Stone-Campbell-Journal

In addition to Boccaccini and Segovia’s Paul the Jew, inbox recently saw the arrival from Fortress Press of a review copy of Rafael Rodríguez and Matthew Thiessen’s edited volume The So-Called Jew in Paul’s Letter to the Romans(2016). According to the book’s blurb:

Decades ago, Werner G. Kümmel described the historical problem of Romans as its “double character”: concerned with issues of Torah and the destiny of Israel, the letter is explicitly addressed not to Jews but to Gentiles. At stake in the numerous answers given to that question is nothing less than the purpose of Paul’s most important letter. In The So-Called Jew in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, nine Pauline scholars focus their attention on the rhetoric of diatribe and characterization in the opening chapters of the letter, asking what Paul means by the “so-called Jew” in Romans 2 and where else in the letter’s argumentation that figure appears or is implied. Each component of Paul’s argument is closely examined with particular attention to the theological problems that arise in each.

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In my email recently, I found Fortress Press had kindly provided a review copy of Gabriele Boccaccini and Carlos Segovia’s edited volume Paul the Jew: Rereading the Apostle as a Figure of Second Temple Judaism(2016). According to the book’s blurb:

The decades-long effort to understand the apostle Paul within his Jewish context is now firmly established in scholarship on early Judaism, as well as on Paul. The latest fruit of sustained analysis appears in the essays gathered here, from leading international scholars who take account of the latest investigations into the scope and variety present in Second Temple Judaism. Contributors address broad historical and theological questions—Paul’s thought and practice in relationship with early Jewish apocalypticism, messianism, attitudes toward life under the Roman Empire, appeal to Scripture, the Law, inclusion of Gentiles, the nature of salvation, and the rise of Gentile-Christian supersessionism—as well as questions about interpretation itself, including the extent and direction of a “paradigm shift” in Pauline studies and the evaluation of the Pauline legacy. Paul the Jew goes as far as any effort has gone to restore the apostle to his own historical, cultural, and theological context, and with persuasive results.

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Registration for the 2017 Stone-Campbell Journal Conference is now open. The 2017 meeting will be hosted by Johnson University in Knoxville, TN, and will focus on the theme of “Communicating the Old Testament.”

This year’s conference marks the meeting’s 20th anniversary. The plenary lineup includes Ellen Davis (Duke Divinity School), Chris Heard (Pepperdine University), and Jason Bembry (Emmanuel Christian Seminary).

For additional information and to register, please see the SCJ website.

The Stone-Campbell Journal 17, no. 2 is now available to members of the Stone-Campbell Scholars Community. This issue includes the following articles:

• John Mark Hicks, “Consensus Tigurinus and a Baptismal Rapprochement between Baptists and Churches of Christ”
• Mason Lee, “More Than the ‘Sermon on the Law’: Alexander Campbell and the Old Testament”
• Phil Towne, “Spirituality in an Age of Technology”
• Paul J. Kissling, “The So-Called ‘Post-Exilic’ Return: Already-But-Not-Yet In Ezra-Nehemiah”
• Jon Carmen, “The Falling Star and the Rising Son: Luke 10:17-24 and Second Temple ‘Satan’ Traditions”
• Les Hardin, “A Theology of the Hymns in Revelation”

Among this issue’s book reviews (pgs. 297–99) is my review of Jared Wilson’s The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables (Crossway, 2014). Connections can read the review via my LinkedIn page under “Publications.”

Baker and the Stone-Campbell Journal were kind enough to provide a copy of Tom Schreiner’s The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. According to the publisher’s description, Schreiner:

offers a substantial and accessibly written overview of the whole Bible. He traces the storyline of the scriptures from the standpoint of biblical theology, examining the overarching message that is conveyed throughout. Schreiner emphasizes three interrelated and unified themes that stand out in the biblical narrative: God as Lord, human beings as those who are made in God’s image, and the land or place in which God’s rule is exercised. The goal of God’s kingdom is to see the king in his beauty and to be enraptured in his glory.

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Thanks to Eerdmans and the Stone-Campbell Journal, Gareth Lee Cockerill’s New International Commentary on the New Testament volume on Hebrews arrived recently. According to the publisher,

This commentary by Gareth Lee Cockerill offers fresh insight into the Epistle to the Hebrews, a well-constructed sermon that encourages its hearers to persevere despite persecution and hardships in light of Christ’s unique sufficiency as Savior. Cockerill analyzes the book’s rhetorical, chiastic shape and interprets each passage in light of this overarching structure. He also offers a new analysis of the epistle’s use of the Old Testament—continuity and fulfillment rather than continuity and discontinuity—and shows how this consistent usage is relevant for contemporary biblical interpretation. Written in a clear, engaging, and accessible style, this commentary will benefit pastors, laypeople, students, and scholars alike.

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