BUY THE BOOK AT AMAZON!!!

That’s right, usually the everyday price at Amazon is better than the special, one-time, one-book, coupon price at Borders. And speaking of Amazon, have you seen their new ereading device, the ‘Amazon Kindle’? Looks pretty interesting - basically you can carry around 200 books in a super portable, easy to hold and read format.

Crossway has even announced a Kindle edition of the ESV so you can do your Bible study on the go (you can even take notes and add bookmarks on the Kindle). Check it out and let me know what you think. And remember, when you want to save money at Borders, but the book at Amazon (but still go to Borders for the coffee and browsing).

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Westminster Bookstore - The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright

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A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 1013

by D.A. Carson

Publisher: Baker Books

ISBN: 0-8010-6768-5

Rating: 8/10

This book is the third volume in a series of expositions of Paul’s letters (presumably Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians are the first two volumes). This present volume contains Carson’s exposition of the final four chapters of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians (the subtitle is, appropriately, “An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13″). Not quite a commentary, the book nevertheless covers the entirety of these four chapters, discussing and developing every major thought of this portion of Paul’s writings. Carson’s enthusiasm and intimacy with the subject matter is apparent throughout these pages. In the Preface, Carson clearly states his affections for the apostle Paul -

I love the apostle Paul. Some people cannot understand my love. They find Paul angular, merely intellectual, intimidating, even arrogant. My response, firmly stated, is that they do not know him. - p.9

This affection for Paul makes for an interesting, multifaceted read - one learns not only theology, but ‘Paulology’. What was Paul’s take on specific situations in a specific place and time and what does this tell us not only about God, Jesus, and faith, but about how to live these beliefs out in our lives and in our community?

When discussing any portion of the Bible, particularly Paul’s letters, determining the context is an essential foundation for attempting to determine the author’s original intended meaning. Carson spends a good deal of time in the front of the book discussing the various evidence and alternatives while setting out his best explanation for the setting of these four chapters. Carson’s conclusion on these four chapters is that the letter is unified, but was written in two sessions -

In short, after finishing the first nine chapters, but before actually terminating the letter and sending it off, Paul receives additional bad news, and therefore adds four more chapters of rebuke. Second Corinthians is thus a formally unified letter, but does reflect a substantial change of perspective in the last four chapters. - p.26

Further he argues that the interlopers that Paul writes against were ’some brand of Judaizers’. Carson defines this term-

Judaizing, of course, is not the same as Judaism… Nor is Judaizing an apt term to describe the worship and attitude of countless thousands of Jews who truly trusted Jesus the Messiah but who did not give up the traditional observances of Judaism… Judaizing refers to the pressure exerted by putative Jewish Christians on Gentile Christians to compel the latter to conform to the whole or to some part of the Mosaic law, as a necessary condition for salvation or Christian maturity. - p.34

After spending a good deal of time in an ‘Orientation to 2 Corinthians 10-13′ (perhaps too much - 27 out of 179 pages), Carson moves sequentially through the text. He divides the text into eight major sections with a chapter dedicated to each. Although his further divisions within each chapter allows him to follow some tangents, he focuses on one major theme in each section, and weaves these together through the book into one primary argument. This works well as it follows essentially what Paul himself does in his letters. The overall theme that Carson develops in the ensuing pages is presented in his first paragraph -

We increasingly inhabit a time and place in Western history when humility is perceived to be a sign of weakness; when meekness is taken for a vice, not a virtue; when puff is more important than substance; when leadership, even in the church, frequently has more to do with politics, pizzazz, and showmanship, or with structure and hierarchy, than with spiritual maturity and conformity to Jesus Christ; when the budget is thought to be a more important indicator of ecclesiastical success than prayerfulness and when loose talk of spiritual experience wins an instant following, even when that talk is mingled with a scarcely concealed haughtiness that has learned neither humility nor tears. To Christians hungry to understand and repent of these evils, 2 Corinthians 10-13 speaks with rare power and passion. - p.13

The beauty of this book is that, in addition to developing the theme presented above, Carson throws in some great quotes on other topics. Here is a small sample to whet your appetite -

From the time of the fall to the present day, men and women have frequently succumbed to the deceptive devices of the devil. Christians are especially open to the kind of cunning deceit that combines the language of faith and religion with the content of self-interest and flattery. We like to be told how special we are, how wise, how blessed, especially if as a consequence others are gently diminished. We like to have our Christianity shaped less by the cross than by triumphalism or rules or charismatic leaders or subjective experience. And if this shaping can be coated with assurances of orthodoxy, complete with cliché, we may not detect the presence of the archdeceiver, nor see that we are being weaned away from “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” to a “different gospel.” - p.96

The appeal to limitless toleration–not just toleration of the other chap’s right to be wrong, but toleration pushed so far one can never say that anything or anyone is wrong–presupposes the greatest evil is to hold a strong conviction that certain things are true and their contraries false. Worse, this presupposition operates because of an antecedent presupposition: confident knowledge in religious matters is impossible. But if we hold that God has revealed himself to men, supremely in the person of his Son, but also in the words and propositions of Scripture, then however many interpretive difficulties may still afflict us, we have no right to treat as optional anything God has said. Indeed, never to say any opinion is wrong presupposes one opinion is right–viz., the one saying no opinion is wrong. Either this is illogical, or the proponent of this view really means that the one certainly correct opinion is that no other opinion should ever be dismissed as wrong. But how has he or she attained such certain knowledge? Few opinions are less liberal and tolerant that the form of liberalism fiercely intolerant of everything but itself. - p.111

Behavior is of unsurpassed importance in the Christian way. No matter how spectacular the private claim, no matter how esoteric the putative vision, it cannot displace conduct and speech as more reliable indicators of how closely anyone follows Christ. - p.149

There is a general lesson of considerable importance here. Many people go through life trying to isolate this incident or that even as the exclusive work of Satan or the exclusive work of God. This almost always leads to doubtful interpretations of events, and may end up in the cultic view of guidance. Certainly this approach does not listen very carefully to what the Scriptures say on these matters. - p.151

This is one book that I definitely plan on reading again. This book is accessible to a wide audience yet deals with significant issues in an interesting way, with the insight and wit that is typical of Dr. Carson’s publications. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a careful reading of this portion of scripture. And if you are not interested in a careful reading of this portion of scripture, then you definitely should read it! I will leave you with the following quote-

The Christian Church needs a little more both of Paul’s discernment and intolerance. Like the ancient Corinthians, we too are sometimes deceived. Provided there is fluent talk of Jesus, gospel, truth, Christian living, and spiritual experience, combined with effective, self-confident leadership, we seldom ask if it is the same Jesus as the one presented in the Scriptures, or if the gospel being presented squares with the apostolic gospel. most who read these pages will already have come to recognize that the Jesus preached by, say, the Jehovah’s Witnesses is not in every respect like the Jesus of the New Testament. The total synthesis of the Witnesses results in another Jesus. But the same can be true of some presentations of Jesus that are closer to home. Is it a biblical Jesus who promises us nothing but health, prosperity, wisdom, and joy? Is it a biblical Jesus who guarantees heaven and says nothing of hell? Is it a biblical Jesus who promises eternal life but says nothing about entailed righteousness? Is it a biblical Jesus who needs to have his saving work supplemented by our merits, ceremonies, and sacrifices if we are to be redeemed? If the Corinthians could be deceived in the first century into transferring their allegiance to a Jesus who did not really exist, what entitles us to think that we shall always be exempt from similar dangers and deceptions? Our only safeguard is a humble return, again and again, to the apostolic gospel, the biblical Jesus, preserved for us in the pages of Scriptures. - p.99

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Whether your goal is to share a message of faith, raise money for charity, preach salvation, build an inner-city outreach, or give your audience hope, Phil Cooke describes the new rules for communicating your message in the 21st century.In Branding Faith, television producer and media consultant Phil Cooke will show you how to cut through the overwhelming media clutter, connect, and then develop a meaningful relationship with your audience. Moving far beyond the typical communication techniques of recent years, this is a remarkable journey that will help you create a powerful strategy for reaching the most distracted audience in the history of the world.Controversial, compelling, and undeniable, Branding Faith will change the way you look at advertising, marketing, and promoting your message. This is an essential book for anyone in the business of communicating a message with the hope of changing the world.

Check out the website for the book - Branding Faith

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	Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)Release: October 2007 ISBN: 978-0-8010-2668-3 Respected New Testament scholar Darrell L. Bock provides a substantive yet highly accessible commentary on Acts in this latest addition to the acclaimed BECNT series. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Bock leads readers through all aspects of the book of Acts—sociological, historical, and theological. His work blends academic depth with readability, making it a useful tool for students, teachers, scholars, and pastors alike. A user-friendly design with shaded text and translations of the Greek text make this commentary engaging and easy to use. The result is a guide that clearly and meaningfully brings this important New Testament book to life for contemporary readers.
	The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus TraditionRelease: August 2007 ISBN: 978-0-8010-3114-4 Even mature Christians have trouble defending the person and divinity of Christ. The Jesus Legend builds a convincing interdisciplinary case for the unique and plausible position of Jesus in human history. He was real and his presence on the planet has been well-documented. The authors of the New Testament didn’t plant evidence, though each writer did tell the truth from a unique perspective. This book carefully investigates the Gospel portraits of Jesus—particularly the Synoptic Gospels—assessing what is reliable history and fictional legend. The authors contend that a cumulative case for the general reliability of the Synoptic Gospels can be made and boldly challenge those who question the veracity of the Jesus found there.
	Ephesians and Colossians (Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament)Release: November 2007 ISBN: 978-0-8010-3128-1 Ephesians and Colossians is the first of eighteen volumes in the new Paideia commentary series. This series approaches each text in its final, canonical form, proceeding by sense units rather than word-by-word or verse-by-verse. Each sense unit is explored in three sections: (1) introductory matters, (2) tracing the train of thought, (3) key hermeneutical and theological questions. The commentaries shed fresh light on the text while avoiding idiosyncratic readings, attend to theological meaning without presuming a specific theological stance in the reader, and show how the text uses narrative and rhetorical strategies from the ancient educational context to form and shape the reader. Professors, graduate and seminary students, and pastors will benefit from this readable commentary, as will theological libraries.
	The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History, and Theology in the Gospel of JohnRelease: November 2007 ISBN: 978-0-8010-3485-5 How do historical and literary details contribute to a coherent theological witness to Jesus in the Gospel of John? A leading British evangelical New Testament scholar answers that question with studies on themes from messianism to monotheism, symbolic actions from foot-washing to fish-catching, literary contexts from Qumran to the Hellenistic historians, and figures from Nicodemus to “the beloved disciple” to Papias. Originally published in various journals and collections, these essays are now available for the first time in one affordable volume with a substantial new introduction that ties them all together. A must-have for serious students of the Fourth Gospel.

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Commentary & Reference Survey

by John Glynn

Publisher: Kregel Publications

ISBN: 978-0-8254-2737-4

Rating: 9/10

Kregel Publications recently released the ‘Tenth Edition, Fully Revised and Updated’ of john Glynn’s ‘Commentary & Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources’. What apparently started as Glynn’s quest to ‘build a personal reference library in preparation for attending Dallas Theological Seminary’ has evolved into a tremendous resource readily available to the masses. Let’s parse the full title, which nicely sums up this work:

Tenth Edition, Full Revised and Updated - This book was released on February 15th of this year (2007). Every commentary that I am aware of that was published to that date is contained in this survey. What I really appreciated is that the author not only includes forthcoming commentaries for each book of the Bible, he even includes them in his recommendations, if warranted based on that author’s previous work and other criteria. For example, here is an excerpt of Glynn’s comments on Acts commentaries -

Forthcoming: Loveday Alexander, Luke-Acts, BNTC (Hendrickson); Steve Walton, WBC 2 vols. (Thomas Nelson); Joel Green, NICNT (Eerdmans); Stanley Porter, BIGTC (Eerdmans); Carl Holladay, NTL (Westminster John Knox); Craig Keener (Eerdmans); and David Peterson, PNTC (Eerdmans), especially for its theology. With Witherington or Barrett’s shorter commentary (2002), one should obtain Bock and wait for Porter…

This is an impressive list of forthcoming commentaries, and considering this was published six months ago, and Bock’s Acts commentary is still not slated for publication for another few weeks, this survey is still ahead of its time!

Commentary - Glynn states in the Introduction that ‘about 40 percent of the total books mentioned in the survey are commentaries’. For each book of the Bible he provides a list of ‘Technical, Semitechnical’ and ‘Exposition’ commentaries, with a ‘theological spectrum’ rating for each, as well as bibliographical information. He further includes footnotes with an overview of this thoughts on the commentaries available for that book and adiditional notes on specific commentaries. Finally, he includes a very helpful ‘Ultimate Commentary Collection’ at the end of the volume. This is really two lists - one for ‘Technical’ and one for ‘Expositional Commentaries’ - with 1-3 commentaries for each book on each list.

Reference - In additon to commentaries, each book of the Bible includes a list of ‘Special Studies’ which includes helpful monographs and related works. Beyond a section for each book of the Bible, there are also a number of additional sections such as ‘Jesus and the Gospels’, ‘Jewish Background’, and ‘Biblical Hebrew Resources’. Finally, the final three chapters (not counting the ‘Ultimate Commentary Collection’) are focused on digital resources - ‘Exegetical and Bible Study Computer Programs’, ‘Computer Resources’, and ‘Internet Web Sites’.

Survey - This survey classifies and lists approximately 2,500 books! However, this is a survey, not a compendium of book reviews. Glynn states -

I rely principally on the consensus of other published bibliographies and surveys. Second, each quarter I photocopy reviews from twenty-five theological journals (British journals also inform me of books of which I might be otherwise unaware). Third, I receive review copies from more than a dozen publishers.

I appreciate this approach as it (theoretically) reduces the influence of one man over the inclusion and evaluation of these resources, while providing the widest possible net of knowledge to be applied to the task of gathering information on the resources.

A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources - This volume absolutely goes far beyond other works in this genre. This is the single most comprehensive, useful resource of this type known to me. I have reviewed a few other similar resources (see below), however most focus primarily, if not exclusively, on commentaries. One of my complaints in my reviews of these other resources is the lack of an online companion, continually updated and searchable. This survey even includes such a website! However, Glynn’s website (available here) is not strictly what I have been looking for - some of the resources of this book are included, along with some other helpful resources. However, a searchable bibliography of commentaries and reference works is not available, and the design of the site is lacking. And please, someone, buy him a URL, $8 a year for goodness sakes!

In the weeks since I completed reading through this survey, I have pulled it off the shelf at least twice a week as I have considered adding books to my reading list or to reference in my studies. I would recommend this highly to anyone interested in studying the Bible - for the price (currently $16.49 at Westminster Bookstore) this is an incredible value.

Additional Resources:
Old Testament Commentary Survey by Tyler F. Williams
Parableman: Series: Commentary Reviews by Jeremy Pierce

Also see my reviews of:
New Testament Commentary Survey by D. A. Carson
Old Testament Commentary Survey by Tremper Longman III

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Homeless children learn to go without lots of things that most of us take for granted… but expecting them to go without school supplies is simply too much to expect. That’s why talkradio 790 KABC has teamed up with the Feed the Children Foundation to make sure that thousands of homeless kids in the LA and Orange County area will have a backpack filled with school supplies.

Rene’s Ramblings: Non-Profit of the Month: August 2007 - Feed the Children

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Things on Bryan L’s Mind: New Gordon Fee Books

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by Gordon Fee

Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers

ISBN: 978-1-59856-035-0

Rating: 7/10

I have successfully completed the first of my two large reading projects this summer (the second being the new commentary on Leviticus from the Apollos Old Testament Commentary series). I finished reading all 707 pages of Gorden Fee’s Pauline Christology. Okay, so I didn’t read the index, or the Greek appendices, so I read more like 619 pages. Still, I digested a wealth of information on a significant topic. Many have compared this book to the book Fee refers to as his ‘big book on the Holy Spirit in Paul’, God’s Empowering Presence. In this present volume, Fee explores every Christological reference in every letter in the Pauline corpus, and then focuses this exploration into chapters on various topics of Paul’s Christology.

The first half of the book works through each of the letters in the Pauline corpus, devoting a chapter to each letter (with the exception of including Philemon with Colossians and bundling the pastoral epistles together). Each of these chapters includes a complete listing of relevant texts in Greek as well as ‘An Analysis of Usage’ - a count of the various Christological terms used. For example, Fee count the absolute and relative number of instances of ‘Jesus’, ‘Christ’, and ‘Lord’ either alone, in pairs, or in triplets, in each letter. Within the text of each chapter he refers to this data, including his analysis of the relative frequencies of the various terms.

In the second half of the book, Fee uses the various exegetical readings and data, and organizes his conclusions by subject matter. He applies his conclusions to various ‘areas’ of Christology: Jesus as Second Adam, Jesus: Jewish Messiah and Exalted Lord, and so on. In these topical chapters he engages in healthy debates with various scholars, although James Dunn is engaged perhaps more frequently than others.

As can be expected from Dr. Fee, this books is full of excellent exegetical readings of various texts. In fact, the very foundation of the book is a careful exegetical reading of each and every relevant passage. Knowing Greek would certainly enhance the depth of the reader’s experience, but is by no means required. Only after a careful exegetical reading of each passage, and a careful analysis of the data, does Fee comment on the larger topic at hand.

I was able to learn much from Fee’s exegesis alone. My primary take away from this book is that ‘Lord’ in Paul’s writings almost exclusively refers to Jesus. Some quick background for my fellow laymen is in order here (I am sure some of my more astute readers will correct some of what I am about to write) -

Since pronouncing God’s personal name YHWH is considered sinful by the Jews, they use Adonai instead in prayers and the reading of the Scriptures. When the Masoretes added vowel pointings to the text of the Hebrew Bible in the first century A.D., they gave the word YHWH the vowels of Adonai, to remind the reader to say Adonai instead. (source: Theopedia)

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible which Paul was apparently most familiar, the Greek word Kyrios(=Lord) was used to translate the Hebrew Adonai(=YHWH). Fee argues that when Paul quotes or alludes to Old Testament passages which include ‘Kyrios’, his uses Kyrios in these passages to refer to Jesus. He thus ties Jesus into the identity of God. The crux of this can be seen in his use of Lord in Psalm 110:1 to refer to Jesus in various allusions and references. Paul almost exclusively uses the Greek words for ‘God’ and ‘Father’ to refer to God the Father. Correct or not ( and Fee’s arguments are certainly compelling), I find the exploration of Paul’s early trinitarian thinking fascinating. Modern believers too easily lump Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together into an almost indifferentiable whole. A careful reading of Paul gives one the clear sense of the difficult tension created by the individual yet shared identity of the three. A careful reading such as Fee provides in this volume can only help lead to a healthier understanding of the three aspects of the trinity.

Another passage that I found helpful was Fee’s exploration of the evolution of Christ(=Messiah) from a title to a name. The fact that people generally use Christ as a name rather than a title had bothered me, but now I understand that Christ as a name is accurate. This evolution is complete by the time Paul writes his letter to the Galatians-

Second, the title/name Christ, which occurs a total of thirty-eight times, is easily the most common referent in the letter, itself occurring nine times more than explicit mention of God. Twenty-two of these occur alone, and all but three of these (1:7; 6:2, 12) are without the definite article, indicating that by now it is the primary name by which the Lord is mentioned. He is simply “Christ,” not “the Christ=Messiah.” - p. 208

I found his sections on Adam Christology (against Dunn - see my review of Dunn), Col 1:12-17, and the ‘Philippian hymn’, quite compelling, both due to my particular interest in these areas and because of his treatment. Here is a sample from his discussion of the ‘Philippian hymn’, discussing the Name of God (referring to Philippians 2:9b):

The real concern in this clause has to do with the way God has exalted Christ to the highest place: by “gracing” him with the Name. At issue is what Paul intended (in line b) by “the name, the one above every name.” Since the next clause begins by reference to “the name of Jesus,” it has been common to see “Jesus” as the name being referred to. But neither the context nor historical reality supports such a view. After all, the name “Jesus” has especially to do with his earthly life, not his exalted, heavenly one. Hence the phrase (in the name of Jesus) refers not to someone hearing the name “Jesus” and thus bowing before him; rather, it is a direct pickup of what has preceded and means something like “the Name that now belongs to Jesus.” - p. 398

This book is, as Fee warns, not a book to read straight through (I know from experience!). This book works best as a reference for those interested in Pauline Christology. The first half is great for those focusing on a specific letter, the second half is excellent for those researching a specific topic. Because it is organized like a reference, Fee is forced to be redundant in making his points. He admits as much in the Preface-

First, because I can hardly expect everyone to read a book such as this one straight through, from cover to cover, I have tried to make it user friendly from chapter to chapter, which involved a bit more repetition than one would ordinarily wish to have. - p. xxxi

However, Fee does attempt to build a case for a certain reading of Paul throughout the book. There is a bit of an identity crisis - if the book were written exclusively as a reference work the format could have been reworked for more effectiveness. Irregardless, this book is certainly worth engaging and would be a welcome addition to any library.

For a more thorough, scholarly review of this book, please see Chris Tilling’s 73 part series over at Chrisendom (okay, seriously, he only wrote 11 posts on it…)

I will leave you with this quote-

Salvation is predicated on the love of God;

it is effected by Christ through his death and resurrection;
and made effective through the work of the Holy Spirit. - p. 64

Also see my reviews of these related, referenced works:
Christology in the Making by James D. G. Dunn
Climax of the Covenant by N.T. Wright

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