I’m currently in one of the busiest seasons of my life, but I wanted to take some time to highlight the newly released Logos 8 before it isn’t so “newly released!”
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There’s a trend in the evangelical church today of reclaiming that which is old. Hymns and liturgy have been making a comeback. In terms of the church’s worship, what could be more ancient than reclaiming the worship of the first believers? Scholars have postulated that the NT contains ancient pre-existing hymns that were sung in early gatherings. However, a recent trend has been to reject the idea of NT “hymns” altogether. In New Testament Christological Hymns, Matthew Gordley—himself an expert in NT “hymn” passages—walks a nuanced balance between the two poles as he reconsiders these intriguing texts.
» Read the entire post: Review of New Testament Christological Hymns by Matthew Gordley »
In the past few decades Psalms scholarship has begun to consider the Psalter as an intentionally arranged collection even with a overarching message or structure. Doing so has highlighted that the Davidic covenant takes pride of place, particularly in Psalm 89 which questions the state of this covenant. The role of David and the Davidic covenant is interpreted differently among scholars, so an in-depth study of the covenants in the Psalter is welcome. Thankfully, Adam Hensley’s published PhD dissertation at Concordia seminary—Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter—addresses this very topic. Adam Hensley seeks to defend and articulate “… the largely unexplored idea that the Psalter presents David as [sic] Moses-like agent of covenant renewal between YHWH as the community” (p. 211).
One of the most significant factors in understanding Paul’s view of Jesus is the fact that he so easily applies “YHWH” texts—OT texts where the God of Israel is the referent—to Jesus. In 1992, David Capes released a book on this topic entitled Old Testament Yahweh Texts in Paul’s Christology. This year (2018), he has released The Divine Christ; a follow-up of sorts that returns to the topic in light of recent scholarship and Capes’ own maturing thoughts. That is not to say, however, that one must read his first book to appreciate this one. This is a solid work on Christology that stands on its own merit.
» Read the entire post: Review: The Divine Christ by David Capes »
If we were to travel back in time to the first century, would we recognize “Christianity?” How much of our imagination of the early church is inspired by our modern Western culture, whether it be our contemporary churches or movies such as The Passion? Or, asking the question in the other direction, would the apostles—even Jesus—recognize Christianity? Craig Evans’ From Jesus to the Church goes a long way towards addressing some of these questions. Evans himself presents his book as a study of “the clash between the family of high priest Annas and the family of Jesus of Nazareth” (p. 2), but the contents of his book far exceed this topic.
» Read the entire post: Review: From Jesus to the Church by Craig Evans »
Review of Psalms 101-150 (Brazos Theological Commentary) by Jason Byassee
» Read the entire post: Review of Psalms 101-150 (Brazos Theological Commentary) by Jason Byassee »