Leaven 24, 4 (2016) on the Joseph Story

I’ve always found the journal Leaven worth checking out. It’s published quarterly by the Religion Division at Pepperdine University, and ‘exists to help fellow Christians think together about the challenges of ministry’.

The current issue is devoted to the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50, and contains the following articles (available from here):

Andy Walker

The Role of Genesis 37:1-11 in the Joseph Novella

John T. Willis

The Biblical Testimony of Joseph: the Immanuel Perspective

Danny Mathews

“God Has Made Me Ruler over Egypt”: Joseph and Moses as Royalty

Kilnam Cha

Joseph’s Unjust Economic Policies in Genesis 47:13-26

Stuart Love

What About Judah?

Mark Mangano 

Judah’s Redemption

Rodney Ashlock

A Good Leader is Hard to Find

Mindi Thompson

Patriarchs, Prostitutes, and Potiphar’s Wife: A Study of Genesis 38-39

Glenn Pemberton

The Joseph Novella: Resources for Preaching and Teaching

Sarah Dannemiller

Joseph’s Dream

9Marks Journal (Spring 2017) on Pastoring Singles

The latest issue of the 9Marks Journal, available here as a pdf and here in other formats, is devoted to the topic of ‘Pastoring Singles’.

In the Editor’s Note, Jonathan Leeman writes:

‘Certainly, a single person is far more than his or her singleness. Nonetheless, it’s often experienced as a trial (see Eccl. 4:9–11), even while Paul describes it as a gift (1 Cor. 7:7, 32, 38). So trial and gift. We need to maintain both perspectives in all our speaking and praying and preaching on the topic. And doing that requires wisdom.

‘Why devote an issue of the 9Marks Journal to pastoring singles? To help pastors and members both grow in conscientiousness and wisdom and love for singles.’

James K.A. Smith on Philosophy as/of Worship

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship has made available from James K.A. Smith an ‘annotated research guide from the field of philosophy, focusing on the “liturgical turn” in Christian philosophy of religion. It’s designed ‘for students, teachers and scholars with interests in studying congregational worship practices, including fields of study that have not traditionally studied worship practices extensively’.

There’s more information here, and the document is available as a pdf here.

The Benedict Option

What began as a 2013 article in The American Conservative – and which attracted a lot of attention then and since – has now become a book, recently published: Rod Dreher, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation (New York: Sentinel, 2017).

I have a copy on order, but so great is the amount and volume of engagement with it and reviews of it – an indication of its significance – that I almost feel as if I’ve read it already!

It’s written from a North American perspective, which means that some adjustments will need to be made for other ‘post-Christian’ contexts. Still, in his own situation, Dreher suggests that American Christians should look back to the sixth-century monastic order of Benedict of Nursia for a model to help us survive life in a post-Christian society. Calling on us to prepare ourselves for darker times ahead, and warning us about the possibility of seeing the effective death of Christianity in western civilisation, Dreher offers a ‘strategy that draws on the authority of Scripture and the wisdom of the ancient church to embrace “exile in place” and form a vibrant counterculture’.

There are many early reviews of the book, including by Collin Hansen (here), Trevin Wax (here), Hugh Whelchel (here), Christopher Smith (here), Scott Aniol (here), Byron Borger (here), Jake Meador (here), Dan Edelin (here), Wyatt Graham (here), and the start of a series of posts by Douglas Wilson (here, here, and here).

Other reflections include those by Katelyn Beaty (‘Christians have lost the culture wars. Should they withdraw from the mainstream?’), Nathaniel Peters (‘Not Benedictine Enough: Rod Dreher’s Diagnosis and Prescription for American Christianity’), Michael Brown (‘Why I Have Mixed Feelings About Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option’), Christopher Cleveland (‘Theologians Were Arguing About the Benedict Option 35 Years Ago’), Jake Meador (‘The Benedict Option and Its Reviewers’), with some ‘Initial thoughts’ from Greg Forster (here), and some broader reflections by D.A.Carson (‘The Benedict Option and American Politics’), and Patrick Deneen (‘Moral Minority’).

Christianity Today asked four evangelical thinkers (Hannah Anderson, David Fitch, John Inazu, and Karen Ellis) to reflect on it, with a response from Dreher himself.

There’s a conversation here between David Kern and Rod Dreher.

In a review (here) James K.A. Smith couples it with other books which advocate what he calls ‘the new alarmism’. Dreher responds to Smith (here), in a piece in The American Conservative (where Dreher is a senior editor).

In another article, ‘The Benedict Option or the Augustinian Call?’, James K.A. Smith advocates Augustine’s eschatological caution in a call not to ‘live ahead of time’.

‘The Augustinian counsel of stability is an admonishment to stay in the mix of things, among those in error – to inhabit our callings in what Augustine called the permixtum of the saeculum, the mixed-up-ness of the time between the cross and kingdom come’. This provides a flavour of Smith’s own forthcoming volume on political theology in which he’ll argue for a hope that ‘we’ll answer an Augustinian call: centring ourselves in the life-giving practices of the body of Christ, but from there leaning out boldly and hopefully into the world for sake of our neighbors’.

Dustin Messer (‘Smith, Dreher, and the Prophet Daniel’) thinks Smith’s review is uncharitable, and yet does have concerns ‘that the BenOp may be used by believers as an excuse to evade the call to bring all spheres of life under the good rule of King Jesus’. With Chris Wright, he sees Daniel holding together two realities: ‘serving the city while rebuking the city’.

Takimg the metaphor of the body of Christ, Alan Jacobs (‘The Benedict Option and the Way of Exchange’) writes about a way of exchange as a principle where ‘Christian parents who teach their children at home should be grateful that other Christian parents are helping their children to bear witness in public schools’, that we should ‘learn from, and be enriched by, one another’s experiences’, which ‘can only happen... if each member assumes the integrity of the others’.

All of the above is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, and it will be interesting to see how the discussion continues to unfold.

Lausanne Global Analysis 6, 2 (March 2017)

The latest issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, from The Lausanne Movement, is available online from here.

In the issue overview, editor David Taylor says:

‘In this issue we highlight the contextual challenges posed by the “third wave” of missions in contemporary India and the creative responses that have been found to them. We then examine medicine and its place in God’s mission to the world today; the values of honor and shame and how restoring honor and removing shame are core aspects of God’s mission and the role of the religious registration system in fuelling discrimination and violence against Christians in the Middle East.’

Tyndale Bulletin 67, 2 (2016)

The latest issue of Tyndale Bulletin has arrived, containing the following collection of articles. The essay by Philip Church on Hebrews 1:10-12 looks particularly interesting in the light of ongoing debates about the dissolution or renewal of the cosmos as part of God’s end-time programme.

Seth D. Postell

Abram as Israel, Israel as Abram: Literary Analogy as Macro-Structural Strategy in the Torah

The argument is made that through the use of literary devices, the individual stories of the Abram narrative (Genesis 11–15) were strategically arranged to correspond with Israel's story as told in the Book of Exodus. Although previous commentators have observed some parallels between these two stories, this article asserts that the reach of this literary analogy extends further than a few identifiable similarities, and reveals an overarching compositional strategy. Potential meanings of this analogy vis-à-vis its similarities and differences are explored, and the use of this extended literary analogy is considered as a framework for appreciating the NT’s figural interpretation of some Pentateuchal narratives.

Peter E. Lorenz

Counting Witnesses for the Angry Jesus in Mark 1:41: Interdependence and Insularity in the Latin Tradition

A survey of recent literature on the remarkable reading in Mark 1:41, depicting Jesus’s anger at a leper who approaches him to be healed – supported by just Codex Bezae, a segment of the Old Latin version, and perhaps the Syriac Commentary on the Diatessaron, attributed to Ephrem – reveals a tendency to ascribe the acceptance of the alternative reading depicting Jesus's compassion to the overwhelming preponderance of its support. It is clear though that the UBS³ and UBS⁴ committee preferred this reading on the basis of the ‘diversity and character’ of its evidence. The present article examines the implications of the predominantly Latin support for the reading that depicts Jesus’s anger in light of the question of textual diversity, considering palaeographical, codicological, and textual evidence of a northern-Italian provenance for its manuscripts and text forms, while arguing that the insular character of the tradition raises serious doubts regarding the independence of its testimony when it differs distinctively in relation to the Greek tradition. 

Glen L. Thompson and Mark Wilson

The Route of Paul’s Second Journey in Asia Minor: In the Steps of Robert Jewett and Beyond

Robert Jewett, in his 1997 article on Paul's second journey, explored the geographical dimensions of Paul’s travel in north-west Asia Minor as described in Acts 16:6-8. His focus was to investigate thoroughly the road ‘down to Troas’ mentioned in verse 8. This study will not only renew that investigation from Dorylaeum where Jewett began it, but will also look at the earlier stages of the journey that began at Antioch on the Orontes. In so doing, it will examine the textual and material evidence that provides knowledge of the region’s road system. Regarding this route, Johnson observes: ‘Although endless scholarly discussion has been devoted to determining the precise route Paul took … it is in fact unsolvable.’ Despite such a pessimistic perspective, hodological research in north-west Asia Minor in recent decades has provided fresh data to aid in evaluating alternative proposals for Paul’s route. To this end, milestones and inscriptions will be noted especially. Relevant finds from archaeological excavations in the area of the journey will also be mentioned. Lastly, we will review publications since 1997 that have interacted with Jewett’s important study and then suggest other alternatives to his thesis. The authors wish to thank Professor Jewett for his innovative work on this subject. His model of doing on-site investigation has inspired us to take up this study, which owes much to his pioneering spirit and example. 

Richard G. Fellows

Name Giving by Paul and the Destination of Acts 

It is proposed that Paul gave new names to the most courageous and prominent founding members of his churches. Crispus, Jason, Lydia, and Titius Justus seem to have received the names Sosthenes, Aristarchus, Euodia, and Stephanas respectively. Epaenetus and Theophilus may also be new names. The names have meanings that reflect leadership roles and a similar cluster of leadership names in Third Corinthians witnesses to the renaming phenomenon. Acts may have been written for the Aegean believers, who already knew that Crispus was Sosthenes and that Jason was Aristarchus.

Philip Church

Hebrews 1:10-12 and the Renewal of the Cosmos

The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion that he has a negative bias against the creation. One text where scholars have detected this bias is Hebrews 1:10-12, quoting Psalm 102:25-27, seemingly to predict the dissolution of the cosmos. The text is part of a Psalm that predicts the restoration of Zion and the gathering of the nations there to worship, and expresses the confidence that the descendants of the servants of Yahweh will live securely in Yahweh’s presence. This makes it unlikely that verses 25-26 predict the dissolution of the cosmos, and exegesis of the verses in question indicates not dissolution, but renewal after the destruction resulting from the exile. Attention to the context of the quotation in Hebrews indicates that dissolution there is also unlikely. The text supports the claim that the exalted Son upholds all things (Heb. 1:3) and sits alongside a discussion of the dominion of humanity over the world to come (2:5-9). A more remote co-text refers to the gathering of the nations to Zion (12:22-24), itself a further echo of the Psalm. The Psalm quotation functions to predict not the dissolution, but the renewal of the decaying cosmos.

Kim Phillips

The Masora Magna of Two Biblical Fragments from the Cairo Genizah, and the Unusual Practice of the Scribe behind the Leningrad Codex

As a rule, no two Tiberian Bibles are alike when it comes to their masoretic notes. Indeed, the masora magna notes can be thought of as part of the unique fingerprint of each individual manuscript. Notwithstanding, this study presents the first evidence of two Pentateuch codices containing identical masora magna, and explores how these codices relate to one another. Both these codices were the work of Samuel b. Jacob, the scribe who wrote the Leningrad Codex. Thus this study contributes to our understanding of the scribal habits of this important figure.

Dissertation Summaries

Kumiko Takeuchi

Death and Divine Judgement in Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes among the OT books is an anomaly, but not without its significance. After all, it has survived inquiries about its questionable content and remains a part of canonical Scripture. The unusual content of Ecclesiastes may be related to certain historical circumstances when it was written. As there is little internal or external evidence, however, it is no easy task to assign the book’s date to any particular period. Premised on the current consensus regarding its plausible dating between the 6th and 3rd centuries, albeit mainly based on linguistic evidence, one may well ask: what is the book of Ecclesiastes doing, if it appeared on the cusp of the Persian–Hellenistic transition period, when the traditional idea of theodicy was perhaps becoming a serious issue in Israelite society before full-blown apocalyptic eschatology surfaced? This thesis probes that question. 

F.S. Mulder

Eating and Drinking in the Resurrection Body 

This thesis tests the claims that a reception history approach within New Testament studies can assist in i) evaluating and judging interpretations; ii) identifying unresolved problems; iii) asking fresh, new, penetrating questions, and ultimately; iv) providing the materials that help us journey on the continuous quest for theological truth. Can a new reception history spanning from the early church until modern times contribute towards better understanding and providing new insights into debates over pluriformity and coherence in relation to the resurrection of Jesus and believers in Paul and the canonical Easter narratives?

Richard J. Weymouth

The Christ-Story of Philippians 2:6-11: Narrative Shape and Paraenetic Purpose in Paul's Letter to Philippi

This thesis argues the case that Philippians 2:6-11 represents a Pauline prose narrative (and is not a pre-Pauline hymn), which may be called the Christ-story, and should therefore be interpreted as prose narrative in terms of its form, function, and content; and that doing this provides fresh insights into a much studied and debated passage, some of which have hitherto remained unnoticed (or at least unreported), while providing a framework that now allows some previous major contributions to the study of this passage to be brought together in order to form a comprehensive overall interpretation.

David Bebbington on ‘What is an Evangelical?’

Among other items of interest, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted a video interview with David Bebbington, exploring his well-known and widely-used quadrilateral, in which he identifies four primary characteristics of evangelicalism – conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism.

The Great Big Book of Isaiah

I’ve been asked to preach on Isaiah 55. It was probably foolish to accept the invitation to do so! In preparing for a sermon, I always try to take account of what comes before and after the passage I’m looking at. That’s one thing when it’s part of a New Testament letter, or even one of the gospels, but what about a huge book like Isaiah?

Maybe it’s too much to hope for, but I’ve been trying to get a fix on the whole prophecy, so I can best understand the full force of the invitation that starts in Isaiah 55:1, ‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!’

As always, I’ve been helped by the overviews produced by The Bible Project, who devote two videos to Isaiah, here and here (totalling just over 16 minutes, and well worth the time).

I’ve also been checking out the introductions to the prophecy in standard mid-level commentaries (such as the one by John Goldingay in the New International Biblical Commentary series, and the one by Barry Webb in the Bible Speaks Today series).

Also helpful have been some overviews of the prophets and standard one-volume surveys and introductions to the Bible. For instance, I read the chapter on Isaiah in Thomas R. Schreiner, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013). Rather than going through Isaiah section by section, Schreiner looks at some of the main theological dimensions of the book – judgment of Israel, Jerusalem’s salvation, the remnant, the new David, the new exodus and the new creation, the servant of the Lord, the Spirit, salvation to the ends of the earth. Here are a few sentences from his conclusion:

‘Both Israel and Judah are sent into exile for their sins, facing judgment from Yahweh for their failure to abide by covenant stipulations. The message of Isaiah is that God has not abandoned his promises. A new David is coming, and there will be a new exodus and a new creation. Yahweh will pour out his Spirit, especially upon his servant, and this servant will bring in the new creation and the new exodus. But he will do so in a most unusual way. He will suffer for the sins of the nation and secure forgiveness of sins through suffering... The salvation accomplished by the servant extends to the entire world’ (348-49).

I’ve found particularly helpful the overview of Isaiah in William J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel: Its Expression in the Books of the Old Testament (Leicester: Apollos, 1989). This chapter essentially repeats the guts of an earlier article, ‘The Purpose of the Book of Isaiah’, Tyndale Bulletin 36 (1985), 111-28, available online here. To my mind, Dumbrell makes a compelling case for seeing Jerusalem as the ‘overmastering theme’ of the prophecy:

‘[I]nterest in the fate of the historical Jerusalem and the eschatological hopes bound up with the notion of Jerusalem... can be seen to be the factor which provides the theological cohesion of this work and gives it its unitary stamp’ (112).

‘The book of Isaiah moves from the perverse worship offered by physical Jerusalem under judgment arising from the neglect of Yahweh’s kingship, to the worship of Yahweh in the new Jerusalem. Gradually, in the course of this book, Jerusalem becomes a major biblical symbol uniting city and saved community, combining sacred space and sanctified people... His Zion is an ideal – the perfect community, the righteous people of God’ (128).

A later edition of Tyndale Bulletin includes an essay by Robin Routledge, ‘Is There a Narrative Substructure Underlying the Book of Isaiah?’, Tyndale Bulletin 55.2 (2004), 183-204, available here. In short, the answer to the question posed in the title is ‘yes’, pointing to the structural unity of the book and helping identify the main theme – ‘in terms of the relationship between God, Israel and the nations, and the role of the Servant of the Lord’ (183).

‘Isaiah 1–39 focuses on Israel’s call, rebellion and failure – and opens up the need for, and possibility of, restoration. Isaiah 40–55 is addressed to Israel in exile; it reaffirms her call as God’s servant and promises restoration in the form of a second Exodus. The restoration and renewal of the people is closely linked with the ministry of the Servant. This moves the narrative on to Isaiah 56–66, which includes the promise that a renewed and restored Israel will reveal God’s glory to the nations – and so fulfil her mandate’ (204).

A friend of mine, Richard Briggs, provides a great way in to Isaiah in his Grove Booklet, Reading Isaiah: A Beginner’s Guide (Cambridge: Grove Books, 2010). Richard covers different and complementary approaches to the book (historical, literary, canonical), looks at the issue of how many Isaiahs there were and what difference it makes, overviews the book as ‘a symphony in (at least) three movements’, concluding with some reflections on preaching Isaiah.

A recently-published volume in the ‘New Studies in Biblical Theology’ series is devoted to Isaiah: Andrew T. Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach (London: Apollos, 2016). I’ve not yet read it, but the focus is clear from the title and the organisation of the book in looking at four features of the kingdom: God, the king; the lead agents of the king; the realm of the kingdom; and the people of the king.

I’ve had a little peep at Abernethy’s published dissertation, Eating in Isaiah: Approaching the Role of Food and Drink in Isaiah’s Structure and Message (Leiden: Brill, 2014). This looks at the function of food and drink in the outer seams (chapters 1, 36-37, 55, 65-66) of the book’s major sections. In that sense, Isaiah 55:1-3 concludes chapters 40-55 with an invitation to buy food and water from Yahweh in a way that resonates with earlier references to that topic. Here’s the summarising upshot of his fascinating discussion of Isaiah 40-55:

‘By offering water for the thirsty (55:1a), the merchant calls to mind other passages that use thirst and water as metaphors for YHWH’s ability to bring transformation (41:17-20; 43:20; 44:3; 48:21; 49:8-10). By offering wine and milk free of charge for the impoverished (55:1b), the merchant shows how different he is from other gods, which drain money from the people (46:6-7), and announces a coming era when YHWH’s wrath toward his people is passed (i.e., 51:17-23)’ (143).

I’m not yet sure what difference any of this will make to my actual sermon on Isaiah 55, but it’s felt good to put in the work, and it will hopefully pay dividends for future preaching from the book.

Currents in Biblical Research 15, 2 (February 2017)

The latest Currents in Biblical Research recently arrived, with titles and abstracts of the main articles as below.

Andrew M. Mbuvi

African Biblical Studies: An Introduction to an Emerging Discipline

African Biblical Studies (ABS) can be characterized both as innovative and reactionary: Innovative, because it refuses to be confined by the methodologies, ancient concerns, and principles that govern biblical studies in the ‘west’ (used throughout this article to refer to the majority Euro-American scholars while recognizing the presence of other groups), and instead charts a course that is more interested in making biblical interpretation relevant to present realities. Reactionary, because its driving force is partly a critique of the inadequacy of western biblical studies in providing meaningful responses to concerns that are pertinent to African communities. A genuine ABS is therefore an amalgamation of multiple interpretive methods, approaches and foci that reflect a creative engagement of the African cosmological reality and the Bible.

Kelly J. Murphy

Judges in Recent Research

The book of Judges continues to inspire research and interpretation, from an ongoing focus on traditional research methods such as historical criticism and redaction criticism, to newer approaches like cultural criticism and postcolonial readings. This article surveys recent research on the book of Judges since 2003 by separating the discussion into two sections: the first section traces current research on the overall book of Judges as well as specific characters and/or passages, while the second section notes two growing areas of research; namely, reception history and gender studies.

Nicholas G. Piotrowski

The Concept of Exile in Late Second Temple Judaism: A Review of Recent Scholarship

Before Wright published the first two volumes of his Christian Origins and the Question of God series (1992; 1996) the discussion concerning late Second Temple Jewish concepts of exile was a quiet one. Since then, however, more and more scholars have begun to weigh in. Champions of the theory contend that Second Temple texts convey a matrix of concerns that together demonstrate a Jewish consciousness of being in a state of ongoing exile, notwithstanding the residency in the land of a significant population and a functioning temple. Dissenters argue that these scholars are illegitimately privileging one motif within a highly complex ancient religion, and assigning it a metanarrative role it never truly had. Others contend that ‘ongoing’ exile is too narrow of a description to account for the diversity of attitudes across several sects. Only recently, though, have major works been produced that thoroughly examine the primary texts in question. In the process, a growing chorus of voices is supporting, with various levels of enthusiasm, the thesis that a significant number of late Second Temple Jewish groups indeed understood themselves to be languishing in some form of exile: ongoing exile since the sixth century bce, in the throes of recurring cycles of exile, or a set of historic realities characterized with exilic metaphors.

Joshua Coutts

‘My Father’s Name’: A Survey of Research on the Use of Onoma with Respect to the Father in the Fourth Gospel

This essay provides a survey of research for one distinctive feature of the Fourth Gospel, namely, the striking emphasis on ‘name’ (onoma) language used with reference to the Father. The small existing body of research on John’s divine name concept may be situated in the context of a resurgent interest in the question of ‘God’ in the Fourth Gospel, and alongside broader New Testament research focused on the application of ‘kyrios’ to Jesus or on the divine functions attributed to Jesus’ own name. The research that has focused on John’s use of the divine name may be divided into two groups: there are attempts to identify the background to John’s name concept, including proposals for a Jewish hypostatic name concept, targumic tradition or the text of Isaiah; and studies which analyse John’s name language have sought to locate its meaning within the context of the Gospel itself.

On Those ‘Contentious’ Biblical Texts

I was recently asked for some suggestions of books which address some of the tricky texts and issues in the Bible, at least from a contemporary perspective – especially related to gender and violence, and particularly in the Old Testament. There are plenty of books on individual topics, but I’ve listed below some of the more general ones which mostly try to cover a range of issues.

Joshua Ryan Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014).

Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011).

Brian Cosby, Uncensored: Daring to Embrace the Entire Bible (Colorado Spring: David C. Cook, 2015).

John Dickson, A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible: Inside History’s Bestseller for Believers and Skeptics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).

Douglas A. Jacoby, Your Bible Questions Answered (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2011).

David T. Lamb, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011).

David T. Lamb, Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).

Jonathan Morrow, Questioning the Bible: 11 Major Challenges to the Bible’s Authority (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014).

Amy Orr-Ewing, Why Trust the Bible? Answers to 10 Tough Questions (Leicester: IVP, 2005, reissued in a larger format in 2008).

Matthew Richard Schlimm, This Strange and Sacred Scripture: Wrestling with the Old Testament and Its Oddities (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015).

Joseph W. Smith III, Sex and Violence in the Bible: A Survey of Explicit Content in the Holy Book (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2014).

John Alan Turner, Crazy Stories, Sane God: Lessons from the Most Unexpected Places in the Bible (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014).

Christopher J.H. Wright, The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008).

Knowing and Doing (Spring 2017)

The Spring 2017 edition of Knowing & Doing – ‘A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind’ – from the C.S. Lewis Institute is now available online (here as a pdf), and contains the following articles:

Joel Woodruff

President’s Letter – Looking for Adventure?

Joel S. Woodruff, President of the C.S. Lewis Institute, encourages believers to a life of adventure. What great adventure can be found by those who commit to Jesus’ great commission and answer his adventurous call to discipleship?

George Marsden

A Biography of Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity has a claim to being one of the most important religious works of the twentieth century. In this article, George Marsden discusses the origins of the book and its reception, as well as the factors that give the book its ongoing vitality.

Tom Schwanda

The Emergence of Evangelical Discipleship: Learning to Walk with Jesus

In this article, Tom Schwanda discusses how the early evangelicals of the eighteenth century sought to walk with Jesus, and what we can learn from them in following Jesus as his disciples today.

Bill Kynes

Growing in Prayer Part 2: Learning to Pray to Your Father

Jesus’ disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In this article, Bill Kynes addresses what Jesus taught in response to that request.

Joe Kohm, Jr.

The Wisdom of Jane Eyre

This article considers the lessons we can learn about how to live today from reading Charlotte Brontë’s mid-nineteenth century novel Jane Eyre.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer

Does a Red-Faced God Sing the Blues? Emotions, Divine Suffering, and Biblical Interpretation

Kevin Vanhoozer explores how we should understand, in a clear and biblical way, divine emotional attributes as part of our overall understanding of God.

Randy Newman

First Steps to Loving and Understanding Our Jewish Neighbors

In this excerpt from his book Engaging with Jewish People: Understanding Their World, Sharing Good News, Randy Newman considers the question: Who are the Jewish people?

Thomas A. Tarrants III

The Priority of Prayer

From the time of the apostles and throughout church history, the kingdom of God has moved forward through prayer. This article discusses the need to rediscover the power of prayer, and the path for doing so.

Mission Frontiers 39, 2 (March-April 2017)

The March-April 2017 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles on ‘Networks’.

Editor Rick Wood writes:

‘Is it really possible for God’s people to work together in unity for the sake of God’s glory in all the earth and the spread of His kingdom to all peoples? If you look at Christian history over the last 2,000 years, you would fairly conclude that it is not. But things are changing in our day and the unity that we need that seems so impossible to achieve is more and more becoming the reality on the mission field...

‘Over the last 27 years, I have experienced first hand the kind of unity Jesus prayed for as I have lived on mission with God. I have worked with Jesus followers from many different backgrounds. I did not have complete unity with these fine servants of God on every aspect of doctrine, mission strategy, politics and a host of other topics but there were always certain things that we were unified around. We loved Jesus and we wanted everyone else within all peoples to love him too, and we were willing to give our lives to help make that a reality.’

As to the biblical vision that unites us, Wood offers four suggestions:

1. We must provide access to the gospel and the knowledge of Christ to every person on earth.

2. Every willing follower of Jesus must be equipped (discipled) to live on mission with God to make more disciples who likewise equip and make more disciples.

3. The “Great Commission,” Matt. 28:18-20 must become our identity as followers of Jesus.

4. We must love God and love our neighbor 

Individual articles can be accessed from here, and the whole issue (4.2 MB) can be downloaded as a pdf here.