latest review of biblical literature

There are several New Testament-related items among the latest RBL reviews, including the following:

D. A. Carson and Douglas Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd edition.
Reviewed by John Paul Heil

Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch. Social-Science Commentary on the Letters of Paul.
Reviewed by Valérie Nicolet Anderson

Bruce Metzger. Apostolic Letters of Faith, Hope, and Love: Galatians, 1 Peter, and 1 John.
Reviewed by Timothy Wiarda

Carolyn Osiek and Margaret Y. MacDonald, with Janet H. Tulloch. A Woman's Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity.
Reviewed by David Parris

Phillip Towner. The Letters to Timothy and Titus.
Reviewed by Raymond F. Collins

paul's "gospel" as luke's gospel?

As Richard Anderson has just noted, 1 Timothy 5:18 is an interesting text in that Paul appears to be citing Luke's Gospel as Scripture: "The scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves to be paid.'" The first quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4, and the second is word for word the same as Luke 10:7 (and not the same as the Matt 10:10 parallel). There are other interesting similarities between Paul and Luke, most notably the Lord's Supper tradition Paul cites in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, which is noticeably similar to the Lukan version (Luke 22:19-20). On the surface, these would seem to support the patristic claim (by Jerome?) that whenever Paul refers to his "gospel" he means a written text, and in particular a version of Luke's Gospel. However, even assuming Pauline authorship of 1 Timothy (which goes against most critical scholarship), in my view there are some difficulties with this idea.

One of the things that has always intrigued me about 1 Timothy 5:18 is the connection between this passage and 1 Corinthians 9:3-14, where Paul is similarly arguing for compensation for gospel teachers, and in a very similar way. He quotes from the same Scriptural text (Deut 25:4) and then concludes his series of arguments with these words: "The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." This is certainly a reference to this same teaching of Jesus as is reflected in 1 Timothy 5:18 and Luke 10:7, but paraphrased and not cited verbatim. In other words, the same two authorities are cited in 1 Corinthians 9 for this matter as in 1 Timothy 5. This supports the idea that the 1 Timothy 5 passage at least reflects authentic Pauline teaching.

However, this creates a difficulty for 1 Timothy 5:18, in that in the parallel in 1 Corinthians 9:14 Paul is not citing from "Scripture" or apparently even from a written source for his teaching tradition of Jesus. This then relates to another question on 1 Timothy 5: does the kai that connects the two citations indicate that the introductory formula ("the Scripture says") covers the second citation also, or does it simply mean that the second citation is an additional appeal to another authority to supplement the first Scriptural citation? Given the parallel with 1 Corinthians 9, and that Paul does not there seem to be citing a written text (let alone "Scripture") in citing the Jesus tradition, I would tend toward the latter view.

This leads to one further point. In my view both Paul's gospel and his Jesus tradition were primarily orally communicated. The "receive" (paralambanō) and "deliver" (paradidōmi) terms Paul uses for pre-Pauline tradition referred to the oral tradition in Pharisaic circles, not the written Scripture, and so when Paul uses those terms he is most likely referring to oral tradition. Also, Paul's language which accompanies his "gospel" language points to an orally communicated gospel: the language of "proclaim publicly" (kērussō), "proclaim the good news" (euangelizō), and similar terms is language of oral communication, as is the "word" language which functions as a virtual synonym of "gospel" for Paul (e.g. "word of God"). This is, interestingly enough, evident from the reference in 1 Corinthians 9:14 noted above: the "gospel" is a message which the Jesus-followers "proclaim" (katangellō), not a written source from which Paul gets this Jesus tradition.

In view of these and other considerations, while one cannot rule out Pauline access to any written forms of Jesus tradition (testimony books? blocks of tradition such as an eschatological discourse?), I think it most likely that Paul primarily accessed the Jesus tradition orally, including some oral Jesus tradition which eventually made its way into Luke's Gospel. Also, Paul's gospel, however much it could be expounded in his written letters (e.g. Rom), was primarily an orally communicated message, communicated through his preaching and teaching (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-11).

missing the csbs

The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting is on right now, actually almost over. It is so close I could almost touch it (it's in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - you're supposed to say "Gesundheit!"), but after spending money we didn't have to go down to Lethbridge for the regional SBL meeting (okay, for a mini-holiday), and in light of my current push to complete my dissertation (I'm on the last few pages!), I decided it would be best to stay home this round. (Wow, that was a complicated sentence!) Next year it's in Vancouver, not quite as close but close enough that I'll try to make it there.

In the meantime, watch for updates from bloggers like Tyler Williams and Phil Harland who are in Saskatoon for these meetings and will surely give some sort of update when they return.

snowblog: a mess in may

I've just spent the last hour or more attempting to save our trees and hedges and cleaning up our yard. We typically get at least one good snow in May, and they are usually far worse than any during the winter or early spring. The snow is so wet and sticky that it can cause major damage to trees, which in turn can damage power lines and houses.

This one is a doozy, and it's not done yet. So far we've had a tree split in our backyard, a neighbour's tree topple into our backyard over the swingset, and we have a large tree limb hanging from a power line waiting for the power company to deal with it. The pictures tell the story.

Update (05/29/07): Here's a pic from a couple days after the storm, after we'd spent a few hours cleaning up fallen trees. And this is just one of our piles for the wood chipper, and not even the biggest one (it was just the best picture).

latest review of biblical literature

The latest RBL postings include the following New Testament-related items of interest:

Thomas J. Kraus and Tobias Nicklas, eds. New Testament Manuscripts: Their Texts and Their World.
Reviewed by Christopher Tuckett

Stanley E. Porter, ed. Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament.
Reviewed by Michael Labahn and Gert J. Steyn

Stanley H. Skreslet. Picturing Christian Witness: New Testament Images of Disciples in Mission.
Reviewed by Dirk G. van der Merwe

Update (05/23/07): I can't believe I missed this in my scan of the new reviews, but I did... As some British bloke noted in the comments, there's also this cracking review by Mark Goodacre:

Zev Garber, ed. Mel Gibson's Passion: The Film, the Controversy, and Its Implications.
Reviewed by Mark Goodacre

a good summary of my dissertation

Instead of producing a multi-post series summarizing my dissertation, I should have waited and just pointed to this cartoon from PhDComics.com...

latest journal of theological studies

The latest issue of the Journal of Theological Studies has some New Testament-related items, including Bruce Longenecker on "On Israel's God and God's Israel: Assessing Supersessionism in Paul," and Andrei Orlov on "The Heir of Righteousness and the King of Righteousness: The Priestly Noachic Polemics in 2 Enoch and the Epistle to the Hebrews." The full issue can be accessed here: Volume 58, Number 1, April 2007.

event and interpretation in the gospel

Events do not carry within themselves their own interpretation; an interpretation is produced by human beings in their attempt to fit their experience of the events into their broader understanding of reality. However, the nature of events and the particular historical and social context within which they occur, provide both the impetus to interpret the events as significant as well as constraints on what may be considered an appropriate interpretation of the event. This is because these elements must themselves be part of the coherent interpretation—the explanatory narrative—of the event.

This means that there were not all that many options available to the immediate followers of Jesus for understanding their experiences of personally interacting with the crucified Jesus a few days after his death. These experiences, by virtue of their nature and circumstances, compelled the first followers of Jesus to discern some larger significance in these and other recent events. That Jesus had been a first century Galilean Jew, acclaimed as a prophet and even Messiah; that he had been crucified in Jerusalem at Passover as a treasonous brigand at the hands of the Romans, following conflicts with the Jewish religious elite; that he had been buried in a tomb—these factors and more provided constraints on how the immediate followers of Jesus would interpret their post-crucifixion experiences of a living Jesus. These constraints made several general interpretations virtually inevitable for these early followers of Jesus: some sort of “bodily” resurrection of Jesus; some sort of divine vindication of Jesus as prophet and Messiah; conversely, some sort of divine subversion of the values of Roman society and the Jewish elite; some sort of divine significance for Jesus’ otherwise shameful crucifixion; and so on. Thus, for those holding to the testimony of the first followers of Jesus regarding their witness of the living crucified Jesus, there was an unavoidable general unity of interpretation compelled by and constrained by the witnessed events within their context: "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures... and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4; cf. v. 11).

Certainly, other explanations could be offered, and indeed, from early on many other stories were told to explain these events. The standard Roman explanation was undoubtedly that Jesus was crucified to preserve a fragile Roman peace in Judea, and that any subsequent events were bothersome consequences of dealing with a persistently superstitious Jewish sect. The Jewish elite likely held that Jesus was a troublemaker who was attempting to lead Israel astray, and that they were therefore justified in pressuring the Roman authorities for his crucifixion. Interestingly, these stories (especially the Roman one) are similar to the stories historians have most often produced in critically reconstructing the death of Jesus. But these interpretations could not have been generated by the immediate followers of Jesus; they were too close to the events, too influenced by their personal experiences, too intimately acquainted with Jesus of Nazareth and his life context, to offer such explanations.

Event and interpretation were thus bound up together with one another from the very first. And so, one cannot strip away the interpretation and get back to the event; the event itself is past, and the only access we have to the event is through the interpretation—the explanatory narrative—provided by the first Christians. We do not even have any other early interpretations at hand; no “official” first century Roman or Jewish explanations of Jesus’ death have survived. And the explanatory narrative offered by the earliest followers of Jesus is not the language of historiography, providing a critical reconstruction to explain a body of presuppositionally and methodologically approved historical data. Nor is it the language of logic, providing a rational chain or cluster of arguments based upon established premises. No, this is the language of testimony, the story of experiential witness that asks for faith. This is not to say that such testimony is beyond the reach of historical investigation or logical consistency. Rather, it is to say that such testimony cannot be reduced to history or logic. The gospel—as event and interpretation—is a call to faith: faith in the messenger, faith in the message, faith in the One to whom the message points.

happy birthday, amelia!

Happy ninth birthday to our beautiful Amelia! May this year be filled with joy as you walk with Jesus.

hounded by pachelbel's canon

In my late teens I played violin in a string quartet, and we would often get gigs at weddings. Five times out of ten (well, maybe half the time) we would be asked to play Pachelbel's Canon in D. As a violinist, I enjoyed playing it (especially trying to make up funky new melody lines for it). But I always felt sorry for the cellist: an eight note pattern repeated ad nauseam until everyone else stopped playing.

With that past experience in view, you can imagine how much I enjoyed this piece (HT: Angela Roskop Erisman):

good writing

There are some excellent contributions in the blogosphere to a discussion about good writing, particularly in academic contexts. My mischievous defense of big words (sparked in part by some of the comments in this discussion) should not detract from the excellent points made by several bloggers. Some samples: Angela Roskop Erisman, Loren Rosson, Mark Goodacre, April DeConick.

in defense of big words

Big words have been taking a hit lately. In a society which worships the twin gods of speedy convenience and pragmatic utility, big words are finding themselves persecuted by the priests of proper discourse, victims of a verbal pogrom based on size discrimination.

But it seems to me that this attack on big words is rather unfair, or at the very least it is in dire need of some subtle nuancing. Allow me to come to the defense of these page-eating, mind-consuming, tongue-twisting behemoths.

1) Big words have a raison d'être. There is a valid reason for the existence of many, if not most, big words: the small words just don't cut it in some situations. "Pericope" is not the same thing as "passage" ("pericope" can connote a discrete unit of text with recognizable literary indicators which mark the boundaries of the unit). "Practice" just doesn't hit the same semantic target as "praxis" ("praxis" has the distinctive nuance of "application of theory or abstract knowledge"). And what shall I use for an adjectival form of "salvation"? "Soteriological" is fine in some contexts, but it can imply a systematic theological sort of approach which may not work in other contexts. "Salvific" does the job just fine for me, thank you very much.

2) Big words are fun. Big words roll around the tongue, echo in the ear, reverberate in the brain, lingering longer than their smaller counterparts. They can be a sort of intellectual, aesthetic adventure. Admit it: didn't your spirit just soar at my use of "raison d'être" above? (And notice that I very kindly defined it for you in the next sentence.) Or take the following two phrases: a) "brief bubbling" and b) "ephemeral effervescence." Which would you rather say? Which would you rather hear? Choose for yourself, but I'll trade aesthetic adventure for perceived pretension as often as not.

So what should be done about big words? First, they should be spared from extinction. A little tolerance would be appreciated, allowing them a place within our pluralistic society. Second, they should be used appropriately. If I need to get at the nuances of "pericope," "praxis," or "salvific," I should use those words and let the offended parties ignore the subtleties at their peril. But if "passage" would work just as well as "pericope," than "passage" it should be. Unless... Third, they should be enjoyed, at times in spite of their lack of utilitarian necessity. The world is a much more enjoyable place for the use of words like "ephemeral" and "effervescence." May their tribe increase--in usage, if not in size.

jerry falwell's passing

I never knew Jerry Falwell. I never knew him personally, and my Canadian evangelicalism hardly intersected with his particular brand of American evangelicalism. If I knew him at all, it was only as an icon, a symbol of the kind of evangelical I did not want to be. But Jerry Falwell has had an impact on my life, albeit indirectly. I know several people who have graduated from Liberty University, good friends and colleagues who were shaped in positive, powerful ways by the school Falwell built.

I suspect that when what he has built passes through the fire, there will be some gold glittering among the charred chaff, probably more gold than many of his critics will produce (1 Cor 3:10-15).

For more on Jerry Falwell and his passing, see the New York Times, CNN, and Christianity Today.

canada world hockey champions

Back on top! Canada completed an undefeated World Hockey Championship tournament by beating Finland for the gold medal:

Canada wins world hockey championship
CBC Sports

Canada capped off a remarkable world hockey championship run by winning the gold on Sunday, with a 4-2 victory over Finland.

Rick Nash scored two of the goals, carrying a Finnish defender on his back on a breakaway goal to seal the game with just 1:06 left at Arena Khodynka in Moscow.

Nash, Eric Staal and Colby Armstrong had staked Canada to a three-goal lead before Finland rallied to dominate the third period and make it 3-2.

Nash finished with six goals and five assists and was named the tournament's most valuable player.

"I don't have to tell you that Rick Nash probably took over this tournament for us," said forward Mike Cammalleri. "He stepped up and he was huge.

"That was some of the best hockey I've ever seen played."
Continue Article

Canada did not lose in the tournament, beating nine separate countries by a combined score of 41-21. The largely unheralded group was one of the youngest professional teams Canada had ever assembled for the event.

[...]

latest journal for the study of the new testament

The latest issue of JSNT is online, full-text for subscribers, abstracts for all: 1 June 2007, Volume 29, No. 4. It includes two conversations, one related to the question "Why was Jesus crucified, but his followers were not?" Contributors to this include Justin Meggett, Paula Fredriksen, and Joel Marcus. The other conversation is on the unity of Luke and Acts, with contributions by Michael Bird, Kavin Rowe, and Andrew Gregory.

herod's tomb found

The word from Hebrew University in Jerusalem is that the tomb of Herod the Great has been found at Herodium (HT: Jim West):

Hebrew University: Herod's tomb and grave found at Herodium
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Staff

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced Monday night that it has uncovered the grave and tomb of King Herod, who ruled Judea for the Roman empire from circa 37 BCE.

According to a press release from the Hebrew University, the news of the archeological find at Herodium was to be announced Tuesday morning at a special news conference, and was to be kept secret until then, but the discovery by Haaretz of the story had led to the premature announcement.

The tomb was discovered by Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer, who is considered one of the leading experts on King Herod. Netzer has conducted archeological digs at Herodium since 1972 in an attempt to locate the grave and tomb.

[...]

Undoubtedly more details will surface over the next few days. Cool stuff!

Update (05/08/07): The Hebrew University press release is available here.

francis beckwith catholicizes, resigns ets presidency

While I was gone to Lethbridge, Francis Beckwith, president of the Evangelical Theological Society, returned to his Roman Catholic roots and resigned his presidency. (It's amazing what can happen in just two days...) You can read his own account of his decision here.

I have few comments to make on this at this point, just to say that this sort of thing should not have been all that surprising, given that (a) there has been some significant Evangelical-Catholic dialogue going on for some time now involving some prominent evangelicals, (b) a significant segment of the evangelical population has had a growing interest in returning to historic forms of Christianity, and (c) the ETS doctrinal statement (the only non-academic requirement for membership) is not distinctively Protestant. (In fact, it's not even distinctively "evangelical," in the sense that it has nothing distinctively related to the evangel, the action of God in Christ for the deliverance of his creation from sin. It abstracts the doctrine of the Trinity and a partial doctrine of Scripture away from the gospel, thus losing the necessary organic connection of these doctrines to the gospel. But that's a subject for another time...)

Update (05/08/07): Beckwith has followed up with an account of his decision to resign as a member of the ETS. Also, the ETS has responded with this letter.

Update (05/09/07): Christianity Today has a follow-up interview with Beckwith.

back from lethbridge

Our trip to Lethbridge was a wonderful success.

My paper went well. It was well-received by everyone there and positively contributed to the discussion. It is clear that it does need some work before I can feel able to give it any wider public exposure, but I'm not sure when or if I will have the time and the will to return to it. I was reviewing Paul Anderson's idea of "interfluentiality" between John and the Synoptic Gospels, the idea that there was a process of bi-directional influences between the Johannine tradition and the Synoptic Gospel traditions at the level of orality, and that these interactions followed discernible, distinctive patterns related to each Gospel tradition. Essentially I questioned the basic concept of distinct Markan, Q, Lukan, and Matthean streams of pre-Gospel oral tradition, and my question found echoes in the other reviews and in the ensuing discussion.

I also got a surprise treat on Friday night. While picking up my registration packet at the University on Friday, Larissa noticed a poster for a concert in which my former violin teacher (of about a dozen years) and his son (with whom I played in a string quartet for a few years) were performing. So she sent me off to the concert that night, and I enjoyed listening to them perform Haydn and Beethoven string quartets and a Brahms sextet. I joined them for the post-concert reception, and we had a great time reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives.

To top off the weekend, we spent some much-needed time together as a family. We toured around all my old haunts in Lethbridge and Coaldale, showing the kids where I lived and played and went to school. On Saturday afternoon we went down to Indian Battle Park in the river valley, playing on the playgrounds, skipping rocks on the river, climbing up the stairs to the observation point, watching a train cross the mile-long bridge--all the stuff I did so often in that very same park when I was a kid. What a treat!

off to lethbridge

My marking is finally done, and I'm off to Lethbridge for the next couple of days. I will be attending the Society of Biblical Literature Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting at my alma mater, the University of Lethbridge (picture above). I'm presenting a paper at the conference, a review of Paul Anderson's theory of "interfluentiality" for the relationship between John and the Synoptics. If all goes well I will post the paper online when I get back.

But beyond that I won't likely get to much of the conference. This is a sort of mini-holiday for me with my family, going back to my home turf of Lethbridge and surrounding area. So, most of my time there will be spent with my family, showing the kids where I grew up (the Big House, Murder Ball Alley--you know, all the familiar haunts) and having as much fun together as we can pack into two days.

a canadian moment in afghanistan

Canadians love their hockey. If there's any doubt about that, this story will vouch for it:

Hillier takes Stanley Cup, former NHLers to Afghanistan

Temperatures may be pushing 40 C, but all thoughts are on hockey in Kandahar Wednesday as Canada's chief of defence staff arrived with 19 former NHL players and the Stanley Cup.

Gen. Rick Hiller arrived at the main Kandahar base with the former pros, who included Bob Probert, Dave (Tiger) Williams, Ron Tugnutt, Rejean Houle and Yvon Lambert.

Along with showing off the Stanley Cup, the group plans to play a couple of ball hockey games with some of the more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers stationed at the base and get a tour of the region.

[...]

Playing and watching ball hockey is an important ritual for the Canadian troops in Afghanistan, with the teams playing for the Kandahar Cup, a pint-sized version of Lord Stanley's coveted trophy.

Last month, the owner of the Ottawa Senators visited the base, donating $50,000 worth of hockey gear. Eugene Melnyk brought hockey sticks, pads and jerseys for the soldiers.

[...]

Update (05/03/07): A follow-up story: Former pros defeat soldiers in Kandahar ball hockey game.

latest biblical studies carnival

Chris Heard has done an excellent job with this month's Carnival, turning a few loaves of hand-picked posts into a feast of biblical studies blogging: Biblical Studies Carnival XVII. He notes my series describing my dissertation with this statement: "If you've been following the saga of Michael Pahl’s dissertation, you’ll want to bookmark the post in which he indexes the entire series." That's a good description: a "saga." It implies a long and arduous adventure (which my dissertation certainly has been) with a satisfying conclusion (which gives me hope!).

bruce fisk biblioblogger of the month

Bruce Fisk, author of Crossings and Associate Professor of New Testament at Westmont College, is the Biblioblogs.com Blogger of the Month for May. You can check out his interview here: Blogger of the Month for May 2007.

latest novum testamentum

The latest issue of Novum Testamentum is now online for subscribers, with abstracts available for all: Volume 49, Number 2, 2007. Articles include "Jesus as Archelaus in the Parable of the Pounds (Lk. 19:11-27)" by Brian Schultz, " What Did Jesus Mean by την αρχην in John 8:25?" by Chrys Caragounis, and "Diamonds in the Rough: A Reply to Christopher Stanley Concerning the Reader Competency of Paul's Original Audiences" by Brian J. Abasciano.