Craig Keener was at Logos recently to record a course for our Mobile Ed program. Craig is a New Testament scholar and is widely known for his writing. His recent two-volume work (1200+ pages) on miracles has garnered a lot of attention: Miracles: The Credibility of...
Biblical Theology
Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God
I recently got an email that read as follows: I am studying with Koinonia Institute and have recently encountered a teaching that is making me feel very uncomfortable. I am being a Berean about this teaching and am therefore looking for some help from you if you can...
Fun with the Mosaic Law: What to Do with Your Ox in a Flowchart
You have to check this out. The flowchart on what the Law says about oxen was created by a friend at Logos, Vincent Setterholm, a few years ago. I'm glad to see it's finally gotten the attention it deserves via Christianity Today. This alone should make you glad that...
What is Exegesis Anyway?
Words like "exegesis" and "exegetical" are thrown around by biblical scholars all the time. Those not in the guild or who haven't taken courses in biblical languages or hermeneutics might wonder what the terminology means. If that's you, I recommend reading this post...
Modern Critical Thinking About the Bible? Or, Should 2 Timothy 2:15 Be Restricted to Ancient Readers?
A recent guest post over at the Patheos blog author by Dr. David Lincicum, will likely be of interest to Naked Bible readers: Lament for a Maternal Home (or, Is There No Place for Believing Criticism in Evangelicalism?). I appreciated the essay. Though I don't know...
Polygamy and Old Testament Law
[UPDATE 3/27/2012: I'm already getting comments that seem to suggest that I "missed" the biblical portrayal of polygamy as causing great consternation in the home. No surprise, and no kidding. I think my post was clear on this originally, but just in case ... My point...
The Name Theology in Israelite Religion
Here is the first of my two ETS papers, "The Name Theology in Israelite Religion." Hope you find it interesting. I think it's a good succinct summary of the history of the discussion. Of course I throw my own two cents in toward the end. The second paper on the...
Thoughts on the Bridegroom of Blood
Just wanted to summarize some thoughts on the passage before moving on to my next "all commentaries are not created equal" illustration. I think I can summarize the best thinking on the passage in a comprehensible way now that you have all been exposed to solid...
New Testament (Real) Numerology
I love stuff like this journal article by Mikeal Parsons: "Exegesis 'By the Numbers': Numerology and the New Testament." I have an interest in this kind of thing (no surprise to those of you who know me - "if it's weird, it's important"). In the OT it makes things...
Taxation in Ancient Israel
Pretty informative article. I came across it while prepping for a course I'm teaching at the local university next quarter (Ancient Cities). Editor's note: Abstract from the article by Robert A. Oden, Jr, included below: ABSTRACTThis essay represents an initial...
Away in a Manger, but Not in a Barn
That's the title of one of the articles in the upcoming (Nov-Dec) issue of Bible Study Magazine. As many of you know, I am the Academic Editor for the magazine. I don't make a habit of plugging work stuff on the blog, but this is a cool article that may provide some...
Does Hebrew bara’ Mean “to Spatially Separate” Instead of “Create”?
That's the contention of Dr. Ellen van Wolde. The problems in translation and interpretation in Genesis 1:1-3 are well known to Hebraists, but it's rare for any of them to claim that the Bible teaches that God did *not* create matter, which Dr. van Wolde claims as a...
The Biblical Theology of Tithing
A reader asked my opinion on this subject via email. In response I'll point him and readers to a two-part treatment of the topic by Andreas Kostenberger and David Croteau. I think their work is pretty helpful and it reflects my own thinking on the subject. Part One;...
The Lord’s Supper and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (Post 4 of 4)
Well, finally carved out the time to get this up. For my money, this passage has been fundamentally misunderstood (or maybe under-read), which has led to a lot of misunderstanding about the Lord's Supper. I think you'll be surprised at what it says. Please note the...
Lord’s Supper, Part 3
In my previous two Lord's Supper posts and comments to readers' posts, I tried to telegraph a few items to set up this post: 1. I don't care to articulate a doctrine of the Lord's Supper on the basis of what is NOT said in the text, no matter how sensible it is....