Category Archives: Reviews

T. F. Torrance on the virgin birth

07 Saturday Dec 2019

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TFT_Incarnation

I’ve been reading Thomas F. Torrance’s Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ a second time and I am once again struck with how profound Torrance is in his understanding of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God into our human being.

This is evident in his discussion of the virgin birth as a sign in relation to a thing signified:

The virgin birth cannot be understood apart from the whole mystery of Christ, apart from the union of divine and human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ. The virgin birth is the outward sign, the signitive form in humanity which the creative entry of the Son of God takes, when he assumes our human nature into union with his divine nature…[T]he mystery of the birth and the mystery of the person of Christ cannot be separated, and the mystery of the birth has to be understood  in the light of the mystery of his person, the sign in the light of the thing signified, not the thing signified in the light of the sign.

Or the insightful way he thinks about the virgin birth in relation to the resurrection:

In fact the birth of Jesus of the virgin Mary and the resurrection of Jesus from the virgin tomb (‘where no one had ever yet been laid’) are the twin signs which mark out the mystery of Christ…The incarnation is not only a once and for all act of assumption of our flesh, but the continuous personal union of divine and human nature in the one person of the incarnate Son, a personal union which he carried all the way through our estranged estate under bondage into the freedom and triumph of the resurrection…These are then the twin signs testifying to the miraculous life of the Son of God within our humanity, the one at the beginning and the other at the consummation of the earthly life of Jesus. Both these acts were sovereign creative acts of God’s grace in and upon and out of our fallen humanity, and they are, in the full sense, one continuous act including the whole historical life and work of the incarnate Son.

Or once again, explaining what the virgin birth teaches us about a new humanity:

[T]he incarnation of the Son in our humanity has its source in the hidden creative act of God, but it also assumes a form in the entry of the Son into our humanity which is appropriate to and is required by the nature of the incarnate Son as creator  as well as creature…It reveals God as the creator and redeemer actually with us in our estranged human existence, and as God bringing out of our fallen and sinful existence a new humanity that is holy and perfect.

Or, finally, consider how Torrance sees a fruitful analogy between the virgin birth and the salvation of each new believer:

John of Damascus remarked that Mary conceived through her ear: she heard the Word and the Word spoken by the Spirit in her ear begot himself in her and through her, and so the Word which Mary heard and received and obeyed  became flesh of her flesh. That is the normative pattern for the believer in his or her attitude toward the Word announced in the gospel, which tells men and women of the divine act of grace and decision taken already on their behalf in Christ…As in the annunciation of the word to Mary, Christ the Word himself became flesh, so in the enunciation of the gospel, we surrender in like manner to Christ the Word now made flesh, and there takes place in us the birth of Jesus, or rather, we are in a remarkable way given to share through grace in his birth and to share in the new creation in him. That is the Christian message – the Christmas message…What happened once and for all, in utter uniqueness in Jesus Christ, happens in every instance of rebirth into Christ, when Christ enters into our hearts and recreates us. Just as he ws born from above of the Holy Spirit, so we are born from above of the Holy Spirit through sharing in his birth.

 

The above selections of text are all quoted from chapter three, “The Once and for all Union of God and Man: Christ’s Birth into our Humanity” (pgs.87-104).

If you buy and read this book over Christmas it will be the most profound “Christmas book” that you read this year. Guaranteed.

Buy it from Amazon here: Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ

Oxford NRSV

25 Monday Feb 2019

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My default translation is the NRSV (note: I say “default” not “favorite”). Recently the text block started to detach from the cover and so I decommissioned it. I thought about having it rebound but decided to just get a new one instead. I went with the Oxford NRSV without Apocrypha, genuine leather. Here are some pics:

It came with a nice two-piece cardboard box case.

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Genuine leather is typically a little stiff right out of the box. Because “genuine leather” is made from pig skin it is certainly not as supple as calfskin or goatskin, but it is still miles better than “bonded leather”. The gold foil really shows up nice against the black.

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The edge of the cover is stamped with a border which you can see in the picture below, along with the grain which is also stamped (as opposed to a natural grain)PQpuq+KbRbey8%3VM+USGw

The gold gilt line inside the cover is nice and thick.

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The sewn binding allows it to lay flat nicely. And the two golden ribbons complement the black cover.

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The pic below displays the way the two-column text block looks within a narrative book (the pic above displays the poetry format). I like that it is a simple text edition, without references or study notes, though if you want to write in the margins there isn’t much room for that.

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And now for the gymnastics…

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These pics show the relative strength and flexibility of the genuine leather. You can also see the nice shiny gold gilt page edges.

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Although the pages are smith-sewn the spine is glued together so that the sewn pages remain together. The glue that can be seen in the pic below could either be from that process or from glue used to attach the tail band.

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Unfortunately, there is considerable bleed through on the pages.

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Though, it’s not as devastating in the main text.

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There is a 96 page concordance in the back which, interestingly, includes references to the apocrypha. This is a nice feature if you have a separate copy of the apocrypha laying around.

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There are 8 pages of full color Oxford maps.

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My favorite feature of this Bible is the size. I have owned several premium Bibles but most of them are either too thick, too wide, or too small. This one is just right. Perfect size for personal reading, traveling with, and even preaching (if that’s something you do :)).

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All in all, this Bible manages to hold a nice in-between spot between cheaper and premium Bibles. The genuine leather will last much longer than bonded leather but does not cost nearly as much as goatskin or even calfskin.

 

Recent Books on Paul

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

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There is a bundle of new books out recently (or coming out soon) on the apostle Paul, and by some pretty big hitters too.

Paul_Wright

In case anyone was wondering if N.T. Wright had anything else left to say about Paul after he published his magnum opus several years ago (1,500 pages of text!), he does. And this time it is a biography. I am looking forward to reading this one; I already put in a pre-order.

Paul_Fee

Gordon Fee may be getting old but you couldn’t tell from his writing (incidentally, I imagine folks said the same thing about Paul too). At a brief +/-200 pages this book will make a great read for folks who aren’t looking to exhaust the subject. If you have read Fee’s Pauline Christology I suspect there will be some overlap (or condensing?) but with a gifted writer as Fee is, you will never be bored. Buy this book. It may be his last.

Paul_Campbell

Douglas Cambell is another big hitter in Pauline studies, particularly of the ‘apocalyptic Paul’. I am guessing this book is an attempt to aim some of his scholarly thought (e.g., The Deliverance of God) at more popular audience. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Campbell teases out his ideas about how Paul’s thought develops and changes from his conversion to his death.

Paul_Barclay

John Barclay has also recently published a major work on Paul (Paul & The Gift), so why another book? Well, this one is part of the ‘Very Brief Histories’ series, so I imagine its genesis has more to do with the publishers wanting Barclay’s authorship than any new developments in Barclay’s thought on Paul. But, at just over 100 pages it would make a nice winter read with a cup of hot chocolate.

Paul_SusanEastman

Finally (for this list anyway), there is the more narrowly focused book by Susan Eastman of Duke Divinity, Paul and the Person: Reframing Paul’s Anthropology. With a foreword (and endorsement) by John Barclay it promises to be rewarding. Although it will probably be most appealing to academics and scholars, it will also probably be relevant for Christians interested in psychology and counseling (due to the focus on personhood).

 

Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology

08 Sunday May 2016

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Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology

I’ve been reading through The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology. Unfortunately, on account of the history of Christian doctrine the phrase “sacramental theology” can send shivers down the spine of a protestant evangelical. In light of this book’s actual content a more helpful description would be to call it a “theology of the sacraments”. The book has a truly ecumenical line-up of authors contributing chapters (e.g., Anglican, Presbyterian, Orthodox, Evangelical, Methodist, Mennonite, and, yes, Roman Catholic). This means, inevitably, that sometimes chapters will have divergent views regarding the identity and nature of the sacraments (or ordinances if you prefer that term). However there is much to be gleaned from traditions different from our own. There is a veritable smorgasbord to feast on and it will stimulate and enrich your thinking about the sacraments. The book is organized into sections covering biblical, historical (patristic, medieval, and reformation through today), dogmatic, philosophical and theological categories.

Here is a few sample quotes that I found particularly thought-provoking:

“Strikingly, the fourth gospel omits the words of institution altogether, an omission which has attracted various explanations…perhaps a more promising explanation is that John intended the footwashing of John 13 to be understood as a parabolic reenactment of the Eucharist…On this theory, if the Eucharist commemorates and gives concrete expression to Jesus’s self-giving unto death, the fourth evangelist may well be interpreting sacramental participation as a call to selfless acts of humble service, exemplified iconically in Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet.” (Nicholas Perrin, 54)

“The symbolic action presents divine testimony” (Michael Allen, 288)

“In the eucharistic liturgy, the church journeys to the kingdom that is to come to enjoy the first fruits of the new creation. The church thereby discovers the kingdom is not some other, spiritual world, but this world of eating and drinking transfigured in resurrection life. By its participation in the Eucharist, the church becomes a sign of the coming kingdom, a real-life preview of what the world will be.” (Peter J. Leithart, 640)

I especially enjoyed the following chapters:

1. R.W.L. Moberly, “Sacramentality in the Old Testament”

3. Craig A. Evans and Jeremiah J. Johnston, “Intertestamental Background of the Christian Sacraments”

4. Nicholas Perrin, “Sacraments and Sacramentality in the New Testament”

5. Edith M. Humphrey, “Sacrifice and Sacrament: Sacramental Implications of the Death of Christ”

6. Richard Baukham, “Sacraments and the Gospel of John”

8. Luke Timothy Johnson, “Sacramentality and the Sacraments in Hebrews”

19. Michael Allen, “Sacraments in the Reformed and Anglican Reformation”

39. David Brown, “A Sacramental World: Why it Matters”

41. Peter J. Leithart, “Signs of the Eschatological Ekklesia: The Sacraments, The Church, and Eschatology”

But there were also excellent chapters by Scott Swain, Geoffrey Wainwright, Dennis Olson, David Lincicum, Everett Ferguson, Andrew Louth, George Hunsinger, Peter Galadza, Gordon Lathrop, and Catherine Pickstock.

The following is a list of key resources for a theology of the sacraments:

Bibliography for a Theology of the Sacraments

  • Beasley-Murray, G. R. Baptism in the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1973.
  • Boersma, Hans. Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry. Eerdmans, 2011.
  • Brown, David. God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary. Oxford University Press, 2011.
  • Byars, Ronald P. The Sacraments in Biblical Perspective: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church. Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.
  • Cavanaugh, William T. Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998.
  • Chan, Simon. Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community. IVP Academic, 2006.
  • Danielou, Jean. Bible and the Liturgy. University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.
  • Davison, Andrew. Why Sacraments? Cascade Books, 2013.
  • Gerrish, B. A. Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin. Wipf & Stock Pub, 2002.
  • Schmemann, Alexander. For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. 2nd Revised & enlarged edition. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1973.
  • ———. The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom. Translated by Paul Kachur. St Vladimirs Seminary Pr, 2003.
  • Thompson, Philip E. Baptist Sacramentalism: Edited by Anthony R. Cross. Wipf & Stock Pub, 2007.
  • Torrance, James B. Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace. IVP Academic, 1997.
  • Wainwright, Geoffrey. Eucharist and Eschatology. Order of Saint Luke Pub, 2002.
  • Wright, N. T. The Meal Jesus Gave Us. Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.
  • Zee, Leonard J. Vander. Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship. IVP Academic, 2004.
  • Zizioulas, John D. The Eucharistic Communion and the World. Edited by Luke Ben Tallon. Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011.

Greek NT Rebound in Goatskin Leather

06 Friday May 2016

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I recently sent my Large Print Greek New Testament (Nestle-Aland 28th edition) off to Leonard’s Book Restoration Station for a custom rebinding. Just got it back and I couldn’t be happier with the finished product.

Before sharing a some pics of Leonard’s excellent workmanship I want to say a few things about why I believe it is worth investing some money in a good quality copy of Holy Scripture. In other words, when someone says he or she doesn’t agree with spending lots of money on Bibles, how do I reply? Personally, I do not insist that everyone should have an expensive Bible. If someone is content with their $15 pocket NT I have no problems. Unfortunately, when people protest to spending lots of money on a Bible there is usually an implicit assumption that we shouldn’t spend lots of money on a Bible, sometimes with the suggestion that our money could be put to a better (more pious) use. Apart from the fact that this seems strangely similar to the complaint of Judas Iscariot when a woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus (John 12.3-8), the following are several reasons why I think a good quality Bible is worth a pretty penny:

  1. The Bible is the most important book we will ever own. Since we are willing to spend lots of money on other important items (e.g., computers, cars, clothes, food, etc.) why are shouldn’t we be willing to do the same for our Bibles?
  2. There is symbolic value in having your Bible bound in animal skin (leather of various kinds).
  3. Good quality books last much longer than inexpensive ones. This is especially important for Bibles because of the sentimental value they often have.
  4. We call the Bible “Holy Scripture”. The physical form of the book can reflect this fact by setting it apart from others on your shelf. The miserable state of some bibles communicates more that “I don’t care about this book” than “This book is Holy”.
  5. For those who struggle with spending time reading Scripture there is a good chance they will desire it more if they have a copy of the Bible that is enjoyable to hold in their hand and that they can be proud of. When I see the poor quality of some people’s Bibles I can’t blame them for not wanting to spend time with it.

These are just a few reasons I believe Holy Scripture is worth investing more than a few dollars in. I never claim that having an expensive Bible is more pious than a cheap Bible. I certainly do not make people feel guilty for owning an inexpensive Bible. But if you have the means, then a good quality Bible is a worthy investment. And if you are looking for a place to have your favorite Bible rebound, let me recommend Leonard’s Book Restoration Station (LBRS).

And now to the pics…

I started out with a hard cover like this:

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And LBRS turned it into this:

I had some very particular requests and LBRS was happy to work with me on them.

My leather of choice was soft-tanned goatskin. This particular batch was tobacco colored and I asked for them to add antiquing to it.


The antiquing really gave it a masculine, slightly rustic, look. The brown ribbons complement the color of the leather nicely. I also wanted to have an extra ribbon so they put two in, one for the gospels and one for the epistles.


As you can see, the binding is tight but it still lays flat. None of that snap-close-when-you-let-go happening here.

The “Genuine Goatskin” stamp on the inside cover was slightly off balance. But that type of thing can be expected when you are dealing with custom work done by hand. I consider it a reminder that my bible was being handled by a real human, not an impersonal factory machine. Some might call it a flaw, I say it adds character.

I also wanted a full yapp edge. This is when the edge of the leather extends beyond the pages. One nice benefit of this, apart from the aesthetic appeal, is the protection it provides the pages when inside a backpack or messenger bag.




I also wanted the spine to have prominent raised wrap-around ribs. I really like the distonguished look this gives it.


Here you can see how the ribs wrap around the side of the spine. Notice also how the antiquing effect highlights the natural grain pattern of the leather.


Here is a side view. I asked for the title, “Novum Testamentum Graece” to be hand-tooled into the spine, along with the Roman numeral “XXVIII” (28th edition text).


They also hand rubbed the antiquing into the text on the spine.


This really gave the text a bold look. Again the antiquing came out great with this color of leather.


And finally, here is a shot showing the relative size compared to a few other Bibles.

From the top: KJV pocket size snap cover, ESV Cambridge Clarion, NIV Allan, NA28 Large Print from LBRS.

They are all goatskin. The KJV is goatskin suede.


Notice the varying length of the cover edges. The ESV Cambridge Clarion does not have the yapp edge, the NIV does.

In sum, Leonard’s Book Restoration has done an excellent job on this project and I heartily recommend them. I can’t wait to spend time reading and studying Scripture in this new edition.

Longenecker’s Commentary on Romans

02 Monday May 2016

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longenecker romans

Richard N. Longenecker recently released his new commentary on Romans in the NIGTC series. I got my copy in the mail not too long ago and have been slowly working through it (it’s a mammoth 1,086 pages of commentary!). Below I list some of my own observations by way of a quick critical review.

There is virtual consensus among Pauline scholars that Romans is structured with four clearly distinguishable sections: chs. 1-4, chs. 5-8, chs. 9-11, chs. 12-16. Further, commentators will typically emphasize one particular section as being the heart of Romans. Sometimes, but not always, the emphasis given to a particular section is correlate with that commentator’s theological persuasions; e.g., those who understand justification in juridical terms will focus on Rom 1-4, those who focus more on participationist categories will look to Rom 5-8, etc. While Longenecker certainly doesn’t ignore the juridical category, he does understand chs. 5-8 to be the essence, and primary thrust, of Romans. This preference is reflected in statements like the following (pg. 566):

What he appears to be doing in 5:9-11 is attempting to convince his addressees that there is much more to to the Christian gospel than simply the forensic doctrine of justification ‘by the blood of Christ'(εν τω αιματι αυτου) or ‘through the death of God’s Son’ (δια του θανατου του υιου αυτου) — as important as that emphasis is in Christian proclamation. What also needs to be considered and experienced is what Christ has effected on behalf of those who respond to him by faith in terms of the ‘personal,’ ‘relational,’ and ‘participatory’ theme of reconciliation. 

Longenecker’s primary dialogue partners are C.K. Barret, C.E.B Cranfield, James D. G. Dunn, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Robert Jewett, Ernst Käsemann, Douglas J. Moo, Arthur C. Headlam, and William Sanday. It is true that, even for a commentary over a thousand pages, one has to be selective about who to engage with while interpreting particular texts. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised that N.T. Wright’s commentary on Romans (NIB series vol. 10) did not even make it into the bibliography! It would’ve been interesting to see more dialogue between the two. 

On the other hand, Longenecker shows an impressive familiarity with ancient sources. He regularly interacts with writings from the Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, early Christian writings, as well as Classical / Hellenistic sources. His textual criticism is thorough, often giving several pages of discussion to variants and the respective mss. involved. It appears that he relies primarily on Bruce Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament for text critical dialogue, though Longenecker is by no means dependent on Metzger for his conclusions (e.g., Rom 5:1, Longnecker reads the subjunctive εχωμεν as original contra. Metzger who takes Paul to have dictated εχομεν for which Tertius wrote εχωμεν). 

Unlike some commentaries which seem to comment more on previous commentaries, Longenecker strikes an even balance between engagement with previous interpreters and the text of Romans itself. (This despite my personal judgement that engagement with some important contemporary interpreters were often left out of his discussions at key points)

His sections throughout on Biblical Theology and Contextualization for Today were sometimes helpful and sometimes confusing. It may have proved helpful to have an explanation on how he intended these sections to function within the structure of his commentary. At times they were combined into a single section under one heading. 

Now some grist for the mill…

 Regarding the background of ευαγγελιον in 1:1, Longenecker, following Käsemann and Stuhlmacher, rejects any counterimperial resonances in the word (see pgs. 58-61). 

Contrast N.T. Wright who, while not denying the primary significance of the OT for understanding the word, sees a counterimperial resonance as unavoidable for believers living in the heart of the Roman Empire: 

In Paul’s Jewish world, the word looked back to Isa 40:9 and 52:7, where a messenger was to bring to Jerusalem the good news of Babylon’s defeat, the end of Israel’s exile, and the personal return of YHWH to Zion. In the pagan world Paul addressed, the same Greek word referred to the announcement of the accession or the birthday of a ruler or emperor. Here already we find Paul at the interface of his two worlds. His message about Jesus was both the fulfillment of prophecy, as v. 2 indicates, and the announcement of one whose rule posed a challenge to all other rulers. 

[Wright, Romans, 415-416]

I can’t imagine Paul being ignorant about the possibility of his readers (or listeners) in Rome thinking of both Isaiah’s ευαγγελιον and also Caesar’s ευαγγελιον. Therefore, in this instance I find Wright’s position more appealing. 

Longenecker has the following excurses (although they are unhelpfully absent from the Table of Contents and Index): 

  • “The Righteousness of God” and “Righteousness” in Paul (168-176)

  • Three exegetical and thematic matters in Rom 3:25a that are of particular importance (though also frequently disputed) and therefore deserving of special consideration (425-432)

  • “The law,” “Works of the law,” and “The New Prespective” (362-370)

  • Paul’s message of reconciliation (566-570)  

  • Paul’s use of “In Christ Jesus” and its Cognates (686-694)

  • On the terms for “Remnant” in the OT Scriptures (MT and LXX), as well as the use of “Remnant” in the Rabbinic tractates of formative Judaism and the Jewish nonconformist writings of the first centuries B.C. (803-810) 

In sum, Longenecker has given us an excellent commentary, though not without some quibbles. He is an accomplished scholar who has given us much to think about for Romans. This is not just a rehearsal of previous positions on old debates. Longenecker often has creative new solutions of his own, even if not always convincing. Even in areas where I found myself disagreeing with his conclusions he always gives excellent material to work with (or to disagree with). He is a clear writer. This commentary will certainly be one of the first Romans commentaries I pull of the shelf when in need. 

Peter Stuhlmacher on N.T. Wright’s Method

31 Thursday Mar 2016

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Senior theologian Peter Stuhlmacher, from University of Tübingen, has contributed a chapter entitled “N.T. Wrights’s Understanding of Justification and Redemption” in God and the Faithfulness of Paul (Mohr Siebeck 2016). He has some important criticisms as well as a few affirmations.

Here is a quote from Stuhlmacher regarding Wright’s exegetical method (page 371):

Rather than beginning with the historical origin of the individual texts and their statements, Wright prefers to work with entire passages, biblical contexts, and macro perspectives (PFG 965). He immerses himself into the Pauline world of ideas, Paul’s uses of Scripture together with the expectations  of salvation, reconstructs these and integrates Paul’s writings into that reconstruction. This constructive procedure uncovers some new matters that previously remained obscure. But it also gives Wright’s presentation a largely hypothetical character.

Dunn Thinks Wright’s PFG is Too Little Aligned with the New Perspective on Paul

28 Monday Mar 2016

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I am reading through God and the Faithfulness of Paul: A Critical Examination of the Pauline Theology of N.T. Wright (Mohr Siebeck 2016) and came across this surprising, and somewhat telling, quote from James D.G. Dunn (himself one of the major proponents of the “New Perspective on Paul”) regarding Wright’s big book Paul and the Faithfulness of God:

So what to make of Wright’s (final?) assessment of and contribution to “the new perspective on Paul?” The chief sense is one of disappointment that the new perspective proved to be not very important for him in his climactic treatment of Paul.

[quote from pg. 357]

It seems that, for Dunn at least, N.T. Wright is not “new perspective” enough!

Hmm…

God and the Faithfulness of Paul

25 Friday Mar 2016

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I just received my copy of God and the Faithfulness of Paul: A Critical Examination of the Pauline Theology of N.T. Wright, just released this month.

God and Faithfulness of Paul

Last summer I read N.T. Wright’s magnum opus, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. I can safely say that it was the longest book I have ever read, cover to cover, by far: a whopping 1,519 pages of text. It was a big deal. And I am glad that I did. Since the purpose of this post is not to review Wright’s PFG suffice it to say that it has changed the way I read Paul’s letters; indeed, I have learned an enormous amount about the significance of the entire story line of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, creation to new creation. Wright’s work is stimulating and thought-provoking in a way that increases my love for Holy Scripture and continually forces me to return to the text.

Paul and the Faithfulness of God

Wright’s work on Paul was monumental. Now I am super excited to begin reading this examination of his work from a group of international scholars. As stated in the introduction (page 6):

[T]his volume is neither a Festschrift nor a refutation, but something entirely different. It is perhaps best described as a conversation among those involved in biblical and theological scholarship as to the positive achievements, potential failings, matters requiring clarification, and future questions that Wright’s PFG elicits for his scholarly peers.

Click the following link to see the table of contents: God-and-the-Faithfulness-of-Paul.

Three Recent Articles

05 Saturday Mar 2016

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Here are three recently published articles that are pretty good reading:

  • “Another look at πιστις Χριστου” by Morna D. Hooker, Scottish Journal of Theology 69 (1): 46-62 (2016).
  • “The Number of Variants in the Greek New Testament: A Proposed Estimate” by Peter J. Gurry, New Testament Studies 62: 97-121 (2016).
  • “‘O Taste and See’: Septuagint Psalm 33 in 1 Peter” by Karen H. Jobes, Stone-Campbell Journal 18: 241-251 (Fall, 2015).

Let’s go in reverse order.

First, “O Taste and See” is classic Karen Jobes. She is an accomplished evangelical scholar on 1 Peter, with a top rated commentary on this epistle (see here). The article here is an exercise in intertextual interpretation looking at Peter’s exhortation to “crave pure, spiritual milk” (το λογικον αδολον γαλα επιποθησατε). Although sometimes understood as a reference to the word of God, Jobes rejects this reading. Instead by looking carefully at how Peter uses LXX Psalm 33 it makes better sense to see a reference to Christ himself as the pure, spiritual milk “which nurtures growth of spiritual life after rebirth into the new reality that Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension has created…To crave the pure spiritual milk means to crave Christ himself, for only he can sustain the new life he created” (pgs. 249-250).

Second, Peter J. Gurry’s article on the number of textual variants in the GNT is a solidly researched article with an important find. Despite my hunch that there are probably only a small number of people interested in this type of research, it is nevertheless hugely important to get this kind of information correct. After a lengthy section discussing previous historical estimates, their problems, and his own methodology, Gurry proposes an estimate of about 500,000 variants (not including spelling differences). He only analyzes variants found in Greek manuscripts; that is, papyri, majuscules, minuscules and lectionaries, NOT versions, patristic citations, inscriptions, etc. (pg. 104). He defines a variant as “a word or concatenation of words in any manuscript that differs from any other manuscript within a comparable segment of text, excluding only spelling differences and different ways of abbreviating nomina sacra” (pg. 106). I will just add one more concluding thought on the value of the estimate:

“[O]ur estimate allows scholars to avoid passing the responsibility for their estimates to silent and invisible sources. The present estimate is based on a clear foundation in the available data and a clear method, both of which are open to public scrutiny. One hopes that these two qualities alone will be enough to discourage all of us from the continued rehashing of unverified and unverifiable information about the transmission of the Greek New Testament.” (pg. 118)

Third, “Another look at πιστις Χριστου” by Morna Hooker. The sheer amount of scholarly attention given to this phrase indicates the importance of it. Subjective genitive or objective genitive? Christ’s faith/faithfulness or our faith in Christ? In this paper, Hooker builds on her earlier work (‘Πιστις Χριστου’, New Testament Studies 35, 1989) by zeroing in on what exactly is meant by πιστις (pistis), particularly in some key texts in Romans. In doing so, she explores the relationship of human behavior and divine grace in the apostle Paul’s thought. She concludes by asking the question,

“So were Luther and his followers wrong? They were certainly not wrong to emphasize the role of faith. And as with the answers to our questions about other phrases we have briefly considered, it may well be that the answer to the question ‘Does this phrase refer to Christ’s faith or ours’? may be ‘Both’. Nevertheless, the faith/faithfulness is primarily that of Christ, and we share in it only because we are in him…In Christ, and through him, we are able to share his trust and obedience, and so become what God called his people to be.” (pg. 62)