BibleScholar

 The first piece of literature we see Augustine go through is The Aeneid. Within this story, Augustine is not shy about attempting to denounce the truthfulness and validity of Virgil’s work, instead trying to downplay how much of a role it should take in people’s lives. Augustine, however, contradicts this very idea by showing us how similar he sees his faith journey in comparison to Aeneas’ journey in The Aeneid. Augustine frames it within similar locations, speaking of his travels that led him to places such as Carthage before he ultimately found his place in Rome, as Aeneas did. This took place before Augustine’s conversion, showing how he was lost without God’s guidance just as Aeneas kept losing himself without the blatant guidance and assistance of the gods.  Augustine also intertwines ideas from and references to The Aeneid throughout the book. Even if it is as subtle as a similar phrasing from one of the story’s lines, Augustine uses it in the story of his journey, associating

 Readers of Dante’s Divine Comedy recognize that below the surface narrative lie layers of meaning—from political commentary to theology to the experience of a moral journey.  Yet, they are often subtly aware that there is even more in play than they quite perceive, and many times that awareness centers around a certain number that keeps showing up, or a pattern they’ve noticed within the numbers.  Three beasts, nine circles, thirty-three cantos—they seem so important, and almost familiar, yet their meaning eludes us.  Although the reader may not understand the purpose of such symbolic connections, they recognize that Dante is softly whispering in their ears. The brilliant mind of Dante placed both overt and subtle references to symbolic numbers throughout the Comedy, the problem with our recognizing them is that Dante wrote for an audience that lived many hundreds of years ago.  When modern readers experience the Comedy, they approach it with a contemporary interpretive lens, which ob

 Dante’s “Journey into Joy,” expressed in artwork and music was created to make Dante’s experience come alive, to share the profound feelings and insights found in the Comedy with all who view the project, who respond to its reverberations. The Divine Comedy presents the journey of life through the vision of the thirteenth-century poet, Durante, or Dante Alighieri. Dante came from a respectable family and was well educated formally, having chosen additional studies in philosophy and theology. Although artistically gifted, he eventually enrolled in the wealthy Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries in order to seek political office and engage seriously in public life (Mazzotta 4). He became an ambassador for the city of Florence as a member of the White Guelph party. When he was sent to meet with the pope, the Black Guelphs took over Florence and exiled Dante from the city for life, under pain of death. After joining an attempt to reinstate his party, Dante finally broke off all political

 The mark of the Christian is to be quickened through being killed by the Word of God. God is the one who contrary to all expectations makes alive through killing. These prophets of glory spoke of wonderful experiences of rapturous delight and glory, that in itself was enough for Luther to call their teaching into question. That emphasis was entirely contrary to the core of Luther’s theology of the cross. One must have the mark of the Son of Man, the mark of the cross made upon the life of the believer. To have a glorious Christ divorced from the cross was to have a false Christ and was to be a false prophet. As suffering and persecution make the Church the true Church, so also bearing the cross on the individual level makes a Christian a true Christian. The mark of the Son of Man is to bear the suffering of the cross in this present world, this was something Luther felt was lacking in the experience of many of the false teachers he came in contact with.

 Andrew B. McGowan, Ancient Christian Worship: Early Church Practices in Social, Historical, and Theological Perspective. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.  Andrew McGowan’s newest book is an exemplary guide to the ritual life of the earliest Christians. Indeed, insofar as the study of early Christianity tends to focus more on ideas than practices, this book is a particularly welcome contribution that might be  used in many a class on early church history. McGowan begins with a helpful introduction which takes up the problems inherent in our understanding(s) of the term “worship.” In this book, “worship” refers not to an attitude of the heart or a particular set of music at the beginning of a church service, but rather “these practices that constitute Christian communal and ritual life, as reflected in the NT itself and thereafter” (7). As such, the book traces the development and significance of aspects of early Christian worship including obvious candidates such as the Eucharist an

Jeff Pollard and Scott T. Brown, eds., A Theology of the Family (Wake Forest, NC: The National Center for Family-Intergrated Churches, 2014).  This 700-page tome is not “a theology of the family” in the sense you might think; that is, it is not a work that sets forth a coherent theology of the family in the way that, say, Craig Blomberg’s Neither Poverty nor Riches sets forth “a biblical theology of possessions.” But it is full of riches nonetheless. In this anthology, Pollard and Brown have compiled dozens of excerpts from sermons and writings of saints both past (usually) and present (occasionally). Fifty-six authors are represented, including J. H. Merle D’Aubigne, John G. Paton, Benjamin Keach, Thomas Watson, John Gill, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, John Bunyan, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Matthew Henry, J. C. Ryle, Philip Doddridge, John Calvin, Richard Baxter, Martin Luther, and Stephen Charnock. A relatively few recent selections are culled from the writings of D. Martyn Lloyd

 Given the fact that biblical studies overlap with theology and philosophy and apologetics and historical theology, you want to be well-rounded. Otherwise, you may be prone to make interpretive missteps. That is why I recommend keeping the Bible as your primary source at all times. Too many theologians and scholars and philosophers and critics move beyond the Bible too quickly and then overlook what the Bible has to say. They can craft clever arguments or views, but they don’t mesh with the Scriptures or fit very well and then become strained and implausible. That is called “scholarship”, though—contriving new views. But are they correct?

Book review – Who Is the Church? An Ecclesiology for the Twenty-First Century Reformations are about identity. The foundation is the same across every reformation, but the former construction on that foundation is razed and a new construction arises. This discerning work is ecclesiology. Peterson describes the variety of approaches currently propounded by and Reformed academics. She critically embraces a sacramental perspective noting certain “church as communion” positions. She values the missio dei ecclesiology of the Gospel and Our Culture Network. She proposes a narrative methodology as promising for our identity work as the post-modern church. “Who is the Church?” is then the proper post-modern question in contrast with the modernist question of “What is the nature of the church?” “Who is the Church?” is the better beginning point for perceiving the new creation community the Spirit is breathing to life. She may be marking a shift from the church self-identified/described as a “se

For my birthday, I purchased Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction by Brad Harper and Robert Louis Metzger. Harper and Metzger are evangelicals and approach this subject with that background in mind. Their critiques of the evangelical church ring true. They know the system. This is far more meaningful for me because I know these critiques to be true. It is different hearing it from an evangelical who knows the system than a Catholic theologian who may not know the system at all. Harper and Metzger are evangelical, but their ecclesiology is incredibly powerful. While evangelical theology is individualistic, these authors fly against the grain. From the opening paragraphs, they make this clear: The church is our mother. What is vital is the life of the Church. As believers, and especially evangelicals, we have divided up the gospel and made it individualistic and consumer-driven. We need to gather once again around the foundations of baptism, the Eucharist, t

The Making of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message is a work denoting the history of a potential crisis point in the Southern Baptist Convention and how it was averted by a reworking of their 1925 statement of faith. In doing so Hobbs and others deliberately obfuscated potentially controversial theological points in such a way that both those of the conservative and liberal wings of the Convention could read and agree with the Baptist Faith and Message. In the introductory first chapter of Smith’s work, he introduces the reader to the 1925 and 1963 and also the scope and limitations of his work. He introduces the characters, primarily Herschel H Hobbs, who was on the committee whose task was to rewrite the BFM. He also introduces a brief overview of the context of confessional statements of faith and how they were understood by Baptists. This subject would be reexamined in greater detail in chapters four and five. The second and third chapters provide the immediate context in which the 1

 We find in the New Testament a consciousness the early Christians held regarding the church. Jesus was to build his church, and after his death, the church began in Jerusalem and spread throughout the Roman world through Judea, Samaria, and to the furthermost extents of known Roman world (Acts 1.8ff). As the church expanded, the apostles and other inspired authors wrote to Christians regarding the ministry of Jesus and concerning Christian living. Through these documents, important information is related regarding the nature of the church. Anyone searching for a “church” to attend should not settle for any church but should study the New Testament reverently identifying the nature of the church revealed in its pages. When examining the English word “church” we find that we are not talking about a building, but instead, the emphasis should be placed upon an assembly of people. These individuals are assembled to hear the word of God, and make those Divine words translate into everyday a

The New Testament was not dropped out of heaven in its present form. Instead, it was produced by means of human ability and human ingenuity. No disrespect is given to the dogma of plenary inspiration of Scriptures if one examines the methodologies used to produce God’s breathe into written form (2 Tim 3:16).[1] It is a matter of respect when such a course of action is taken. The literary composition of the New Testament is unbalanced in that 78% of its 27 volume anthology is comprised of epistolary literature. In other words, the Christian canon is principally made up of letters. Among these letters stand those of the Apostle Paul, 13 in all which bear his name. Among the many controversies which surround the letters of Paul, few are underestimated as the Pauline use of an amanuensis, a profession more accurately designated “secretary.”[2] Secretarial work is one of the most pervasive labors undergirding the production of most of the New Testament;[3] it is also at times one of the mos

 The Lord is saying, “He who enters in by Me, the door which leads to the Father, will become His sheep and be safe.”  Moreover, such a man will go in and out, that is, remain completely without fear in all his doings, as did the apostles, who went in boldly before the tyrants and went out rejoicing, and unconquered (e.g. Acts 5:41). And he shall find pasture, meaning abundant spiritual nourishment.  But there is a deeper meaning here.  Because man’s nature is twofold – inner and outer (as Paul says) – a man “goes in” when he cares for the inner man: Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self. 2 Corinthians 4:16 "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day." He “goes out” when he mortifies his members which are upon the earth (Colossians 3:5)5 and in Christ puts to death the sinful actions of the body:

While the issue of Immanuel’s identity in Isaiah 7:14 and its reuse in Matthew 1:23 continues to be a highly debated topic, the interpretation of “ʿalmāh” also presents an additional layer of exegesis needed to fully understand what this passage meant to the original audience and what implication it possibly makes towards a future fulfillment.  Most scholars do not recognize a single fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 in Jesus, so the key question that must be answered is how the birth of Jesus could have fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah. This interpretive essay will assert Isaiah 7:14 contains a double fulfillment, involving sensus plenior, as Matthew expands the meaning of Isaiah’s words to include a reference to Jesus’ conception and birth.

 I have been reading Jonathan T. Pennington‘s marvelous new book Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction and it has helped me a lot when it comes to thinking about hermeneutics, particularly the function of the historical-critical/grammatical approach juxtaposed with literary readings and canonical/theological readings. In “Chapter Five: Texts and History: The Testimony of the Fourfold Witness” Pennington examines the historical-critical approach, explains its value, and critiques its weaknesses.  For Pennington, the danger of putting all our eggs into the historical-critical/grammatical basket is that this limits our reading of the Gospels, refuses to listen to the Gospels as the Gospels are designed to be heard, and ignores the limitations of the historical-critical/grammatical hermeneutic. The Gospels make claims that presuppose things like the existence of Israel’s God and you cannot appeal to deity when doing critical historical studies. There are some

 I was thinking, recently about John 15.  You recall that is where Jesus spoke of himself as the true vine, and promised that if we abide in him, we would bear fruit.  Usually when I hear this preached or taught in church, the emphasis is on abiding. That’s not wrong, of course, but I wonder if there is more at work in abiding than we often consider. In fact, I think the word “true” in Jesus’ reference to himself as the true vine might be too often overlooked. So, I think we should ask why he referred to himself as the true vine. Does that mean there is a false one?   Well, I think yes, sort of. I think we read this best if we read John 15 against the background of Isaiah 5 where Israel was the vine.  In that case, though, the vine did not bear fruit.  There is probably more to say about Israel’s failure to abide in the true vine, but I think that goes a bit beyond the intent in John 15.  So, I suggest that Jesus as the true vine is also the true Israel.  He is the one who does what Is

 In Discipleship, A.W. Tozer reminds readers that every follower of Christ ought to be a disciple of Christ. For one to truly follow Jesus, one ought to repudiate sin and obey all of God’s commands as laid out in the Bible. In this collection of manuscripts, Tozer repeatedly speaks against easy believism which is a term used to describe one who claims to believe in Jesus but does not experience any transformational change from the power of God’s Word and His Spirit.  Tozer urges his churchgoers to recognize that they either belong to Christ fully or they do not belong to Christ at all. If we are to be followers of Christ and children of God, we must take up our crosses and follow Him until the day we meet Him face to face. Tozer exhorts that true faith in Jesus requires us to resolutely refuse evil while fervently pursuing a deeper, spiritual life marked by holiness, repentance, and obedience. I would gladly recommend this book to all Christians. As Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 3, many

 Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus by J.T. English, published by B&H publishers in 2020, deals directly with an issue that has bothered me for some time.  The Church needs to try to bring Disciples of Jesus to the forefront.  English is a good writer with a passion for his topic. He has touched on a problem that needs to be addressed. Local churches should take on more responsibility for the theological education of their members. Churches should evaluate their discipleship programs to see that they are giving people what they need. We need to escape the consumerist approach to church because the customer is not always right when it comes to spiritual matters. I have a minor quibble with English’s understanding of the Great Commission. In my opinion, a church doesn’t fulfill the Great Commission until it sends out workers cross-culturally. Also, there are a small number of spelling and layout errors in the book that are distracting. I believe Engli

The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way by Eugene H. Peterson I'm not sure what to make of this book. As I read through each chapter I became frustrated that Peterson spent so much time beating around the bush. But then his conclusions came in sharp and penetrating. Each chapter read like a meander up a mountain. The summit was breathtaking, but hard work getting there. Perhaps we need more books like Peterson's that slow us down to a blur.  I must say I was confused by this book. How can it be a book about Jesus if spends most of the time discussing Old Testament Characters and some new pagan leaders? The book is an exercise in Biblical theology. Peterson allows the Bible to speak for itself, and as we soak ourselves in its story we find that the Jesus way becomes clearer. The most helpful chapter was that of Israel's exile. Peterson did an excellent job of conveying how devastating it must have felt for those going through that. The despair, the pa

 I place a heavy emphasis on the dual authorship of Isaiah 14. In his infinite creativity, the Holy Spirit was able to inspire meaning in the biblical text in ways that go beyond the human author’s understanding. After all, as Peter wrote, the prophets longed to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when they wrote of Christ and his sufferings (1 Pet 1:10-12). It appears to me that the writers of the NT were able to see meaning in passages that the prophets themselves did not. The question is whether we can do the same. In Isaiah 14, we are faced with a passage to which no NT writer makes direct reference. I think there are allusions, though, esp. in passages like Rev 12. So, are we able, having read the OT and the NT, to draw conclusions? I would suggest the NT writers were clear that Satan was the god of this world and as ruler, ruled the kingdoms and empires. So, I conclude if the King of Babylon was the one Isaiah had in mind, the Holy Spirit was awar

Just briefly, I have been thinking about Judas and Peter. I know that is old news and there is not much new to say about it. Without trying to deal with all the doctrinal issues about what it meant for Jesus to choose Judas, it seems to me Scripture is clear that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. I understand we might legitimately ask who will call on the name of the Lord, but from a human perspective, I think it is proper to conclude Judas could have been saved with proper repentance and faith. Also from a human perspective, and realizing I am trying to get into their heads, it seems to me the difference between Judas and Peter is clear.  Peter’s sin was significant. After all, denying Jesus is a serious matter, but his faith was sufficient to bring him to repentance. Now, I want to point out briefly that sorrow is not enough for repentance, as it appears to me Judas was sorry as was Peter. The difference, I think, is that Judas didn’t believe he could be forgive

 When the translators came upon the Greek word agape (God’s Love), in addition to using the English word “love” to transliterate it, they often chose the English word “charity.” This was meant to reinforce the idea that agape is selfless, giving love. God’s Love is unselfish and unconditional. Now we know what is meant by Christian love. Love is a holy disposition given to us when we are born again by God. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. True spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet it is vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh. We must be careful not to confuse human sentimentality, carnal pleasantries, human amiability, and affability with true spiritual love. God commands love first to Him and then to others. It is not the indulgent, self-seeking love that is in us by nature. If we indulgently allow our children to grow up with little or no Scriptural discipline, Proverbs plainly says we do not love the

 I Cor. 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. Christian love is Christ’s Commandment for all of HIS children. Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, once wrote, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:14). And “by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3). A Pharisaic lawyer once asked our Lord, “Teacher, which is the great commandme

 Lexham Press has produced a book that is unlike anything I have ever seen in my few years of learning. It is totally unique in the world of New Testament studies and Pauline studies. The book is titled Journeys of the Apostle Paul. There are many competent New Testament scholars who have contributed to this book.  This book is somewhere between a bible seminary student course and a casual reader.  Overall, this is an excellent book. I like the way it has background information inserted to give the reader an overview of the context and the historical times in which things were occurring. The author uses several Roman historians to establish timelines. I think it is also important to mention that the book is very aesthetically pleasing. The editor, David Bomar, really put this book together nicely. This book will last students for ages. 

 McFadden's book is an excellent and important contribution to the current discussion and a reliable guide to a more precise understanding of Paul’s doctrine of faith in Christ. This book deals with a serious theological issue hinging on the question of whether or not the translation of several texts in the Apostle Paul’s letters should be read as “faith in Christ” or “faith of Christ. The author of the book is a fantastic writer and does a good job synthesizing his thoughts. McFadden’s work is a competent defense of the traditional reading of the passage in question.  This book is a mixture of two books in one.  I felt like I was reading two different books, one that addressed the title of the book and the other that handled the translation question of faith and Christ. Yet, this is an important issue that is not going away, so the book is worth one's time. The reader cannot miss the foreword by Robert Yarbrough. It is superb and probably worth the price of the book itself.  I

 In John 9, Jesus heals a man blind from birth.  It is a miracle that is performed on a Sabbath.  Of course, the religious leaders condemn Jesus for working of the Sabbath.  God does not give us the Sabbath simply to make us stop working.  Rather, the stopping of work on Sabbath directs our attention back to the redemptive work God is doing in and among us.  Getting caught up in the “demands” of the Sabbath without being aware of God’s presence and work leaves the Sabbath as a dead ritual.  It ceases to be life-giving.  Like Jesus, we are to “pause” and see the opportunities for God’s life-giving activity. I am reminded through this passage that my own routine, even when I am not working, often is not Sabbath.  I am caught up in the theological questions and enigmas as were the disciples.  I discredit those that claim God’s work in their life with this-world explanations, as did the Pharisees and neighbors.  I worry and fear about how other perceive me rather than how I am perceived by

 Book Review: Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship (David Starling) How should we read the Bible? Interpret obtuse texts with the clear texts? Should the Scripture interpret me alone? Those are helpful methods, but Starling vouches for an intertextual hermeneutic. Like the snowball which rolls down a hill and picks up more snow along the way, the Biblical authors picked up former themes and ideas when they wrote. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, has more echoes and allusions (~635) than any other NT book. That’s quite the snowball. But more than that, Starling argues that the “interpretation of the Scriptures is like a craft or a trade that must be learned if we are to draw the right connections, make the right intuitive leaps, and bring to bear on the task the right dispositions, affections, and virtues” (17). The work of the interpreter (which is anyone and everyone who reads the Bible) will require sweat, toil, and character. The rest of his book is made up of fourteen case studies

Hebrews 4 talks about the place of “rest” within the community of believers.  It begins by pointing out that the community of Israelites that had been redeemed from Egypt were also the same people that did not enter into God’s rest.  “For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.  For we who have believed enter that rest…” (Heb. 4:2). The author of Hebrews connects Sabbath rest with faith.  If we were to stop here we might assume that faith is something we must strive for, which does not sound restful at all.  If faith is something that we must build and construct, then salvation is not dependent upon God.  Yet, Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is the “author and perfector” of our faith.  God “gifts” us faith. It is the message that we have heard and are simply called to respond in obedience to.  If we are “working” to earn our salvation then we have not truly entered int

 “The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church” by Alan Hirsch This book is not designed to be a scholarly book, per se.  Rather, it is a combination of personal reflection over a life of ministry, as well as, a “missional” reflection concerning culture and the church.  Although Hirsch does implement outsider sources, they are sparsely implemented.  A side note, there were a number of typos and grammatical errors throughout the book. Hirsch tries to define “Apostolic Genius” of the early Church and the “missional DNA” that provided the building blocks for this movement.  The current cultural milieu is surprisingly similar to the environment in which the early Church was birthed.  The Gospel, according to Hirsch, has largely been co-opted by consumerism, the nation-state, and science as the authority on “truth.”  The Church has continued to lose ground and impact society far less.  Hirsch contends that continuing to do Church in the historically “institutional” manner leaves us

  Hermeneutics is the rules for interpreting the Bible. It is the principles upon which the message of the Bible can be arrived at. Hermeneutics is the science and art of Biblical Interpretation, this definition is from Dr. Percer in his video. [1] “It is a science because it is guided by rules within a system; and it is an art because the application of the rules is by skill, and not by mechanical imitation." [2] "Hermeneutics is a science in that it can determine certain principles for discovering the meaning of a document. . . . It is also an art . . . because principles or rules can never be applied mechanically but involve the skill of the interpreter.” [3] Hermeneutics provides the backbone in which people can interpret the Bible. The only proper control for hermeneutics is to be found in the original intent of the biblical text. [4] When a book is written and read, information is transferred from author to reader. Both the reader and author have an important role

             There were many times and men who did a lot of good things for hermeneutics and biblical interpretation. The rich history of Biblical Interpretation offers no shortage of great scholars who shaped and developed the methods by which we interpret the Scriptures today.   One of the greatest contributions made was by Augustine. He provided the necessary framework and environments through which an interpreter should approach the Bible. [1] Augustine was very concerned that those who read the Bible learn to interpret it themselves, rather than depending solely on the insights of others. On Christian Doctrine begins: There are certain rules for interpreting the scriptures which, as I am well aware, can usefully be passed on to those with an appetite for such study to enable them to progress not just by reading the work of others who have illuminated the obscurities of divine literature, but also by finding illumination themselves. [2] Augustine explains that teaching someone t

 How can we begin to live from agape so that stories like Matthew’s become the norm versus the exception? How can we create environments in which this kind of love flourishes? We must first realize that love is the environment where we are already living. Love has to be a person to us before it can become a verb. And the One who is Love Incarnate—Jesus—doesn’t just love us when we’re at our best. He also loves us when we are at our worst. When we are caught in the act. When we fall asleep on Him instead of watching and praying with Him. When we deny Him three times. When we become His persecutors. When we come into His prayer meetings drunk—drunk on our ambition, our greed, our resentful grudges, our pornographic imaginations, our self-righteousness. We should stop trying to love like Jesus and instead, first learn what it means to be with him, yes? Because the more we are with Jesus, the more we will become like him. Love is caught more than it is achieved. Get close to love, and love

  Recently, as I was reading from the book of Isaiah, I was taken aback by the extent to which the grace of God will reach. I was reminded, as I sometimes am, that grace is not only for “the lost,” as some say. The grace that comes through faith and repentance is also available for people who are downright evil. The section I was reading in Isaiah was from chapter 19, first written to ancient Jewish people. …the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians…whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance’  (Isaiah 19:23-24). In the ancient Israelites’ experience, both the Egyptians and the Assyrians represented oppression, violence, and abuse. They represented the very worst of humanity as well as a clear and present reminder that evil resides in the human heart (Genesis 6:5). Egyptians and Assyrians were marauders, kidnappers, sex offenders and slave-drivers. They were users and abusers, less like humans

 Discovering the New Testament is a new and comprehensive introduction to the New Testament in three volumes. This magnificent and deeply caricatured introduction to the New Testament is powerful, engaging, and intended to reach a broad audience of people. I cannot wait for the 3 rd volume to be released. Below I will offer an honest review of the 2 nd volume. This volume continues the excellence found in the first volume on the Gospels and Acts. If anything, this volume is even better because it lies in the author’s area of proficiency. He has written a major exegetical commentary on Philippians that is outstanding. This volume covers only the Pauline Epistles. In each chapter, the readers are presented with occasion and context, structure, rhetorical devices, the form of letters, authorship, a discussion on its placement in the Pauline section of writings, and concluded with some questions to consider and application points to review. When I encountered the first volume, I felt i

Kim Riddlebarger.  The Lion of Princeton: B.B. Warfield as Apologist and Theologian.  Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015.  B.B. Warfield was a theologically conservative professor at Princeton in the late 19 th century.   Riddlebarger discusses the life and thought of this remarkable and daunting theologian. This book is a great read for anyone wanting to dig into the life and times of Warfield.   The book explores a lot of topics, but the most prominent topic concerns Warfield’s thoughts about the relationship between apologetics and grace.    Warfield was an advocate of classic apologetics, particularly in his defense of the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection.   For certain Calvinist critics, classic apologetics presumes that the truth can be ascertained by people on the basis of reason and evidence, which nullifies the importance of transforming grace in enabling people to accept the Gospel.   These people think the Reformed understanding of conversion and classic apologetics r