Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003. xxii + 746pp. $55.00. Hardcover. Published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology 46.3 (2004), 99-100 Larry Hurtado, professor of New Testament at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, is well known for his many fine contributions to scholarship, and this …
Category Archives: Bible and Theology
Why Didn’t Calvin Preach Revelation?
The reason Calvin didn’t preach Revelation isn’t exactly what Gerald Bray addresses on pages 51–52 in God Is Love, but what he says there probably takes us into the vicinity of the answer to that question: The book of Revelation is in a category all its own and has frequently been misunderstood. One of the …
Review of Mikra
Martin Jan Mulder and Harry Sysling, eds., Mikra: Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2004. xxvi + 929pp. $49.95, paper. [Originally published in 1988 by Van Gorcum and Fortress as part of the series Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum (2.1)]. Review Published …
Review of Keener’s 2 vol. Commentary on John
Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, 2 vols., Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2003. xlviii + 1636pp. $79.95. Cloth. Published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology 46.3 (2004), 102-103 Craig Keener teaches NT at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He has also written commentaries on Matthew and Revelation, and this two volume commentary …
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Review of N. T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God
N. T. Wright. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003. xxi + 817 pp. $49.00 hardcover; $39.00 paper. Published in Trinity Journal 26 (2005) 140–43 N. T. Wright was recently consecrated as the Bishop of Durham, the fourth highest post in the Anglican …
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Review of Martin Hengel’s The Septuagint as Christian Scripture
Martin Hengel, The Septuagint as Christian Scripture: Its Prehistory and the Problem of Its Canon, trans. Mark E. Biddle. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004 [previously published in 2002 by T & T Clark]. xvi + 153 pp. $24.99, paper. Published in The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9.1 (2005) 102–104 The renowned Tübingen scholar Martin Hengel …
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Review of James D. G. Dunn’s Jesus Remembered
James D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, Christianity in the Making, Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003. xvii+ 1019 pp. $55.00, hardcover. Published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology 46.2 (2004) 61–64 James D. G. Dunn, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, England, has embarked upon a three volume project titled “Christianity in …
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Review of Zimmerli, The Fiery Throne
Walther Zimmerli, The Fiery Throne: The Prophets and Old Testament Theology, Fortress Classics in Biblical Studies. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003. 179pp. $16.00, paper. Published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology 46.2 (2004): 82–83 Born in Switzerland in 1907, Walther Zimmerli was a pastor and prolific scholar who died in 1983. Through the course of his life, …
Review of Gorman’s Apostle of the Crucified Lord
Michael J. Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. 618pp. $39.00, paper. Published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology 46.3 (2004), 97-99 Michael Gorman teaches New Testament at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is also dean of the Ecumenical …
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Mere Christianity’s Arguments in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
A few years back I read The Chronicles of Narnia aloud to my oldest two sons (we read them in the right order). The third-born is now 5 years old, and it’s his turn. The older boys are listening in, and we’re doing our best to keep them from revealing story-spoilers. I’m also trying to …
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“A City Radiant as a Bride,” by Timothy Dudley-Smith
Revelation 21:9–11, “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy …
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The Kingdom of God
What is the kingdom of God? The answer cannot be reduced to a word study of the term kingdom. That would be a helpful exercise, but the Bible describes the kingdom even when the word is not used. Any kingdom will consist of a king, his realm, its citizens, and the law that regulates their lives. …
My Take on Dumbledore’s Orientation
Christianity.com has posted my thoughts on “What Rowling Said about Dumbledore.” Here’s the postscript: I haven’t read Jerram Barrs’ book yet, but I just saw on Justin Taylor’s blog that Barrs has an appendix in his forthcoming Echoes of Eden entitled “The Outing of Dumbledore.” I’ve been thinking about what Rowling said about Dumbledore since …
Intended Allegory in the Song of Songs?
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 in parentheses in that last sentence for a reason. I had grown so accustomed to the emphasis on human love in the Song that I had …
Daniel
Son of Man and floating hand, Mysteries galore. A statue gold, a dream untold, Unfold what is in store. Furnace of fire and lion pit, Nations there did rage. The letters on the wall were writ, And God his people saved. Antichrist is on the way, Many now have come, Those who know their God …
What Flag Do Your Words Wave?
The way that we view the world is reflected in the words that we use to talk about it. At Ray Van Neste’s recommendation I’m beginning to read The Language of Canaan and the Grammar of Feminism by Vernard Eller, a short little book of 56 pages. He quotes Karl Barth on the important point …
Go to the Ant
Proverbs 6:6, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” Some time back we watched some video with the kids, probably a BBC thing on the world or something of the sort, and I noted down some stats on what ants accomplish–these were ants in Africa, I think, but I don’t …
A Journey through Revelation in Tomball, TX
If you are in the Tomball, Spring, The Woodlands, Magnolia, or Houston area, I join with Pastor Jeff Medders to invite you to Redeemer Church’s first Bible Conference: A Journey through Revelation. Join us for a journey through one of the most difficult books in the Bible, the book of Revelation. Four sessions, question and …
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How I Mark My Bible
As I read the Bible, I try to make note of repeated words, resumed themes, quotations of earlier passages, and other key ideas. I don’t want simply to see them, however, and move on. I want to mark them so that when I later have a vague recollection of something I read a while ago …
God’s Indwelling Presence: Five Sermons on the Spirit
Were old covenant believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit? What does the Old Testament say about where God took up residence? What does the New Testament say about the issue? If believing members of the old covenant remnant were not indwelt by the Spirit, how did they believe and remain faithful? What about those whom …
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