BibleScholar

 The Cambridge Companion to the Gospels is a very unique and easy-to-read book. It comes in a more unique form than most of the Cambridge Companions because it is easy for the laity.  This book introduces conceptions of the gospels, describes the four main gospels, and touches on the impact of the gospels. The reader learns that a 'gospel' is a unique literary genre, that the four major gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were not used and read together until the second century, and that bringing together the gospels in that way allowed for a limited plurality of ideas related to Jesus.  The other half of the book was not very interesting, in my view. Maybe other readers could find something in there. The other half of the book was like it is out of place and oblique. This book was straightforward to read. I give it a 4.5.

The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers is a good companion edited by Scott Harrower and Mike Bird. It is relatively short (close to 300 pages). I think it could have been expanded. This book offers an informative introduction to the extant body of Christian texts that existed beside and after the New Testament, but it is not as deep as I expected. It is very short-minded in its approach. I give the book 3 stars.  The language of this book is not overly complicated. However, some of the presupposed history and familiarity may set readers back. The texts are not provided in the Apostolic Fathers though each chapter concludes with a synopsis of modern language's letter(s). Each text is addressed with efficient and precise examples of textual criticism.  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Tra

The Old Testament: A Literary History by Konrad Schmid  Schmid’s The Old Testament: A Literary History opens a window on recent European biblical scholarship. This book is a good addition to a scholarly library. I would give the book three stars due to its lack of augmentation with the biblical text. The book does have pros. It does well on the intake of material.  The book is also beautiful. The print size reads very easily. To get the most out of the book, one would probably need a modern Old Testament translation (the Oxford NRSV with the Apocrypha would be ideal, or the ESV Study Bible). I can easily see the book becoming a good literary textbook for Graduate students. The book is full of perceptive observations. In the end, it does not support its claims with contemporary documents or manuscript evidence well enough to succeed as a history. But its overview of recent European scholarship will be of great value for scholars looking to understand current debates.

 Are the Ten Commandments Authoritative for Christians? This might seem like a silly question. If you grew up in Sunday School, you will emphatically respond, “Yes, of course!” We’ve created a pedestal for the first ten commands Yahweh gave to Israel through Moses as recorded in the book of Exodus. This is perhaps because of their ability to represent a portion of the Jewish Law (or Torah), or maybe it’s because of their efficacy in solving behavioral issues in our children.  However, we must ask ourselves: is there a valid reason why these ten statutes should be considered authoritative for the Christian life while the rest of the Torah is ignored? The honest answer is no. There is nothing special about these Ten Commandments, other than that they are the first of many in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They by no means represent the majority of the laws, and nowhere in the New Testament are we told, “Follow the Ten Commandments.” You might respond, “But we have to teach

 During slavery, the Christian faith was brought to those of African descent by people who were cultural “outsiders.” These initial interactions with the Christian faith were in the context of violence and oppression. Therefore, the missiological concern for contextualization of the Christian faith was not of great importance. Moreover, the early proclaimers of the “gospel,” to African slaves, version of contextualization went no further then to eisegete household-codes to slaves so that they would be submissive to their oppression. Therefore, from the beginning, there has been a division between Christians of African descent and those of European descent. In our current day there is much talk about racial reconciliation; that the Gospel calls people from all ethnicities to be in unity with one another in Christ. However, the demands of the Gospel rarely work in a mystical way that destroys all human responsibility to deal proactively with the present realities in the world. African-Am

In general, the term “Evangelical” has developed into a more inclusivists attitude toward liberalism and are ecumenical in their efforts towards ecclesiastical unity. As a result of broad churchism, their theological views are akin to pleasing the masses. I read an article today called, What Does ‘Evangelical’ Mean? It is an excellent article. An "Evangelical" brings forth life to a dead world.  When we call ourselves ‘evangelical,’ we can do so with the richness of this broader history behind us. And yet, we must clearly define ourselves lest others do it in ways we would not prefer. Moving away from God’s Word, mixing God’s Word with anything secular, and the constant seeking of the next “new thing” have always gotten us in trouble. American Evangelicalism was not a new thing; it was simply a return to the orthodoxy of the original apostles. American evangelism proved to be one of the most significant and impactful religious movements in the twentieth century. American evan

The gospel of John is in its own is a gospel unlike the other three. The first example of this is no doubt the prologue that John writes to open his gospel.John opens with the statement “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God”(1:1) which is pointing back to the creation of humanity. The Gospel of John opens with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14). [1] Incomprehensible! This beginning “prologue” (John I:1-18) of the Gospel according to John is quite dramatic as it presents Jesus through symbols such as light, the word of God and as “the father’s only son”. This text is absolutely alluding to what is to come in the

 There are two basic models used to explain the origin of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life. The first model is that the Gospel stories arose out of the collective memory of the Christian community. Under this model, it is argued that the Gospel stories circulated in the Christian community, creating a kind of "Jesus tradition," which was later encapsulated by the Gospel writers, probably at a time when all the original eyewitnesses had died. However, the evidence does not support this model. It is much more likely that the four Gospel accounts were more directly linked to specific eyewitness accounts of the events described. The case for the Gospels representing eyewitness testimony has been made most recently by Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006). This work sets a new standard in the analysis of the Gospel accounts. Written from a scholarly evangelical perspective, it evaluates the evidence s

 Why does God not make himself obvious? Why not write his name on the surface of something that we could not miss? The short answer is that God does not hide. He is visible in the stars and everywhere in this world. He is there for everyone who seeks him desiring to know him.        Psalm 19 describes three ways God reveals himself to all who will look for him. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God;     the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech;     night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words;     no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,     their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5     It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,     like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens     and makes its circuit to the other;     nothing is deprived of its warmth. Psalm 19:1-6        The firs

 1 Peter 2:4-12 is one of the key passages for me in understanding what the Church is and what we are here for. As we conclude our short series looking at St Jude’s vision statement by reflecting on “Shining with God’s love in our community”, it seems appropriate that we come here. There are hundreds of things that we could draw out of the passage. Here are three of them. 1. God makes us to be a people for others. Throughout the passage, there are loads of statements about who the church is. And all of the metaphors have a few things in common – they are all about Jesus determining our identity; every picture is something that is true of Jesus that also becomes true of us because of him. All of them are singular – they are something we are together rather than apart. But all of them are also about being there for others. Temples are there so that others can come and worship. Priests (in the Bible sense) are go-betweens between people and God. God’s holy nation and chosen people are mea

  Within the four Gospels, one will find internal evidence of authorship. That is, the Gospels give clues who the writers were within the text itself. For instance, Matthew was a tax collector who was called by Jesus while sitting in the tax collector’s booth. The First Gospel notes that “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at a tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him” (Matthew 9:9). Matthew’s Gospel goes into more detail on his calling (Matthew is called Levi in the other Gospels). Additionally, the Gospel provides a great deal of monetary details. Even if Matthew did borrow material from Mark’s Gospel (which would make sense since Mark obtained his information from Simon Peter), there is no reason to deny Matthean authorship to the First Gospel. Mark’s Gospel, who wrote down the words of Simon Peter, provides internal evidence that one who closely knew Simon Peter wrote the Second Gospel. Peter’s life experiences with Je