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The New Testament and the People of God

May 30, 2011 in Scripture, Theology as Life, Wright with 0 Comments

One of my goals this summer is to get as far as I can (while still taking RTS classes) in Wight’s Christian Origins and the Question of God series. As I am currently in Part Two of his first volume, The New Testament and the People of God, I thought it would be interesting to post Wright’s goal for this first volume (and what I will spend much of the next month thinking through):

This first volume, then, in one sense introduces the entire project at hand, but in another stands by itself. It argues for a particular way of doing history, theology, and literary study in relation to the questions of the first century; it argues for a particular way of understanding first-century Judaism and first-century Christianity; and it offers a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word ‘god’ within the thought-forms of these groups, and the ways in which such historical and theological study might be of relevance for the modern world.

Exciting isn’t it?

Quick thoughts from my Justification paper

January 3, 2011 in Scripture, Seminary, Theology, Theology as Life, Wright with 0 Comments

I am still working on the Baptism and the Nicene Creed article, there has been too much good reading to pass up! Just wanted to share a quick thought from the paper I just wrote on Justification and New Perspectives on Paul:

The main banner of the New Perspectives has been reading Paul the way he intended to be read. At various times throughout the twentieth century, that meant ensuring that Paul was read in his Jewish context. Perhaps in the twenty-first century it means protecting against the overcorrection towards which the Church is often so prone to bend.

The new NIV

November 1, 2010 in Scripture, Theology, Theology as Life with 4 Comments

The new New International Version of the Bible is available online today, and will go on sale in early 2011. This edition will replace the most recent revision to the NIV (1984) as well as the TNIV, which many para-church ministries (including Young Life) adopted as their preferred translation.

Check out the text over at Bible Gateway, and see an introduction video on the new version here.

(Thanks to (NOT) Brian Leport for the heads up, even though he is a Giants fan…)

[Update]: As I wrote this (NOT)Brian put up a few quick observations, anyone else see anything of note? Anyone plan to change their primary version to the NIV?

[Update 2]: Brian’s name is scratched out because:

1. His Giants comment

2. It was actually his fellow blogger Robert Jimenez who wrote the post! Sorry Robert!

When Scripture is Confusing

May 21, 2010 in Scripture, Theology as Life with 0 Comments

One of the great things about Scripture is that anyone can pick up the Bible and read and understand the redemptive plan God has for his people. The Westminster Confession of Faith affirms (ch.1 section 7) that:

those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

That doesn’t mean that there are no confusing sections, chapters or books. It makes sense that when an infinite God reveals Himself to finite man there can be some confusion. So where do you go when you come across a passage that does not make sense? This is a short list of places I turn when I don’t understand Scripture.

  1. Try a Study Bible. This is the Bible, along with brief commentary from (usually) respected Biblical scholars and pastors. I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible.
  2. Find a Good Commentary. There are thousands of commentaries available. I would recommend speaking with your pastor, a professor or seminary student (who knows who to ask), and checking out review sites such as BestCommentaries. There are at least two “levels” of commentaries: ones that focus on the whole Bible and ones that focus on a specific book. If you are looking to buy a commentary, maybe start with a respected one on the Whole Bible, just the Old Testament, or just the New Testament. If you still want to look deeper at a specific passage or book, look for a good commentary on that specific book.
  3. Find a Good Sermon or Lecture. There is a plethora of solid sermons and lectures available for free on almost any topic or passage you can think of. If looking for a sermon, I recommend two places. One is John Piper’s ministry website, where they have archived thousands of sermons from the past 20+ years all available for free. The second is Matt Chandler’s sermon archive available at The Village Church website. Both of these men have had a significant influence on my understanding of Scripture. If you want to learn even more, I also highly recommend listening to lectures available on iTunes U from seminaries across the country, including RTS and DTS.
  4. As an added bonus, as I was working on this post The Village Church put out a list of recommended resources as well. You can access it here.

(Photo licensed under Creative Commons and taken by Carson Coots)