Points of Interest

I thought today I would just post about a couple of things which interested me:

(1) Apparently Hendrickson Publishers has just released the fascicle of Biblia Hebraica Quinta: Judges.  I still need to start ordering my copies of BHQ, but it seems each volume is taking longer to publish.  It will certainly be a tremendous contribution to Hebrew Bible studies once it is completed.

(2) Renowned Greek scholar and linguist, Dr. Stanley E. Porter (President of McMaster Divinity School) has begun blogging about McMaster, Seminary education, Koine Greek and the New Testament.  I've already added it to my blog-reader...how about you?

(3) My two alma-maters have each just announced new presidents: Trinity Bible College will be receiving Dr. Paul Alexander (currently Principal of Mattersey Hall in the U.K.) and I trust this will prove a positive academic direction for TBC.  In other news, I discovered that Dr. David Johnson (Professor of NT, Executive Vice-President and Provost of PTS) has been accepted as the interim president of Providence Theological Seminary.  Congrats to Dr. Johnson on the new opportunity!

Thomas Nelson Publishers and Pastoral Resources

So I was recently approved to start receiving materials from Thomas Nelson Publishers for review...and thus they sent me a "welcome" box full of assorted resources for pastors.  I thought I'd start with just introducing these materials and a short comment or two about them in posts to come.
Bibles (and Studies):
Women & God: Stuck Studies: The Places We Get Stuck & the God Who Sets Us Free (sample chapter)
Jesus Calling Devotional Bible: Enjoying Peace in His Presence (sample chapter with NKJV)
The Voice New Testament: Step Into the Story of Scripture
The Take Action Bible (NKJV)
The [Expanded] Bible
Videos:
Reel to Real: An Interactive Drama-Based Study "It's You.  Is it Possible to Build Real and Lasting Friendships?" (DVD with Participants Guide)
The Open Table: An Invitation to Know God (DVD with Leader's Guide)
Manuals:
Nelson's Children's Minister's Manual
Nelson's Youth Minister's Manual

A couple of initial comments can be made right away:
(1) I am not particularly a fan of the King James tradition being maintained for contemporary usage.  This is my biggest gripe with Thomas Nelson.  I do enjoy many of their Word Biblical Commentary volumes (which were sadly not included in the welcome package), but most of their material belongs to the KJV tradition of translations. 
(2) Of the two videos I received the "Real to Reel" was fairly well produced, but comes across as rather corny in my opinion.  It states that it will take our teens deeper than other materials, but I found the content to be very surface based.  "The Open Table" on the other hand was excellent (which is to be expected since it is the work of Donald Miller of "Blue Like Jazz" fame).  I would highly recommend this video for introducing a small group to discussions about faith and God.
(3) The [Expanded] Bible and The Voice NT both offer intriguing notions for translational formats.  The former has inserted variant readings and translational options right into the text using brackets.  This is immediately helpful for understanding nuances of clauses and phrases but becomes nearly intolerable for readability of the text.  The Voice NT uses the notion of drama in the formatting of the text and tries to capture a more dramatic retelling through this format.  I wonder how helpful this proves in the long run for being helpful or simply a distraction.  I will certainly look further through both volumes and have more comments in the future about them.

Pentecostalisms, Peacemaking, and Social Justice/Righteousness

I'm thrilled to once again be attending the annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS).  This year it is being hosted by Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA from March 1-4 (which promises to be much warmer than Karlstad).  The topic is one I find close to my heart -- "Pentecostalisms, Peacemaking, and Social Justice/Righteousness" and this year I will be chairing one of the Bible sessions.  It looks to be an interesting conference.  You can view a PDF of the sessions HERE.  

The two presenters and their respective papers I will be chairing are:
"‘New Treasures and Old’: (Re-)Reading the Old Testament Theologically with Early Pentecostal Mothers and Fathers" -- Chris Green, Bangor University (Wales)
"‘Tell Me the Old, Old Story’: The Hymns and Testimonies of Ancient Israel and American Pentecostals" --
Meghan Musy, Missouri State University

I am thrilled to be able to chair the session (especially as it pertains to the joint topics of Pentecostals and the OT).  Also, its a delight to be able to chair for Chris Green...who I've found helpful in several previous sessions of SPS concerning the integration of the sacraments -- and a sacramental appreciation -- and Pentecostal theology and praxis.


On a related note...I realized I still haven't joined Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice, but will have to rectify that this year.  By joining you can elect to receive a PCPJ mug, shirt or book (Pentecostal Pacifism by Jay Beaman).  This group was formed by Paul Alexander (and several others of like mind) of whom I intend in 2012 to read his "Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God".

"Fourteen" Generations?

This week I preached from Matthew 1:1-17 on the genealogy of Jesus.  Talk about a fun text!  Needless to say, one of the elements of this text that is troubling (at a certain level) is the emphasis by Matthew on "fourteen generations" from Abraham to David, then David to the exile in Babylon, then the exile to the Christ.  When one counts the names in each list it becomes readily apparent that there are not fourteen in all three.  The first is fine, but the other two are not. 

There have been a number of proposals for resolving this and I'll just mention them briefly followed by my own proposal.
1) At least one of the names should be counted in both lists.  For instance, David or Jeconiah.
2) The three groups of fourteen are meant to refer to six groups of seven (which is considered a number of completion).
3) Fourteen should be understood as gematria (where the letters of the alphabet represent numbers) and David in the Hebrew (דָּוִד dawid - only the consonants have numeric value) is 4+6+4 which equals 14.  Thus, David and Jesus connection to him as the Christ is the central point.

The first should be rejected because there is actually no clear indication of adding only one name twice.  It fails to work out intelligibly in any counting.  The second proposal fails because Matthew emphatically notes "fourteen" and not seven.  This would also place Jesus within the groups and fails to actually count the names.  The third (being the leading preference for interpreting this passage) falls short (in my opinion) because it requires a Hebrew gematria reading of a Greek text, which seems overly complex.  The use of a name being equal to the number is also not noted (as elsewhere in Scripture - cf. Rev.13:18).

My own proposal is simply to consider the "fourteen" generations for each of the groups as referring to the fulness of time.  This is then taken to point to Jesus as the Christ coming in the line of the promise to Abraham to bless all the nations, and to king David to have a son who would sit on the throne forever.  Thus, making this text a wonderful fit for Advent season (on which also see the post by Dan Thompson concerning "hope").  To be certain, the number "fourteen" in this context is ambiguous at best.  One can only guess that Matthew's original audience understood what was meant.  So what are your thoughts?

Why Amos Is a Downer This Time of Year

Today I opened my blogreader to discover that Dan Thompson was discussing (tongue-in-cheek) why Amos is a real downer to read for advent season.  I personally think he's probably not much fun at parties either, so I wouldn't recommend inviting him to any this season...unless you like being told you are the first to be taken away as a prisoner-of-war because you were living the high-life.

 4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, and sprawl out on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the pen.
 5 They sing to the tune of stringed instruments; like David they invent musical instruments.
 6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves. Yet they are not concerned over the ruin of Joseph.
 7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, and the religious banquets where they sprawl on couches will end. (Amos 6:4-7 NET)

 (As an aside, Dan is giving away a free copy of the CEB every week till Christmas for those who comment on his advent readings and link back to them...so if you want a chance at a CEB...)

Abandoning Heaven

As I've worked my way through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, I've become convinced that the notion of "heaven" should be rejected as falling short of orthodox Christian confession.  What do I mean by such a thing?  It strikes me that our world largely embraces the notion of "heaven," but that is not the confession of the historic Church.  We do not confess belief in "heaven", but in "the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting".  It is not faith in the Christian sense that is necessary to believe in heaven (I don't know that I know almost anyone who doesn't believe in heaven), but it is this kind of faith that is essential for belief in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.  These two beliefs should not be confused. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not abandoning the truth of God's presence and kingdom as now, but not yet.  What I'm abandoning is the contemporary embrace of "heaven" as a place of disembodied existence.  This fails to account for the very bodily resurrection from the dead of which Christ is the first-fruit.  As the Church, we confess, and long for, a bodily existence that is transformed by the life-giving power of the Spirit which is in Christ Jesus.  Our bodies will most assuredly be raised at the last day, even as we already are living resurrected lives of obedience...yielding our very lives to the Spirit.

Talk of "heaven" though is a disembodied talk.  It is a talk of immaterial "spiritual" existence.  It is not the Biblical doctrine of last things.  The end is an end where the dead in Christ are raised because they have died and been buried with Christ.  This has everything to do with bodily life now.  It is not a sloughing off of this body and an immaterial entrance into a better plane of existence.  It is the transformation of this body, because this body belongs to Christ as we yield all that we are to the obedience of Him.

So I reject the notion of "heaven" and embrace the resurrection and life everlasting...where death has been swallowed up in victory!  Come, Lord Jesus!

Women Should Remain Silent (?)

I've been preaching through 1 Corinthians this last year and recently covered chapter 14.  While there are many things which are heavily debated in this chapter, I particularly wondered how to preach verses 34-35.

 34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (1 Cor.14:34-35 NIV84)

 Interestingly, the NIV84 (CEB, CEV, ESV, HCSB, NAB, NET, NJB and NRSV) makes 34a "women should remain silent in the churches" a part of the preceding statement in verse 33 (which in full reads: "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,").  The KJV, NIV2011 (though see the footnote), NKJV, NLT, and TNIV read the last phrase of verse 33 with the first phrase and then end verse 33 with a period...thus separating 33 from 34.  I personally prefer the reading of the latter. 

Also, how does one preach "women should remain silent in the churches"?  I know the traditional explanations I've heard about women speaking up asking questions but being too far away from their husbands and thus disturbing the congregational meeting, but I find this utterly unsatisfactory on historical grounds for congregational settings.  How does remaining "silent" relate to Paul's earlier instruction that women could publicly pray and prophecy (1 Cor.11:5, 13; 14:31)?  I ended up essentially passing over this text with some comments about its questionable content and thus a need to not make doctrine of it in light of Gordon Fee's arguments (NICNT "The First Epistle to the Corinthians" Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987: pp.705-708) for verses 34-35 being an interpolation (since one of the issues is that in a number of manuscripts this text is placed completely after chapter 14 suggesting their was early question of the placement -- or authenticity???).

So how would you preach this text?