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 …

Schreiner, Seifrid, Vickers, and Burk Respond to Wright’s Response to Piper

Denny Burk has all the details on and his reaction to yesterday’s forum. I would encourage you to read his opening statement, and I am in agreement with his assessment of the conversation. The audio from the conversation is here. I thought the moderator did a fine job, and the participants were both informative and …

“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 …