Pete Enns continued his series on creation in the Old Testament as cosmic battle for the BioLogos Foundation. The latest is titled Adam is Israel. Enns writes
But there is another way. Maybe Israel’s history happened first, and the Adam story was written to reflect that history. In other words, the Adam story is really an Israel story placed in primeval time. It is not a story of human origins but of Israel’s origins.
Everyone has to decide for themselves which of these readings of Genesis has more “explanatory power.” I (and other biblical scholars) come down on the second option for a number of reasons, some having to do with Genesis itself while others concern other issues in the Bible.
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Leonard Goppelt wrote a gem of a commentary on 1 Peter. I’ve been studying it as I prepare to exhort on the amazingly redemptively-historical 1 Pet 1:10-12. Here is a typical quote from Goppelt on the text:
Prophecy enables the Church to understand the Christ-event preached to it as fulfillment, as eschatological salvation, and, therefore, to appropriate proclamation as gospel.
It makes the biblical-theological heart warm, doesn’t it?
When expressed in terms of the model of a chain of causes and effects, the traditional ordo salutis runs the danger of displacing Christ from the central place in soteriology. The fruits of his work may be related to one another in the chain of cause-and-effect sequence, rather than viewed fundamentally in relation to the work of the Spirit in bringing us into union and communion with Christ himself. Thus, election is spoken of as the cause of regeneration, which in turn is the cause of faith, of which sanctification and perseverance are the invariable and inevitable effects. The relation of each to Christ himself is thus obscured or even minimized.
Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 99.
photo by Tyler Ingram
Jared Oliphint and Jonathan Brack dropped by the studio to discuss books on apologetics. We came up with a rudimentary list of books along with a reading order for those who may be interested in Van Tilian apologetics but don’t know where to start. The full discussion will air on a future episode of the Reformed Media Review, but for now, here is our list. Read the rest of this entry »
The history of biblical studies has seen a number of different approaches to the prophetical books. In this post, I provide a brief survey of various critical approaches along with a few names of key figures.
Historical Criticism
Historical critics divide the prophetic writings into historical truths and metaphysical truths. Historical critics begin with the presupposition that the Bible is just like any other book. The following types of criticism can be considered subheadings under this larger heading. Read the rest of this entry »
Richard Pratt introduces an interesting topic in prophetical studies. The idea may actually be unsettling to some. Pratt examines historical contingencies and their relationship to biblical prophecy. In his study, Pratt identifies three types of OT prophecy: Read the rest of this entry »
My two favorite hymns happen to be hymns about Christ’s birth and therefore tend only to be sung during the Christmas season. It’s quite unfortunate, especially since they are extremely beautiful compositions with wonderful lyrics, but this time of year is a special musical treat for me. The first hymn I’d like to share is Es Ist Ein’ Ros’ Entsprungen, often known as Lo’ How a Rose E’re Blooming in English. This is perhaps my favorite hymn, musically speaking. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, Christopher Fantuzzo, lecturer in Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary delivered a candidating lecture on Isaiah 59:21 and its position in the book. The passage is as follows.
21″And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
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Google Wave is a new, collaborative environment poised to recast the way we think about online communication. It’s actually quite a difficult experience to describe. Think email plus instant messaging with a healthy dose of Wikipedia. It’s bizarre and surreal, but it’s cool. So as the hoards await their invitations to the popular new technology, let’s present a sarcastic emergent use case.
Google Wave provides the platform for the ultimate community worship service. Gone are the days when your pastor preaches to you. With Google Wave, you can contribute to his words! First, the congregation should be equipped with laptops or smartphones. Second, the worship service needs to be blanketed with WiFi so everyone can be equally connected – in spirit and in ethernet. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Perspective on Paul continues its movement in an incredible way. This new book goes toward proving that. It goes to show that this is not some fly by night scholarly trend that will be here today and gone tomorrow. In fact, it is quite revolutionary. It has, in many ways, overturned the way we think as theologians and Bible scholars.
But I am still not convinced that the emperor is in fact wearing any clothes. What is frustrating in reading NPP advocates is trying to figure out exactly what they’re against. They are protesters. They are doing more than simply setting forth a positive new and fresh exegesis of Paul’s writings. They are reacting. They are reacting against what is perceived to be many faults and shortcomings of Western Protestant Christianity. Read the rest of this entry »
