Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Exegesis

Bob Yarbrough on Computer Technology and Exegesis

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Robert W. Yarbrough insightfully answers this question posed by Collin Hansen in a CT interview published today:

How has computer technology contributed to our understanding of 1-3 John?

One can also do word analyses and various grammatical and syntactical searches of the New Testament or related writings with a speed, ease, and comprehensiveness previously undreamt of. Ease of access to reference works eliminates tedious book hunting and page turning. A downside is that every decade we move farther into computer technology, the greater the danger becomes that younger scholars will lack the hands-on intimacy with the text that pen and paper demanded, and the ingrained, deeply intuitive grasp of the text that a trained memory can arrive at. Voluminous information easily accessible can not only obscure but actually stunt creative and historically responsible scholarship.

Doug Moo on Colossians and Philemon

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Doug Moo‘s The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon is hot off the press, and I enjoyed spending some time surveying it this morning. It’s another outstanding addition to the Pillar NT Commentary series. (See my review of the PNTC series, which also notes the authors slated for the forthcoming volumes.)

From D. A. Carson’s “Editor’s Preface”

For many years Doug Moo and I served on the same faculty. His move from Trinity to Wheaton, however much a gain for the latter, was a personal loss. Mercifully, we have continued to collaborate on various projects, and he is surely among the two or three scholars with whom I am most happy to work in close association. Readers of this series will already be familiar with his Pillar commentary on James—and that after writing, for another series, what is still the best English-language commentary on Romans.

[Read more…] about Doug Moo on Colossians and Philemon

Two Sermons on 1 Timothy 2:1-8

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Here are links to a couple sermons I recently preached:

  1. Pray For Those In Authority (1 Tim 2:1-8) (6-22-08) | MP3 (48:13) | outline
  2. Does God Have Two Wills? Does He Want All People to Be Saved in One Sense and Not Want All People to Be Saved in Another Sense? (1 Tim 2:4) (6-29-08) | MP3 (45:26) | outline

The first is expositional, the second more theological (and heavily indebted to John Frame’s The Doctrine of God and John Piper’s “Are There Two Wills in God?”).

The Offense of the Cross

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Paul’s argument in Gal 5:1–12 defends Christian liberty over a distinctive Jewish practice: circumcision. Note Paul’s logic in v. 11:

Ἐγὼ δέ, ἀδελφοί, εἰ περιτομὴν ἔτι κηρύσσω, τί ἔτι διώκομαι; ἄρα κατήργηται τὸ σκάνδαλον τοῦ σταυροῦ.

Now, brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed (NET).

Adding circumcision to the gospel removed “the offense of the cross,” which is essential to the gospel.

Questions for reflection:

  1. How does our culture remove “the offense of the cross” (e.g., through mainstream media)?
  2. How do Christians remove “the offense of the cross” (e.g., through writings, sermons, ministry philosophies)?
  3. How might I remove “the offense of the cross” when I communicate with (1) non-Christians, (2) other Christians, and (3) myself?

Con Campbell’s Second Book on Verbal Aspect Released in Carson’s SBG Series

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Last August I posted on “Con Campbell’s Book on Verbal Aspect Released in Carson’s SBG Series.” His second volume, a companion to the first, is now hot off the press:

Constantine R. Campbell, Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs: Further Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament (ed. D. A. Carson; Studies in Biblical Greek 15; New York: Lang, 2008), xiv + 155 pp.

Carson writes in the series editor’s preface,

One of the self-imposed limitations of Dr Campbell’s earlier volume in this series, Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative: Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament, was the restriction of the analysis to verbs in the indicative mood found in narrative settings. The book you now hold in your hand plugs part of that gap: Dr Campbell now does for the non-indicative verbs what he earlier did for the indicative. His approach is similar: judicious soundings, careful examination of the context, thoughtful translation—all couched in highly readable prose. The two volumes belong together, and together they establish one of the most credible (and certainly accessible) analyses of verbal aspect in the Greek of the New Testament. The issues are complex and frequently subtle, so inevitably grammarians will differ in their assessments of some elements of Dr Campbell’s presentation. Nevertheless this contribution is strong evidence (if more evidence is needed) that verbal aspect theory has come of age and cannot responsibly be ignored by New Testament scholars (pp. xi–xii).

Endorsements on the back cover are by Peter T. O’Brien (Campbell’s colleague at Moore Theological College) and Rodney J. Decker.

Related: Andrew David Naselli, “A Brief Introduction to Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 17–28.

Charging the Mound: A Lesson in Hermeneutics

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My good friend Phil Gons was sitting just a couple rows directly behind home plate in Seattle on May 8 for the Mariners-Rangers game when 6′ 8” Richie Sexson charged the mound and the benches cleared. If all you saw was a replay of the pitch prior to his charging the mound, you might wonder why he did that; the fastball was right down the middle (although eye level). This video at MLB.com serves as a good lesson in biblical hermeneutics: context, context, context!