When Andy Cheung asked me about the extent to which biblical theology should influence preaching, I mentioned my essay, “Biblical Theology and Preaching,” which has just appeared in a new book from Broadman and Holman. Text Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, edited by Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and …
Category Archives: Books
Hurtado Enters the Blogosphere
If you’re interested in biblical studies, here’s a site to add to your reader: Larry Hurtado’s Blog Here’s my review of one of his recent books, Earliest Christian Artifacts. HT: Mike Bird
Literary Notes from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin
As mentioned earlier, I think that A. Philip Brown II’s Hope Amidst Ruin: A Literary and Theological Analysis of Ezra is the best book on the theology of Ezra available. Last week I posted notes I took from the book on the way that literature works. Here are the links to those posts in one …
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Greg Gilbert on Hunter’s To Change the World
Greg Gilbert has a good post on Hunter’s book, with this concluding paragraph: What I appreciate most, however, is Hunter’s humility. For a book titled something as in-your-face as To Change the World, one would really have expected a more in-your-face conclusion than, (I paraphrase) “Can we change the world? Well, who knows? Probably not. But …
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Notes on Characterization from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin
So this is the final installment of my notes on how narrative literature works from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin. For more, you’ll have to read the book for yourself, which I don’t think you’ll regret doing. Here’s what he says about Characterization: “Characterization refers to how an author portrays the characters in his narrative” (108). “There …
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Interview on God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment
Andy Cheung, Academic Dean of King’s Evangelical Divinity School, interviews me about God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology here. You can preorder the book on Amazon. Watch for it, Lord willing, in early November.
Notes on Point of View from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin
So yesterday I noted that this material from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin will help you read all kinds of narrative, and today I note that ambitious souls thinking about writing narrative would be helped by such thoughts as these on Point of View: Point of View: “Point of view refers to how a story is …
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Notes on Plot Composition from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin
So I’m posting the notes I took on how literature works from A. Philip Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin, and it occurs to me that maybe I should note that attending to these features will help you read all kinds of narrative, not just biblical narrative. Maybe I didn’t need to say that, but there it …
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Notes on Plot from Brown’s Hope Amidst Ruin
As I mentioned yesterday, I deeply appreciate A. Philip Brown’s book, Hope Amidst Ruin: A Literary and Theological Anaylsis of Ezra. Here are the notes I took on what he says about plot–page numbers in parentheses refer to Brown’s book: Plot: ordered arrangement of the incidents . . . which has a beginning and a …
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The Best Literary and Theological Analysis of Ezra Available
A. Philip Brown II has given us a treat in his published dissertation, Hope Amidst Ruin: A Literary and Theological Analysis of Ezra. If you like biblical theology that is sensitive to the literary features of the biblical authors, you’ll love this book. One of the aspects of this book that I most appreciated was …
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And If We Refuse We’re Rebels
Erich Auerbach (Mimesis, 14-15) writes that the intent of biblical stories: “is not to bewitch the senses, and if nevertheless they produce lively sensory effects, it is only because the moral, religious, and psychological phenomena which are their sole concern are made concrete in the sensible matter of life. But their religious intent involves an …
ESV Audio Bible on Sale
ChristianAudio.com has the ESV Hear the Word Audio Bible on sale right now (along with most of their other books) for $7.49. That’s right, all their audio books are $7.49. If you don’t have an audio Bible, I highly recommend this one. Regularly priced $28.98, this is a great deal. May the Word of Christ …
Download a Free PDF of Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament
Mark Goodacre writes: I have added a link over on the Lexica page to Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, which is now available on archive.org in a variety of formats, including downloadable PDF. I have also taken the opportunity, as usual on occasions like this, to refresh and update all the other links …
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Christian History Project, Volume 1
I recently learned of The Christian History Project. These books would be a great addition to the library of any pastor or home-school family. Here’s the Foreword to the first volume: The most dangerous people, said the twentieth-century Christian essayist G.K. Chesterton, are those who have been cut off from their cultural roots. Had he lived …
N. D. Wilson on Writing
Prediction: N. D. Wilson’s Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl is this generation’s Mere Christianity (C. S. Lewis) and the one before that’s Orthodoxy (G. K. Chesterton). Only those books may not deserve to be classed with this one. It’s that good. So do I think you should get it and read it? Definitely. Here’s a trailer …
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
The Gods of the Copybook Headings is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Denny Burk has put it to music and sings it beautifully. Dear Denny, please consider this post a formal request to get a recording of your musical setting of the poem online so I can link it up! Here’s the text of Kipling’s …
Andy Naselli’s Let Go and Let God Now Available
The published version of Andy Naselli’s first dissertation is now available for pre-order from Logos. Here’s my endorsement for the book: The history presented in this book is fascinating, and Andy Naselli is a gentle but firm guide away from pitfalls and precipices to straight and narrow exegetical and theological paths. You can see many …
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Dr. Mohler Describes Them Well
Realistically, I won’t have time to read any of the books on Dr. Mohler’s list this summer, but his description of them is fascinating in itself. Maybe someday I’ll get to them. . . perhaps on audio. It’s a great list! Check it out.
Interview with Tom Nettles on His Biography of James P. Boyce
Professor Thomas J. Nettles is one of my favorite historians. It was a joy to audit a course he taught on Baptist history, and I profit much from his writings. Last summer he published a biography of James Petigru Boyce, founder of Southern Seminary, where it is our privilege to teach. If you haven’t already …
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Need Some Encouragement to Buy God’s Indwelling Presence?
If you’re looking for encouragement to buy God’s Indwelling Presence, you can find some here. Thanks to Clint Armani and Jeff Humphries for alerting me to the discussion, and thanks to the commenters on the thread for their kind words! Buy it on Logos. Buy it on Amazon.