James: The Latest Volume in B&H’s Exegetical Guide to the Greek NT Series

January 22, 2013 by Andy Naselli

In 2010 I shared my top five books on the letter of James and interviewed Chris Morgan on the theology of James.

Now I’d add this book to that top-tier list:

Chris A. Vlachos. James. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2013. 225 pages.

This sample 53-page PDF includes

Endorsements by Craig Blomberg, Darrell Bock, Peter Davids, Rob Plummer, Tom Schreiner, and Bob Yarbrough
The table of contents
Doug Moo’s foreword
Other front matter
The introduction and notes on James 1:1–4

We’re Moving to Minneapolis: 5 Reasons We’re Excited to Serve at Bethlehem College and Seminary

January 16, 2013 by Andy Naselli

Bethlehem College & Seminary (BCS) just announced that I’ll be joining their faculty in August 2013 as Assistant Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology.

Jenni and I are grateful to God and excited to join the BCS family. We’re planning to move to Minneapolis this summer.

If you don’t know much about BCS, these links are a good place to start:

History (cf. John Piper’s announcement in 2008)
Leadership (John Piper is chancellor)
Faculty

We’re excited to serve at BCS for at least five reasons:

1. Doctrine

The doctrine BCS affirms and celebrates is what we affirm and celebrate. [Read more…] about We’re Moving to Minneapolis: 5 Reasons We’re Excited to Serve at Bethlehem College and Seminary

Larry Hurtado Reviews The Early Text of the New Testament

January 15, 2013 by Andy Naselli

Last month Larry Hurtado informatively reviewed this book:

Charles E. Hill and Michael J. Kruger, eds. The Early Text of the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Hurtado writes,

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve taken the time to work through the volume (21 contributions, and over 400 pp.), and I have to underscore how impressed I am with it. In the following comments, I highlight contributions that I found particularly valuable. . . .

This volume (though expensive!) is now probably the most up to date analysis of earliest evidence about the state and transmission of NT writings in the second century CE. Given the limitations of our evidence, scholars are required to make the best inferences they can. This volume provides essential resources in doing so, and largely shows that we can with some confidence posit that the NT writings, essentially as we know them, were copied for both ecclesial and private reading.

George Whitefield: “I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation”

January 10, 2013 by Andy Naselli

George Whitefield wrote,

Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified.
Let my name die everywhere, let even my friends forget me, if by that means the cause of the blessed Jesus may be promoted.
But what is Calvin, or what is Luther? Let us look above names and parties; let Jesus be our all in all—So that He is preached. . . . I care not who is uppermost. I know my place . . . even to be the servant of all.
I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation; and after I am dead I desire no other epitaph than this, “Here lies G.W. What sort of man he was the great day will discover.”

Quoted in Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1990), 154.

(This book adapts, rewrites, and abridges [Read more…] about George Whitefield: “I am content to wait till the judgement day for the clearing up of my reputation”

Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

January 8, 2013 by Andy Naselli

Wayne Grudem evaluates the Jason Bourne films (his critique applies to The Bourne Legacy as well) when he discusses the CIA in Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 424–25:

THE CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the primary organization that gathers and analyzes information about other countries, especially about potential enemies of the United States. In other words, the CIA coordinates America’s spy network abroad. [Read more…] about Wayne Grudem on the Jason Bourne Films

A Pastorally Sensitive Book on God’s Sovereignty

January 3, 2013 by Andy Naselli

Sam Storms calls this book “refreshingly honest, ruthlessly biblical, pastorally sensitive, and above all else, altogether persuasive”:

Mitchell Chase. Behold Our Sovereign God: All Things from Him, Through Him, and To Him. Brenham, TX: Lucid, 2012. [Kindle: $2.99]

It’s dedicated to John Piper and endorsed by Sam Storms, Tim Challies, Jim Hamilton, and Bruce Ware. [Read more…] about A Pastorally Sensitive Book on God’s Sovereignty

Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery

January 1, 2013 by Andy Naselli

Many modern readers assume that slavery in the New Testament is equivalent to the race-based slavery of the African slave trade. While not defending the Greco-Roman institution of slavery, Tim Keller and Don Carson explain why it’s important not to equate it with the race-based slavery that we may be more familiar with.

Tim Keller

Timothy Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), 213–14, 280–83.

Paul is speaking to servants and masters [in Ephesians 6:5–9], and this raises many questions in the minds of modern readers about the Bible’s depiction of the evil of slavery. While much can be said about this subject,* it is important to remember that slavery in the Greco-Roman world was not the same as the New World institution that developed in the wake of the African slave trade. Slavery in Paul’s time was not race-based and was seldom lifelong. It was more like what we would call indentured servitude. But for our purposes, think of this passage as a rhetorical amplifier and consider this: If slave owners are told they must not manage workers in pride and through fear, how much more should this be true of employers today? And if slaves are told it is possible to find satisfaction and meaning in their work, how much more should this be true of workers today? [Read more…] about Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery