Review of Neill’s and Wright’s “The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861-1986”

September 30, 2007 by Andy Naselli

Neill, Stephen and Tom Wright. The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861–1986. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. 464 pp. $39.95 paper.

Stephen Neill (1900–1984) was a missionary, Anglican Bishop, professor, and linguist, and N. T. Wright (b. 1948), who earned his Ph.D. from Oxford in 1980, is now the famous and influential Bishop of Durham. The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861–1986 (henceforth, INT) attempts to summarize the major people and events in the vast field of NT interpretation over a 125-year period. Neill’s first edition, which was the outgrowth of his Firth Lectures at the University of Nottingham in 1962 (p. ix), was published in 1966 and covered one hundred years of NT interpretation (1861–1961). Neill began updating INT for its second edition, but he died before completing it. He did, however, discuss the second edition with Wright, who edited Neill’s work (chapters 1–8, pp. 1–359) and replaced Neill’s previous conclusions with a final chapter that accounts for twenty-five more years of NT interpretation (pp. 360–449). The subject matter is almost exclusively British with some discussions of significant advances elsewhere (e.g., Germany), so the volume could be appropriately titled The Interpretation of the New Testament in Britain from 1861 to 1986.

Imminency and Inerrancy

September 28, 2007 by Andy Naselli

After praising J. Christiaan Beker, Buz Meyers brashly asserts,

Nevertheless, the apostle Paul and other members of the first generation were wrong about the timing of the Parousia. Christ did not return, and the End did not arrive as was expected. This embarrassing miscalculation on the part of the early Church may help to explain in part why the apocalyptic dimension of the NT has not been fully appreciated until relatively recently. Doctrines of biblical inspiration and infallibility may have encouraged overlooking or ignoring NT passages that speak about the Parousia’s arrival in the near future. Errors with regard to the timing of the Parousia, however, have allowed later interpreters to question the certainty of the Parousia’s arrival as well and then dismiss the Parousia altogether. In other words, because the Parousia did not occur when it was supposed to, it probably will never happen, so why consider the Parousia at all? The apostle Paul’s thinking, however, demonstrates that a change in the timing of the Parousia need not undermine the certainty of its coming. . . . [A]lthough Paul may have changed his mind about whether or not he would be alive at the Parousia, Paul never gives up hope in Christ’s future return.

– Charles D. Myers Jr., “The Persistence of Apocalyptic Thought in New Testament Theology,” in Biblical Theology: Problems and Perspectives: In Honor of J. Christiaan Beker (ed. Steven J. Kraftchick, Charles D. Myers Jr., and Ben C. Ollenburger; Nashville: Abingdon, 1995), pp. 212–13 (bold emphasis added).

So Jesus’ coming really isn’t imminent, nor is the Bible inerrant. But even though Paul was way off on the timing bit, we can take comfort that he really was right that Jesus will actually return someday. What a blessing.

Is it possible to hold both the imminency of Jesus’ second coming and biblical inerrancy? I believe it is. Responding to a bold assertion similar to Buz Myers’ above, John MacArthur writes,

[Read more…] about Imminency and Inerrancy

Carson on Boasting

September 27, 2007 by Andy Naselli

I just stumbled across a convicting quotation by Dr. Carson that I wrote down during one of his class lectures last March:

“Most people go through life concerned that others will think too little of them. Paul was concerned that others would think too much of him.“

He made this comment while exegeting verse 6 in 2 Cor 12:1–10:

[Read more…] about Carson on Boasting

A Future Church Plant Worth Supporting

September 26, 2007 by Andy Naselli

Below is a picture of the Eric True family. Eric is my brother-in-law, and his wife, Alicia, is my older sister. (I’m the second of seven children.) Their two boys are Brandon (age 4) and Jonathan (age 2).

God has burdened Eric to glorify Him by serving as a pastor in Southern California. Check out their . . .

background and burden (including more pictures)
basic plan for church planting starting with fall 2007

Eric’s plan is to begin by spending about two years serving at Grace Bible Church of Menifee, pastored by Tim Lovegrove.

Tim planted GBC of Menifee about four years ago with the support of Heritage Bible Church in Greer, SC.
GBC of Menifee is now self-supporting, and Tim recently posted a short video in which he explains his church’s burden to initiate “a vibrant church planting movement.” The text for this short video is available here.
Tim has also prepared a slide show that explains this burden.

I’ve known Eric well since about 2001, and I couldn’t dream of a better brother-in-law. He is above reproach. He’s perfect for my sister, and God has gifted him with outstanding pastoral gifts such as teaching, leadership, and overall people skills. Also, from my perspective, his theology is rock solid. And since Eric is a native of Southern California, it’s hard to think of a better fit for church planting. (Can you tell that I’m excited about this?!)

What can you do?

Pray earnestly.
Give bountifully and cheerfully (cf. 2 Cor 9:6–7).

For more info, contact GBC of Menifee.

Paul’s New Perspective

September 22, 2007 by Andy Naselli

This is a humbling reminder:

[I]t was his [i.e, Paul’s] conversion on the Damascus road that enabled him to see many things in a new perspective. . . . Even though he knows full well that he came to his Christian understanding via the Damascus road experience, and not in classes on exegesis, he also argues that what he, as a Christian and an apostle, finds in the Scriptures is actually there, and the reason unconverted Jews do not see it is because “to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it take [sic] away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts” (2 Cor 3:14–15). In other words, as far as Paul is concerned, conversion to Christ removes the veil to enable the reader to see what is actually there. Judging by his passionate handling of Scripture in Galatians, and in his slightly less passionate but scarcely less intense handling of Scripture in Romans, Paul is concerned to show that the gospel he preaches has in fact actually been announced by what we now refer to as the Old Testament: the δικαιοσύνη [i.e., righteousness] he announces is that “to which the Law and the Prophets testify” (Rom 3:21).

–D. A. Carson, “Mystery and Fulfillment: Toward a More Comprehensive Paradigm of Paul’s Understanding of the Old and New,” in The Paradoxes of Paul. Vol. 2 of Justification and Variegated Nomism (ed. D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid; Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 181; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), pp. 410–11.

Mark Farnham Interview on Fundamentalism

September 21, 2007 by Andy Naselli

This morning I listened to Jason Janz (Sharper Iron profile) interview Mark J. Farnham, assistant professor of theology and NT as well as chaplain at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary:

“Four Historical Stages of Fundamentalism” (32:17 min.)
“Current Issues Within Fundamentalism” (22:10 min.)
“Trends in Evangelicalism” (30:07 min.)

The interview is not filled with energy and humor like the recent Mahaney-Dever interview; Farnham, in comparison, is calm and perhaps a bit monotone. I’d take issue with some of his comments here and there, but I realize that it is very challenging to nuance complex historical and theological issues in an interview like this. If you have been exposed only to the worst forms of fundamentalism or to caricatures of such, you may be surprised to listen to a fundamentalist who doesn’t sound like a belligerent anti-intellectual. Check it out.

“Explosion of Biblical Knowledge”

September 21, 2007 by Andy Naselli

This is both exciting and daunting:

“We are part of the greatest explosion of biblical knowledge in history. Never before has so much been discovered and published in the same generation. For virtually every book of the Bible major projects are coming to light, and commentaries benefiting from them are being written.”

– Grant R. Osborne, “Recent Trends in the Study of the Apocalypse,” in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research (ed. Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), p. 473.

This is exciting because there are so many fresh advances in biblical studies, yet this is daunting because it seems impossible to master all aspects of biblical studies, let alone one of them! Biblical scholars and scholars-in-training, however, need not get discouraged. Their responsibility is to be faithful stewards of God’s manifold grace in order to glorify Him. Cf. 1 Peter 4:10–11 (NET):

“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”