1 Samuel, by Ralph W. Klein, 2nd edition, Word Biblical Commentary (Thomas Nelson, 2008).
This is hardly changed from the 1983 edition, but Dr. Klein made minor revisions and updated the references and bibliographies.
Architecture and Utopia in the Temple Era, by Michael Chyutin, translated from the Hebrew by Richard Flantz, Library of Second Temple Studies, no. 58 (T & T Clark, 2006).
Chyutin has published four other books, two in English and two in Hebrew. This book is a remarkable treatment of the Tabernacle and Temples, including Ezekiel’s. The penultimate chapter is titled “Jewish Design Thinking in the First and Second Temple Periods” and the eighth and last chapter is a conclusion related to the book’s title. Appendix A is “Number Mysticism in the Ancient World and in the Scriptures”; Appendix B is “A Modular and Arithmetological Analysis of the Temples.”
The series was formerly the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series. The series editor is Lester L. Grabbe and the founding editor was James H. Charlesworth.
Calvinist Humor in American Literature, by Michael Dunne (Louisiana State University Press, 2007).
The first chapter is titled simply “Calvinist Humor” and the author says he has been interested in it for “many years” and despite “most people who hear the term for the first time” wanting to point out that it’s “an oxymoron, right?” Chapters two through nine then deal with, respectively: American Puritans, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Faulkner, Hemingway, Nathanael West, and Flannery O’Connor. The tenth and last chapter is titled “Calvinist Humor Revisited.”
Changing Pastors: A Resource for Pastoral Transitions, by Thomas P. Sweetser and Mary Benet McKinney (Sheed & Ward, 1998).
Although this Catholic publisher and the authors (a Jesuit and a Benedictine nun) could indicate diminished relevance to Protestant churches, this is not the case. The bibliography is but one immediate indication, as are the degrees and positions of the authors. Although the text’s focus is the setting of a Catholic parish and a diocese, the insights and suggestions as well as principles seem to have much broader application.
Derhetorizing Paul: A Dynamic Perspective on Pauline Theology and the Law, by Lauri Thurén (Mohr, 2000; Trinity Press International, 2002).
The author is Senior Research Fellow at the Academy of Finland and has written Argument and Theology in 1 Peter. The author believes that Paul and his listeners would find modern Pauline scholarship to be curious. There is too much “scholarly ignorance of ancient rhetorical conventions” and also “a static attitude toward the text itself.” Just one example of a misinterpreted text is 1 Thess. 1:8 (“In every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to speak a word”), involving an expression which was “never meant by Paul to be taken at face value.” Regarding the Law, “Paul’s exaggerated statements correspond to his hyperbolic way of thinking. Paul’s search for consistency on the Old Testament, Thurén claims, was a major reason for his revolt against the Law.” In the preface, Thurén expresses gratitude to M. Hengel, H. Hübner, H. Räisänen, E. Sanders, and L. Hartman, and dedicates the book to the Orthodox students taught at Joensuu University, Finland, and the Ingrian students at Keltto Lutheran Seminary, Russia.
How To Be Evangelical Without Being Conservative, by Roger E. Olson (Zondervan, 2008).
Chapter titles all have “without” in them, such as “Building Character without Moralism”; “Celebrating America without Nationalism”; “Seeking Truth without Certainty”; “Transforming Culture without Domination”; “Accepting without Affirming Flawed People”; etc.
Introduction to Youth Ministry, by John M. Dettoni (Zondervan, 1993).
The author taught for years at Fuller Seminary and is director of Chrysalis Ministries, Inc., an international organization for Christian education, evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.
John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life, by Herman J. Selderhuis, translated by Albert Gootjes (IVP Academic, 2009).
Frank James says: “This is simply one of the best biographies of Calvin I have seen” and “For all who are curious about Calvin, Selderhuis’s book is the place to begin.” The author is, according to Calvin Seminary’s Lyle Bierma, “one of Europe’s leading Reformation scholars.” Selderhuis also wrote Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms. He is professor of church history and church polity at the Theological University Apeldoorn (Netherlands) and director of the University’s Institute for Reformation Research.
Karl Barth Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. in 31 physical vols. or “fascicles” (T & T Clark, 2009).
This is not a new translation, but rather a Study Edition of the G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance edition (14 physical vols.). For the first time everything—including Latin, Greek, and French within the editorial notes—is in English. The format is more “reader friendly” and minor grammatical and spelling corrections have been made. Indexing has been revised and improved. The page numbers of the old edition are supplied in the margins of this new one (and are placed so that the old edition’s page breaks are indicated). We paid $715 for the 31 volumes, which I wish were hardbacks and also had slightly larger print. But the paper is acid-free and, for that matter, substantial (thick and pliant). The 538-page “Index with Aids for the Preacher” is new, for the original one is “in many ways incorrect and incomplete.” The new one can be used with either edition (see “How to Use the General Index” on page v).
The Law is Not of Faith: Essays on Works and Grace in the Mosaic Covenant, edited by Bryan D. Estelle, J. V. Fesko, and David Van Drunen (P&R, 2009).
Richards Lints compliments this polygraph as a “wonderful, thoughtful, and important set of essays on the relation of the covenant at Sinai to the gospel.” The volume argues that the covenant with Adam was republished in the covenant with Moses at Sinai. Billings, MT PCA pastor Alfred Poirier says this republication of the covenant of works is “a great lost truth of the Reformed faith,” although this “is not an easy book to read for the busy pastor.” Four of the eleven contributors teach at Westminster in CA, three teach at RTS (Jackson, Charlotte, Atlanta), one each teaches at Geneva and Grove City Colleges, and the other two are D. G. Hart and a pastor (Brenton Ferry).
My Father’s World: Meditations on Christianity and Culture, by Philip Graham Ryken (P&R, 2002).
The foreword is by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (for years a member of Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia). Westminster proffessor William Edgar says: “Brilliant reflections on social and ethical issues facing Christians. Neither alarmist nor super-spiritual, but sane, balanced, and full of wisdom. Each of these stands on its own, but the cumulative effect reveals a whole greater even than the sum of the parts.” Our 2009 commencement speaker, Chuck Colson, says: “Articulates a Christian perspective on topics as diverse as evangelism and evolution, shopping and science. Readers will not only gain wisdom from his conclusions, but will also learn to think Christianly.”
Teaching Preaching as a Christian Practice: A New Approach to Homiletical Pedagogy, edited by Thomas G. Long and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale (Westminster/John Knox, 2008).
Long is at Candler School of Theology, Emory U and Tisdale is Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics at Yale. The following is from the back cover.
Preaching’s most able practitioners [an overstatement, because for one thing, the only two from Catholic schools among the 14 contributors are homiletics profs Daniel Harris and Gregory Heille at Aquinas here in St. Louis] gather in this book to call for a radical change in how Christian preaching is taught. Arguing that preaching is a living practice with a long tradition, an identifiable shape, and a broad set of norms and desired outcomes, these scholars propose that teachers initiate their students into the larger practice of preaching—the habits of mind, patterns of action, and ways of being that are integral to the ministry of preaching [I’m happy to say that this sounds not a little like what Covenant does]. The book concludes with designs for a basic preaching course and addresses the question of how preaching courses fit into the larger patterns of seminary curricula.
But is it so radical? The preface itself states (as quoted on the back cover):
Specifically, we are calling homiletics to recognize that preaching is a Christian practice, with a centuries-long tradition. Over the many years, Christian preachers have discovered what is wise, good, and true about preaching, and new preachers are the heirs of this wisdom. This Homiletical tradition is not static, of course, but evolving and changing. Still, there is a fine and rich tradition, to which new preachers both need and deserve to be introduced.
The Text of the New Testament, by J. Harold Greenlee (Hendrickson, 2008).
The author is now a retired professor of Greek, a former missionary, and an international translation consultant for Wycliffe. Dallas professor Daniel B. Wallace says this book is “a goldmine of information” but “in non-technical language that’s easy to follow and enjoyable to read.” It offers “an illustrated journey from the pens of the apostles to the printing press and beyond.” It “is refreshing to read such a sane book that rises above the cluttered traffic and confusing signals on the information highway.” I opened the book to page 32 and noticed this:
During the past few years some individuals have made much of the fact that Syriac is closely related to Aramaic. Claims have been made that the Syriac New Testament is the “genuine” New Testament, written in the language that Jesus spoke. […] More recently, a MS of the Syriac Peshitto was carried around the United States with great ceremony (one state governor took his oath of office with one hand on an English Bible and the other hand resting on this MS!).
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