Biblical Studies Carnival September 2016

Welcome to the September issue of the Biblical Studies Carnival! With the dog days of summer behind us (well at least for those of us who live in cooler climates), the Fall Carnival schedule is ready to kick into high gear. For the upcoming months the Carnival will travel to the following locations:

October 2016 (November 1) – Bob MacDonald, @drmacdonald, Dust, http://meafar.blogspot.com/

November 2016 (December 1) – Jim West, @drjewest, Zwinglius Redivivus, http://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/

December 2016 (January 1) – Jennifer Guo, @jenniferguo, http://jenniferguo.wordpress.com/

Cassandra Farrin at Ethics and Early Christianity https://www.westarinstitute.org/blog/ has also got January covered. The rest of the year is wide open however. So if you’d like to host a Biblical Studies Carnival in 2017 please contact Phil Long at @plong42 or plong42atgmail.com. This month’s Carnival comes to you from the ancient city of York (England). Yes (all you Church History lovers), the very city where Constantine himself was proclaimed Emperor. So without further delay, let’s begin!

Old Testament

To get this party started check out Michael J. Kok’s “General Survey of the Hebrew Bible,” and also his post entitled, “The Christian Appropriation of the Old Testament,” at jesusmemoirs. Lindsay Kennedy has an interesting article on “Psalm 2:6 and the transformation of Zion.” George Athas asks, “Genesis 19: Has Lot Lost the Plot?” Continuing with the Genesis theme, I have written a post entitled, “Are the Seven Days of Creation Literal?” I also concluded a series on Biblical Numerology entitled, “Symbolic Numbers in the Old Testament,” (although I  must confess I actually look at the Bible as a whole).

Language Studies and Textual Criticism

In his most recent post, Bob MacDonald offers his translation of Esther 1. In other September posts Bob shares translations from Job, Jeremiah and Zechariah (click HERE and scroll down). Mike Aubrey announces that the new book “The Greek Verb Revisited: A Fresh Approach for Biblical Exegesis,” will not only be available at Logos Bible Software, but you can also purchase a hard copy at Amazon. Brian Davidson notes than even modern “scribes” can make errors in his “Ancient Errors, Modern Scribes,” post. He also emphasizes the significance of word order in “The Word Order Hurdle.” Looking at the Didache, David Corder examines Aaron Milavec’s preference for the most difficult reading. Peter Gurry asks a challenging and provocative question in his post, “Does Scripture’s Self-Attestation Apply to Textual Criticism?” Although we could put “Jens Schröter, Galatians 1.6-7 and the Greek Scholars,” by Wayne Coppins in the New Testament category, it seems best suited here. Finally, for all you Hebrew lovers, Todd Scacewater at exegeticaltools has posted a humorous video on learning Hebrew based on Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine. You’ll love it!

New Testament

Todd Scacewater has produced another interesting title sure to draw readers in. Check out his, “Think You Understand Crucifixion? Think Again,” post which compares and contrasts 3 new books on crucifixion. Phil Long is working his way through Romans and has a whole host of articles. His latest as of this writing is “God Shows No Partiality.” Check out his blog at readingacts to see other posts on Romans. Marg Mowczko asks, “Did Jesus Address Only Men in Luke 14:25-27?”  Julia Blom at jewishstudies.eteacherbiblical continues a series on Luke 24. The latest is entitled, “Key Number Five: And Their Eyes Were Opened.” Michael J. Kok has an article on Hebrews and Subsequent Christian Supersessionism.

Theology

Michael Patton has written his observations in a provocatively entitled article, “Why Arminianism Won’t Preach (and Calvinism Won’t Sell).” Continuing with the theme of Calvinism, Bobby Grow offers, “A Different Way: A Calvinism Where God is Love Rather than Law.” For the philosophical theologians among us, Grow also writes about “Hypostatic Grace: A Response of Sorts to Tom McCall and Substance Metaphysics.” Marg Mowczko looks at “Tertullian on Equality and Mutuality in Marriage.” Andy Goodliff has an interview with Tim Carter regarding his latest book, “The Forgiveness of Sins.” Cassandra Farrin, in her “Understanding Religion Series,” examines “Testimony.” Finally, Dr. Mariottini offers some sage counsel in “Do Women Really Want to Go Back to Patriarchy?“

Archaeology

At theoutwardquest David Corder has a host of articles dealing with various topics  including a series on Amihai Mazar’s book, “The Case of the United Monarchy.” Click HERE for the latest in that series. Dr. Claude Mariottini reports on the discovery of the “Scale Weights of the High Priest, and, in case you haven’t seen it before, Dr. Mariottini has a number of free ebooks available on his site including Israel Finkelstein’s, “The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel.”

Church History

In her latest post, Cassandra Farrin draws our attention to the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation (coming in 2017) and seeks to demonstrate how some of its themes can speak to the modern situation in America. At Zwingliusredivivus Jim West shares two short posts. The first is a quote from Calvin regarding his “Explanation of the Nones,” and the second is regarding the legitimization of the worship of images by the 7th Ecumenical Council.

Plagiarism

Normally, posts about plagiarism would not merit a separate heading, but it’s definitely a topic that’s been “trending” this month and so this separate category seems justified. Scot McKnight has some very good thoughts on “Plagiarizing Sermons.” Warning: this is not a “How To…” article! At Crux Sola, Christopher Skinner questions Stan Porter’s defense of Peter O’Brien’s plagiarism in 3 of his NT commentaries in the Pillar series by Eerdman’s. For an opposite view one can read “Plagiarism Hunters,” by Fred Butler. Although I’m in danger of violating Carnival protocol, (this next post actually appeared in August), Brian Renshaw offers some very constructive “Thoughts on Research and Note Taking After O’Brien and Eerdmans.”

Book Reviews

At the Dustin Martyr Blog the book review series on “A Man Attested By God,” by Daniel Kirk continues. At corinthianmatters you’ll find a review by David Pettegrew of “People Under Power: Early Christian and Jewish Responses,” by Lebahn and Lehtipuu. Lindsay Kennedy balances Old and New Testaments with a review on “Psalms By the Day” (Alec Motyer) and a review of “A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament,” (ed. Michael J. Kruger). Both reviews are available at mydigitalseminary. For Bible backgrounds lovers, Spencer Robinson looks at the new “NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.” Over at hipandthigh you can read Fred Butler‘s review of ” Truth Or Territory: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare” by Jim Osman. Jennifer Guo reviews Eugene Merrill’s commentary on 1&2 Chronicles in the Kregel Exegetical Library, as well as “The Acts of the Apostles: Interpretation, History, and Theology,” by Osvaldo Padilla. Her most recent post reviews Frank J. Matera’s “New Testament Theology.“

If you get tired of reading book reviews you may want to get some cotton candy, put your feet up, and check out the youtube interviews with Larry Hurtado on his new book, “Destroyer of the gods,” at the christianorigins blog. Now that you’ve recovered with a good sugar rush you can check out Nijay Gupta’s post on “Do We Need More Commentaries?,” or his review of “Kingdom Ethics” by Gushee and Stassen. While you’re there, check out what Gupta’s website partner Christopher Skinner has to say about Estes’s and Sheridan’s book entitled, “How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel.” J.K. (a.k.a. Kevin Turner) reviews Kent Hughes’s “Disciplines of a Godly Man,” and offers advice on Bible reading plans. Finally, Andy Goodliff lists “11 Books Every Christian Should Read Before They Turn 25.” It’s a good looking list but the problem for me is none of these books were around when I was 25! I’ll bet Andy would encourage me to read them anyway. 🙂

That’s it for this month.  The Biblical Studies Carnival has packed up and is moving on to it’s next destination. Once again, remember if you’d like to host a Carnival, contact Phil Long at at @plong42 or plong42atgmail.com. Happy Reading and Blogging until next month!