Community Is a Body: Sex, Marriage, and Metaphor in 1 Corinthians 6:12–7:7 and Ephesians 5:21–33
Jill E. Marshall
abstract

JBL FORUM The JBL Forum, an Occasional Exchange
Adele Reinhartz
abstract

Twice Called, Thrice Rebuked: Doing African Biblical Scholarship
Gerald O. West
abstract

The Making of Gershom’s Story: A Cameroonian Postwar Hermeneutics Reading of Exodus 2
Kenneth N. Ngwa
abstract

Memories of Midwives
L. Juliana Claassens
abstract

Space and Human Agency in the Making of the Story of Gershom through a Senegalese Christian Lens
Aliou C. Niang
abstract

A Luta Continua: Toward Trickster Intellectuals and Communities
Musa W. Dube
abstract

Five Errors to Drop from Your Christmas Sermon

See Andreas Kӧstenberger and Alexander Stewart's article in Christianity Today here.

Psalm 121

Randy McKinion has a nice treatment of Psalm 121 here.

2016 Expository Preaching Workshop

I know that it seems a bit early to be talking about 2016 but Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is hosting another one of its expository preaching workshops on March 7. This year's theme is "Recapturing the Voice of God: Preaching the Genres of Scripture." The workshop will cover preaching the Law, Psalms, Parables, NT Letters, and Revelation. You can read more about it here but it does not appear that you can register yet.

Christianity Today's 2016 Book Awards

I would have thought that these would be the 2015 book awards but you can check Christianity Today's list here.

A Reminder that Neither Bible College or Seminary Replaces the Local Church

See the reminder here.

HT: Michael Cooper

Videos of I. Howard Marshall on Acts

Rob Bradshaw has posted 5 videos with I. Howard Marshall on Acts. The videos are from the Moore College Lectures in 1991. You can check out the post and videos here.