Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Exegesis

Scandalous

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D. A. Carson’s next book comes out this month: Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010).

It’s based on five sermons that Carson preached in December 2008:

  1. The Ironies of the Cross (Matthew 27:27–51a)
  2. The Center of the Whole Bible (Romans 3:21–26)
  3. The Strange Triumph of a Slaughtered Lamb (Revelation 12)
  4. A Miracle Full of Surprises (John 11:1–53)
  5. Doubting the Resurrection of Jesus (John 20:24–31)

Six Books for Children on the Bible’s Storyline

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In 2008, Jenni and I profited from reading two “documentary novels” by Paul Maier:

  1. Pontius Pilate
  2. The Flames of Rome

We recently received six of his books for children, and they’re outstanding.

1. The Real Story of Creation

2. The Real Story of the Flood

3. The Real Story of the Exodus

4. The Very First Christmas

Jenni warmly recalls reading this many times as a child.

5. The Very First Easter

6. The Very First Christians

The picture of Agrippa (p. 27) reminds me of someone I know!

Related: About a year ago, Jenni and I reviewed several hundred children’s books and highlighted our favorites: “Theology for Kids.”

Extracanonical Jewish Literature That Is Significant for NT Studies

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I’ve recently begun researching the use of some OT passages in extracanonical Jewish literature for a dissertation chapter. Six primary bodies of literature are most significant for NT studies:

  1. OT Apocrypha
  2. OT Pseudepigrapha
  3. Dead Sea Scrolls
  4. Philo
  5. Josephus
  6. Rabbinic literature (i.e., Targums, Talmuds, and midrash)

This may raise two questions.

1. Why is extracanonical Jewish literature significant for NT studies?

G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson give five reasons (“Introduction,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament  [ed. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007], p. xxiv, bullet points added):

How is the OT quotation or source handled in the literature of Second Temple Judaism or (more broadly yet) of early Judaism? The reasons for asking this question and the possible answers that might be advanced are many. It is not that either Jewish or Christian authorities judge, say, Jubilees or 4 Ezra to be as authoritative as Genesis or Isaiah. But attentiveness to these and many other important Jewish sources may provide several different kinds of help. [Read more…] about Extracanonical Jewish Literature That Is Significant for NT Studies

Breathing : Body :: Works : Faith

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  • Breathing is evidence of a living body, and good works is evidence of a living faith.
  • Not breathing is evidence of a dead body, and the absence of good works is evidence of a dead faith.
  • You can’t revitalize a corpse by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and you can’t create genuine faith by good works.

That’s my paraphrase of Dan G. McCartney on James 2:14–26 (James [BECNT; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009]). An 18-page PDF sampling of the commentary includes “Excursus 2: Faith, Works, and Justification in James and Paul” (pp. 272–79). Here’s how McCartney concludes his chapter on James 2:14–26 (p. 172):

James’s principal point is not in doubt, in any case: that which distinguishes living faith from dead faith is works of faith. By no means does any of this suggest that one could create genuine faith by works, any more than an effort at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation could revitalize a corpse.

her⋅me⋅NEU⋅tics

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–noun (used with a singular verb)

  1. the art and science of interpretation, esp. of the Bible. Commonly distinguished from exegesis, which interprets the text by applying those principles.
  2. the skill of all but totally ignoring the Bible while appearing to accept it.

The playful definition comes from Moisés Silva, “The New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Text Form and Authority,” in Scripture and Truth (ed. D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983), 156:

During the past decade or two, biblical scholarship has shown a growing obsession with the issue of hermeneutics, a harmless enough word, but one occasionally used as a euphemism for “the skill of all but totally ignoring the Bible while appearing to accept it.” Although one may be excused for feeling irritated at the way the word is thrown about as the ultimate panacea, it would be a grave mistake to dismiss the issue altogether. It is so easy for us to read the evening paper and understand it—that is, interpret it accurately—that we tend to think of interpretation as an eminently simple process. In reality, we depend on a massive framework of assumptions slowly formed by innumerable experiences. As a result, those aspects of interpretation that appear to us to be the most obvious are often the ones that cause us the greatest difficulty. In particular, when we confront a text written by someone whose “framework of assumptions” differs significantly from ours, how can we possibly bridge the two? The attempt to answer that question is what hermeneutics is all about.


Recommended Reading on Job

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Over the past month or so, I’ve read over 300 books and articles (often only parts of them) about the book of Job for a dissertation chapter I just drafted. Here are three of the most edifying and accessible resources:

1. D. A. Carson. “Job: Mystery and Faith.” Pages 135–57 in How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. [Amazon | WTS Books]

Carson

Penetrating insight, pastoral warmth.

2. Layton Talbert. Beyond Suffering: Discovering the Message of Job. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 2007. [Amazon]

beyondsuffering

See my review.

3. Derek Kidner. “The Book of Job: A World Well Managed?” and “Job in Academic Discussion.” Pages 56–89 in The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes: An Introduction to Wisdom Literature. Downers Grove: IVP, 1985. [Amazon | WTS Books]

Kidner

Pithy.

Update: See ch. 4 (free PDF) in From Typology to Doxology.