Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (February 2025) it’s Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t, by Stephen McAlpine, which is available in exchange for an email address here.
Friday, 14 February 2025
Friday, 7 February 2025
Michael Bird et al. on Paul Within Judaism
Michael F. Bird, Ruben A. Bühner, Jörg Frey, and Brian Rosner (eds). Paul within Judaism: Perspectives on Paul and Jewish Identity (WUNT 507; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023).
Thanks to a generous grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, this book (typically very expensive) is freely available here.
The collection of essays is based on an online scholarly conference sponsored by the Australian College of Theology and hosted by Ridley College back in 2021.
According to the blurb:
‘This conference volume features cutting edge research from an international cohort of scholars on the still-controversial debates regarding Paul’s relationship with Judaism. Taken together, the contributions represent a sympathetic but critical assessment of the Paul within Judaism approach to Pauline interpretation. They take up many of the key questions germane to the debate, including different perspectives on Jewish identity, ethnicity, Torah-observance, halakha, the relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Christ, and the contested character of Jewish identity in antiquity. By combining a broad swath of both German- and English-language scholarship, the volume attempts to bring different perspectives into conversation with each other.’
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
The Master’s Seminary Journal 35, 2 (2024)
The latest Master’s Seminary Journal has been posted online. According to the Editorial, ‘the focus of the current issue… is the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New’ (152).
A pdf of the journal can be downloaded here.
Iosif J. Zhakevich
Editorial: The Christ of Scripture
Abner Chou
All That Is in a Name: Daniel’s Deliberate Christology and The Concept of the Son of Man
Given the substantial influence of the book of Daniel on New Testament Christology particularly through the phrase the “Son of Man,” scholars have asked numerous questions about the nature and significance of the title, even inquiring why it is used in certain contexts and books and not others. While commentators have attempted numerous responses to these issues, a helpful approach is to go back to the very source of the concept of the Son of Man, Daniel himself. The contention of this article is that Daniel not only spoke of the Messiah but did so with the concept of the “Son of Man” as the unifying center of his Christology. Analyzing Daniel’s Christology in this manner fleshes out the complete nature of the “Son of Man,” which gives answers to questions posed by scholarship. Even more, such analysis explains the very reason why this title is Christ’s favorite, as it expresses the totality of His mission and destiny.
Jamie Bissmeyer
The Heavenly Third Party in Job: A Preview of the Work of Christ
Though the book of Job was written long before the days of Christ, it makes significant contributions to the believer’s understanding of Christology. Job protests his case before God and man, observing the need for a heavenly third party to plead on his behalf. This third party is found in legal metaphor as a adjudicator between God and Job who would bring about Job’s justification. Job realizes the need for this adjudicator because of God’s holiness and righteousness. As this becomes clear to him, Job appeals to the heavenly third party to save him from sin, grant him a resurrection body, and reconcile him to God. This third party previews the work of Christ Jesus, who accomplishes salvation from sin, grants resurrection from the dead, and reconciliation to God for His redeemed.
Jason Beals
The Second Adam and the Necessity for Eschatological Earthly Dominion
The Old Testament’s portrayal of the coming Davidic King demonstrates His successes in the realm in which Adam failed. God tasked Adam with a mandate of dominion, in which he must rule over and subdue the created order such that it flourishes. However, Adam failed to uphold this mandate by disobeying God’s Word, plunging the world into sin. Though mankind’s mandate was not removed, none who followed Adam lived up to the fullness of its requirements before God. Yet the Scriptures make it clear that the Davidic King will not collapse like Adam, nor any other earthly king. He will succeed in the divine mandate. And it is this action that necessitates an earthly kingdom, such that the Second Adam triumphs in dominion as King over all creation.
Jared Moore
Are Your Temptations Like Jesus’ Temptations? Yes and No!
The words of the author of Hebrews, that Jesus “has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin,” stir controversy regarding the nature of Jesus’ temptations. Some utilize this statement as a vindication of the moral difference between the desire to sin and the act of sin, arguing that only the latter is condemned in Scripture. They argue that because temptation comes through our desires, and Jesus was tempted as we are, then desires for sin cannot be sinful because Jesus never sinned. However, this article refutes that claim by demonstrating that none of Jesus’ temptations came from within, that is from a sinful nature. Scripture never indicates that Jesus had a desire to commit sin. Rather, Jesus was tempted by that which was external to Him, by Satan, for good gifts fulfilled through sinful means.
Corey Williams and Iosif J. Zhakevich
An Interview with Iosif J. Zhakevich: The John MacArthur Publishing Group
This conversation between Corey Williams and Iosif J. Zhakevich, director of the John MacArthur Publishing Group, introduces the purpose and plan of this publishing endeavor. They discuss the value of producing biblical books and the actual projects they are currently working on. Zhakevich explains that the ultimate goal is to expound Scripture and to help believers be conformed to the image of Christ.
Mark Zhakevich
Jesus’ Love for His Own: The Remnant in John
Remnant theology in John centers on John’s presentation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and His followers as His sheep. John demonstrates that Jesus declared Himself to be the hope of the remnant – the ultimate Shepherd about whom the Old Testament prophesied. This Good Shepherd offers the promise of eternal life to the remnant, secured by His work of redemption for the remnant. Upon redeeming His own, He regathers them together as one flock under one Shepherd, protecting them, and giving them an eternal purpose – that they would know Him and glorify Him.
Aaron Valdizan
The Significance of the Divine Name in Peter’s Pentecost Sermon
One of the reasons that the personal name of God is usually left out of translations of the Old Testament is its absence in the New Testament. However, the New Testament authors’ application to Jesus of the traditional Greek substitute for the Tetragrammaton (κύριος) reveals that they had a unique theological reason for doing so that is less clear when the divine name is missing from Old Testament translations. Peter’s use of OT Yahweh texts in Acts 2:14–36 exemplifies this unique application of texts about Yahweh to Jesus. This study of Yahweh texts in Peter’s Pentecost sermon reveals that the NT writers used κύριος to refer to two concepts at once in order to emphasize that Jesus is both Yahweh and the Master (κύριος, אדני) who must be obeyed.
Austin T. Duncan
Conversations with Jesus: Jesus and Saul
Though Jesus has ascended to heaven, Acts makes it clear that He is continuing to build His Church. One narrative that depicts this clearly is Saul’s theophanic vision on the road to Damascus. Saul, a murderer, is stopped in his tracks by the Lord of those Saul was seeking to persecute. Saul’s encounter with the resurrected Christ puts Saul on his face, so that Jesus may then put Saul on His mission. This arresting narrative teaches the reader that Jesus is sovereign over His Church, that His grace transforms the vilest of sinners, and that His saints belong to Him.
Jeffrey P. Tomkins
Colossians 1:16–17 and the Theological Implications of Christ as Creator and Sustainer
One of the key passages in the New Testament that proclaims Christ to be both Creator and Sustainer is Colossians 1:16–17. While most published works have treated Colossians 1:15–20 as a complete whole looking at its structure and content as a possible hymn, this present effort focuses on the Creator-Sustainer formula contained within verses 16 and 17. This text articulates this formula by its usage of prepositions combined with variations of πᾶς, its choice and usage of verbs, and the prevailing historical-cultural context. After demonstrating Christ’s role as Creator and Sustainer from Colossians 1:16–17, this paper will explore the theological implications of Christ as Creator and Sustainer that are applicable to the Christian’s daily life and fellowship with the Triune God.
Reviews
Thursday, 16 January 2025
World Watch List 2025
Open Doors have published the ‘World Watch List’ for 2025.
‘Where do Christians face the most extreme persecution for following Jesus? Every year, the World Watch List uses extensive, expert research to rank the countries where loving Jesus comes at the highest price – places where you could be ostracised, attacked, imprisoned or even murdered.’
See here for more information.
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Mission Frontiers 47, 1 (January–February 2025)
The January–February 2025 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by Frontier Ventures, contains a number of articles devoted to ‘Mission and Migration’.
Here’s the issue blurb, which sets the scene:
‘People are on the move more than ever! In this issue of Mission Frontiers, we join the journeys across continents looking at where people are going, what is motivating them, how they are surviving, and what the church can do by God's leading. Acts 17 tells us that God is sovereign over people movements, so join us in reflecting on what he is doing in these volatile times. Most likely, the peoples of the world are in your neighborhood; are you ready to receive them with the love of Christ?’
The issue is available here, from where individual articles can be downloaded, and the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.
Friday, 3 January 2025
Tim Chester on Life with Jesus
Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (January 2025) it’s Life with Jesus: A Discipleship Course for Every Christian, by Tim Chester, which is available in exchange for an email address here.
Last year, our church bought each adult (100 or so) a copy of this book and we worked through its Bible passages in a Sunday morning preaching series, using the questions in the book in small groups during the week. It worked really well for us. It served as a great primer for newer Christians and a good ‘reset’ button for others who have already been round the block a few times.
Saturday, 28 December 2024
Themelios 49, 3 (December 2024)
The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.
Editorial
J.V. Fesko
The Goal of Theological Scholarship: Academy or the Church
Strange Times
Daniel Strange
Selfish Preachers?
Robert A. J. Gagnon
The Deepening of God’s Mercy through Repentance: A Critical Review Essay of The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality within the Biblical Story
Richard B. Hays and Christopher B. Hays’ recent book The Widening of God’s Mercy has generated significant interest but suffers from critical hermeneutical, exegetical, and scholarly deficiencies. The authors argue that “a deeper logic” in the Bible reveals God changing his mind to expand the scope of his mercy. This purportedly allows interpreters today to “trace a trajectory of mercy that leads us to welcome sexual minorities” and override the biblical texts that establish the male-female foundation of Christian sexual ethics and speak against homosexual practice. The authors do not meaningful engage relevant scholarship from the past thirty years and fail to adequately explain the biblical texts that present problems for their revisionist position.
Colin Smothers
The Image of God and the Plight of Man
The doctrine of the image of God is fundamental to Christian theology and ethics, and it forms the foundation for justice and human flourishing in society. Yet this doctrine is under assault today by anti-Christian forces. This article explores the biblical meaning and implications of the imago Dei, including God’s design for sexuality, marriage, and the family, in order to reassert this doctrine’s prominence in the unfolding debates about anthropology, what it means to be human, and the identification and promotion of what is good.
M. Jeff Brannon
Resurrection and Reign: The Inseparable Bond Between Resurrection Life and the Kingdom of God in All of Scripture
In biblical theology, the kingdom of God and the hope of resurrection are major themes. As the biblical story unfolds, from the creation account in Genesis 1–2, to the fall in Genesis 3, to God’s election of the nation of Israel, and finally to the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus Christ, these doctrines are closely linked in striking ways. Although much attention has been given to these twin themes, the inseparable link between them in all of Scripture has often been overlooked or neglected. Therefore the purpose of this article is to trace the kingdom of God and the hope of resurrection throughout Scripture to demonstrate how and why they are inseparably linked. At the conclusion of the article, I offer some thoughts on why this relationship matters and what difference it makes in the lives of Christians
Joshua Pittman
Misunderstanding the Gaps: A Critique of Bryan Bibb’s Interpretation of the Nadab and Abihu Episode
This article critiques Bryan Bibb’s charitable interpretation of Nadab and Abihu’s cultic offering in Leviticus 10. Bibb proposes that Nadab and Abihu committed no sin, exposing the “gaps in the ritual legislation” of YHWH’s sacrificial system. Conversely, I argue that Nadab and Abihu committed an act of disobedience because (1) Moses describes the brothers’ offering as profane; (2) the brothers most likely presumed the role of the High Priest by transgressing the bi-daily incense offering outlined in Exodus 30:7–9 that was not their responsibility; (3) YHWH consumed the brothers with fire; and (4) YHWH cites his own character to explain his act of judgment.
David M. Howard Jr.
Destruction and Dispossession of the, Canaanites in the Book of Joshua
The supposed “genocide” of the Canaanites is one of the most vexing questions in the entire Old Testament and a leading reason that many people dismiss the Old Testament as hopelessly barbaric, so an examination of the issues here is in order. We discuss this in five discrete sections: (1) the idea of setting people or things apart to the Lord for destruction; (2) the idea of driving out the Canaanites from the land; (3) the concept of “Yahweh war” (also known as “holy war”); (4) the ethics of Yahweh war; and (5) the New Testament and violence. We conclude that there is no genocide in the book of Joshua, despite arguments to the contrary.
S.D. Ellison
Reading the Psalter as a Book
The canonical shape of the Psalter has enjoyed concentrated attention in the academe for more than four decades. While scholars have agreed on the effort, they have not always agreed on the results. The message of the Psalter, when considered canonically, remains debated. This article distils some of the key pieces of evidence that the Psalter bears traces of editorial activity – thus suggesting it is a purposefully ordered collection – and then proposes a reading of the Psalter that fits this evidence. Some theological implications connected to such a reading are noted throughout. The hope is that this article might elicit renewed vigour in the task of reading the Psalter as a book.
Joel White
Who Was Philemon, What Did Paul Want from Him, and Why?
Scholars are divided on whether Paul wrote the letter to Philemon with the aim of securing Onesimus’s manumission or not. Often, discussion centers on Paul’s rhetoric or on the nature of slavery in the ancient world and his attitude toward it. In this article I seek to complement those approaches. First, I situate Philemon within the two social networks in which he enjoyed status and esteem – the Christ association on the one hand and the wealthier landowners/slaveowners in Colossae on the other – and posit what their expectations would have been regarding Philemon’s response to Onesimus’s return. Second, I examine the theological presuppositions that inform Paul’s rhetoric to see if they can help us determine the nature of his request. I conclude that Paul did, in fact, want Philemon to free Onesimus in order to strengthen the bonds between the three of them and the church in Colossae.
Jared Compton
“Made Lower than Angels”: A Fresh Look at Hebrews 2:5–9
How does the author of Hebrews understand Psalm 8? It is a question scholars and other careful readers continue to ask. A lot of the discussion turns on whether Hebrews thinks Psalm 8 applies to Jesus alone or to Jesus and other humans. An equally important question, however, is often overlooked. If Hebrews applies the psalm to Jesus and other humans, does Hebrews think the psalm describes humanity before or after the fall? It is a question full of implications for Hebrews’ Christology, which everywhere asserts both Jesus’s blamelessness and his close identity with those (post-fall humans) he represents. The following essay takes up this latter question and argues that Hebrews reads Psalm 8 as a description of what humanity lost in the fall – an original superiority to angels, glory, and dominion. Only by reading Hebrews in this way can we do justice to Hebrews’ argument and, at the same time, fully appreciate Hebrews’ extraordinary Christology.
Christopher Green
Baptist Catholicity in the Ecclesiology of John Gill (1697–1771)
Throughout his writings, but especially in the presentation of his ecclesiology, John Gill exhibits a steadfast commitment to a theological sensibility today referred to as Baptist catholicity. Gill’s ecclesiological writings are thoroughly catholic in their method and content, as evidenced by a robust engagement with patristic sources, creative and positive use of Reformation and post-Reformation era paedobaptist theologians, and a refusal to resort to Baptist authors even in support of Baptist distinctives. As such, Gill provides a model for contemporary proponents of Evangelical Baptist catholicity and ought to be retrieved to strengthen a distinctively Baptist theology in the twenty-first century
T. Michael Christ
Why a Purely Natural Theology Could Lead Us Astray: Karl Barth’s Response to the Theology of Gender and Marriage Sponsored by the Nazi Party
In response to the erosion of the biblical paradigm of gender and marriage in modern Western society, some believers are inclined to support any promotion of heterosexual monogamous marriage as a positive moral force. However, this impulse can be dangerous, as certain conservative ideologies, while outwardly compatible with biblical values, are fundamentally incompatible with Christian teachings. One example is the National Socialist view of gender and marriage in 1930s and 1940s Germany. Despite superficial similarities with Christian values on gender and marriage, Nazi ideology rooted these values in nationalism and racial purity, distorting them for nefarious purposes. The German Christian Church initially embraced National Socialism. Theologian Karl Barth, however, recognized these dangers and opposed the Nazi regime’s redefinition of marriage and gender, warning that any version of marriage not rooted in Christology leads to destruction. This article examines Barth’s critique and explores its relevance in guarding contemporary Christian ethics from similar distortions.
Scott D. MacDonald
Making the Lion Lie Down Hungry: Forgiveness as Preventative Spiritual Warfare in 2 Corinthians 2:5–11
While Christians should understand and practice forgiveness, many of them have not experienced forgiveness from others within the church. This situation leaves the church vulnerable to the schemes of Satan. After a brief introduction to the rampant problem of unforgiveness, this article stakes out prevention as a category of spiritual warfare, with forgiveness as an essential action of spiritual warfare to limit Satan’s work. To demonstrate forgiveness as preventative spiritual warfare, 2 Corinthians 2:5–11 is analyzed, outlining the occasion that required the Corinthians’ forgiveness and revealing how forgiveness countered the scheme of Satan in the Corinthian church. Thus, the present church must avoid a mere façade of forgiveness and publicly exercise the forgiveness she has received in Christ, thereby preventing demonic schemes against God’s people.
Robert Golding
The Devil Is Not a Christian: Critiquing Christian Universalism as Presented by David Bentley Hart
David Bentley Hart’s book entitled That All Shall Be Saved is a powerful argument at first glance for the doctrine of Christian universalism, which is the view that those in hell all eventually enter heaven. However, upon a closer examination, it will be seen to be untenable. This paper will seek to refute Hart’s thesis by appealing to Scripture, critiquing the inner logic of his argument, and proffering an understanding of sin that willfully rejects God. The latter opposes Hart’s hamartiology, which has no category for the willful refusal of God, since, according to him, humans must always desire God.
Book Reviews