That the glory of the Lord might cover the dry land as the waters cover the sea
The Beginning with Moses site has a new design. You’ll want to check it out, and here are some features to note:
* the unique feature of Biblical Theology Briefing papers remains;
* they host a number of reviews of good biblical theology books;
* the site has a brand new design;
* the site will once again be updated regularly;
* the site now offers the option of following BWM on Facebook and Twitter.
Crossway recently gave away Greg Gilbert’s What Is the Gospel for Kindle through Amazon, and I’ve just heard they’ll be giving away another in September. Looks like it will be an every other month program.
I recommend you subscribe to their blog, that way you’ll get the notice when the word comes out.
Even if you don’t presently have a Kindle (like me!), with the way technology is going you’ll probably be using an electronic reader some kind of in the near future. . .
Praise God for Crossway’s faithfulness, and thanks to them for their generosity!
Looking for help learning Latin or teaching it to your kids? Here’s a great deal for a limited time:
Visual Latin | Lessons 1 to 10 Complete [Single/Family]
Price: $25.00 (excluding tax)Ok, this is a really special, very low, tell-all-your friends intro price. It is extremelyinexpensive for this product. We are not sure how long we will offer it for this price, so if you have any interest in Visual Latin, we would encourage you to buy it today. Really.
These 10 lessons are the first half of the first semester of Visual Latin. Go to VisualLatin.comfor free previews and further information.
Each lesson includes 3 videos: Grammar, Sentences, & Reading and 3 PDFs: Instructions,Worksheets, and Answers.
Four free introductory lessons here.
HT: JT
Modern Irish hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty (“In Christ Alone,” and many more) now have a blog.
May the Lord continue to bless them.
Joseph Fitzmyer writes regarding Genesis 3:15:
“Moreover, this verse does not mention משיח [Messiah], or even have a hidden reference to a coming Messiah, despite the later interpretations often given to it in both the Jewish and Christian tradition” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The One Who Is to Come [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007], 28).
The language and imagery of Genesis 3:15 is reused all across the Old Testament and into the New. Further, the blessings of Genesis 12:1-3 are the direct answer to the curses of Genesis 3:14-19, and the Balaam oracles in Numbers 22-24 connect Genesis 3:15 to Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 49:8-12, so that we see that within the Pentateuch itself Genesis 3:15 exercises a profound influence on the gathering lines of promise. This is picked up in the Prophets and the Writings and rightly understood by, among others, the Apostle Paul, who explains that the blessing of Abraham has come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:14, cf. 3:16).
For more detail, see these two essays:
“The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 10.2 (2006), 30–54.
“The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham,” Tyndale Bulletin 58.2 (2007), 253–73.
Andrew E. Steinmann has recently published three commentaries that perhaps are not receiving the attention they deserve. Before I came across the volume on Daniel, I may have been dimly aware of the Concordia Commentary series, but Steinmann’s fine work deserves a much wider readership than the Lutheran circles that appear to be the series’ target audience.
I can’t remember how I stumbled across the volume on Daniel while leading a PhD seminar on Daniel last fall, but it is the most detailed recent evangelical treatment of the book of Daniel available–and in my opinion, those who date Daniel to the Maccabean era (Goldingay) or those who think it doesn’t matter (Lucas) are not evangelical commentaries. The book of Daniel is calling those who know God to be strong and take action (cf. Dan 11:32-35), even if it gets them killed. Daniel seeks to motivate people to trust God and risk their lives for God’s kingdom by demonstrating God’s ability to predict the future. If the book was written after the events “predicted,” God has not predicted the future but some scoundrel has attempted to convince people to risk their lives because God can predict the future. Said scoundrel knows that no predictions of the future have happened since he is “predicting” these things after they took place. So if the book was written in the Maccabean era, it is not merely worthless but dangerous. People could get killed for nothing if the scoundrel who wrote it succeeds in duping them. But Steinmann holds the evangelical position, which is that there really is a God who really did predict the future through the prophet Daniel, and so faithfulness to this one true and living God really is worth more than life.
The 628 page Daniel volume appeared in 2008.
The commentary on Proverbs appeared in 2009 and it’s only 719 pages. These are handsomely bound, large volumes. I haven’t spent any time with this volume yet, but Josh Philpot told me that Steinmann holds the right view on whether Solomon reflects the teaching of Deuteronomy in Proverbs (yes, he does!), and I see in the table of contents that there’s an excursus on “The Use of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 in Proverbs 3:1-12 and 6:20-22.”
The editor’s preface in these volumes promises that “They are Trinitarian, Christ-centered, and Christological commentaries. I’m eager to spend some time in this volume to see what that looks like for Steinmann in Proverbs.
The volume on Ezra and Nehemiah is 675 pages and came out in 2010. I’m not persuaded by his speculative explanation for the switch to Aramaic in Ezra 4:8-6:12 and 7:12-26, but the detailed interaction with the text and syntax of the book, combined with the Christian perspective make this commentary the second one I turn to after Kidner’s as I’m preparing to preach and teach Ezra.
Just in case you’re counting, that makes three big commentaries in three years. Andrew Steinmann has clearly been diligent in his study of the Scriptures. Let’s join him in that.
I bought Byzantium, a novel by Stephen R. Lawhead, when Justin Taylor blogged on it. I love to read fiction, but when I do, good plots tend to dominate my free time and steal some hours when I should be sleeping. Being robbed of shut-eye, however, pays me back with more vacuum capacity for sucking the marrow out of life. Reading great literature is as stretching and strengthening as it is taxing and exhausting. Often I need a little extra push to plunge back into this fiction vortex, the push that pulls me away from something I “should” be reading and forces me to read something I’ve been wanting to jump into.
In this case, the push came from Andrew Peterson, who made an offhand remark in a book review that he had named his first-born son after the main character in Lawhead’s Byzantium. That’s a pretty strong shove!
So I commend to you this novel: set in the middle ages, about the journey of an Irish monk (a man not unlike Saint Patrick), who is a scribe involved in the production of a famous manuscript, is made the slave of Vikings, stands before the Emperor in Constantinople, is enslaved by wicked Saracens only to be befriended by noble Muslims, and through these many adventures sees a Beowulf like figure, King of Skania, converted to Christianity.
Need some more motivation? The Irish Monks practice believer’s baptism by immersion!
This is a fascinating trip to another time and place, combining history and fiction. Lawhead explains:
As for Aidan mac Cainnech, he is a fictitious amalgamation of several Irish saints who were active at the time. No one person did all the things my Aidan did in the book, but the events described in Byzantium were based on the kinds of actual adventures pilgrim saints of Aidan’s day endured.
In another Q&A, Lawhead writes:
Many of the events mentioned in the book – the political upheaval, the intrigue within the Islam court, and others – are genuine. I wanted to make the book as historical as possible without sacrificing the story – after all, it is not a history textbook, but a novel. With me, story wins every time.
Byzantium is a story that waters seeds of hope, fertilizes soils of perseverance, and puts the sun’s life giving rays to unfolding leaves of virtue. Go ahead, travel from Ireland to Arabia through Byzantium and back at the end of the 9th Century. Cross the seas on Viking ships and the deserts on Arabian horses. Tread the paths of an Irish Monk on a journey through the death of vanity to the resurrection of faith.
I first met Dan Born when he was a student at SWBTS Houston, and he and his wife Jenn were also members at Baptist Church of the Redeemer there. He left Houston to study at SBTS, then when the Lord moved the Hamiltons back to Louisville, the Borns were still here. Soon after the Lord opened a door of service for us at Kenwood Baptist Church, the Borns joined and served in a number of ways. Among other things, they revamped the church website.
Dan has recently been called as the pastor of Believers Church in Hannibal, Missouri. I’ve known Dan Born and Ryan Bishop since they began their seminary studies. Both started at SWBTS Houston and continued at SBTS. It’s a special joy to see them both called to pastor in the same summer, and Dan kindly answered some questions about the congregation he now serves.
Tell us about Believers Church: When was it planted, what is the makeup of the congregation, where and when do you guys meet, and what makes it different from other churches in Hannibal?
BC was planted in 2007. We meet on Sunday nights at 6pm in the building of Hannibal’s First Christian Church. At BC, we’re focused on being gospel-centered, missional, and reformed. We’d also say that we’re people-minded instead of programming-minded.
Did you feel a desire to minister in Hannibal in particular? Why?
Yes. I can’t tell you how many times in recent years I’ve thought: “I wish I would have learned this when I was in college.” Well, Hannibal is where I went to college. I’m excited about coming back and getting to pour into students who will go back out all over Missouri, the US, and the world. I’m also ready to plant some more permanent roots and really get involved in a community. Hannibal is a place that I could see us staying for a while. It would have been really hard for us to miss the Lord leading us here.
What do you see as the greatest need at Believers Church?
The gospel. Our greatest need right now is the same as it’s always been – the clear and consistent teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ as he’s revealed in all of Scripture.
What do you see as the greatest need in Hannibal?
The gospel. No matter how big or small the city, no matter its location in the world, it is filled with many people who need to hear the good news of the salvation we have by grace through faith in Christ.
Did the SBTS PhD program prepare you to pastor?
Even though I haven’t finished yet, it has certainly prepared me. One of the most profitable aspects of my education at Southern was that we weren’t simply taught what to think about the Bible. Instead, we were taught how to think biblically. I can’t overestimate how thankful I am to God for my time at Southern. Every aspect of my life, from my devotional reading to how we’ll parent our children, has been deepened and enriched by my time in Louisville.
How can we pray for you?
Pray for my transition from an academic environment to a pastoral ministry, pray for growing confidence in preaching, and pray for our continued trust in and reliance on the Lord for everything no matter what we’ll face in our new ministry.
I’m not talking about Abel (Heb 11:4, KJV) but about A. T. Robertson, who now tweets on Twitter.
Lots of good quotes from a great scholar who loved the Lord and his Word.
HT: Chris Cowan
Rod Decker has posted a review of what looks like a helpful dissertation.
Craig A. Smith, “Criteria for identifying Chiasm of Design in New Testament Literature: Objective means of distinguishing chiasm of design from accidental and false chiasm,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2009.
The review summarizes the argument and contribution of the dissertation, which is helpful for those of us who think we see chiasms in the biblical text, and anyone thinking about writing a dissertation can learn much from the way that a dissertation like this one is evaluated.
It looks like the dissertation will be available at the EThOS site (requires free registration) in 30 days or so.
Big news from B&H:
CONTACT: Jim Baird, B&H Publishing Group
(615) 251-2533, jim.baird@bhpublishinggroup.comAndreas Köstenberger Joins B&H Academic Editorial Team
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor adds director of acquisitions titleNASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 2010) — B&H Publishing Group is pleased to announce the hiring of Andreas J. Köstenberger as director of acquisitions for its academic program. In a unique partnership, he will continue to serve as director of Ph.D. Studies and professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Dr. Köstenberger also serves as editor of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS).
“When Dr. Thom Rainer assumed the role of president and CEO at LifeWay Christian Resources, he demonstrated his commitment to substantive academic publishing by creating the B&H Academic imprint. Since that time B&H Academic has grown in reputation and quality. As we continue t o prioritize the importance of academic publishing we have invited Dr. Köstenberger to join our efforts in acquiring significant authors whom God has gifted to help equip the next generation of leaders for the church,” says Brad Waggoner, president and publisher of B&H Publishing Group. “It is my firm expectation that Dr. Köstenberger will utilize his knowledge as a scholar and his expertise in leading others to enhance B&H’s commitment to and effectiveness in academic publishing for all of our colleges and seminaries and ultimately for the sake of the local church.”
Dr. Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, adds, “Andreas Köstenberger is one of evangelicalism’s finest New Testament scholars and a gift to our seminary. We are delighted to share this gifted academician with co-laborers in the gospel. This is a good thing for the work of the kingdom and the building up of the Church of the L ord Jesus Christ.”
Köstenberger states, “In light of the considerable resources it brings to the table, there is definitely a window of opportunity for B&H Academic (as) several major publishers have moved to the theological left in recent years. The first specific priority I see for B&H is to nurture a culture of academic excellence. We must make a case that biblical Christianity and excellence—in everything we do—are not only perfectly compatible; excellence is the only logical commitment for anyone who has truly understood the character of God and his calling on our lives.”
In addition to his classroom and editorial posts, Köstenberger is the founding president of Biblical Foundations, an organization with the aim of “restoring the biblical foundations of the home, the church, and society.” He is also the author, editor, and translator of more than twenty books. Köstenberger will begin his work with B&H on September 1.
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B&H Publishing Group produces Bibles, church supplies, and academic, reference, and trade books that are distributed worldwide. The company is widely known for the No. 1 New York Times best seller The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick as well as popular titles from Beth Moore (Praying God’s Word) and Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God). Other leading B&H authors include Vicki Courtney, Priscilla Shirer, and Thom Rainer. Their Holman Bible Publishers division, with roots dating back to 1738, recently developed the highly regarded HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) translation and is also the largest United States publisher of Spanish language Bibles.
Rod Decker has posted some excellent resources:
- Martin Luther, The Importance of the Biblical Languages
- John Piper, “Brothers, Bitzer Was a Banker!” The Standard, June 1983, 18-19. The full text of this excellent article is used by permission.
- A. T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament (1923; text below taken from a 1977 reprint by Baker; no original publication information given; it is now out of print and out of copyright).
This is a valuable book–one that I hope will help motivate you to apply great diligence in your study of Greek. I have excerpted the three chapters listed above from the book; each chapter is complete and unedited. The beginning of each page of the original is indicated by enclosing the page number in { }.
Some of Robertson’s comments are now out of date (particularly his references to the tools that are available or yet needed), but look for his attitude toward Greek as a pastor’s tool for handling the Word of God accurately.
- Chapter 1, “The Minister’s Use of His Greek New Testament”
- Chapter 7, “Grammar and Preaching”
- Chapter 9, “John Brown of Haddington or Learning Greek Without a Teacher”
For a brief bio of Robertson, see this article.
Joseph R. Dodson. The ‘Powers’ of Personification: Rhetorical Purpose in the Book of Wisdom and the Letter to the Romans. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche. New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008. 263pp. 9783110209761. $155.00 (cloth). Published in Bulletin for Biblical Research 20.2 (2010), 288-89.
This book is a slightly revised publication of an Aberdeen dissertation done under Simon Gathercole’s supervision. The book is divided into four sections. The first section on Personification discusses the definitions, specifications, and purposes of personification. The second on Wisdom treats the personification of death, creation, logos, wrath, and wisdom in Wisdom. The third section on Romans examines the personification of sin and death, the law, grace and righteousness, and creation and the power of the Spirit. Section four examines the personification of evil and creation in Romans and Wisdom. Dodson states that the book is “most concerned with two questions: 1) Are there any common contexts in which the sage in Wisdom and Paul in Romans employ personification? 2) For what purposes do the authors employ personification?” (2). He concludes that both authors employ personifications in discussions of theodicy, “to explain the reason for evil (distancing God from the blame), to encourage the righteous within suffering (diverting attention away from the problem),” or to point to the solution for evil and suffering (deferring the resolution to a final day)” (221).
Dodson suggests that the personification of death in Wisdom enables the sage “to remove God from the blame of death in the world” (68). On Paul, he writes: “Paul uses the trope to get around difficult issues. . . . the personifications of Sin and Death explain the problem of evil so that God is distanced from its origin” (150). Dodson posits a development in thought whereby Paul espouses conclusions on the problem of evil that depart from Old Testament teaching: “One way some OT writers treated this issue was to claim that both good and evil come from the Lord [footnoting Isa 45:7; 2 Sam 24; Amos 3:6b; 1 Sam 19:9; Ezek 20:25]. As Hebrew thought progressed . . . it began to refuse ‘to acquiesce in the idea that evil as well as good proceeds from the divine nature.’ . . . Rather than placing the blame of evil on God then, these authors often blamed evil angels instead” (205). These developments produce tension in a monotheistic framework with a sovereign God. As Dodson writes, “This tension became characteristic of Hebrew religion which never completely divorced evil powers from God, despite the fact that the evil angels still work as if they were against him” (206). Dodson explains, “It is this framework which Wisdom and Paul inherit—a framework which sought to remove God from the blame of evil by pointing to evil powers, while simultaneously attempting to enforce the idea of his sovereignty” (207). All of this brings Dodson to the conclusion that, “In Wisdom and Romans, then, the Powers of Personification march into texts which concern the paradox of evil in order to exonerate God and to explain the history of Israel, to point away from the present problem of suffering and to ensure a future solution” (222).
Dodson’s thoroughly researched discussion carefully examines personification in Wisdom and Romans in an effort to get at the purposes for which this device is deployed. He boldly wades into deep and complex theological waters and seeks to explain how Paul and the sage have navigated the currents. When looking at a device such as personification in a piece of literature, there is a constant struggle not to lose sight of its wider argument. This book sent me back to the primary sources to examine them again with new questions and heightened sensitivity to the way authors use personification and other literary tools. Dodson deserves our thanks for pushing us to see what the texts say and how they say it.
It was a joy to have Ryan Bishop serve Kenwood Baptist Church as Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Evangelism, and we are sad to see him move back to Texas. That sadness is mingled with excitement about the way the Lord will use him at Graham Bible Church, however, where he has answered the call to pastor. Graham Bible Church is blessed to have him as their pastor.
Ryan addressed us at Kenwood on his last Sunday with us, and his remarks modeled a Christ-like desire to shepherd, encourage, serve, and bless. Ryan’s comments communicate the way the Lord is at work, and it is so encouraging to see God do his work, conforming his people into the image of Christ. What the Lord does is so good it needs to be broad-casted, made known. Celebrating the work of the Lord only adds to his glory.
For that reason I wanted to post Ryan’s farewell comments here, and he kindly gave me permission to do so.
Here’s a picture of a pastor loving his people:
Ryan Bishop’s Goodbye to Kenwood Baptist Church
As Kelli and I have been anticipating our move to ministry in Texas, we’ve had a few weeks to reflect on the Lord’s kindness to us during our years in Louisville. We’ve been overwhelmed especially to think of our last year here with you. And I want to share with you some of the things we’re most thankful for in you.
First of all, I want to affirm God’s grace in you in the evidence I’ve seen in your salvation. God’s work is clear in your belief and love of the gospel. It’s been a tremendous privilege to serve as one of your pastors. I’ve had the opportunity to look out from the pulpit and in Sunday school class to see your sincere interest in the truth. You’ve come to me on Sundays and at lunches and called me during the week confessing your sin. And I don’t want you to take this for granted. This sort of behavior is not natural. We would not do this on our own. Desiring to live in light of God’s truth is an act of God himself. Another habit of yours is that you’ve counted others more important than yourself. Even this morning with the announcement of the elders’ recommendation to recognize the pastoral gifts and service of Mike and Ross—the way Kenwood is committed to raise up ministers of the gospel, some of whom very soon will go out to serve other churches in other parts of the world. I’m encouraged by God’s work to make you love the gospel and love others. My faith in Christ has been reinforced as I’ve seen you inconvenience yourself to come up to work on the building or reach out with the gospel to the community and to the University of Louisville. By God’s grace you’ve answered his call to live like Christians by caring for widows and orphans. The way this church has lived out the gospel in our commitment to adoption pictures our own salvation to all who watch the way God has loved us. I also need to mention the ways I’ve seen you suffer the loss of loved ones in a way that is distinctly Christian. So, Kenwood Baptist Church, on this last Lord’s Day we have with you, I want to affirm God’s gracious work of salvation in you.
I also want to thank you for the ways God’s used you to bless us. To serve the church, at the minimum, pastors must love the flock. This also should not be taken for granted. Just consider who pastors are—sinners, inclined to selfishness, not to see loveliness in others. And those we serve are sinners. Finding love in this combination is no less than miraculous. The Lord must do it, and he has. You’ve been an easy congregation for us to love. You’ve certainly loved us well. It was just a few weeks after we got here last year that you organized a baby shower for Kelli. You’ve cared for Caleb. When we’ve needed someone to watch our son throughout this year, it’s you we’ve trusted. Thank you for all the prayers you’ve prayed for us. You’ve become our home away from home, our family. And you’ve been the models we’ve looked to as Kelli and I seek to be a faithful wife and husband, mother and father. Thank you for letting us observe you and your families. Most of all, I want to thank you for the ways you’ve cared for our souls. God has shown us extraordinary favor in allowing us to sit under faithful, strong gospel preaching. So, thank you, Jim. And thank you to all who’ve served us from this pulpit. Thank you, Josh, for all the time you’ve spent shepherding us in your careful selection and singing of songs that are loaded with the truth that grows our love for Jesus. To those who’ve led us in prayer, thank you for challenging us to repent and believe. Of course, I’ve had an opportunity to participate in elders’ meetings. For those of you who may not know what happens there, let me tell you that your pastors are interceding regularly for you and plotting for your sanctification. To have these men as my pastors, my soul has felt safe.
Finally, I’d like to ask you to continue to care for us by praying for us as we leave. Pray for us to love and depend on Jesus. Pray that the wonders of his gospel would never become stale to us but that we would love it and proclaim it with all our hearts. Pray for us to love the congregation at Graham Bible Church unto death. That we would imitate you as you’ve imitated Christ in laying down your lives for the gospel. And pray that our marriage and family would commend the gospel to others.
We love you and leave with promises to pray for you.
Praise the Lord!
Only the Spirit of God produces this kind of love in a pastor and a church. Only the gospel results in things like this being said. The Lord does use human instruments to advance the gospel by the power of the Spirit, and it’s good to know where the Father is at work causing the gospel of Jesus Christ to prosper by the power of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, I note that Ryan Bishop completed his MDiv at Southern Seminary, and he was blessed by the pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
May the Lord confirm the work of our hands, cause the Word to increase and flourish, and bless Ryan Bishop and Graham Bible Church.
Do you want to read a thrilling novel about the conflict for the fate of the world between the Fangs of Dang (snake-men, seed of the serpent) and the seed of the woman (little children who have lost their father and have a strong, noble mother)? Let me commend to you Andrew Peterson’s On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.
The other night my sweet wife was at book club and the bed-time routine was my responsibility. We got to reading this one and had a hard time stopping! The boys finally got to bed, and I couldn’t resist finishing the book. The music in the pages is full, and there are moments when the minor keys would overcome the majors, only to have the melody of beauty, truth, and goodness resurface and triumph. O the gladness of the flames of hope rising out of the embers and ashes to burn brightly again! (As if from a great distance, the tune of AP’s song, “In the Night, My Hope Lives On” wafts faintly through the leaves).
Explaining why he plays the dark keys and not just the white ones in his stories, Peterson states:
“Sometimes it is necessary to paint the sky black in order to show how beautiful is the prick of light. Gather all the wickedness in the universe into its loudest shriek and God hears it as a squeak at best.”
This is the first book in The Wingfeather Saga, which having read I promptly bought the second volume and am eager to see the third appear. 
Check out the Series Website, where there are illustrations, an encyclopedia, maps, and more.
Peterson celebrates art, music, and literature, and puts mathematics in its proper place. There are hints of a wider back story, a framing meta-narrative along the lines of what the Silmarillion provides for The Lord of the Rings. I’m eager to see how these hints, some of which are embedded in lovely poetry, get teased out.
Thank God for Andrew Peterson, in whose music and literature we hear echoes of the beauty just around the bend. Those lovely traces of something better call us to the world for which we were made–they summon us to live the nobility and virtue worthy of the high call placed on those made in the image and likeness of the one true and living God.
Thanks to Robbie Sagers for the heads up that the BibleMesh site has launched.
In addition to this nice trailer, there are some cool introductory videos down the right hand side of the homepage over at their site (mom, go watch these and keep an eye out for your son).
This looks like a useful tool for anyone wanting to learn more about the Bible, and it might make a nice homeschool supplement.
Robbie Sagers interviewed with Greg Thornbury about the project. Here’s a snippet:
RES: What is BibleMesh, and what distinguishes it from other Web sites devoted to the study of the story of Scripture?
GAT: BibleMesh is an online educational platform designed to help people learn the comprehensive story of Scripture and apply it to all aspects of life.
Isaiah 2:1-4 depicts the exaltation of Jerusalem, the salvation that comes through and after the judgment of exile. Isaiah 2:4 reads in part:
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isa 2:4 ESV)
Isaiah 9:1-7 is talking about that same salvation that comes through judgment (for God’s glory), and Isaiah 9:5 gives another take on the peace described in Isaiah 2:4
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. (Isa 9:5 ESV)
So while Isaiah 2 may not explicitly mention the Messiah reigning at the glorious eschatological restoration, he’s in view in Isaiah 9:6, and Isaiah 9:5 is talking about the same thing as Isaiah 2:4. So who do you think is going to “judge between the nations, and . . . decide disputes for many peoples” (Isa 2:4)?
I’m not presenting a thesis here, just making some observations and posing a question. In the guidelines for a dictionary article I’m in the process of writing, I read this:
In particular, articles should avoid referring to “man” (likewise “mankind,” “men,” “he,” “his” and so on) generically. Language often regarded as patriarchal should be modified to avoid giving wrong impressions. Similarly, translations of biblical and other texts, when made by the contributor, should be no more gender specific than the originals are judged to be. Citations of standard translations of the Bible should not be altered, of course, but where contributors create their own translations of the biblical text, they may find strategies for effectively and responsibly avoiding gender-specific translations by consulting the New Revised Standard Version.
This struck me because I was recently listening to Genesis 1–5 in Hebrew and following along in my Hebrew Bible (which is a great way to move through a lot of text quickly). Genesis 1:26 says that God created adam—man (not a personal name at this point)—in his own image, and then 1:27 says that God created haadam—lit. “the man” but perhaps here “mankind”—and goes on to specify that God made this “mankind/the man” male and female. Moses goes on like this, talking about there not being any “people” around yet in 2:5, but calling the yet-to-be-created humans adam—man—there in 2:5.
So let me rehearse some things we know, and then I’ll me ask my question: We know that William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible profoundly shaped the English language. We know that many, many users of the English language—people whose use of it is/was widely imitated by others, authors, poets, and such—were profoundly shaped by the use of the English language in the Bible, not least the stately King James. Knowing these things, here’s my question:
Was the generic use of the masculine (man, he, him, etc.) urged against in the quote above something that entered the English language because man is spoken of this way in the Hebrew of Genesis 1–2?
And having asked my question, I have another observation. Earle Ellis once explained that he quit the NRSV translation team once he realized that the translation was being driven by an egalitarian agenda. He noted that more literal translation philosophy results in the thought patterns and language uses employed in the Bible shaping the language of the target-culture, whereas more dynamic equivalent translations risk the target culture setting undue boundaries around the renderings of Bible translators.[1]
How shall a man respond to these things? He can be shaped by his culture, or he can speak and write the way the biblical authors did. If it was good enough for them . . .
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First Comment: I forwarded this post to Denny Burk before putting it up here, and he gave me permission to add his thoughts to this post:
I think it’s interesting how honest the guidelines are. The justification in the guidelines for avoiding generic masculines is to avoid the appearance of patriarchy. In other words, the justification is political correctness, not linguistic. And they are being honest about it.
Usually, a linguistic justification goes something like this. “We can’t use generic masculines because language has changed, and we don’t want to confuse readers. Modern readers are likely to mistake generic “he” as a signifying only males. Therefore, we cannot use it.”
This justification at least has the merit of being linguistic, though I think it is profoundly wrong.
I think feminists were right to argue that patriarchy is embedded in language (though I think they were wrong to attempt an artificial expunging of the usage). Masculine terms are routinely used in a generic sense in scores of languages, and I think the usage probably stems from a patriarchal impulse that originally informed the language. It’s ish then a derivative ishah. It’s man then a derivative womanor (womb-man). I wouldn’t press any deep anthropological points as if men are therefore the “default” sex. But I do think that the name and its derivative reflects a patriarchal sense. That adam would stand for both man and woman is not surprising in this kind of a linguistic world. But it’s not just Hebrew. The phenomenon occurs in numerous languages.
Denny Burk
In his song, “In the Night My Hope Lives On,” Andrew Peterson has turned Romans 15:4 into poetry and put it to music that will stir the soul. It left me wiping my eyes from the pain of the beauty of hope.
Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Praise God for the mercy that beats in his holy heart.
The song is on the new album, Counting Stars, which you can download, or get as a physical CD. There’s a nice write-up on the album over at Andrew-Peterson.com.
Nashville’s bard of biblical theology himself gave me permission to stream the song here (click through to the site to stream the song – thanks to Josh Philpot for making this possible), and the lyrics are below:
In the Night My Hope Lives On
by Andrew PetersonI am weary with the pain of Jacob’s wrestling
In the darkness with the Fear, in the darkness with the Fear
But he met the morning wounded with a blessing
So in the night my hope lives onWhen Elisha woke surrounded by the forces
Of the enemies of God, the enemies of God
He saw the hills aflame with angels on their horses
So in the night my hope lives onI see the slave that toils beneath the yoke unyielding
And I can hear the captive groan, hear the captive groan
For some hand to stay the whip his foe is wielding
Still in the night my hope lives onI see the armies of the enemy approaching
And the people driven, trembling, to the shore
But a doorway through the waters now is opening
So in the night my hope lives onLike the son who thought he’d gone beyond forgiveness,
Too ashamed to life his head–but if he could lift his head
He would see his father running from a distance
In the night my hope lives onI can see the crowd of men retreating
As he stands between the woman and their stones
And if mercy in his holy heart is beating
Then in the night my hope lives onI remember how they scorned the son of Mary
He was gentle as a lamb, gentle as a lamb
He was beaten, he was crucified, and buried
And in the night, my hope was goneBut the rulers of the earth could not control Him
They did not take his life–he laid it down
All the chains of death could never hope to hold him
So in the night my hope lives onI can see the Son of Man descending
And the sword He swings is brighter than the dawn
And the gates of Hell will never stand against him
So in the night my hope lives on
In 1963 the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church. Four precious little girls died.
Let’s do a thought experiment: suppose that some “moderate” members of the KKK wanted to build a Klan Activity and Meeting Center on the site of that church for the year 2013, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bombing.
Would it help for them to claim that they were not radical Klan members, that they did not condone the bombing, that the Klan Center was a tribute to the victims, and that they wanted to celebrate the diversity in this country that would allow such a thing?
Why would anyone condone building a Mosque at Ground Zero?
Am I missing something on this Ground Zero Mosque, or does this guy make as much sense to you as he does to me?
