Special Offer: Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, 5 Volumes

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible that was published in 1975 has now been completely revised and updated. ChristianBook.com now offers the revised Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, 5 volumes, at a very special discounted price of US$99.99 (before shipping), a whopping 64% discount from the retail price of US$279.99 that saves you US$180.00. This special offer is only valid from now till 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Monday, 29 March.

Don't miss this offer if you are looking for a solid Bible dictionary that you could use for years to come.

Watch the promotional video below:

Here is the product description:
One of the most reliable Bible encyclopedias has been thoroughly revised and extensively expanded! Backed by current archaeological research, this comprehensive edition features over 7,500 thorough, updated, alphabetically arranged articles ranging across the spectrum of biblical studies, including historical, literary, and theological topics; in-depth introductions to each book of the Bible; hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs, illustrations, charts, graphs, and maps; pronunciation guides for all biblical names; current bibliographies for further reading; and thousands of cross-references. Diverse viewpoints from 250 international scholars provide well-rounded perspectives on significant issues relating to doctrines, themes, and biblical interpretation. A must-have resource for pastors, teachers, students, and anybody seeking to dig deeper into God's Word. Approx. 5000 pages total, five slipcased hardcovers.

Click here for sample pages of the Encyclopedia.

Announcing New NT Commentary Series: The New Covenant Commentary Series

Michael Bird announces a new New Testament commentary series called the New Covenant Commentary Series (NCSS). To be edited by Michael Bird and Craig Keener, this series will be published by Wipf & Stock with targeted publication dates set between 2009-2014.

With already so many commentary series in the market, not to mention individual commentaries, is there really a need for a new series? What would justify another set of commentaries that would cause a strain on the budget of the libraries in the majority world (including the seminary that I am currently attached)?

One of the editors, Michael Bird, has this to say about the NCSS:

"The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities."

But would such a description adequately justify a new series? Would not the NIVAC series published by Zondervan fit the above description? Bird further provides 3 distinguishing features of this series:

"The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse range of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and ethnic background. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as being international, the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including North America, Puerto Rico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea (my comments: hey, Malaysia is excluded! Mana boleh!! I noted that only 3 out of the 20 contributors are from the majority world. The rest are from the developed nations (mainly North America and I consider Singapore and South Korea developed nations). If it is truly to be a commentary that reflects the global church, I strongly believe that more contributors from the majority world where Christianity is not only growing amidst persecution, but is also a minority faith within a hostile environment, are needed in which their voices should and need to be heard by the developed and post-Christian nations. I think this better reflects the setting and circumstances of the early church. Aren't there scholars from the majority world who could also make significant contribution to this project? Just wondering out loud.). We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church."

"Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to rigorous analytical approaches."

"Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of ‘Fusing the Horizons and Forming the Community’. Here authors provide windows into theological interpretation, application, and special emphasis given to spiritual, ministerial, and community formation. It is our hope that these volumes will represent serious engagements with the New Testament writings, done in the context of faith, in service of the church, and for the glorification of God. (my comments: Again, it is this very reason that I believe scholars from the majority world could make significant contribution here. Perhaps coming from Malaysia, I am a bit biased.)"

For a list of the contributors of NCSS, visit Michael's blog by clicking here.

Learning Greek by Singing!

I have heard enough from my students that learning Greek is tough - really tough. Is there any better way to help our students in the seminary?

In this respect, Zondervan announces a new addition to its line of biblical resources: Sing and Learn New Testament Greek: The Easiest Way to Learn Greek Grammar. Authored by Kenneth Berding, this resource includes "everything a professor or a student will need: a CD (containing eleven songs and a PowerPoint with paradigm charts for classroom use) and a booklet with the same paradigm charts for students’ personal use.

According to Zondervan, Sing and Learn New Testament Greek "provides a way for learning (and remembering!) New Testament Greek grammar forms through simple songs. It is not designed to compete with existing Greek grammar books, but to serve as a required supplemental resource for elementary Greek classes. Indeed, it has been designed to be used alongside of any introductory grammar. A professor can simply assign to his or her students any (or some) of the songs for the paradigms a particular elementary grammar employs. In this way, students will actually remember what they have learned. (As we are all aware, people do not easily forget something learned via song.)"

"The entire project includes songs for indicative verb endings, participles, infinitives, imperatives, contract forms, and prepositions, among others. All but the last song can be sung in 15 seconds or less. Parsing is enormously easier through this method. And it is a lot more fun than traditional methods. (Are we allowed to even use the word “fun” in reference to elementary Greek? Absolutely!)"

"Beginning Greek students can listen to the CD as they drive to and from school or work, or put it on their iPod."

"These songs are so simple that students who have used them complain about waking up in the middle of the night with the songs running through their heads. You’ll never hear that complaint from students who have had to use rote memory to learn grammar forms."

I am convinced - I am recommending all Greek-ers to get hold of this resource when it is available in May 2008. You will love learning the articles by singing to the tune of Three Blind Mice; the participles by singing Old McDonald Had a Farm; the imperatives by singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat; and many more.

Have fun in learning, or better still, singing, Greek

BibleWorks Classroom Tips # 11 & 12

The folks at BibleWorks continue to amaze with additional classroom tips.

Tip 1.11: Typing and Display of Hebrew
Searching, taking notes or developing assignments may call for typing in Hebrew. This Classroom Tip offers some tips for working with the Hebrew font and text display in BibleWorks.

Click here to read the entire tip.

Tip 1.12: Using the Graphical Search Engine
The Graphical Search Engine (GSE) is a powerful search engine that can perform many searches that cannot be done on the Command Line. In this Classroom Tip we will use the GSE to search for occurrences of the specific location in a clause of a postpositive word (GAR) in the Greek New Testament. How many times does GAR appear in the second and third position in the clause? Does it ever appear in the fourth position?

Click here to read the entire tip:

ATLAS Is Now Finally Available

ATLAS Online is now finally made available to STM community.

ATLAS is "an online collection of major religion and theology journals selected by leading religion scholars and theologians. Users can read articles or research the history of a topic from as early as 1924 to the present. Currently, researchers are able to use ATLAS as a search tool to retrieve images of the pages in more than seventy different journals."

With more than 153,700 articles available, ATLAS is an indispensable tool and resource for any theological student and researcher.

While ATLAS has been a standard online resource for seminaries in the West for some time, it is not the case for us in Malaysia. Operating on a very tight budget, we often find it not feasible subscribing to ATLAS. Thanks to a generous donor, we are now able to offer this very important resource for our students, both full-time and part-time. We hope that this would enhance their learning experience. Of course, with this newly added resource, the expectation of the lecturers on the students would increase proportionately.

All STM students (including TEE students) should have received an email informing them of this facility. If you have not, please contact the library directly.

Enjoy ATLAS!

Online Books From the Society of Biblical Literature

Society of Biblical Literature's International Cooperation Initiative (ICI) has put in place a system to provide free electronic access (in PDF files) to selected SBL publications to scholars and students in under-resourced countries who would not otherwise have access to this scholarship. Persons who are identified through SBL's technology as being from a country with a GDP per capita substantially lower than the average GDP per capita of the USA and the European Union will be able to have access to these resources.

The good news is that Malaysia is classified as one of those countries that benefits from SBL's online resources. The IP address will be tracked, so if you access the internet outside of Malaysia, you will not be able to have access to these files, unless you access it from a country that is classified to benefit from the ICI initiative.

Occasionally, it's "nice" to know we are still a "poor" nation!

So check out and enjoy the following books that are available for free to readers in Malaysia. All you need to do is to click here and follow the links of the books listed to download the PDF files.

Horsley, Richard A., ed. Oral Performance, Popular Tradition, and Hidden Transcript in Q. Semeia Studies 60. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006. (240 pages, 1.1 MB)

De Troyer, Kristin and Armin Lange, eds., Reading the Present in the Qumran Library: The Perception of the Contemporary by Means of Spiritual Interpretation. Symposium 30. Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. (244 pages, 1.5 MB)

Van Voorst, Robert E., Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary, Third Edition. Resources for Biblical Study 43. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. (131 pages, 1.7 MB)

Draper, Jonathan A., Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity. Semeia Studies 47. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004. (248 pages, 1.4 MB)

Kennedy, George A., Invention and Method: Two Rhetorical Treatises from the Hermogenic Corpus. Writings from the Greco-Roman World 15. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. (291 pages, 1.5 MB)

Nissinen, Martti, Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East. Writings from the Ancient World 12. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. (296 pages, 12.5 MB)

Albertz, Rainer, Israel in Exile: The History and Literature of the Sixth Century B.C.E. Studies in Biblical Literature 3. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. (484 pages, 4.3 MB)

Landes, George M., Building Your Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary: Learning Words by Frequency and Cognate. Resources for Biblical Study 41. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. (232 pages, 679 KB)

Barr, David L., ed., Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. Resources for Biblical Study 44. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. (212 pages, 1.2 MB)

Draper, Jonathan A., ed., Orality and Colonialism in Southern Africa. Semeia Studies 46. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004. (278 pages, 1.8 MB)

Georgi, Dieter, The City in the Valley: Biblical Interpretation and Urban Theology. Studies in Biblical Literature 7. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. (398 pages, 2.4 MB)

Lindenberger,, James M., Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters, Second Edition. Writings from the Ancient World 14. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. (208 pages, 1.7 MB)

Moreland, Milton C., Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching. Archaeology and Biblical Studies 8. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. (254 pages, 1.8 MB)

Mykytiuk, Lawrence J., Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic. Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004. (347 pages, 9.6 MB)

Cook, Stephen L. and Corrine L. Patton, eds., Ezekiel’s Hierarchical World: Wrestling with a Tiered Reality. Symposium 31. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004. (304 pages, 1.5 MB)

Reeves, John C., Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader. Resources for Biblical Study 45. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. (278 pages, 1.4 MB)

Singer, Itamar, Hittite Prayers. Writings from the Ancient World. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2002. (160 pages, 562 KB)

Jones, F. Stanley, ed., Which Mary?: The Marys of Early Christian Tradition. Symposium 19. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002.

Tyndale Tech Email: Unicode Fonts

David Instone-Brewer of Tyndale House continues to amaze with his occassional Tyndale Tech emails. His latest email concerns the use of Unicode Fonts. The email is reproduced below. Read it and be convinced!

Unicode Fonts Unite Biblical Studies

In the bad old days you had to worry about Greek and Hebrew fonts.Now everyone is using Unicode. Well... everyone who wants to communicate.Unicode means everyone can read what you write, on a PC, Mac or web browser,in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, complext transliteration, or even English,Hebrew is formatted right-to-left, and wraps at the end of lines properly. And things continue to get easier.

1) Unicode Installation Easier

2) Unicode Bibles and Unicode on your Bible Software

3) Converting old fonts to Unicode

4) Unicode TLG, with INSTANT lexicon lookup

5) Unicode Greek & Hebrew Bible on Palms and other PDAs

6) Help, I've got an old computer!

1) Unicode Installation Easier

The Tyndale Unicode kit is a free and easy way to install Greek & Hebrew Unicodefor PC and Mac. Documents you write can be swapped between any computers.It includes keyboards for Greek, Hebrew and transliterration, and the Cardo font.

If you prefer another font (eg SBL or SIL fonts) you can simply substitute them,because Unicode fonts are interchangeable (so long as they contain the language!).

I've created new full instructions for WinXP & Vista but you don't really need them. It's easy. The Mac installation always always was easy, and the PC installation is now easier than that.

The keyboards work intuitively, though read the help for adding accents and pointing.When you've tried it once, you'll remember it easily, but there is a summary chart anyway.You should soon be touch-typing Hebrew and Greek. If you are already used to another layout,I've included instructions for changing the keyboard layout so that you can make it as you want.

Unicode knows where it is going. Greek goes left to right and Hebrew goes right to left.And when Hebrew flows over a line, it wraps properly, putting the later words on the next line.Word on the Mac can't do proper right-to-left, but there are solutions.

Another wonderful thing about a good Unicode font is that it knows where to put things.So a shewa centers itself under narrow and wide characters, and raises itself in a final Kaph.Though that only works for proper academic fonts like Cardo, SBL, SIL, TITUS and Code2000. (the Hebrew and Greek in Times New Roman and Arial doesn't do pointing properly).

So remember to change the font to Cardo when you start writing Hebrew or Greek. You could simply use Cardo for everything. It has Greek, Hebrew, Englishand all the symbols you need for transliteration, as well as rare Latin numbers etc.

All the normal Masoratic pointing and punctuation is included in the Tyndale kit,though some of the very rare non-standard markings are missing. If you really want them(perhaps you want to typeset the Leningrad Codex?) then you need Linguist Fonts._

2) Unicode Bibles and Unicode on your Bible software

No-one wants to type lots of Hebrew and Greek if it is just a quote from the Bible.

All the major Bible software now exports Greek & Hebrew in Unicode. Accordance, BibleWorks and Libronix all have settings to copy and paste Unicode.

Tyndale House provides Word documents of the Bible in Unicode.Copy them onto your computer and then copy and paste whatever you need.

There are also some online Bibles from which you can copy and paste Unicode text,the best of which is probably The Sword with parallel Greek, Hebrew & English.

Even easier is Michael Steed's InsertBible tool for Word on a PC. Just type the referenceand it writes the text in Greek, Hebrew plus English, in columns or paragraphs. It works in Word 2003 on a PC, and it is free.

3) Converting old fonts to Unicode

Converting a few quotes from the Bible is easy - see the previous section.And if you have a few extra bits, just type them. It won't take long. If you have lots to convert, use a font converter.

For Word on PCs, the converter from Galaxie works very well and is now free.It converts a whole document at once, and works with most common fonts(Bwgkl, Bwhebb, SPIonic, SPTiberian, Graeca/II, Hebraica/II, SuperGreek, SuperHebrew, Alexandria, Koine, Gideon, Mounce, SymbolGreekP, WinGreek, SGreek, SHebrew, Tecknia).It converts them first to Galaxie Greek or Hebrew, and then to Galaxie Unicode. You then do a Find+Replace for "Galaxie Unicode Greek" and replace with "Cardo"

For Macs, you can use the converters from Linguist which works with their fonts.Or you can load your Word documents into a PC and use the free Galaxie converter.

If your documents aren't in Word format, save them as Word format, convert them in Word, and save them in your favourite format again.

But don't bother with WordPerfect - I doubt this will ever be upgraded to read proper Unicode - sorry!.

4) Unicode TLG, with INSTANT lexicon lookup

Diogenes is the free software which makes TLG & PHI useable on your computer. If you think these are just irrelevant TLAs (three-letter-acronyms), read on.The TLG is the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: a dataset of virtually all ancient Greek texts.The PHI collection includes the Duke databank of papyri - virtually everything published up to the 90's, plus many inscriptions. Together they make a NT scholars dreams come true.

They are on the web, but if you have the CDs, you can use them with DiogenesDiogenes is wonderful software for searching these texts on PC or Mac.It isn't fantastically fast at searching, but it has INSTANT lexical help for every word.

Even if you don't have the CDs, it is worth installing Diogenes for the lexicons. When you install it, you also install a full Liddel-Scott-Jones 9th ed Greek lexicon, and the Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary. Not abbreviated versions - the full versions!

When typing a word into Diogenes, you need Unicode, so install the Tyndale kit first.

5) Unicode Greek & Hebrew Bible on Palms and other PDAs

The clever guys at Olive Tree Bible Software have upgraded PDAs to Unicode.I didn't believe it till I saw it - a humble Palm with Unicode pointed Hebrew!Their Bible software was already superior by having so much grammatical tagging.Unicode is a free upgrade for existing customers.

And now they have searchable Qumran texts in Unicode Hebrew.

For speed I still prefer the free BiblePlus on the Palm, but for style and details, Olive Tree takes some beating.

6) Help, I've I've got an old computer!

Unicode really only works properly if you have Windows XP or Vista, or Mac OS X.Use the Tyndale Font Kit for legacy computers. It is almost as easy as Unicode,but it isn't future-proof.

You also need Word 2000 or higher on a PC, though any Mac version of Word has problems with Hebrew. If you can't afford Word (or if you have a Mac) use OpenOffice (NeoOffice on a Mac). This is free, and arguably just as good as Microsoft Office, but it doesn't have the advertising budget.

File this information away, because even if you have an old computer, you will soon need Unicode.

Paul and the Amazing Race

How does a budding NT scholar attempt to make the studying of scriptures fun, rewarding and inspiring, all at the same time? This is a difficult and challenging question.

For instance, I have always wondered how to make the teaching of Paul's various missionary journeys as recorded in Acts of the Apostles come alive. For example, one could show a geographical map of the cities visited by Paul and give some background and historical information of each of these cities. However informative this approach might be, it can be rather boring and passive at best, with little or no participation from the audience. How can one expect the audience to appreciate or remember the highlights of Paul's missionary journeys in these cities?

I find some very helpful and interesting ideas for teaching Paul's missionary journeys in the book edited by Mark Roncace and Patrick Gray, Teaching the Bible: Practical Strategies for Classroom Instruction, Resources for Biblical Study 49 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature 2005) as highlighted in a previous post on Classroom Ideas for Teaching the Bible.

With some modifications to suit a younger and non-academic audience, and together with two other "partners-in-crime", we hope to try out the idea of "Paul and the Amazing Race" in one of the meetings of the College and University Group in my church in November.

The whole idea is to borrow from the CBS's show, The Amazing Race, and with the appropriate modifications and some creative imagination, we will run a competition among the participants in tracing one of Paul's missionary journeys (most like the 2nd missionary journey).

While this is not only an interesting but also challenging idea, it does get some of us excited. We have finally nailed down a date to test run this idea. Let's hope that this will present a very fresh and participatory approach to comprehend Paul's missionary journeys by utilising contemporary culture, modern technology and creative imagination.

Hopefully, this will make the teaching of Paul's Missionary journeys more exciting, fun, memorable, and engaging. Ultimately, it is our aim that learning and digging into the Scriptures can be fun and rewarding at the same time, and this project will be a small step to instill some excitement in the hearts of the young adults in wanting to explore further and to dig deeper into the Scriptures for themselves. Hopefully, this will make the Scripture comes alive too for them in a fresh and exciting way.

Preaching Points from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

The Center for Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, my alma mater, has recently launched Preaching Points, a weekly brief podcast "pointing preacher to preaching excellence."

This new weekly program provides brief reflections on preaching covering various topics and tips. On every Monday, one is able to download and listen to "fresh insights on preaching from our faculty at the Center for Preaching, as well as professors and friends of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary." One is also be to subscribe through iTunes in which one will automatically receive the latest podcast without any cost.

According to the Centre of Preaching, "this podcast is designed to provide regular inspiration and encouragement for preachers. We want to reinforce the basics of Biblical Preaching, along with stimulating your thinking with clear and powerful ideas on preaching. You can expect quality teaching from" the faculty of the Centre for Preaching.

Come and join my "sifu" Haddon Robinson, Scott Gibson, and Jeff Arthurs each Monday for a brief podcast on preaching. Each episode will focus on "one point that will challenge, refresh, and inspire preachers to preaching excellence."

There are already 2 Preaching Points available in the Archives, so make sure you listen to them:

1) Preaching Is Worth It by Drs. Haddon Robinson, Scott Gibson, and Jeff Arthurs released on September 17, 2007.

2) Being Biblical and Contemporary by Dr Haddon Robinson released on September 24, 2007.

For those who would like to subscribe, click here for podcast instruction.

Hope that this will be another quality free and helpful resource for all of us so that we can be further equipped to be better preachers.

Nationhood: A Kairos Publication

The latest issue of Kairos Publication, Understanding the Modern World Through the Christian Eyes, is now available. The focus of this issue is on "Nationhood" in conjunction with the recent celebration of Malaysia's 50th year of independence from the British rule.

Interesting articles that make this issue a worthwhile collection include:

• Redefining Success for the Nation by Steve Wong
• Building National Unity in Poor Urban Communities by Kon Onn Sein
• Historical Insights into the Problem of Race Relations in Malaysia by Tan Kang San
• Life in the Service by Wong Ming Yook
• Religious Freedom after 50 Years of Independence by Lim Heng Seng
• Working Together for the Common Good by Wong Kim Kong
• Negaraku: My Country, My King, My God by Bob Teoh
• Redefining Patriotism: Why I Don’t Feel Like Celebrating by Wong Siew Li
• A Christian Social Vision for Nation Building by Ng Kam Weng
• Commentary: Tanah Air Ku! by Low Chai Hok
• Stories from Borneo: Building Bridges: Empty Tins, Woks & Firewood by Sylvia Webb

Learning Greek

I have been thinking of posting something on learning Greek for sometime now - but I don't think I have to do it! Tony Siew has done an excellent job!

Check out his posts:

1) It's all Greek to me

2) Why study Greek?

3) Select Greek and Hebrew Grammars and Lexicons

By the way, for those of you who might be interested, Tony will be in Petaling Jaya conducting a seminar on "The Relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament."

This seminar will review the following areas:

1. What do we mean by "Old" Testament? Is the OT relevant today? The biblical canon will be covered briefly.

2. Which parts of the laws in OT are no longer applicable in the NT? Case Study: The Ten Commandments and specific laws.

3. How do we interpret the OT in the light of the NT and vice-versa?

4. The Use of the OT in the NT with respect to:
a) Prophecy and Fulfillment
b) Typology
c) Moral Laws
d) Narratives
e) Citations and Allusions

Dates: 1 & 2 October 2007 (Monday and Tuesday evenings)
Time: 8.00 pm to 10.30 pm
Venue: First Baptist Church, 38 Jalan SS17/1D, 47500 Subang Jaya.

Review of Biblical Literature September 10, 2007

I just realised that I have not been posting the Review of Biblical Literature for some weeks now. Here's the latest published on September 10. Check out the reviews of some excellent NT books. Of interest for me are the major commentary on 2 Peter and Jude by Peter Davids (it's been a long while since a major commentary on these two neglected NT books has been published) and Craig Evans' work on the historical Jesus, Fabricating Jesus.


G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds.
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume 15: sākar-tarsîs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5577
Reviewed by W. Boyd Barrick

Peter H. Davids
The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5582
Reviewed by James P. Sweeney
Reviewed by Daniel B. Wallace

Craig A. Evans
Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5614
Reviewed by Stephen J. Patterson

Michael V. Fox
Ecclesiastes: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5422
Reviewed by Thomas M. Bolin

Garrett C. Kenney
Mark's Gospel: Lectures and Lessons
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5837
Reviewed by Tom Shepherd

Lars Kierspel
The Jews and the World in the Fourth Gospel: Parallelism, Function, and Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5800
Reviewed by Adele Reinhartz

Jonathan D. Lawrence
Washing in Water: Trajectories of Ritual Bathing in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5586
Reviewed by James W. Watts

Peter J. Leithart
1 and 2 Kings
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5696
Reviewed by Randall L. McKinion

Anthony C. Thiselton
1 Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5729
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

Dieter Vieweger
Archäologie der biblischen Welt
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5450
Reviewed by Jonathan L. Reed

The Unofficial Bibleworks Blog

I know that some of my students are requesting (or pestering...to put it mildly) that I do a training on how to use Bibleworks 7. I must admit that I am a bit tight for time and may only offer a training session in the next semester.

In the meantime, please visit the unofficial Bibleworks blog for ideas of how to fully maximise the use of Bibleworks. There are some very cool and interesting ideas there!

Be sure also to visit the Bibleworks Forum too if you have any issues or problems with the use of Bibleworks. Check out how other users of Bibleworks resolve the problems they face and learn some new tips or tricks in using the software.

Have fun with Bibleworks.

Introduction to the Study of Paul - Part 2

In my earlier post, I mentioned that I will post the 12 questions for discussion for my lecture on the Apostle Paul. Here are the questions.

1) “Nothing in Paul’s life could have prepared him for the shattering mystical experience that Luke described in Acts.” Do you agree with this statement describing Paul’s call/conversion experience on the Damascus road? Discuss.

2) Paul’s call/conversion “triggered a whole new belief in Jesus and a whole new belief that Jesus could save and how the Jewish law was not the centre piece anymore, because he came to believe that Jesus was not dead but alive.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why? Give your justification.

3) The narrator comments that after Paul’s call as the apostle for the Gentiles, “for the rest of his life, Paul would face hatred whenever he went; danger laid in wait.” Do you agree with this statement that suffering is a hallmark of Paul’s life? How would the suffering of Paul inform us about those who are called to be involved in God’s mission today?

4) The cornerstone of Paul’s teaching is the grace and mercy of God towards all human beings. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

5) “Paul was most comfortable teaching in big cites with large gentile population.” How would you evaluate this statement concerning Paul’s mission strategy?

6) Concerning Paul’s Gentile mission, Ben Witherington argues: “There was a tremendous spiritual hunger in the First-Century world. The culture was ready to hear the message about some powerful religion that would actually help them in their day to day live, make them better persons.” How do you make sense of Witherington’s argument? Is Witherington’s analysis an accurate reflection of our contemporary culture? If so, how would this inform you concerning the church’s mission today?

7) In responding to the problems of the Thessalonian church concerning the question of the second coming of Christ, the narrator suggests that “Paul’s response became the basic tenet of the Christian faith.” Do you agree with this observation? Would Paul have imagined that his correspondence addressing the problems of his churches would one day become authoritative scriptures in the Christian church?

8) Stephen Doyle has this to say concerning Paul’s ministry in Ephesus: “During the years that Paul spent in Ephesus, he did not cease to evangelise the other areas around (the city). He formed other evangelists, those who would bear the gospel to go out into the valley in that area.” How would you evaluate this statement? What does this statement describe about Paul and his mission? How could we appropriate Paul’s method in our context today?

9) Concerning Paul’s rhetoric for the need of unity in the Corinthian church, Margaret Mitchell argues that for Paul, “the unity of the church is more important than anything of these things that are dividing them. Unity in the ancient world …is bought at the price of submission of some person to a higher good.” Do you agree with Mitchell’s assessment?

10) It is illegal to flog Roman citiznes. Yet, according to Acts, Paul has been flogged. On this matter, Ben Witherington suggests that Paul “did not bring up the trump card of his Roman citizenship except when he seems to be in a particular crisis…He is bringing a message that says everybody is created in the image of God, everybody is important. Status that is higher does not count for anything with God.” Do you agree with Witherington’s assessment on Paul’s use of citizenship? The issue of Paul’s possession of Roman citizenship has been largely doubted by NT scholars. This is because Paul’s Roman citizenship is only mentioned in Acts, but is never mentioned by Paul himself in his letters. How do you make sense of this issue?

11) On Paul’s appeal to Philemon to receive back Onesimus, the runaway slave, as a brother but no longer as a slave, J Gordon Melton argues that Paul “is a pioneer, a radical thinker who changed the whole theology of the church. He opened (the church) up. It is no longer for free citizens of the Empire. It is for slaves, for everyone.” If Melton is correct in his argument, how would this affect the way we understand and do church today?

12) On his missionary success, Kenneth Davis attributes Paul as “one man (who) walked around, sailed around…the entire medditerranean world in the course of a very few years and changed history. (This is) an extraordinary achievement for a man who (was) living in a time of no mass communication, no speedy travel, and nothing you would associate today of how to market a message.” Do you agree with Davis’ assessment? In your opinion, how did Paul manage to do what Davis describes?

Introduction to the Study of Apostle Paul - Part 1

How does a budding biblical scholar teach the introduction to the study of the Apostle Paul?

A couple of weeks ago, I was struggling with how I should introduce the critical study of the Apostle Paul to my Introduction to the New Testament students. I could do a systematic presentation of the various critical issues on Paul, but I guess this will probably end up with information feeding that only fills the head. I suspect that many of them may not find this to be relevant to their confessional background. Not to mention that they would probably find this approach boring and less inspiring.

One of the ideas given by Richard Walsh in introducing the study of Paul is to show some clips from movies that portray the Apostle Paul, after which discussions could be generated based on the clips. His idea can be found in the edited volume by Mark Roncace and Patrick Gray, Teaching the Bible: Practical Strategies for Classroom Instruction, Resources for Biblical Study 49 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature 2005). For further discussion on the book, see my earlier post on Classroom Ideas for Teaching the Bible.

I decided to check out the library and I was not disappointed. I found a documentary on The Story of Paul the Apostle: The Man Who Turned the World Upside Down produced by the History Channel. This DVD is about 68 minutes in length and is about the right length for a 3-hour lecture period. It covers the life of Apostle Paul from his education in Jerusalem under the Rabbi Gamaliel to his exhortations on behalf of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean basin. The documentary is narrated by Martin Sheen and includes interview with a number of theologians and biblical scholars who reflect on the importance of his upbringing to his success in spreading the Word, and an in-depth analysis of his writings — some of the earliest Christian documents extant — which shed light not just on the origins of Christianity, but on the man who helped ensure its survival.

This movie offers opportunities for comparison to Acts and the Pauline epistles. From the interviews with various scholars, it exposes the students to some of the debates on the current critical studies of Paul. It also offers excellent opportunities for discussions about the wider issues surrounding introductory issues in the study of Paul, ranging from Paul's call/conversion; the impact of the Damascus Road experience on his life and theology; the New Perspective on Paul; Paul's missionary methods; Paul's letters and Christian doctrines; the socio-political world of the early Pauline communities; to the impact of Pauline mission in the Gentile world.

After the movie, I handed out a list of 12 questions (I will post the questions in a subsequent post) based on the movie and broke the class into 3 groups for discussion, with each group taking 4 out of the 12 question. This ended the 3-hour lecture.

The following week, we discussed the questions as a class and I gave my input on the wider issues. Personally, I find this to be a more helpful way of teaching introductory issues on Paul as the students were given opportunities to present their views and opinion, and were engaged in the discussions and debates. Of course, the downside was that this turned out to be a less systematic way of discussing the various issues on Paul. In addition, not all issues I would like to expose the students to were covered in the movie, and those issues were then supplemented with additional lectures.

Is this a more effective way in both teaching and learning about the introduction to the study of the Apostle Paul? Only the students can give the verdict. Further contribution from readers of this blog is most welcome.

New Perspective on Paul

Beginning students on Pauline studies often find it difficult to grasp the understanding of the New Perspective on Paul. The proliferation of the literature on this subject is wide and diverse, and can easily confuse any beginners taking the first few initial steps trying to navigate through the dense forest of Pauline studies.

Simon Gathecole has recently written a very helpful article, What did Paul Really Mean, in the August 2007 issue of Christianity Today on the New Perspective on Paul in a non technical language. It is easy to read and gives a concise introduction and summary of the subject matter without the usual clutter of references found in academic writing.

While I may not fully agree with the analysis and the summary of Gathercole, this article is a good start for beginning students and also a timely refresher for mature students of Paul.

Read the complete article here. Check out also the links to other helpful resources on the New Perspective on Paul at the end of this article. Not to be missed is also the link to Further Reading on the New Perspective. This reading list provides the "basic" reading required for anyone interested in the subject matter.

The Temptation of A Bibliophile

I have been trying to resist this temptation - visiting Canaanland's Midnight Sale that began this evening. But an SMS from another fellow bibliophile and partner-in-crime, Pearlie, sparked off the strong urge within me that I find futile to resist. Pearlie asked my opinion whether it was worthwhile for her to purchase a couple of books she has picked (Hah... I wonder who is ever going to pay me commission for doing all this recommendation...). A few minutes later, she sent me another SMS, saying she had picked up 8 books.

That's it! I knew resistance was futile. So I headed to Canaanland immediately to check out for myself the goodies on sale. But I must admit, I practised a bit more "retraint" compared to Pearlie. I managed to pick up ONLY 2 books.

The first book, Seeing the Word: Refocusing New Testament Study (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006) is one that I have trying to get hold of for sometime. Having personally met and interacted with Markus Bockmuehl, I have very high respect for him. At a time of deep disagreements about the nature and purpose of academic biblical studies, Bockmuehl advocates the recovery of a plural but common conversation on the subject of what the New Testament is about. This book begins with an assessment of current New Testament studies, identifying both persistent challenges and some promising proposals. Subsequent chapters explore two such proposals. First, ground for common conversation lies in taking seriously the readers and readings the text implies. Second, Bockmuehl explores the text’s early effective history by a study of apostolic memory in the early church. This is a very engaging and inspiring book, and I look forward to reading it with great detail later on, and I know I will definitely learn much from Bockmuehl.

The second book that I picked up is Picturing Christian Witness: New Testament Images of Disciples in Mission (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006) by missiologist Stanley Skreslet. In this book, Skreslet searches for new, more holistic images of mission from Scripture. Undertaking a novel exegetical study of mission in the New Testament, he highlights five actions that depict the witness of Jesus’ first followers: announcing good news, sharing Christ with friends, interpreting the gospel, shepherding, and building/planting. After carefully examining key biblical passages, Skreslet draws out the implications of these five images for the theology of mission and lets each image take shape visually through an array of Western and non-Western art, an area that I personally find intriguing. This is one of the reasons I purchased this book. Without doubt, Picturing Christian Witness will provoke readers to imagine what mission will look like when actively embodied by contemporary disciples of Jesus.

The temptation and quest of a bibliophile during the midnight sale, encouraged by partner-in-crime, left me poorer in my pocket and, hopefully, richer in my understanding of the current New Testament scholarship that may be beneficial to the students in the seminary.

JSNT Alert: Vol 30/1 September 2007

A new issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 30, No. 1 (September 2007), has been made available. This issue is a special issue focusing on New Testament Interpretations in Africa.

In particular, I would like to highlight the interesting article by J. Ayodeji Adewuya on "Revisiting 1 Corinthians 11.27-34: Paul's Discussion of the Lord's Supper and African Meals." Adewuya first read this paper in the SBL International Meeting 2006, Edinburgh, and we had a good time interacting with his paper. I'm so glad that it is finally published.

The contents are as follow:

Introduction

Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole and Nicholas H. Taylor

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 3-5 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/30/1/3?etoc

The New Testament and Intercultural Exegesis in Africa

Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 7-28 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/7?etoc

Opening a Narrative Programme: Luke 4.16-30 and the Black Bagr Narrative

Richard K. Baawobr

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 29-53 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/29?etoc

Head-Waiter and Bridegroom of the Wedding at Cana: Structure and Meaning of John 2.1-12

Jean-Bosco Matand Bulembat

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 55-73 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/55?etoc

A Dialogical Exegesis of Romans 3.25a

John D.K. Ekem

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 75-93 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/75?etoc

Revisiting 1 Corinthians 11.27-34: Paul's Discussion of the Lord's Supper and African Meals

J. Ayodeji Adewuya

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 95-112 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/95?etoc

Hearing the Politics of Peace in Ephesians: A Proposal from an African Postcolonial Perspective

Gosnell L. Yorke

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2007;30 113-127 http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/1/113?etoc

Bibliography: How and Where - Part 3

This is the long-awaited 3rd post in the series on how to build one's bibliography for research by using online resources. In my previous posts, I have suggested how one could effectively search for books and journals online.

In this post, I will highlight some suggestions on how searches for theses and dissertations could easily be carried out in regions covering the United States, Canada, the UK, and Australasia.


Theological Research and Exchange Network – This is an extensive database covering North American Masters and Doctoral (mainly Doctor of Ministry) dissertations. Theses can be purchased at reasonable price and are available in pdf format (for immediate download) and Microfiche.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Services – This is a massive database containing more than 1.9 million North American Doctoral dissertations. Free search available only for past 2 years' dissertations. The most useful feature is the first 24-page free preview of the thesis, and this is essentially what one needs most of the time - the table of contents! Subscription required to search the entire database.

Theses Canada - Availability to search AMICUS, Canada's national online catalogue, for bibliographic records of all theses in Library and Archives Canada's theses collection, which was established in 1965. The most useful feature of Theses Canada programme is the availability to access and search the full text electronic versions of numerous Canadian theses and dissertations (no kidding - and it is FREE! I have downloaded several theses from this database).

British Thesis Services – This is a database maintained by the British Library. Search for theses accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland. However, the cost of purchasing the thesis can be rather prohibitive at times.

Aslib Index to Thesis - A comprehensive listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland. By subscription only.

Australasian Digital Theses (ADT) Project Database - Search all theses accepted for higher degrees by universities in Australasia. This is a fairly recent project, and theses in theology and religious studies are still quite limited in number. But the good news is that if you can find one thesis that is closely related to your research, it is FREELY available in pdf format. I managed to download a couple of theses from this database.


If one is able to search carefully and comprehensively all the above databases, he or she should comfortably have a credible list of both unpublished or published theses and a fairly good grasp of the trend of research in one's field of interest.

Coming up next...how to search for papers presented in international conferences...this is a bit more difficult and tricky...

JSNT Alert: July 2007 Vol 29 No 5

The latest issue of the Journal for the Study of New Testament, Volume 29 No 5 July 2007 is now available.

This is a not-to-be-missed issue as it reviews the latest book list in NT studies, categorised into the following:

1. New Testament General

2. New Testament Topics

3. Jesus

4. Gospels

5. Matthew

6. Mark

7. Luke--Acts

8. John

9. Paul

10. Romans

11. Corinthians

12. Galatians

13. Ephesians, Colossians & Philemon

14. Philippians & Thessalonians

15. Pastoral Epistles

16. Non-Pauline Letters

17. Revelation

18. Judaism

19. Graeco-Roman

20. Early Christianity

21. Language

22. Textual Criticism

23. Reception

If you have not been up-to-date on the latest in NT scholarship, this issue is not to be missed. For example, in the area of my interest (the Corinthian correspondence), the following books are reviewed:

• Michael F. Hull, Baptism on Account of the Dead (1 Cor. 15:29): An Act of Faith in the Resurrection, AcB 22 (Atlanta: SBL, 2005)


• Peter Arzt-Grabner, Ruth Elisabeth Kritzer, Amphilochios Papathomas & Franz Winter, 1. Korinther, PKNT 2 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006)


• Michael Barram, Mission and Moral Reflection in Paul, SBL 75 (New York: Peter Lang, 2006)


• John Inziku, Overcoming Divisive Behaviour: An Attempt to Interpret 1 Cor. 11, 17-34 from Another Perspective, EHS 23.816 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2005)


• Michelle V. Lee, Paul, the Stoics, and the Body of Christ, SNTSMS 137 (Cambridge: CUP, 2006)


• John Paul Heil, The Rhetorical Role of Scripture in 1 Corinthians, SBL 15 (Atlanta: SBL, 2005)


• Andrew D. Clarke, Secular and Christian Leadership in Corinth: A Socio-Historical and Exegetical Study of 1 Corinthians 1–6, 2nd edn, PBM (Bletchley: Paternoster, 2006)

Have fun reading!