Biblical Theology Bulletin最新文献

{"title":"The Question of God’s Perfection","authors":"Cornell Collin","doi":"10.1177/01461079211030641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211030641","url":null,"abstract":"Is God perfect? The recent volume entitled The Question of God’s Perfection stages a conversation on that topic between mostly Jewish philosophers, theologians, and scholars of rabbinic literature. Although it is neither a work of biblical theology nor a contribution to the theological interpretation of scripture, The Question of God’s Perfection yields stimulating results for these other, intersecting projects. After briefly describing the volume’s central question and contents, the present essay situates the volume’s offerings within the state of the biblical-theological and theological-interpretive fields. In its next section, it considers—and compares—The Question of God’s Perfection with one twentieth-century theological antecedent, the Dutch theologian K.H. Miskotte. In closing, it poses questions for ongoing discussion. The Question of God’s Perfection: Jewish and Christian Essays on the God of the Bible and Talmud, edited by Yoram Hazony & Dru Johnson. Philosophy of Religion – World Religions 8. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2019. ISBN 9789004387959","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"27 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211030641","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47781660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation, by Craig R. Koester","authors":"Alexander E. Stewart","doi":"10.1177/01461079211016745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211016745","url":null,"abstract":"124 eight sections: Prologue: The Call of Jeremiah (1:1-19), The Personal Struggles of the Prophet (2:1-25:38), Increasing Unbelief and Opposition (26:1-29:32), The Restoration of Israel and Judah to the Land (30:1-33:26), The Call for Faithfulness (34:1-36:32), The Siege, Fall, and Aftermath in Jerusalem (37:1-45:5), Prophecies Against Nine Nations (46:1–51:64), and The Fall of Jerusalem (52:1-34). Each section has several subunits in which Kaiser translates the Masoretic Text, notes variants in the Septuagint, and provides verse-by-verse commentary on the passages. The commentary brings in a variety of Old and New Testament texts to elucidate aspects of Jeremiah and to show the book’s presence and influence within the Christian biblical canon. Four excurses appear at the end of the book: The Ark of the Covenant, The Queen of Heaven, Shub Shebut, and Topheth. Given their brevity, it might have been more helpful to include this content within the main text of the book. Moreover, the rationale for why each topic is given an excursus is unclear. The volume includes many assumptions and inferences on dating and interpreting Jeremiah’s prophecies without offering compelling evidence. Several sections contain snarky and judgmental remarks about people in antiquity and in the present. Countless exclamations (with ample exclamation points!), generalizations, and vague rants permeate the book. The synopsis claims: “Each section is followed by devotional and application insights that guide the reader in applying the text to their everyday lives.” It is difficult to determine where, if anywhere, these insights can be found. Interaction with more diverse and more recent scholarship might have enhanced this work. Studies in feminist criticism could have enriched the discussions of the human-divine marriage metaphor, references to daughter of my people and daughter Zion, and the Queen of Heaven excursus. Scholarship in literary criticism could have made the discussions of imagery and the mix of poetry and prose texts more interesting and informative. Studies on Jeremiah’s influence and reception in Jewish and Christian faith communities could have supported the theological aims of the work. Although some readers might appreciate its style and content, Walking the Ancient Paths leaves much to be desired. Jaime L. Waters DePaul University Chicago, IL 60614","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"124 - 125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211016745","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45145089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: James, by Martha L. Moore-Keish","authors":"Vincent Hirschi","doi":"10.1177/01461079211027843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211027843","url":null,"abstract":"62 very much interrelated, in the ministry of Jesus. According to Perrin, healings, exorcisms, and proclamation were not only marks of the presence of the kingdom but were also signs of the new creation. As much I enjoyed the work, and as much as I believe this to be on the better introductions to the kingdom of God, I have a few criticisms—which, in no way, are intended to diminish the overall value of The Kingdom of God. I would like to have seen Perrin make a stronger connection with the kingdom of God and the temple. He could have done more work in terms of pressing out exactly what the temple is and how it connects to the kingdom of God. This is especially the case for how the temple plays a key role in the life of the kingdom now and with regard to the nature of the New Jerusalem (“already/not yet”). Pressing this point may well have strengthened his case (not that it needed strengthening) that the kingdom is present. In addition, though Perrin highlights the role of suffering in the kingdom, and how this serves as a primary contrast between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world, I believe that Perrin could have done more with this. These two criticisms together—a greater emphasis on the temple and suffering—lead to my most significant criticism of The Kingdom of God. I was most disappointed with the closing chapter (“Living the Kingdom Life Today”: chapter 12). As strong a case as Perrin makes that the kingdom of God permeates the whole of Scripture, I believe that he could have made clearer the points of application of the kingdom for the average reader today. A common objection to any writing is the old, “why didn’t you discuss this?” objection. Such objections, of course, are not completely fair. After all, an author cannot say everything. With Perrin’s work, however, I would like to have seen him address the significance of the kingdom of God for the life of the church today more thoroughly and more pointedly. It is one thing to understand the kingdom and how it relates to the Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, but it is another for the average Christian to appropriate it to their everyday lives. I am not convinced that Perrin has helped the reader enough in this endeavor. I was truly expecting Perrin to at least provide a matrix by which his readers could begin to address such questions as: How does the kingdom of God relate to the mission of the church with regards to living in a democracy?; How does the kingdom of God effect the church’s views towards issues of social justice?; or, What is the role of the church in such matters? It is conceivable that Perrin does not address such matters, even in a cursory manner, because he is not convinced that these are relevant questions, though I suspect that he does. Perrin inserts comments throughout his work that confirm that he believes that the church has a role in the social economy (e.g., 84). Perrin further acknowledges that “we need to have a solid enough grasp of the ki","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"62 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211027843","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42336117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Book of Daniel as Witness to the Pluriform Bible","authors":"William Yarchin","doi":"10.1177/01461079211030084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211030084","url":null,"abstract":"The Book of Daniel is an anthology that comes to us in a variety of compositional configurations distinguished in their organization by genre and chronology. Daniel’s varied compositional configurations—MT, Old Greek, Theodotion, Syriac—characterize the book as a literary exercise in divinatory wisdom that can point readers in different directions. The wisdom promoted in MT Daniel is mantic in that it is concerned with how knowledge of God’s effective reality in history can be divined (apocalyptic). In other forms of Daniel, the wisdom recommended for ancient Jews is mundane in that it is concerned with how they may conduct themselves with integrity within their own communities and relative to others (wisdom). I argue that, in the case of Daniel, the meaning of this biblical book is indicated not only in its semantic content but also through the various compositional configurations given to it during antiquity. This finding is consistent with a need for the sort of textually and compositionally pluriform Bible edition articulated by James Sanders.","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"51 1","pages":"215 - 225"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211030084","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41846311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: The Least of These: Paul and the Marginalized, by Carla Swafford Works","authors":"S. Rogers","doi":"10.1177/01461079211016743","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211016743","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"57 - 58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211016743","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41500029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: New Testament Christianity in the Roman World, by Harry O. Maier","authors":"Ernest van Eck","doi":"10.1177/01461079211016766","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211016766","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"59 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211016766","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45719142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Nature and Text of the Diatessaron., by Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola","authors":"Olegs Andrejevs","doi":"10.1177/01461079211016746","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211016746","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"58 - 59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211016746","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46197907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scripture in Context: James A. Sanders’ Contributions to Biblical Studies","authors":"R. Gnuse","doi":"10.1177/01461079211028055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211028055","url":null,"abstract":"James A. Sanders, Scripture in Its Historical Contexts. Vol. I: Text, Canon, and Qumran and Scripture in Its Historical Contexts. Vol. II: Exegesis, Hermeneutics, and Theology. Edited by Craig A. Evans. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 118, 126. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018, 2019.","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"51 1","pages":"234 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211028055","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46667465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"God as Righteous Agitator: Grounding Biblical Theology","authors":"P. Moser","doi":"10.1177/01461079211029098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211029098","url":null,"abstract":"Biblical theology should be grounded in a broad perspective, an Überblick, on the character of God as the main actor in biblical history. Without such a perspective, we will lose sight of what kind of agent motivates the main story-line of the Bible. If our perspective is inadequate, we will fail to recognize how God works in history, including biblical history. Biblical interpreters typically have neglected a key feature of the biblical God: God as righteous agitator for redemptive good in human lives, individually and socially. In doing so, they have failed to give an adequate portrayal of what God is doing or trying to do in history. This article corrects that neglect by acknowledging the biblical God as agitating in history for righteousness among humans as a reflection of God’s unique moral character. It explains how such agitating distinguishes God from the gods of deism and determinism, while enabling the redemptive work of this God to be seen not only in biblical history but also in everyday human life. The article relates divine agitation to the crisis of Jesus in Gethsemane in relation to the kingdom of God and to the apostle Paul on dying-and-rising with Christ.","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"17 - 26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211029098","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41887221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Older Persons in Biblical Texts: Using Modern Gerontological Theories to Cast Light and Raise Questions on Four Older Persons in Luke 2","authors":"J. Dickie","doi":"10.1177/01461079211029106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079211029106","url":null,"abstract":"In the ancient world, the average life expectancy was far lower than that in the western world today. There are some biblical characters, however, even in the New Testament, who lived into their 80s and beyond. In this article, modern theories of gerontology are examined to indicate questions to ask, and insights to gain, in seeking to understand four such persons of mature years who are briefly mentioned in Luke’s Gospel but who play critical roles in the biblical story. The wisdom available to them on coping with the latter years (as seen in the “aging poem” in Ecclesiastes 12:1–7) is reviewed to assess whether those values are apparent in these four characters, and to compare it with modern ideas.","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":"52 1","pages":"88 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01461079211029106","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42996285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}