Review of John Nolland’s Commentary on Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text by John Nolland. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005. Xcviii + 1481 pp. $80.00. It is always interesting to read an editor’s preface to a commentary series. In editorial hands the series becomes unlike anything else—or almost anything else—and at the …

Revelation 2:8-11, Faithful unto Death

Only Jesus has the necessary authority to call people to be faithful unto death. Commanding people to be faithful unto death announces that it is better to be faithful to Jesus than it is to go on living. Only Jesus can make that announcement. Only Jesus can adequately reward that kind of sacrifice. The death …

Seven Reasons You Should Read Tom Schreiner’s New Testament Theology

1) More than any other reason, you should read this book because it will help you understand the Bible, which will help you know God as he is revealed in Jesus by the power of the Spirit. 2) Schreiner’s massive knowledge of texts in context will inspire you to know your Bible better. 3) The …

Was Joseph a Type of Christ?

I think so, and I try to prove it in this essay: “Was Joseph a Type of the Messiah? Tracing the Typological Identification between Joseph, David, and Jesus,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 12.4 (2008), 52-77. The gist of my article is this: From the reuse of key words and phrases (linguistic connections) and …

Good New Stuff on the Bible

I’m glad to see the appearance of Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age by Stephen Nichols and Eric Brandt. Anyone who wants to understand the disputes in North America over Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Interpretation in the last 125 years should praise God for this handy book! The latest issue …

Samson Crushed the Philistines, and They Wanted Entertainment

My colleague, Charles Halton, has a fascinating study of a pun in Judges 16:25-27 in the most recent issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature. The play on words involves two verbs that sound virtually the same except that one begins with “s” (sin) and the other begins with “sh” (shin). The verb in the …

“Arise, O Star” at Songs of Southern Friday Night

Last summer I posted the lyrics to “Arise, O Star,” which is my attempt to put the Messiah in the Old Testament to music. This spring there was an invitation here at SBTS for folks to submit songs they had written, so I turned this one in along with another (an attempt to put the …

The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham

I have just been alerted that my Tyndale Bulletin essay, “The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham,” is now online: “The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham,” Tyndale Bulletin 58.2 (2007), 253-73. Here’s the abstract: Might the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 be a direct answer to the …

Revelation 1:9-20, Jesus Christ Risen and Glorious

It was my privilege to celebrate the resurrection at Kenwood Baptist Church today from Revelation 1:9-20, John’s Vision of the Risen Christ. The audio is up here: Revelation 1:9–20, Jesus Christ Risen and Glorious. In a bulletin insert there were three charts that might be helpful in studying this passage: I think I failed to …

Greg Wills on “Southern Seminary, Southern Baptists, and the Two Religions”

Dr. Greg Wills gave his Faculty Address here at SBTS last week, and it was a fascinating analysis of the “realist” policy pursued by liberals who knew they had to hide what they really thought from the people in the churches who funded their livelihoods. So, those liberals happily took money given to train pastors, …

Review of Schwesig, Der Rolle Der Tag-JHWHS-Dichtungen im Dodekapropheton

Paul-Gerhard Schwesig, Die Rolle der Tag-JHWHs-Dichtungen im Dodekapropheton, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 366. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. IX + 347pp. ISBN-13: 978-3-11-019017-5; ISBN-10: 3-11-019017-6; ISSN 0934-2575. $132.30. Cloth. Published in Bulletin for Biblical Research, 19.1 (2009), 104–105. This slightly edited dissertation was accepted by the faculty of the Martin Luther …

Tyndale Bulletin Essay on the Center of Biblical Theology Now Online

I have just been notified that my essay on the center of biblical theology published in Tyndale Bulletin in 2006 is now online: The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment: The Centre of Biblical Theology? (that’s not a typo, and that’s not me deploying British spelling; the editors changed my American spellings to the …