Blog

Tim Brookins has the latest article in the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, “Dispute with Stoicism in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.” According to Brookins, It is not my aim to continue discussion regarding the criterion for the rich man’s judgment. But I propose that there is more to be said about the meaning of the parable in light of a Greco-Roman milieu. . . . I shall take up [Ronald] Hock’s wider net and cast it once again in the direction of Hellenistic philosophy. It will be argued that, while the parable may share a Cynic viewpoint on the issue of wealth, it also conveys pronounced resistance to certain Stoic ideas on this issue. As a supporting argument it will further be suggested that the parable reflects elements of rhetorical ‘declamation’ (declamatio), which was in certain circles closely associated with Stoic philosophy. With these substantive and formal features taken together, we shall see that the parable means to interact with Stoicism, though in a way that is subversive to the Stoic ideas evoked (35–36; underlining for original italics). ...

The latest issue of Themelios includes the following articles: Rodney J. Decker, “An Evaluation of the 2011 Edition of the New International Version” Andrew Moody, “That All May Honour the Son: Holding Out For A Deeper Christocentrism” Jonathan Gibson, “Jonathan Edwards: A Missionary?” Melvin Tinker, “Friends: The One With Jesus, Martha, And Mary: An Answer to Kierkegaard”

The latest issue of Currents in Biblical Research includes: Judy Diehl, “Anti-Imperial Rhetoric in the New Testament,” 9–52 John W. Olley, “Trajectories of Ezekiel (Part 2): Beyond the Book,” 53–80 B. J. Oropeza, “The Warning Passages in Hebrews: Revised Theologies and New Methods of Interpretation,” 81–100 Robert R. Cargill, “The State of the Archaeological Debate at Qumran,” 101–18 Eileen M. Schuller, “Recent Scholarship on the Hodayot 1993–2010,” 119–62

On the web: Logos Bible Software is developing their edition of Meyer’s New Testament commentary under development, and releases several plugins for Biblia.com. Robert Holmstedt and John Cook discusses “Genesis 1.1 and Topic-fronting before a Wayyiqtol.” Robert Woods discusses Stratford Caldecott’s Beauty for Truth’s Sake. Larry Hurtado highlights Ragnar Leivestad’s “Exit the Apocalyptic Son of Man,” New Testament Studies 18 (1971), 243–67. Tommy Wasserman discusses the new Parallel Pericopes of the Synoptic Gospels volume in the Novum Testamentum Graecum Editio Critica Maior series. Mary Crane and Thomas Chiles consider “Why the Liberal Arts Need the Sciences (and Vice Versa).”

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields Joseph Blenkinsopp, Creation, Un-creation, Re-creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1–11, reviewed by John E. Anderson Yoram Cohen, Amir Gilan, and Jared L. Miller, eds., Pax Hethitica: Studies on the Hittites and Their Neighbours in Honour of Itamar Singer, reviewed by Paul Sanders Ronald Hendel, ed., Reading Genesis: Ten Methods, reviewed by Frank H. Polak Amanda H. Podany, Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East, reviewed by Bertrand Lafont Hayim Tawil, An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents with Supplement on Biblical Aramaic, reviewed by Aaron D. Rubin New Testament and Cognate Fields ...

On the Web: Cliff Johnson reproduces, with permission, C. S. Lewis’s keen essay “Meditation in a Toolshed.” The Society of Biblical Literature releases Klaus Wachtel and Michael Holmes, ed., The Textual History of the Greek New Testament: Changing Views in Contemporary Research, about which Tommy Wasserman provides some additional information and links. Andy provides the tables of contents for this year’s Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters ( spring, fall). Courtesy of Broadman and Holman, the Evangelical Theological Society now has its own program apps available in the App Store and Android Market. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts has released a DVD of the recent Ehrman-Wallace debate (HT: Tommy Wasserman). Jim Davila comments on a recent article about the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project.

On the web: Larry Hurtado discusses historical Jesus research. Brian LePort notes that Kevin Vanhoozer has returned to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jim Davila highlights a Jerusalem Post article on the significance of the Talmud for liberal arts education. The bibliobloggers decide on a time and place to meet for dinner during the SBL Annual Meeting. Through November 16, the Westminster Bookstore is offering Köstenberger and Patterson’s new Invitation to Biblical Interpretation(Kregel, 2011) for 50% off. A sample PDF containing, the endorsements, the table of contents, the first chapter, and part of the second chapter are available from the book’s product page.

On the web: David Croteau compiles a recent Liberty University symposium on Bible translation, featuring Ray Clendenen (HCSB), Wayne Grudem (ESV), and Douglas Moo (NIV; HT: Rod Decker). Michael Kruger discusses the Gospels’ authorship (HT: Brian LePort). Tim Henderson highlights a new German edition of Hennecke-Schneemelcher’s Christian Apocrypha. Charles Jones reflects on the first year of Ancient World Online.

Yesterday’s review of the Chronicle of Higher Education collects several interesting articles about distance learning. Among the open-access articles listed are: Robert Mendenhall, “How Technology Can Improve Online Learning—and Learning in General” Shai Reshef, “No Tuition? No Problem.” Burck Smith, “Let’s Deregulate Online Learning” Derek Bruff, “A Social Network Can Be a Learning Network” Ari Kohen, “From Homeric Writings to Cellphone Forensics, Some Favorite Online Resources” Although potential gains need to be weighed especially carefully in relation to potential losses in some of the applications Bruff describes (e.g., “Back channels”), from this list, Bruff’s thoughts about employing collaborative technologies seemed especially intriguing. ...

Earlier today, the Society of Biblical Literature announced that (1) Adele Reinhartz has succeeded James VanderKam’s two-term tenure as the General Editor for the Journal of Biblical Literature and (2) the Annual Meeting app (AM11AAR&SBL) is now available via the App Store and Android Market and will allow attendees “to create and customize their own schedule, make notes about sessions, and share information and their schedule with colleagues and friends via built-in social networking.” ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields William P. Brown, Psalms, reviewed by Harry P. Nasuti A. R. Pete Diamond and Louis Stulman, eds., Jeremiah (Dis)Placed: New Directions in Writing/Reading Jeremiah, reviewed by Michael Avioz Rolf A. Jacobson, ed., Soundings in the Theology of Psalms: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship, reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard J. Randall Short, The Surprising Election and Confirmation of King David, reviewed by David G. Firth New Testament and Cognate Fields ...

Logos 4.3 (SR6) is available and includes a few bug fixes. For details, see here.

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“85” caption=“Peter Flint, John Duhaime, and Kyung Baek”] [/caption] Newly available from the Society of Biblical Literature is Celebrating the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Canadian Collection, edited by Peter Flint, John Duhaime, and Kyung Baek: This volume celebrates the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, their contents, the community that wrote and preserved them, and new scientific issues that arise from Scrolls studies. The essays, in four sections, explore the origins and text of scripture, the interpretation of scripture in Second Temple Judaism, the identity and practices of the movement associated with Qumran and the Scrolls, and the extensive contributions of Canadian projects and scholarship. ...

On the web: The Nomad Podcast interviews N. T. Wright (HT: Brian LePort). Michael Halcomb discusses “‘Appealing To The Greek’ or ‘How (Not) To Do A Word Study.’” Tommy Wasserman considers Bart Ehrman and intrinsic evidence. Michael Bird highlights a performance of Hebrews. Robert Holmstedt comments on biblical Hebrew diachrony. Charles Jones notes papyri images online at the University of Groningen.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Adina Moshavi, Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause, reviewed by Hubert James Keener Louis Stulman and Hyun Chul Paul Kim, You Are My People: An Introduction to Prophetic Literature, reviewed by Steed Vernyl Davidson Contextual Studies ...

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“100” caption=“Walter Brueggemann”][/caption] According to Lipscomb University’s website, Walter Brueggemann, will be the keynote speaker at Lipscomb University’s annual Preaching Workshop, Oct. 24-26. His keynote speech, “Preaching & Paradigmatic Creation,” is free and open to the public at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 24, in Shamblin Theatre. For more details, see here.

On the web: Matthew Montonini locates an archive of C. K. Barrett lectures at Asbury Seminary. Robert Woods responds to Paul Gottfried, supplementing Jason Jewell’s earlier response. Tommy Wasserman argues for the originality of the phrase υἱοῦ θεοῦ (son of God) in Mark 1:1 (HT: Mark Batluck). Tim Gombis comments on Rom 3:27 as presenting different interpretive options for Torah and follows up by considering how Rom 3:21–31 relates God’s supremacy to the church’s unity. Larry Hurtado freshly commends James Barr’s Semantics of Biblical Language in its 50th anniversary year.

The latest issue of the Bulletin for Biblical Research arrived in yesterday’s mail and includes: Andrew Malone, “Distinguishing the Angel of the Lord” Richard Hess, “The Seventy Sevens of Daniel 9: A Timetable for the Future?” Craig Keener, " Otho: A Targeted Comparison of Suetonius’s Biography and Tacitus’s History, with Implications for the Gospels’ Historical Reliability" Jason Hood, “The Temple and the Thorn: 2 Corinthians 12 and Paul’s Heavenly Ecclesiology” Everett Ferguson, “Angels of the Churches in Revelation 1–3: Status Quaestionis and Another Proposal”

On the web: Larry Hurtado discusses the “staurogram.” Jason Jewell considers Paul Gottfried’s recent article on the “Death of the Classics.” Rod Decker notes an erratum in BDF. Mike Aubrey survey’s G. B. Winer’s Greek Grammar (English trans., 1825). LibreOffice announces a prototype web application version. Amazon releases some key updates for how Kindle 3 and 4 handle personal documents. Matthew Montonini considers some comments from Epictetus on the proper treatment of slaves.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Katharine Dell, ed., Ethical and Unethical in the Old Testament: God and Humans in Dialogue, reviewed by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Bo Isaksson, ed., Circumstantial Qualifiers in Semitic: The Case of Arabic and Hebrew, reviewed by John Kaltner Robin A. Parry, Lamentations, reviewed by Timothy J. Stone Géza G. Xeravits and József Zsengellér, eds., Studies in the Book of Wisdom, reviewed by Erik Eynikel New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

On the web: Michael Bird and Marc Cortez discuss comments from D. A. Carson and Tim Keller about confessionalism. Mark Goodacre discusses “The Walking, Talking Cross in the Gospel of Peter.” Brian LePort identifies some favorite scholar-bloggers and solicits thoughts about other academics who might be engaging to have in the biblioblogosphere. Tim Gombis comments on an excerpt from N. T. Wright’s 1978 Tyndale lecture.

[caption id=“attachment_8406” align=“alignright” width=“200” caption=“Image via Communio”] [/caption] Earlier this semester in Exploring Religion, we discussed Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods, and one paragraph particularly struck me as an apt illustration of Qoheleth’s advice that עת לחשות ועת לדבר ( Eccl 3:7b; there is a time to be silent, and there is a time to speak): ...

The latest issue of the Journal of Theological Studies includes: Anselm C. Hagedorn, “When Did Zephaniah Become a Supporter of Josiah’s Reform?” Markus Bockmuehl, “The Son of David and his Mother” Brian J. Wright and Tim Ricchuiti, “From ‘God’ (ΘΕΟΣ) to ‘God’ (ΝΟΥΤΕ): A New Discussion and Proposal Regarding John 1:1C and the Sahidic Coptic Version of the New Testament” James P. Ware, “Law, Christ, and Covenant: Paul’s Theology of the Law in Romans 3:19–20” Bradly S. Billings, “From House Church to Tenement Church: Domestic Space and the Development of Early Urban Christianity—The Example of Ephesus” Stephen J. Shoemaker, “Mary at the Cross, East and West: Maternal Compassion and Affective Piety in the Earliest Life of the Virgin and the High Middle Ages” T. L. Holtzen, “Sacramental Causality in Hooker’s Eucharistic Theology”

On the web: Larry Hurtado discusses scholarly amnesia in Pauline Studies. Charles Jones mentions Poorly Attested Words in Ancient Greek, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and Digital Medievalist. The Biblical Archaeology Review has launched a new website about the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Why They Matter (HT: Jim Davila). The British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site now has ten new 13th–17th century manuscripts (HT: Julian Harrison).

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies John Gray, The Book of Job, reviewed by Norman Habel Robert J. V. Hiebert, “Translation Is Required”: The Septuagint in Retrospect and Prospect, reviewed by Karen Jobes Harald Knobloch, Die nachexilische Prophetentheorie des Jeremiabuches, reviewed by Christl M. Maier Hindy Najman, Past Renewals: Interpretative Authority, Renewed Revelation and the Quest for Perfection in Jewish Antiquity, reviewed by Marius Nel New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

As they have for some others already, most of my Perseus collection downloads for Logos have recently been processed. Below are a few particularly anticipated texts from these collections: [caption id=“attachment_8343” align=“aligncenter” width=“497” caption=“Click for the full-size image.”] [/caption]

Logos 4.3 (SR5) is now available. For the release notes, see here.

The latest issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society arrived in yesterday’s mail and includes the following: Josh Chatraw, “Disunity and Diversity: The Biblical Theology of Bart Ehrman” Paul Wegner, “How Many Virgin Births Are in the Bible? (Isaiah 7:14): A Prophetic Pattern Approach” Jason Parry, “Desolation of the Temple and Messianic Enthronement in Daniel 11:36–12:3” Abraham Kuruvilla, “The Naked Runaway and the Enrobed Reporter of Mark 14 and 16: What Is the Author Doing with What He Is Saying?” Mark Brighton, “The Sicarii in Acts: A New Perspective” Veryln Verbrugge, “The Grammatical Internal Evidence for ἜΧΟΜΕΝ in Romans 5:1” Jerry Hwang, “Turning the Tables on Idol Feasts: Paul’s Use of Exodus 32:6 in 1 Corinthians 10:7” Michael Allen and Scott Swain, “In Defense of Proof-Texting”

The latest issue of the Biblical Theology Bulletin includes: David M. Bossman, “Presenting the Issue: What Becomes a Memory?” Joel Edmund Anderson, “Jonah’s Peculiar Re-Creation” Ritva Williams, “BTB Readers’ Guide: Social Memory” Ernest van Eck, “Social Memory and Identity: Luke 19:12b—24 and 27” S. Brian Pounds, “Romans 4:1—8 as a Test Case for the New Perspective on Paul”

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scripture and Cognate Fields Jacob Howland, Plato and the Talmud, reviewed by Alan Avery-Peck Jeremy M. Hutton, The Transjordanian Palimpsest: The Overwritten Texts of Personal Exile and Transformation in the Deuteronomistic History, reviewed by Walter Dietrich Thomas Kazen, Issues of Impurity in Early Judaism, reviewed by John W. Fadden Eric D. Reymond, New Idioms within Old: Poetry and Parallelism in the Non-Masoretic Poems of 11Q5 (=11QPsa), reviewed by John Engle and James A. Sanders New Testament and Cognate Fields ...