New Post at Christianity.Com: Intended Allegory in the Song of Songs?

Over at Christianity.Com I ask whether there is exegetical evidence that Solomon intended an allegorical layer of meaning in the Song of Songs. Here’s the opening: For a number of years now learned interpreters of Scripture have been telling us that the Song of Songs is (primarily) about human love. I put the word primarily …

The Life We Long for: On Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

“She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” These words, near the end of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” bounced around in my head as I made my way through Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. …

Review of Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology

This review was originally posted at TGC Reviews —- Graeme Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2012. 251pp. $20.00, paper. Let me begin by saying what Graeme Goldsworthy’s Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles is not. This book is not a sustained argument that Christ is the center of …

Typology Preserves Biblical Inerrancy Against Ehrman’s Mistake

Bart Ehrman describes why he left the faith in his book Misquoting Jesus (8–9): A turning point came in my second semester . . . . we had to write a final term paper on an interpretive crux of our own choosing. I chose a passage in Mark 2, where Jesus is confronted by the …

Chiasms on the Brain?

I was recently asked some questions about chiasms: Are biblical scholars just bored and seeing things? Would ancient audiences have picked up on them? Is this a widely attested ancient Near Eastern device? Do lay Bible readers have any hope of seeing them or must they consult commentaries? These are good questions. There are biblical …

The Typology of David’s Rise to Power: Messianic Patterns in the Book of Samuel

What is Typology? How do the biblical authors develop typological connections? Can we read the Bible the way the biblical authors did? These are some of the questions I seek to address in an essay that has just appeared in The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Thanks to the generosity of the editor, Steve Wellum …

In Houston October 1–6, 2012

My sweet wife grew up in Houston, and then when I finished my PhD at SBTS in 2003, the Lord opened a door for me to teach at the Houston campus of Southwestern Seminary. I had the privilege of teaching there from 2003–2008. In January of 2004 I was ordained to gospel ministry by Providence …

Congrats to Andy Naselli on From Typology to Doxology

My good friend Andy Naselli recently completed his second Phd. The first one was done at Bob Jones in Theology and resulted in an important book entitled Let Go and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology. The second one was done at Trinity under D. A. Carson, and it has now been …

New Post at Christianity.com: How I Mark My Bible

Someone recently asked in a comment on some post or other about how I mark my Bible. I describe the color coding system I use in a post over at Christianity.com. Here’s the introduction: Do you have a system for marking your Bible as you study? Over the years, I’ve found that if I want …

I. H. Marshall Reviews G. K. Beale

It’s not often that a scholar of the stature of I. Howard Marshall reviews a book by a scholar of the stature of G. K. Beale. Both are men of massive influence, standing, piety, and scholarship. Both Marshall and Beale have written a New Testament Theology, and Marshall’s review of Beale’s is in Themelios 37.2, …

Review of Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs

Note: Themelios 37.2 has just appeared, in which this review is published. I would note also that what Dan Phillips does in this book, especially with Proverbs 22:6, goes very well with the previous post on child-training in the OT. Dan Phillips. God’s Wisdom in Proverbs: Hearing God’s Voice in Scripture. The Woodlands, TX: Kress, …

Codex Sinaiticus: A Full Color Facsimile

Nearly all the sacred words are in these full color photos of the pounced parchment scribed with the ancient ink. Living words copied by three maybe four careful hands. God breathed words, every one true, every thought from man and from God. Every utterance worthy of trust. These leaves in these photos passed under no …

A Biblical Theology of Motherhood

The editor of the Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry, Timothy Paul Jones, has generously granted me permission to post my essay from the most recent issue (table of contents). Here’s a taste of “A Biblical Theology of Motherhood“: What is a biblical theology of motherhood? A biblical theology of anything seeks to describe both …

Congrats to Gentry and Wellum on Kingdom through Covenant

I am delighted that the UPS man just dropped this book at our house. Heartiest congratulations to Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum on their book, Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants. I’m thrilled to see this in print, and I’m excited about the discussion of this book and my own …

Some Thoughts on Preaching the Minor Prophets

How should we approach preaching the Minor Prophets? Should we move through the text chronologically, thematically, book by book, several books per sermon? A friend of mine posed these questions to me, and I thought I’d put my replies here in case they might help others as well. The Chronological approach would be difficult to …

God Bless Andrew Peterson

Today at our house we are officially inducting Andrew Peterson into the Hamilton Hall of Fame for his sheer awesomeness. If you’re a regular here at For His Renown, you know that we have taken great delight in Andrew’s music (song) and writings (word), and now he has topped it off with a gift of …