Spurgeon Collection Online

See this article explaining the site here or go directly to the site here.

Teaching Specific Skills

Maryellen Weimer has a good post here on teaching specific skills to students. Much, if not all, of this also applies to discipleship.

Prothro on Justification

Peter Leithart interacts with James Prothro's article, “The Strange Case of Dikaioo in the Septuagint and Paul: The Oddity and Origins of Paul's Talk of ‘Justification'” here.

The Sermon Is not Dead

Those that think that preaching is passé should read this.

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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Yitzhak Berger
Jonah in the Shadows of Eden
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11344
Reviewed by Paul L. Redditt

Mark Glen Bilby
As the Bandit Will I Confess you: Luke 23.39–43 in Early Christian Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10109
Reviewed by Edmon L. Gallagher

Crispin Fletcher-Louis
Jesus Monotheism: Volume 1: Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10588
Reviewed by Blake A. Jurgens

Amanda C. Miller
Rumors of Resistance: Status Reversals and Hidden Transcripts in the Gospel of Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9815
Reviewed by Eric D. Barreto

Manfred Oeming and Joachim Vette
Das Buch der Psalmen: Psalm 90–151
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11303
Reviewed by Áron Németh

Robert Somos
Logic and Argumentation in Origen
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11157
Reviewed by Mark S. M. Scott

James W. Thompson
The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9934
Reviewed by Christopher T. Holmes
Reviewed by Herman C. Waetjen

Adam Winn, ed.
An Introduction to Empire in the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11301
Reviewed by Greg Carey

The Gateway to Hell at Hierapolis?

Carl Rasmussen has an interesting post here on recent excavations and the "Gateway to Hell" at Hierapolis.

What Can You Do with a PhD in Theology?

With so few academic positions open, Nathan Finn asks and answers the question here.

The Letter to Ephesus in Revelation

Abram K-J has a nice mind map here for Revelation’s letter to Ephesus (rev 3:1-7).

The Neglect of the Old Testament in Systematic Theologies

Christianity Today's article, "Sorry, Old Testament: Most Theologians Don't Use You" is worth reading.

The Difference between Bible College and Seminary

Chris Dickerson explains the basic differences between Bible college and seminary here.

Imperatives in Preaching Biblical Narratives

William Barrick has a very helpful post here about the prescriptive nature of Old Testament narratives.

What You Should Know about Reading the Bible

Peter Cockrell lists ten points here.

The Point of Biblical Theology

"The point of biblical theology, therefore, is to reaffirm revelation in history within a robust view of the divinely inspired reliability of the biblical text itself, which will require restoring the humility of the theologian before the text and, supremely, before God, whose text it is.”

Scott Hafemann, “What’s the Point of Biblical Theology? Reflections Prompted by Brevard Childs,” in Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future, ed. Corey Walsh and Mark. W Elliott (Cascade: Eugene, OR, 2016), 119.

Archaeological Evidence for King David

Kenneth Way has a good post here discussing the archaeological evidence for King David.

My Screwtape Letter

I was recently going through some of my old seminary assignments and came across a paper that I apparently modeled after C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. I must confess that I do not remember the assignment or the course for which it was created. But, I have lightly edited it and condensed it because I was surprised about how timely it was. So with apologies to the esteemed Lewis, here is a reminder for whom it might be helpful.


Dear Wormwood,

Thank you for enlisting my help concerning Charles. Indeed I have had my eye on him for many years and I can tell you that he is so gullible at times that I even wonder if he is worthy of my expertise. However, I have learned that the Enemy sometimes delights in using one as insignificant as him so we must not take anything for granted. Therefore permit me to suggest possible strategies that you might use against him.

You can help Charles to become dissatisfied with his life by placing those who are more talented, intelligent, and wealthy around him so that he will quickly take his eyes off of the Enemy, forgetting all the undeserved blessings which he already enjoys. Make sure that you remind him how great a sacrifice he is making by going to seminary and is thus entitled to a reciprocal measure of prosperity. Take care though that you do not mention the words “prosperity theology” for he claims to reject it. Allow him to point a finger at the prosperity teachers without recognizing how close he comes to this theology at times. In fact it might even helpful in inflating his pride by reminding him how much more biblical he is than the health and wealth teachers. A little subtlety will go a long way here.

The beauty of cultivating envy is that you can also cultivate greed. By feeding Charles’ envy you can also create an insatiable appetite for more. Let me suggest that you proceed carefully. You must seek to develop this greed within reason. Ideally, greed is most effective when it does not involve much more than a person has, but just a little more than they have now. This approach is effective because most humans feel that they deserve a little more than they have now.

Is It Proper to Preach the Psalms?

To be honest, I have always assumed that the Psalms could and should be preached. But as Sidney Greidanus points out, Claus Westermann, Donald Gowan, and others believe that the Psalms can be prayed and sung but they should not be preached. but Greidanus offers four reasons why the Psalms should be preached.

1. "The editors of the Psalter have placed Psalm 1, a torah (wisdom) psalm, at the head of this collection in order to signal that every following psalm is to be read as part of God's torah, teaching, instruction for Israe1."
2. "Though many psalms originated as a human word to God, every psalm is now part of the Psalter and was accepted in the Canon as God's word for Israel."
3. "The New Testament authors accepted the Psalter not just as Israel's word to God but as God's word to his people"
4. "Jesus not only prayed the psalms but used them, more than any other Old Testament book, for his preaching and teaching."

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Psalms: Foundations for Expository Sermons in the Christian Year (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016), 3-4.

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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Holly Beers
The Followers of Jesus as the ‘Servant’: Luke’s Model from Isaiah for the Disciples in Luke-Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10393
Reviewed by Phillip Long

Simon Chi-Chung Cheung
Wisdom Intoned: A Reappraisal of the Genre ‘Wisdom Psalms’
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11016
Reviewed by Phil J. Botha

Michael V. Fox
Proverbs: An Eclectic Edition with Introduction and Textual Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10903
Reviewed by Richard Clifford

Esther Fuchs
Feminist Theory and the Bible: Interrogating the Sources
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11215
Reviewed by Lisa Davison

Trine Bjornung Hasselbalch
Meaning and Context in the Thanksgiving Hymns: Linguistic and Rhetorical Perspectives on a Collection of Prayers from Qumran
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10246
Reviewed by Blake A. Jurgens

Derek Olsen
Reading Matthew with Monks: Liturgical Interpretation in Anglo-Saxon England
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10516
Reviewed by Brian C. Dennert

Mikeal C. Parsons
Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10245
Reviewed by Joshua W. Jipp
Reviewed by Troy M. Troftgruben

Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch
From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10583
Reviewed by Frederick E. Greenspahn

Bryan A. Stewart
Priests of My People: Levitical Paradigms for Early Christian Ministers
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10651
Reviewed by Richard S. Briggs

Temples as Banks in the Ancient World?

I like many others have often taught that temples in the ancient world often functioned as de facto banks. But if Marty Stevens is correct then such a linkage as at best imprecise or inadequate. Note the following helpful clarification from Stevens.

But the ancient temple as “bank” is imprecise and inaccurate. Most precisely, temples functioned as “treasuries” or “depositories,” a place for the storage and retrieval of (precious) commodities and metals by the depositor. Temple archives demonstrate that the temple held deposits by individuals but did not allow others to access them or in any other way use the negotiable instruments that complete the definition of “banking.” Temples lent their own property, not that of others on deposit with the temple. If the temple used the deposits at all, it was acting as a broker at the direction of the depositor, who retained the risk of the use. The defining issue is the accountability for risk. The broker-intermediary does not assume any risk; a banker-intermediary assumes risks as a creditor. So temples were not “banks” in antiquity. Rather, the more precise designation for the role of the temple in antiquity would be “financial intermediary.” As collector, user, and disburser of goods and financial services, the temple transferred value from the contributor to consumer.”

Marty E. Stevens, Temples, Tithes, and Taxes: The Temple and the Economic Life of Ancient Israel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006), 137.

Syntax of Biblical Hebrew Poetry

Robert Holmsedt has made his paper "The Syntax of Poetry in Biblical Hebrew" available 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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Joel B. Green
Conversion in Luke-Acts: Divine Action, Human Cognition, and the People of God
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11024
Reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff

Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva
Invitation to the Septuagint
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11025
Reviewed by Andrea Ravasco

Benjamin J. M. Johnson
Reading David and Goliath in Greek and Hebrew: A Literary Approach
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10933
Reviewed by Randall X. Gauthier
Reviewed by Joseph McDonald

Othmar Keel and Silvia Schroer
Creation: Biblical Theologies in the Context of the Ancient Near East
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11080
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Matthias Konradt
Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10144
Reviewed by Wesley G. Olmstead

Jordan Penkower
Masorah and Text Criticism in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Moshe Ibn Zabara and Menahem de Lonzano
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10495
Reviewed by Ronald Hendel

Rafael Rodriguez
If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul’s Letter to the Romans
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10048
Reviewed by Philip Esler

Jerry L. Sumney
Paul: Apostle and Fellow Traveler
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10577
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Cockrell

Samer Soreshow Yohanna
The Gospel of Mark in the Syriac Harklean Version: An Edition Based upon the Earliest Witnesses
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10349
Reviewed by Peter A. L. Hill

Free Logos Book for June: Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology

The free Logos Book of the Month for June is Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by John Frame. You can also purchase Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair for $1.99 or enter to win the entire eleven-volume Explorations in Biblical Theological Systems. For all these offers you can go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Free Images: Zondervan Atlas of the Bible

Carl Rasmussen has made all of the images from his Zondervan Atlas of the Bible available for free here.

Free Audio: Darrell Bock on the Historical Jesus

Credo Courses is offering free audio of Darrell Bock's course "The Historical Jesus" here.

Egypt as Divine Incubator

I was reminded recently of how Egypt served as a divine incubator of sorts for Jacob's family (Gen 46-50). The two great dangers facing the incipient nation of Israel was assimilation and/or elimination. Certain aspects related to Egypt provided protection from both. Here is a simple table I created for a recent class on Genesis. (I apologize that I couldn't get the formatting quite right but you get the idea.)

 

Egypt as a Divine Incubator
Isolation to Avoid Assimilation	Protection to Avoid Elimination
·  Egyptians don’t like eating with foreigners (43:32) ·  Egyptians don’t like shepherds (46:34)	·  Protection of the Egyptian army ·  Protection against famines

 

Relationships between Brothers in Genesis

As I was wrapping up a study of Genesis, I was struck by the fact that the final restoration scene between Joseph and his brothers ends well (Gen 50:15-21). This is unlike most of the brotherly relationships in Genesis that tend to end in dysfunction or death. Consider Cain killing Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and the animosity between Jacob and Esau, and the earlier conflicts between Joseph and his brothers might suggest to the reader a similar conclusion. But happily, the story of Joseph and his brothers ends in forgiveness and grace! Perhaps this foreshadows the ultimate reconciliation to be found in Christ.