Tyndale Bulletin Essay on the Center of Biblical Theology Now Online

I have just been notified that my essay on the center of biblical theology published in Tyndale Bulletin in 2006 is now online:

The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment: The Centre of Biblical Theology? (that’s not a typo, and that’s not me deploying British spelling; the editors changed my American spellings to the British ones). I’m glad this is now online!

See also: “The Center of Biblical Theology in Acts: Deliverance and Damnation Display the Divine,” Themelios 33.3 (2008), 34-47.

And my manuscript on a book project on the center of Biblical Theology arguing for this center is due to Crossway January 1, 2010. I would appreciate your prayers that the Lord would enable me to help his people, particularly the shepherds and teachers of his people, understand the Bible in a deeper way (borrowing the motto of the ESV Study Bible).

Southern Seminary and the History of American Christianity

If you’re in the Louisville area, do check out the conference here at SBTS next week on Southern Seminary and the History of American Christianity.

The lineup of speakers is an impressive array of historians from whose writings I have profited.

The schedule is here.

Mr. President, Think about Your Daughters: The Nomination of David Ogden Is Shameful

Dr. Mohler’s column today, “Pornography, Public Culture, and the New Administration,” has the details on Barack Obama’s shameful nomination of extremist-pornography-defender David Ogden for the post of Deputy Attorney General of the United States. 

This is a shameful outrage. David Ogden has sued to create a society in which children are easily snared by the filth and smut of the perversions of pornography.

God sees. God knows. God will defend the little ones: “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt 18:6). 

I pray that Barack Obama will consider what David’s Ogden’s actions mean for his daughters, change his mind, and pressure Ogden to withdraw himself from consideration for this post. 

Proverbs 14:3, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Visit the Sick, by Brian Croft

Auburndale Baptist Church is doing good ministry here in Louisville, KY, and it has been a joy to get acquainted with their pastor, Brian Croft, in recent days. Brian has taken up a topic that is all too often overlooked, and he has done us all a favor by doing it concisely!

If you’re a pastor, let me encourage you to grab this little volume and let Brian encourage you to shepherd the flock as you Visit the Sick. And, if you’re a pastor, don’t just get a copy for yourself, get a half dozen to give to those young guys you’re mentoring in the ministry, or to those older guys, maybe your deacons, who help you out with the visitation of those in hospitals or nursing homes.

I’ll never forget the time that Tommy Dahn visited my wife and me in the hospital at a time of pain and sorrow. He had the courage to show up. He loved us. He prayed for us. And he sealed himself to our hearts as our pastor on that day.

Don’t miss these opportunities to apply the gospel and the love of Christ to people–indeed, opportunities to live out the gospel and the love of Christ for their benefit. Take and read. And Visit the Sick!

Looking for a Good Book on Assurance or a Church in Boston?

If you’re looking for a thorough study of assurance, or if you’re teaching or preaching through 1 John, you’ll want to get your hands on Chris Bass’s new book, That You May Know: Assurance of Salvation in 1 John, which is volume 5 in the NAC Studies in Bible and Theology.

Chris and his family are doing important work planting a church in the Boston area, so if you’re looking for a church in that part of the country you should check them out.

I would encourage you to read this book and pray for Redeemer Fellowship Church.

May the Lord build his church!

This Spring at Baptist Church of the Redeemer

If you’re in the Houston area, you’ll want to check out the rundown that Travis Cardwell has of what’s going on at Redeemer this spring.

Lord willing, I’ll be preaching there on Revelation 7-11 March 27-29. It would be a joy for me to see you there.

If you’re single and looking for a mate, if you’re wondering about how to evangelize your kids, or if you’re interested in attending a Seder meal, the spring series of Redeemer Institute Seminars has something for you.

May the Lord prosper his word!

BibleWorks 8

I am not as grateful as I should be for the folks at BibleWorks, and I am not as excited as I should be about the release of BibleWorks8. But I am grateful, and I am excited. I won’t bother you with the details, which are better described at the BibleWorks site, especially in the series of posts “Things to Love in BibleWorks 8.” What I will do is give a personal testimony:

I have been using BibleWorks constantly since 2003. If my computer is on, BibleWorks is open. This tool has been invaluable for work done on the books and articles I have either written or am writing, for research done in preparation to teach class, for personal Bible Study, and for sermon preparation. I’ll give one example of a way it recently served me effectively.

As I was working on an article seeking to demonstrate that later biblical authors were influenced by earlier biblical authors (in this instance, that whoever wrote about David in Samuel described him in terms borrowed from the Joseph narrative in Genesis), I was looking for the use and reuse of unique phrases. Key to my argument was the ability to show that certain combinations of Hebrew terms only occurred in a few places. If a later biblical author picks up a unique phrase, chances are that in reusing that phrase he is consciously pointing his readers back to the earlier passage. Often these unique phrases consist of very common words.

So, for instance, if someone writing in English uses the phrase “To be, or not to be, that is the question,” most people are going to know that’s a famous phrase. Many will know it’s Shakespeare, and quite a few will know it’s from Hamlet. But each and every word in that phrase is very, very common in the English language.

In order to know when a recognizable phrase made up of common Hebrew words is being employed, you can either be a fluent speaker of biblical Hebrew, you can memorize the whole Hebrew Bible, or you can spend countless hours with your concordance searching every one of those common words looking for combinations that are rare. Or, much easier, unspeakably easier, amazingly easier, you can highlight the phrase in BibleWorks, right click, and select “search for phrase.” Almost as quickly as you’ve done this, you have a list of verses in which the phrase occurs.

This is just one of the countless ways that BibleWorks has made it possible to scour the biblical text. There is no substitute, of course, for a careful reading of the text ourselves. And, BibleWorks will be most useful to those who do just that. How else will you know what phrases might be significant? We must be stewing on the words and phrases of the stories, songs, and instructions in the Bible.

If you are a student or pastor and you don’t already have BibleWorks, I cannot recommend it highly enough. BibleWorks 8 is out, and you’ll notice a new link to the BibleWorks site on the right side of this site.

Praise God for his word! And praise God for BibleWorks.

The Week’s Posts at Moore to the Point

This past week it was my honor to guest blog at Moore to the Point, the blog of my Dean, Dr. Russell D. Moore. 

I wanted to gather the links all in one place, so here are my posts:

December 28, 2008 Meditate on It Day and Night

December 29, 2008 Stirring the Pot: How Should the Books of the OT Be Ordered?

December 30, 2008 SBTS Celebrates Its Sesquicentennial in 2009: Why Not Plan to Visit?

December 30, 2008 What Will You Do before the Window Closes?

December 31, 2008, Through the Bible in 2009

December 31, 2008, Ring Out, Wild Bells, For Christ Is Coming

January 1, 2009, May the Lord Do It This Year! 

January 2, 2009, Reaching out in 2009: What Does a Point Guard Have in Common with a Christian?

January 3, 2009, Through the ESV Study Bible in 2009

January 5, 2009, Stirring the Pot: Do You Preach the Superscriptions of the Psalms?

January 6, 2009, Family Worship in 2009 

January 7, 2009, One More Attempt to Stir the Pot: How Often Should a Church Take the Lord’s Supper?

Guest Blogging at Moore to the Point

This week I’ll be guest blogging over at Moore to the Point while Dr. Russell D. Moore is in the Holy Land.

If you’re not already subscribed to the RSS there, or if you don’t already have him on your google reader, I suggest you remedy that deficiency right now. It’s amazing to me that so much is available to us immediately and for free on so many quality blogs.

Enjoy!

“Nativity” by John Donne

Nativity

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-belov’d imprisonment,
There He hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into the world to come;
But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Stars and wise men will travel to prevent
The effect of Herod’s jealous general doom.
Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith’s eyes, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

“Annunciation” by John Donne

John Donne, 1572-1631

Annunciation

Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo, faithful virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He will wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death’s force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son and Brother;
Whom thou conceivst, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy Maker’s maker, and thy Father’s mother;
Thou hast light in dark, and shutst in little room,
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.

Dan Wallace DVD’s on the Reliability of the Text of the NT

There aren’t many things in the world that are more significant than the text of the New Testament. Without it, after all, we don’t know what Jesus said or did, and we don’t know how the Apostles interpreted and proclaimed what God had done in Jesus. The New Testament is the most basic witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, apart from which there is no reconciliation to God the Father, no forgiveness of sins, and no hope for deliverance from sin, death, and hell (if you want to know more about this gospel, click the “Two Ways to Live” icon on the right side of this page).

All this means that the work of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts is very, very important. They are taking high resolution photos of the best manuscripts of the New Testament, which allows them to do two things: 1) it preserves these manuscripts in highly readable form, and 2) it makes possible the dissemination of these manuscripts–people who would otherwise have no access to them can get to them if they have a computer and an internet connection.

If you would like to learn more, a great place to start would be these two DVD’s of lectures done by Dr. Wallace. Here’s a release advertising these two DVD’s:  

Two DVD videos on the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts 

Several have asked about getting a hold of Dr. Daniel B. Wallace’s plenary address, delivered at the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual meeting in November 2008; others have wanted to get his lecture at apologetics conferences and in churches on whether our Bible today essentially reflects the wording of the original text. Both of these lectures are now available as video DVDs. They would make great Christmas presents—and the price is nominal. The ordering information is available below. 

“Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then?”

A lecture at an apologetics conference in Providence, Rhode Island, 2008, about whether our printed New Testaments today accurately represent the original text. 

“Challenges in New Testament Textual Criticism for the 21st Century”

A plenary lecture at the annual Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, 2008, on current issues in NT textual criticism. 

The price of each video DVD is $10. The price of both video DVDs together is $15. Texas residents also will pay 8.25% sales tax. Allow two to four weeks for delivery. 

Also, if you haven’t signed up yet, you owe it to yourself to get the free monthly e-newsletter of the Friends of CSNTM (the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts). ‘Friends’ update you on the adventures of Dr. Wallace and his team as they travel all over the world in search of New Testament manuscripts. To sign up, simply respond to this email. You’ll get the next e-newsletter at the beginning of the month. 

Friends of CSNTM (friendsofcsntm@gmail.com)

You can order the DVD’s here. 

May the Lord prosper his word! 

The Center of Biblical Theology in Acts

Andy Naselli announces the release of Themelios 33.3:

The latest issue of Themelios was released today, and it is outstanding! (It is available as a 129-page PDF or inHTML.)

  1. Editorial | D. A. Carson
  2. Minority Report: The Way of the Christian Academic | Carl Trueman
  3. The Gospel and the Poor | Tim Keller
  4. Shared Intentions? Reflections on Inspiration and Interpretation in Light of Scripture’s Dual Authorship | Jared M. Compton
  5. The Center of Biblical Theology in Acts: Deliverance and Damnation Display the Divine | James M. Hamilton Jr.
  6. Salvation History, Chronology, and Crisis: A Problem with Inclusivist Theology of Religions, Part 2 of 2 | Adam Sparks
  7. Ezra, According to the Gospel: Ezra 7:10 | Philip Graham Ryken
  8. Book Reviews | 32 reviews
    1. Old Testament | 4 reviews
    2. New Testament | 6 reviews
    3. history and historical theology | 4 reviews
    4. systematic theology and bioethics | 16 reviews
    5. ethics and pastoralia | 1 review
    6. missions and culture | 2 reviews

A revision of my 2005 ETS presentation, “The Center of Biblical Theology in Acts: Deliverance and Damnation Display the Divine” appears in this issue. The essay can be accessed in either HTML or PDF format. 

I am at work on a larger project on the Center of Biblical Theology, and I welcome any feedback that might present objections I should answer, things I should make more clear, or any suggestions as to how I could improve the argument I’m trying to make.

Or if you just want to register your opinion that there’s no center to biblical theology or that I’m wrong about what it is, you can of course do that in the comments, too.

Is A. T. Robertson Your Homeboy?

Well, perhaps like me you’re a little hesitant to assert “A. T. Robertson is my homeboy,” because we would not want to communicate any disrespect, and from the stories we’ve heard about the way he would summon students to stand up in class and give recitations of the lesson, we might be a little afraid to provoke a test we might not pass! 

This is a brilliant photo from JT’s post, however, and I think that A. T. Robertson would be glad to have all of us who are committed to the diligent study of the Greek New Testament for the good of God’s people and the glory of Christ say, “A. T. Robertson is my homeboy.” 

Here’s what he wrote in the preface to the third edition of the most important book Broadman and Holman sells, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (you can get the PDF free online, and it comes with BibleWorks, but there is great value in having a print copy you can mark up as you go through it): 

“It is gratifying to know that ministers are using it in their studies as one of the regular tools in the shop. In the classroom only selected portions can be covered, but the preacher can use it every day (as many do) in his reading and study of the Greek New Testament. There are many ministers who read the Greek New Testament through once a year, some of it every day, besides the solid, critical study of a Gospel or Epistle with commentary, lexicon and grammar. This is the work that pays one a hundredfold in his preaching” (xvii). 

Amen! And may many so give themselves to the assiduous study of the Greek New Testament that they find themselves making daily recourse to Robertson’s grammar. If you do that, my friend, A. T. Robertson will indeed be your homeboy.

Robertson’s prefaces to this grammar are rich with his humility, his love for the Lord, and his recognition of the immensity of the task he attempted. 

Thanks to Rod Decker, you can now access Robertson’s inaugural address here at Southern Seminary. JT has some choice quotes from it.

How to Prepare for Second Semester Greek

Second semester Greek is done different ways in different places. Some places take two semesters to go through a grammar like Mounce’s, other places go through the elements of the language in one semester and jump into Syntax and Exegesis in the second semester. Here at SBTS, we do the latter, but before I address those who have been through all the elements of the language and are ready to move forward, let me address those who may need a basic review of the language. 

A Basic Review of Greek

Ted Hildebrandt of Gordon College has put a whole set of videos online that will take you through the entire language. There are worse things you could do with your time than watch these videos. Seriously, these are a treasure trove! We should all thank Ted Hildebrandt for putting these videos online for free! Whatever basic Greek Grammar you have, you’ll be able to match one of Hildebrandt’s videos with the chapters in the book you have. 

All you need is the discipline to do this every day until you have watched all the videos. Hildebrandt has 28 units online, each with a number of different videos. 

Hildebrandt has also made available mp3 files both for Vocabulary words and for the whole book of 1 John–and this stuff is all free! If you don’t remember your vocabulary, get these onto CD’s or your iPod and listen to them while you’re in the car or on the treadmill, while you mow the lawn or do the dishes. 

In my opinion, Hildebrandt’s site is the best place to go to review first semester or first year Greek. If you’re looking to get your Greek back, look no further. Get after it. Make it an appointment. Put it in your calendar. Don’t be late and don’t play hookey. 

Moving Forward after Review

I really have nothing to say here other than this: get your Greek New Testament out and read it. Every day. Start small, say, with one to four verses. Read. Understand all the vocab and all the parsings (using whatever you need to use–BibleWorks, Kubo or Burer and Miller, and or the Analytical Greek New Testament, or some free software), then read and re-read that one to four verse section until you don’t have to look at the parsing tool or the vocab list to understand the meaning of the words, their grammatical function in this context, and how they work together to communicate meaning. Read the passage again and again until you can put everything together. If this has taken all the time you’ve alloted to yourself for this task for the day, go on to whatever is next. If you have more time, read the next verse.

The important thing is that you stay with it. Read every day for 15 to 30 minutes at least. If you have more time, give it more time.

I can remember Dr. John Hannah relating in class one day that he was once at the photo-copier at the same time that S. Lewis Johnson was there. Dr. Hannah said that Dr. Johnson, who was older than Hannah, looked at him and said, “John, if I had everything to do over again I would spend a lot more time reading the Bible.” 

When we come to the end of our days there are many things we will regret. Assuming we don’t ignore the wife and kids to do it (which will be regretted–don’t do that!), we will not regret the time we spent studying to show ourselves approved. 

PS: If you’re in my Greek Syntax and Exegesis class here at SBTS in the spring, I suggest you get the syllabus from ecampus and make the biblical texts we’ll cover in class the texts you’re working through over the break. 

Enjoy! And may the Lord bless the reading and the hearing of his most holy word.