The early Christians met on the first day of the week for the breaking of bread and instruction in the Scriptures (Acts 20:7; cf. Justin Martyr 1 Apol. 67). This breaking of bread was in obedience to the instruction of the Lord Jesus, who told his disciples to do so in remembrance of him. Celebrating …
Category Archives: Biblical Theology
Book Excerpt: The Final Page of With the Clouds of Heaven
What a book the Bible is! There is nothing else like it. And to think that this unified book from the hands of so many individual literary geniuses transcends itself by imparting the knowledge of the living and true God. What a privilege to have such easy access to the text of Scripture in the …
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Is Biblical Faith a Kierkegaardian Leap?
These reflections were prompted by the first chapter of David Crump’s Encountering Jesus, Encountering Scripture: Reading the Bible Critically in Faith. In his introduction, Crump is very clear that his understanding of faith has been heavily influenced by Soren Kierkegaard. Crump explains, “Arriving at faith in the Word incarnate is not the inevitable result of a …
Why You Need To Preach the Song of Songs
The smut is everywhere. On billboards, on TV screens, and eye-level in the checkout line at the grocery store, to say nothing of what is one click away on the device in your pocket or the screen on your desk. Beyond the superficial temptation of all the eye-catchers, the smut comes with a story. These sirens …
The Song of Songs: A Biblical-Theological, Allegorical, Christological Interpretation
Christians have long read the Song of Songs as music that sings of the one who so loved his bride that not even death could keep him from her. If Hosea could present his relationship with Gomer as a kind of allegory of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel, why couldn’t Solomon have done the …
Read the Bible: Kindle Reading Plan
Chris Dendy came up with the idea for the God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment Bible Reading Plan, and Lindsey Jacobs designed it. The plan pairs daily Bible readings with relevant sections from God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment, and you can read more about it here. A number of folks requested that the plan be made available …
Deuteronomy Section of GGSTJ Online
The section on Deuteronomy from God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology has been excerpted and published in the latest issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (SBJT). If you’re considering doing the GGSTJ Bible Reading Plan and want to sample the book, click on over and check it out. This is an excellent issue …
Read the Bible
Are you planning to read through the Bible in a year? Have you felt lost in the vast architecture and artistry of the Bible’s massive spaces and intricate designs? One of my motivations in writing God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology was to provide a resource people could use alongside their daily Bible …
The Final Page for Free
Thanks to Andy Naselli, you can read the last page of With the Clouds of Heaven: The Book of Daniel in Biblical Theology online. Check it out. And the first review I’ve seen is in an Australian Christian Newspaper called New Life (on page 15). Naturally, I disagree with him where he disagrees with me (because …
What’s the Point of the Millennium?
Mike Wittmer, a fellow premillennialist, once asked me what the millennium does. Why is it there? As I was pondering the Big Story of the Bible in preparation to preach an overview kind of sermon recently, the thought began to take shape in my head that the millennium provides another point of contact–a typological point …
So there could be a Jesus: TGC Interview on Ezra–Nehemiah
Hearty thanks to Kathleen Nielson for interviewing me on Ezra–Nehemiah for the TGC blog in the run-up to the National Women’s Conference on Nehemiah. Here’s a bit from one of my responses, reflecting on the way that their concern for the nation’s purity ensured the birth of Jesus: In the mystery of God’s providence, we …
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SBTS Alumni Academy on Biblical Theology
Is there anything more important than the Bible? Jesus said Scripture can’t be broken, and he prayed that the Father would sanctify his people in the truth, then said, “Thy word is truth.” God’s people need God’s word. The word doesn’t work like a magic formula, however. We don’t just pass our eyes over a …
An Excerpt from My Ezra–Nehemiah Book
Broadman and Holman allowed me to put an excerpt of my new book on Ezra–Nehemiah on Christianity.com. The chapter excerpted deals with how to live a wartime lifestyle on a millionaire’s budget. Here’s a bit: Can you imagine slaughtering an ox a day? I don’t know how big Nehemiah’s herd of oxen was, but he …
Reading a Chiasm Helically
In his brilliant and thought provoking book, Deep Exegesis, Peter Leithart writes (167): “In a book happily back in print, John Breck argues that chiasms are not ‘balanced structures, but instead are dynamic literary devices. He suggests that chiasms should be read ‘helically,’ moving not just from A to B to C to B’ and so …
Spanish Translation of “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman”
I just keep cheering Saul Sarabia’s translation work into Spanish. I’m so grateful for the work he is doing on behalf of his fellow Spanish speakers, and so impressed with his industry. He has rendered yet another one of my essays, this time “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman,” into Spanish: “LA SIMIENTE DE LA MUJER …
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How to Condone What the Bible Condemns: Matthew Vines Takes on the Old Testament
[Note: An edited version of this post was published in the e-book, God and the Gay Christian? A Response to Matthew Vines] Matthew Vines doesn’t throw his knockout punch at the beginning of his book but at the end. The book’s final sentence says of condoning same-sex relations as moral and good: “As more believers are …
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Suffering in the Book of Revelation: Fulfilling the Messianic Woes
In the most recent issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology I have an article entitled “Suffering in Revelation: The Fulfillment of the Messianic Woes.” Here’s the opening paragraph: In Revelation, John writes as one in affliction (Rev 1:9), to churches in affliction (e.g., 2:10, 13), about the affliction that will take place before kingdom …
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Spanish Translation of “Family Discipleship in the Old Testament”
All families of all nations need to know what the Scriptures say about the training and discipling of children, so I rejoice that Saul Sarabia L. has rendered my essay, “That the Coming Generation Might Praise the Lord,” into Spanish: “Discipulado Familiar en el Antiguo Testamento: Que la Generación venidera Alabe al Señor” And here …
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Is the SBTS DMin in Biblical Theology for You?
A Guest Post from Miguel Echevarria: Do you want to study biblical theology? Do you want to learn how to use it in your ministry? Would you like to be in cohort of men who have come to Southern for this very purpose? If so, we want to encourage you to enroll in Southern’s D.Min. …
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Calvin on Typology
John Calvin’s essay “Christ Is the End of the Law” is included in Thy Word Is Still Truth, ed. Peter Lillback and Richard B. Gaffin. Calvin writes, “For this is eternal life, to know the one and only true God, and Him who He sent, Jesus Christ, whom he constituted the beginning, the middle, and the …