Christmas and the Center of Biblical Theology

From the interview on the CBD Academic blog:

Matthew: Given the current season of the year, could you briefly outline how the Christmas story contributes to your understanding of God’s Glory?

Hamilton: When God set in motion his plan to save his people and defeat his foes, he sent his son to be born. Overturning all worldly expectations, the high King of heaven was born in a barn, the helpless babe of a peasant girl. “Out of the mouths of babes, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger” (Ps 8:2).

One of the consistent themes that exposits the center of the Bible’s theology is the way that God demonstrates power in weakness. He lifts the needy from the ash heap and humbles the proud (cf. 1 Sam 2:1–10). Paul explains in 1 Cor 1:29 that God does this so that no one can boast before him.

Through the judgment that falls on the proud and strong, God delivers those who are humble and repentant–those who seek his mercy.

God’s mercy, in the wondrous humility of a newborn child, is stronger than all the proud wickedness of worldly strength.

God’s unconquerable Champion was so unimpressive that there was no room for him in the inn at his birth, and he had no place to lay his head as an adult. He was the companion of tax collectors and sinners, the teacher of fishermen and a leader of losers.

The baby born in the manger is God’s agent of salvation through judgment. God shows his glory as the humble prince of fools slays the dragon, crushing the serpent’s head, dooming his enemies to judgment, decisively liberating those who take his yoke and embrace the reproach of the cross.

And the paradoxes multiply: the conquest of the King of kings was as unimpressive as his arrival. This child, born to the meek and lowly girl in questionable circumstances, conquered not by slaying but by being slain, he showed his greatness not by being served but by serving. God’s glory is seen in salvation through judgment at Christ’s birth and at the cross, and in both places the humble righteousness of justice intensifies the surprising wonder of mercy.

God’s righteousness is gentle, like the newborn Christ-child, but those who reject the stone laid in Zion will be shattered by the gentle justice of the humble King. Similarly, God’s tender mercy is austere and unyielding as the complement of God’s justice; this is a mercy only shown on God’s terms. He gives his mercy to whom he pleases, and he is pleased to give it to those who confess and forsake their sin (Prov 28:13). Behold, indeed, the kindness and the severity of God (Rom 11:22).

The newborn child seemed weak and vulnerable, but the dragon and the world could not overcome him (cf. John 1:5).

May the God who shows power in weakness lift your heart to sing the praise of the Servant King, the humble prince in the night who will come on a white horse wearing a crown (cue the music of Rejoice).

 

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Biblical Theology Interview on the CBD Academic Blog

Matthew Miller writes an academic blog for Christianbook.com, and he has put up a very encouraging post about God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment, which is followed by an interview on the book.

“How many Christmas cards do you get with the word ‘judgment’?”

“Interview”

He raised great questions that I enjoyed answering.

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It Was His Dog

Moving post from Greg Sykes. An excerpt:

I’m reminded of one of the greatest scenes of such frustrated captivity in modern literature. In Eugene Sledge’s phenomenal memoir of WWII, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, Sledge has spent over two months in brutal, subhuman combat on the filthy, stench-ridden island of Okinawa. He has seen atrocities that would destroy the most hardened soldier — and it did in many cases.

He had watched the Japanese strap dynamite to civilian babies and children, sending them into close proximity to the Marines so they could be exploded by gunfire. He had fallen into a hole with a decaying corpse and had the grubs and rotting flesh slide within his own shirt and dungarees. He had killed innumerable enemy soldiers in their suicidal Banzai charges, and he had watched many of his closest friends die.

But he endured the misery and soldiered on . . . until he received a letter from home (Mobile, Alabama). As he read the letter, he finally crossed his breaking point — tears racked him and he lost control. The days and months of being forced to do things that no man should be forced to endure finally caught up to him and the captivity of his role as a Marine in the Pacific overwhelmed him.

And what was in the letter, you ask? Sledge’s mother had written him to tell him that his dog had died.

Reasonable or not, that information shook Sledge to his core. Yes, he had seen atrocities — on a daily basis — that made the death of his dog seem insignificant. But, as he kept telling his companions, that was his dog. He had raised it from a pup. And he should have been there to see it die. It was his dog, he kept saying, as if that explained it.

Read the whole thing for Sykes’s reflections on what we can learn from this.

 

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Congrats to Grant Osborne on his ZECNT Matthew

Grant R. Osborne’s commentary on Matthew in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament recently appeared.

This massive study will be a huge help to those studying to preach and teach Matthew. I’ve only dipped in, but I see that he rightly sees typological fulfillment in view when Matthew quotes the OT with fulfillment formulas.

Here’s an anecdote from the recent ETS meeting in Atlanta: Andy Naselli was presenting his paper, and at the beginning he very humbly noted Grant Osborne’s presence in the room. Andy greeted Osborne, told him that he loved him, and told him that with all due respect his presentation was arguing against the position that Osborne has espoused in print.

So here is a Andy, who is about 30 years old, arguing against Osborne’s position. I don’t know Osborne’s age, but he has probably been teaching longer than Naselli has been alive! At the end of Naselli’s fine presentation, Osborne raised his hand to comment. I would imagine that at that point Andy felt a bit nervous. With remarkable humility, Osborne told Andy that he had convinced him.

Andy thanked Osborne for his example of humility and kindness, and Osborne commented that this instance proves that in order to write you have to be willing to be wrong.

I relate this episode to note the power of humility. Osborne’s willingness to change his mind in light of the evidence doesn’t make me want to read him less but more! Those who can change their minds can learn, and those who can learn can teach.

I have profited much from Osborne’s stellar work on Revelation, and I expect to find much help from this volume on Matthew in the years to come.

Congratulations, Professor Osborne, and thanks for your exemplary life and work!

 

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The Lord’s Supper in Paul

Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford have done us a great service in editing The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes, which has just appeared from Broadman and Holman.

I’m honored to have contributed to this project, and I’m grateful that Broadman and Holman has kindly granted me permission to post my essay here:

“The Lord’s Supper in Paul: An Identity Forming Proclamation of the Gospel,” pages 68–102 in The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes, ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford, NACSBT (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2010).

Patrick Schreiner has an interview with the editors.

Here’s the outline of my essay:

The Lord’s Supper in Paul: An Identity Forming Proclamation of the Gospel

1. Introduction

2. Problems in the Corinthian Church

2.1 First Corinthians 1–4, The Gospel Against Factionalism
2.2 First Corinthians 5–7, The Gospel Against Sexual Immorality
2.3 First Corinthians 8–10, The Gospel Against Idolatry

3. The Lord’s Supper: An Identity Shaping Proclamation of the Gospel

3.1 Anti-gospel Divisions
3.2 Proclaiming the Lord’s Death
3.3 Partaking in a Worthy Manner
3.4 Receiving One Another

4. Implications for the Contemporary Church

Here’s the Table of Contents for the volume:

David S. Dockery, “Foreword”

Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford, “Introduction”

1. Andreas J. Koestenberger, “Was the Last Supper a Passover Meal?”

2. Jonathan T. Pennington, “The Lord’s Supper in the Fourfold Witness of the Gospels”

3. James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Lord’s Supper in Paul: An Identity-Forming Proclamation of the Gospel”

4. Michael A. G. Haykin, “‘A Glorious Inebriation’: Eucharistic Thought and Piety in the Patristic Era”

5. David S. Hogg, “Carolingian Conflict: Two Monks on the Mass”

6. Gregg R. Allison, “The Theology of the Eucharist according to the Catholic Church”

7. Matthew R. Crawford, “On Faith, Signs, and Fruits: Martin Luther’s Theology of the Lord’s Supper”

8. Bruce A. Ware, “The Meaning of the Lord’s Supper in the Theology of Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531)”

9. Shawn D. Wright, “The Reformed View of the Lord’s Supper”

10. Gregory A. Wills, “Sounds from Baptist History”

11. Brian J. Vickers, “Celebrating the Past and Future in the Present”

12. Gregory Alan Thornbury, “The Lord’s Supper and Works of Love”

13. Ray Van Neste, “The Lord’s Supper in the Context of the Local Church

Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford, “Epilogue”

David Instone-Brewer on Getting the Most out of Bible Software

David Instone-Brewer writes fabulous “Tyndale Tech” notes from Tyndale House, Cambridge. If you use Bible Software, perhaps you’ve wanted to sit down with someone who could “give you the skinny” on how to do things. David I-B has given you exactly what you need.

Here’s the email I got this morning (get on the mailing list here):

———————————-

Dear James,

Getting the best out of Bible software
Software is better in the areas of Biblical Studies than in almost any other discipline except computing. The free software is amazing, and the best of the commercial software is outstanding. Although ease of use is a key element in every package, getting the best out of these complex programs takes some experimenting. I’ve spent hours hunting out and summarising what each one does best, and how to do it easily, in the posts listed here. If I’ve missed your favourite tip or hidden feature, please add it to the Comments.
1) BibleWorks for PC  

* best value all-in-one package
* intuitive straight-forward interface
* very fast even on slower PCs
* integrates well with web and other software (eg Logos)
* specially good tools for finding links and allusions
… more details

2) Logos for PC and now for Mac 

* easy-to-use Bible software including reverse interlinears
* highly configurable and detailed interface
* thousands of add-on books, well-integrated and linked
* specially good at highlighting all translations of a Greek or Hebrew form
… more details.

3) Accordance for Mac & emulated on PC 

* superb range of gramatically tagged texts
* good range of lexicons and other background add-ons
* beautiful and intuitive interface
* fast on even older Macs and PCs
* specially good at cross-version searching.
… more details

4) Other software – mostly free  

* More commercial software
* Free software on the web
* Free software for downloading
* for Mac, PC and increasingly for phones
* showing 35 programs and mentioning many more
… more details.

 

5) SESB – the Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible

* The ‘official’ Greek & Hebrew OT & NT texts (BHS, NA27, UBS4)
* includes the full apparatus of these texts – searchable and well linked.  (this is the ONLY electronic source of these textual details)
* plus Rahlf’s LXX, first vols of Quinta, basic lexicons and more
* good facilities for complex morphological searches
* versions available for Accordcance and Logos, which integrates with BibleWorks on PC
… more details.
My recommendation: Buy the cheaper USA version of SESB then try out the freebies.
When you find that you can’t do what you want to do, find out which commercial package can do it. 

And, if someone keeps asking you what you want for Christmas, give them a heavy hint!

 

David Instone-Brewer (Technical Officer)

Presentation on God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment

Sunday night, November 7, 2010, I had the privilege of presenting the argument of my book, God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology, at Bethel Church in Houston, Texas.

Bethel Church has kindly made the audio from the presentation available. On this page you can check out the “prezi” that I made to accompany my remarks. If you haven’t checked out this prezi software, it’s a nice alternative to powerpoint.

This talk is summarizing my conclusions. Obviously I wasn’t able to develop all the biblical evidence for these conclusions. The book moves inductively through the whole Bible book by book to show how this theme naturally rises up from what the texts say. The book is mainly dealing with the Bible, so I think that even if you disagree with the thesis you might still appreciate the attempt to do whole Bible interpretation that pays close attention to the parts.

A note on buying the book (which, ahem, I’d love for you to do if you haven’t yet!): If you buy from Crossway or Westminster Bookstore it ships immediately, but for some reason Amazon has had a bit of a delay. I see that Crossway has a nifty link to a Google Preview:

Audio of the summary lecture, with Q&A.

Presentation accompanying the lecture.

Here’s a rough outline of the presentation I did at Bethel Church (basically the text from the prezi in outline form):

God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology

Overview of Seven Reasons to Conclude that God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment is the Center of Biblical Theology

1.     God’s Revelation of His Glory to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7

2.     God’s Goal in Redemptive History: To Cover the Dry Lands with His Glory as the Waters Cover the Sea

3.     God’s Pattern of Saving through Judgment in the Bible’s Big Story

4.     God’s Pattern of Saving through Judgment in Each Major Redemptive Event in the Bible

5.     God’s Way of Saving Sinners

6.     God’s Ground of Ethical Appeal

7.     God’s Praise from the Redeemed

Brief exposition of these seven reasons to conclude that God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment is the Center of Biblical Theology:

1. God’s Revelation of His Glory to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7

In Exodus 34:6­–7 Yahweh proclaims his own Name, showing Moses his glory, causing his goodness to pass before him, forgiving sin but not clearing the guilty, revealing his justice to highlight his mercy.

2. God’s Goal in Redemptive History: To Cover the Dry Lands with His Glory as the Waters Cover the Sea

Numbers 14:21, “all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD”

Isaiah 6:3, “the whole earth is full of his glory”

Habakkuk 2:14, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”

Psalm 72:19, “may the whole earth be filled with his glory”

Romans 11:36, “to him be glory forever”

3. God’s Pattern of Saving through Judgment in the Bible’s Big Story

creation – sin – exile – restoration

4. God’s Pattern of Saving through Judgment in Each Major Redemptive Event in the Bible

The Fall

The Flood

The Exile

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The Return of Christ

5. God’s Way of Saving Sinners

revelation of holiness – conviction of sin – mercy in Christ – God exalting trust

6. God’s Ground of Ethical Appeal

the fear of the LORD’s Judgment – curbs behavior – keeping God’s people – on the God-honoring path of life

7. God’s Praise from the Redeemed

God’s people praise his justice

God’s people celebrate his mercy

Salvation belongs to the LORD

We’ll praise him forever.

David C. Parker, Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World’s Oldest Bible

Hendrickson Publishers and the British Library have teamed up to produce a new facsimile of Codex Sinaiticus (best price here), an exciting piece of work I hope to say more about later.

The facsimile is one of the results of an agreement between the Archbishop of Sinai, the Chief Executive of the British Library, the Director of the Leipzig University Library, and the Deputy Director of the National Library of Russia, St Petersburg. These notables came together and agreed to collaborate in making Codex Sinaiticus available. So high-resolution photos of the manuscript are on the Codex Sinaiticus Website, the facsimile of the Codex has been produced, and now the history of the Codex has been told. The reason these dignitaries from Britain, Egypt, Germany, and Russia were involved is fully explained by David C. Parker in Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World’s Oldest Bible.

Parker has related the story of this Codex in way that all parties involved have endorsed, and given the convoluted history, that was no small task. He begins with a fascinating look at what would have been involved in producing this manuscript in the ancient world, and from there he tells the story of how the manuscript became known in the modern west.

Anyone interested in text criticism or in the history of the transmission of the text of the Bible will find this book delightful. The team of scribes who produced the manuscript were not just copyists but artists and craftsmen. Parker takes the reader through the whole process of preparing the parchment (which “is distinguished from leather by the fact that it is not tanned” [43]). From there, Parker walks through the work of the scribes in such matters as laying out the pages, paragraphing, ornamenting, and scripting the text. He even discusses how it appears they divided the work, how they edited their own mistakes, which scribe was the sloppier, and which one appears to have been the senior member of the crew. The volume is complemented with lovely full color plates that illustrate various things Parker discusses, such as hair follicles, veining, and preparation cuts in the parchment. Anyone who wants a fuller understanding of what goes into text criticism should read this book.

Anyone interested in church history and the intersection of diplomacy and scholarship will be romanced by the intrigue of the tale of how the manuscript was removed from St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt to St Petersburg in Russia, with some leaves landing in Leipzig, while the bulk of the Codex was later removed from Russia to London. Was the manuscript about to perish before Tischendorf rescued it? Did the monks mean to donate it to the Tsar? Did Tischendorf steal it? This is one of those books that kept me up past my bedtime because I had to know how this stranger-than-fiction story would reach resolution.

Parker takes a more relativistic view of the canon and the stability of the text than is warranted, and he is more skeptical of the reliability of ancient testimony than necessary. Still, you’ll find the testimony reported and discussed, and that in itself has great value. I think, too, that some of Parker’s own statements about the canon and the text’s stability undermine his fluid view and establish the antiquity and reliability of what this ancient Codex transmits.

Codex Sinaiticus is “the oldest surviving complete New Testament, and is one of the two oldest manuscripts of the whole Bible” (1). Congratulations and immense gratitude are due to the parties involved making it available, and to David Parker for his work in telling its story.

Get a copy of The Story of the World’s Oldest Bible, how it was prepared, produced, and preserved, for yourself, your pastor, and your favorite seminarian here.

“Son of Man” or “Human Beings” in the NIV 2011: What Difference Does It Make?

In answer to the question: What makes a translation [of the Bible] accurate?

I said: “Its ability to preserve the way that later biblical authors evoke earlier Scripture.”

You can read my explanation at the BibleGateway Perspectives in Translation forum.

The NIV 2011 provides a perfect illustration of my point. Hebrews 2:6–8 is quoting Psalm 8:5–7, but the NIV 2011 has a problem with the text.

Here is Psalm 8:4 in the NIV 2011:

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]

Here is the quotation of Psalm 8:4 in Hebrews 2:6 in the NIV 2011:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?

The problem here is not that Psalm 8:4 says “human beings” rather than “son of man.” Psalm 8:4 says “son of man.” You can come to your own conclusions as to why the NIV 2011 prefers to render the phrase “son of man” in Psalm 8:4 as “human beings.”

I would argue that in Psalm 8 David is describing his role as a new Adam exercising dominion over God’s creation (cf. Ps 8:6–8 and Gen 1:26–28) so that God’s name/glory will cover the dry lands as the waters cover the sea (cf. Ps 8:1, 9). This is in keeping with the promises that God has made to David in 2 Samuel 7, which are restated in Psalm 2.

So in Psalm 8 David refers to himself as “son of man,” then talks about how God made him ruler over the beasts of the field. In Daniel 7, in the context of a vision of various beasts who have taken over the rule God’s world, Daniel sees “one like a son of man” approach the Ancient of Days and receive everlasting dominion. Then Jesus refers to himself as “son of man” all over the place in the gospels, and the author of Hebrews, discussing Jesus, quotes Psalm 8 in Hebrews 2.

So is it important to render Psalm 8:4 “son of man”? Or can we render it “human beings”?

The answer depends on what you prioritize.

Apparently the Committee on Bible Translation prioritizes something that causes them to change the words “son of man” in Psalm 8:4 to “human beings.”

If the highest priority is to translate what the text says so that the interconnectedness of Scripture can be maintained, so that people can understand the whole Bible and see how everything fits together “according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on earth” (Eph 1:9–10, ESV), then simple phrases like “son of man” should be translated simply “son of man.”

No small theological matter is at stake here. Does it matter whether Psalm 8 can be seen to be pointing forward to Christ, who fulfills the Davidic pattern as the new Adam who will exercise dominion and make the name of the LORD majestic in all the earth?

Postscript: I hope that this post is rendered irrelevant by the Committee on Bible Translation changing the phrase in Psalm 8:4 from “human beings” to “son of man.” I know they have “son of man” in a footnote, but “son of man” should be in the text not in a footnote.

Josephus on Alexander the Great and the Book of Daniel

A good deal of biblical scholarship on the book of Daniel assumes that Daniel 7–12 was written after 165 B.C. This date is very difficult to reconcile with the actual historical evidence. For instance, the book of Daniel was embraced by all sects of Judaism, whereas other literature produced after the schisms took place was only embraced by particular groups within Judaism.

As noted in an earlier post, the covenanters at Qumran appear to have gone to the shores of the Dead Sea soon after 200 B.C., and there are at least 8 manuscripts of Daniel at Qumran. Is it plausible that a book produced at that time would be accepted by all groups within Judaism, so that even those who separated themselves from the corrupt temple and retreated to Qumran would take this newly produced book with them to the desert? Amid such fierce controversies, would such a book also have been held sacred back in Jerusalem?

The point of this post is to highlight another piece of historical evidence from the Jewish Antiquities by Josephus. Flavius Josephus describes an event that he presents as having taken place in 332 BC (for the date, cf. the Loeb Classical Library ed. of Ant. XI 317, p. 467 notes c and e):

“. . . he [Alexander the Great] gave his hand to the high priest and, with the Jews running beside him, entered the city. Then he went up to the temple, where he sacrificed to God under the direction of the high priest, and showed due honour to the priests and to the high priest himself. And, when the book of Daniel was shown to him, in which he had declared that one of the Greeks would destroy the empire of the Persians, he believed himself to be the one indicated; and in his joy he dismissed the multitude for the time being, but on the following day he summoned them again and told them to ask for any gifts which they might desire. . .”

Two things to note here: first, Josephus clearly regarded Daniel to be the author of the book of Daniel, “the book of Daniel . . ., in which he had declared . . .” Second, Josephus placed this event in 332 BC, so Josephus believed that the book of Daniel had been written by then.