Koinonia

Extra-Curricular Activities 06/02/12

2012-06-02T08:29:09-04:00

Trevin Wax - Chesterton on Filling Out Paperwork Upon Entering the U.S.

Louis McBride - An Interview on Kierkegaard: Part 1 and Part 2

J. Kameron Carter - Theology and the Weapons of Freedom—A Deleuzian Meditation

Daniel Kirk - This Story-Bound God

Joel Willitts - “Sure-footed” in the Material of Ancient Judaism

Christianity Today - New Research Reveals Why People Visit Church Websites

Archibald Alexander - Timeless Wisdom for Seminary Graduates

Kyle Roberts - Seminary Grads: Christianity Doesn’t Need You. The (Local) Church Does

Syler Thomas - Advice for Students Attending a Christian College

James K.A. Smith - Scholarship as a Way of Life

And the winners are...?

2012-06-01T07:47:40-04:00

Congrats to Noel Muscutt and Andrew Compton, who each won a copy of A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism!

This important new book from Mark Gignilliat tells the story of critical Old Testament scholarship, beginning in the 1600’s with Benedict de Spinoza and his Tractatus Theologico Politicus.

"Benedict de Spinoza is a watershed figure in the history of biblical interpretation. His approach to biblical studies was not born in a vacuum. Nor was his approach to biblical studies the first to raise critical questions about the Bible. Nevertheless, Spinoza is a significant figure because of his bold and bald articulation of the matter. Others before him had taken a critical approach to the historical character of Scripture and its claims—Thomas Hobbes and Isaac La Peyrére, for example. Spinoza, however, speaks directly without much clearing of his throat. The Swiss- Calvinist theologian Johann Heinrich Heidegger (1633 – 1698) recognized the erosion initiated by Hobbes and La Peyrére, “but no one,” he writes, “struck at the foundations of the entire Pentateuch more shamelessly than Spinoza.”

In essence, Spinoza’s approach to biblical interpretation brought together the following assumptions: (1) The Bible is a product of human history and evolution and is to be read in the light of its natural history, and (2) philosophy and theology must be understood as two distinct disciplines. The former discipline has to do with truth, and the latter with morality. For Spinoza, “the natural light of reason” became the primary lens for reading the Bible and negotiating its claims."

You can read more of this excerpt here, and A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism can be purchased here or through your favorite bookseller.

Wednesday Giveaway - A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism

2012-05-30T09:13:11-04:00

Ever come across a reference to “JEDP” while studying the Pentateuch?

The acronym stands for the four sources that German Old Testament scholar Julius Wellhausen suggested lie behind the text of the Torah - specifically Yahwist or Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources which were contributed and edited over a long period of Israel’s history.

Though Wellhausen’s Documentary Hypothesis has since face significant critiques, it set the conversation for many scholars of his generation and the effects of his work are still discernable in Old Testament studies to this day.

These issues of critical scholarship are the topic of Mark Gignilliat’s new book - and this week’s giveaway - A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism.

Throughout the book Gignilliat brings representative figures - such as Spinoza, de Wette, Wellhausen, Gunkel, and others - and their theories together to serve as windows into the critical trends of Old Testament interpretation in the modern period.

This concise overview is ideal for classroom use. It lays a foundation and provides a working knowledge of the major critical interpreters of the Old Testament, their approaches to the Bible, and the philosophical background of their positions.

To enter this week’s giveaway, comment below with your answer to this question: How might our answer to a question like “who wrote the Pentateuch?” shape how we read the text?

Also, a bonus entry is available if you comment a second time letting us know that you shared a link to this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog.

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*If you are reading this via Facebook, email, or RSS, please visit the blog to enter. Two winners will be determined by Random Integer Generator. Giveaway ends Thursday at midnight*

on the role of the Creeds

2012-05-29T10:49:47-04:00

Council of Nicea (325)/Creed of Nicea

The first ecumenical council, convened by the emporor Constantine and attended by 318 bishops. It condemned Arianism and defended the deity of the Son of God, using the term homoousios to affirm that the Son is of the same nature as the Father.

Gregg Allison, Historical Theology, pg. 742

This holiday weekend I took some time to listen to an NPR interview with the late Jaroslav Pelikan, who taught history at Yale and did some of his generation's most extensive work on the Christian Creeds.

In the interview he suggests that, even though creeds (like the Nicene creed) are often inherently uncomfortable for modern people, they are exactly what our religious traditions need. His argument being that creeds connect us to other members of the community across both time and space, and that in the end the only substitute for tradition is bad (and unintentional) tradition.

In a time so far removed from the controversies that sparked the formation of the creeds, and in a context where many Christian traditions have little focus on creeds, what role might they now play, and how might they be reintroduced into our worship, prayer, and preaching?

**As noted by a few commenters today, the quotation from Allison's Historical Theology contained a couple significant mistakes. I can assure you those were entirely my own, I was transcribing out of the book and simply looked at the wrong entry (Council of Ephesus) without realizing it at the time. My apologies for the confusion, the entry has been corrected.

Extra-Curricular Activities 05/26/12

2012-05-26T08:11:59-04:00

Peter Leithart - Too catholic to be Catholic

Scot McKnight - Youth Trips: Helping that Hurts?

Justin Taylor – D.A. Carson, What’s Up with Melchizedek?

Trevin Wax - A Theologian You Should Know: George Eldon Ladd

Peter Enns - What Biblical Scholars Do

Kevin DeYoung - How to Start at Your New Church

Tim Gombis - Laptops in the Classroom

Phil Long - On Using Commentaries

The Gospel Coalition - 4 Ways to Fight Clean Over Doctrine

Michelle Kerns - The 50 best author vs. author put-downs of all time

A Theology of Luke and Acts - A Pastoral Review

2012-05-25T08:57:29-04:00

Darrell Bock’s highly anticipated A Theology of Luke and Acts isn’t in stores (yet!), but a few early review copies have gone out and posts are starting to go up, including this review from Grace for Sinners.

Check it out!

“Zondervan is offering a new series, Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Its aim is to contribute a holistic study of introductory materials, biblical themes, and interpretative guides for pastors and theologians. Needless to say I was intimidated upon receiving this voluminous book. However, what I found was that my dust covered memories from seminary New Testament book classes were resurrected to new life. Bock has done a wonderful service for pastors and theologians.

…I would highly recommend this book for pastors wanting to ramp into a sermon series. Bock does a thorough job looking at Lucan themes which would be hugely beneficial in developing the structure of your preaching series. My copy is littered with underlines, highlights, and notes. As a matter of fact, after reading Bock you might decide it would be beneficial to preach through Luke and Acts together.”

And the winners are...?

2012-05-25T08:19:41-04:00

Congrats to Harold and Keith, who each won a copy of An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times.

I was quite pleased to see how much all of you agreed on, despite representing a wide range of eschatological positions.

Such willingness to hear out the other side and focus on the big picture is what Scott Duvall, Daniel Hays, and C. Marvin Pate offer in this book as well. An important feature of their work that can be seen even in articles like this one on the Abomination of Desolation.

The “abomination of desolation,” “abomination that causes desolation,” or “desolating sacrifice” is a phrase that refers to the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple. The description occurs or is alluded to in the following texts: Daniel 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20; and 2 Thessalonians 2:4, as well as in the noncanonical (apocryphal) book 1 Maccabees 1:54 – 64. These passages seem to attest to two or three stages of fulfillment of the prophecy.

(1) Daniel 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; and 1 Maccabees 1:54 – 64 clearly speak of the actions of the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) against the Jerusalem Temple in 167 b.c., who decreed that Temple sacrifices and offerings should cease. To add insult to injury, he profaned the Most Holy Place by placing in it a statue to Zeus (the chief Greek god) and then sacrificing a pig to Zeus on the altar (described in Dan. 9:27 as the winged or horned altar). This terrible action is referred to as the abomination of desolation ...

(2) Daniel’s prophecy apparently was not completely fulfilled with Antiochus, for Luke 21:20 labels the Roman assault on Jerusalem in a.d. 70 as the “desolation.” In fact, the Roman destruction of the Holy City and its Temple was an intensification of the reality of the Old Testament prediction.

(3) Some interpreters extend the application of the prophecy of the abomination of desolation into the distant future. These scholars contend that the ultimate fulfillment of Daniel’s prediction will occur in connection with the end-time Temple to be built by Israel, which the Antichrist will desecrate. This view- point appeals to Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 in support of its perspective (cf. Rev. 11).

But those who identify only two stages of fulfillment for Daniel’s prophecy understand Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 to pertain not to a future end-time Temple, but to the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70...

You can read the full excerpt here, and you can find An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times here or through your favorite bookseller.

Wednesday Giveaway - An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times

2012-05-23T09:59:22-04:00

What is the Abomination of Desolation?

How have different Christians understood the Millennium?

Who or what do the beasts in Revelation represent?

When studying the end times, many of us have had similar questions. And, while acknowledging that there are few easy answers, Scott Duvall, Daniel Hays, and C. Marvin Pate have come together to provide an excellent book for pastors, teachers, and students of the Scriptures who are asking such questions about prophesy and eschatology.

That book, An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times (previously published as the Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times), is this week’s giveaway.

In its pages you will find a comprehensive reference tool designed to assist everyday people in understanding biblical prophecy. Based on solid evangelical scholarship, it contains clear and readable entries on a broad sweep of topics, and provides insight to complicated subjects in a balanced fashion.

To enter this week’s giveaway, comment below with your answer to this question: With all the disagreements among Christians about the end times, what do you think is most important for us to find agreement on?

Also, a bonus entry is available if you comment a second time letting us know that you shared a link to this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog.

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*If you are reading this via Facebook, email, or RSS, please visit the blog to enter. Two winners will be determined by Random Integer Generator. Giveaway ends Thursday at midnight*

Loving God, Others, and Ourselves (Monday with Mounce 145)

2012-05-21T06:20:55-04:00

I received two questions a while back and I thought I would answer them.

The first was that the comment that there is no imperative in the Greatest Commandment, just a future. “You shall love (ἀγαπήσεις) the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt 22:37). So how could this be a command, other than the previous question uses the word “commandment.” “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment (ἐντολὴ) in the law?”

First of all, if all you had was ἐντολή, that would be enough. One person asks about a commandment; the answer is the commandment. Remember that language is nuanced, and there are many ways to say the same thing. You don't have to use an imperative to state a commandment.

Secondly, a common use of the future in Greek (and in English) is to state a command. So the future ἀγαπήσεις is a future indicative used as an imperative, as shown by the context. If you want more context, go to the Hebrew that is being cited, the Shema. Moses writes, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love ( וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ ) the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command ( מְצַוְּךָ֛ ) you today shall be on your heart” (Deut 6:4-6, ESV). Clearly a command. In fact, in the LXX the translator uses ἀγαπήσεις (“you shall love”) and ἐντέλλομαί (“I command”).

The second question as to do with the next sentence, Matt 22:38. “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν).” The question is whether an imperatival idea could be connected with the “as yourself.” Something like, “you must love yourself, so you can also love your neighbor.”

From a strictly grammatical point of view, the answer is not immediately apparent since the second half of the verse appears to be presuming a verb that Jesus leaves out. Does Jesus mean, “Love you neighbor in the same way that you must love yourself? Or does Jesus mean, “Love you neighbor in the same way that you do love yourself? Having said that, I would be shocked if Jesus were commanding us to love ourselves. I would think that he is presuming this to be true. I am not a counselor and so I don’t have any training in this whole issue of whether, for example, a highly dysfunctional person does or does not love himself. But if I were to argue grammatically, I would go to the meaning of the conjunction ὡς. BDAG cites these three meanings first:

a comparative particle, marking the manner in which someth. proceeds, as, like
a conjunction marking a point of comparison, as
a marker introducing the perspective from which a pers., thing, or activity is viewed or understood as to character, function, or role, as

There is nothing in ὡς to suggest anything other than a comparison of our love for ourselves with our love for others. It also fits into the OT context of the verse being cited (Leviticus 19:18). There would have to be some major contextual clue that Jesus were commanding self-love, an idea that as far as I can recollect does not occur in the Bible. With this understanding, the omited verb would be ἀγαπᾷς.

Bill

William D. [Bill] Mounce posts about the Greek language, exegesis, and related topics at Koinonia. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Basics of Biblical Greek, and is the general editor for Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament Words. He served as the New Testament chair of the English Standard Version Bible translation, and is currently on theCommittee for Bible Translation for the NIV. Learn more about Bill atBillMounce.com, and visit his other blog on spiritual growth, Life is a Journey, at BiblicalTraining.org.

Extra-Curricular Activities 05/19/12

2012-05-19T08:58:38-04:00

Justin Taylor - Alan Jacobs on How to Read a Book

Reformation 21 - An Interview with Dr. Packer

Kevin DeYoung - Inerrancy Means Freedom

Marc Cortez - Is Learning Greek and Hebrew Really Worth It?

Ben Witherington - The NT and the LXX

Larry Hurtado - The Quest for the Mark “Community”

Peter Enns - What’s the REAL Problem with No Historical Adam, Really?

Andrea Palpant Dilley - How to Smartly Engage with the Young Doubters in Your Midst

Hannah - Culture Wars, Millenial Angst, and a Dose of Perspective

Tim Tennent - Robust Christianity in a Post-Christendom World

Mike Bird - Behind Every Writer...