1 Peter 4:14-16 says:  “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name” (NASB). The word translated in the NASB as “troublesome meddlers” is ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος. BDAG says that the Cynic preachers claimed to be overseers (ἐπίσκοποι) of all men — in other words, moralists, sco... [read more]

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Here. See also my sermons on James (both MP3 and text are available).

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As a fellow adherent of the “two kingdom” theory, I applaud a good deal of what Scott Clark is trying to say here. I agree with him that there is such a thing as natural law inscribed on the conscience and that it is binding on all men in all ages. But I disagree with these statements: It is the creational (and biblical) office of the magistrate to assert and protect creational/natural boundaries by promoting civil peace and justice … It is the creational function of the state to preserve order and require humans to live within their creational boundaries … The mag... [read more]

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Here. The epistle to the Hebrews has the most elegant Greek style of any NT book. There are a thousand little pleasures to be enjoyed for those reading it in Greek that are otherwise inaccessible to those reading in translation.  For example, it is impossible for a translation to capture the alliteration of the opening words - polymeros kai polytropos palai (note the four p’s). Then there is the beautiful period (a paragraph-long Greek sentence) that comprises 1:1-4, surpassed in the NT only by Luke’s opening paragraph in his Gospel. Hebrews also employs numerous styli... [read more]

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Answered here.

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Many Bible-believing Christians believe it would be a sin to vote for Obama because of his strong pro-choice position. “Don’t bloody your hands by casting a vote for Obama” they cry. Even noted Christian philosophers argue that to vote for Obama would be to engage in “material cooperation” with mass murder. I don’t think I need to post more links to prove that this overwrought rhetoric is rife on the web.  I understand the strong biblical convictions that lie behind this way of thinking. I fully sympathize with the passion for justice that animate... [read more]

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I preached a sermon by that title on October 12. You can get the MP3 here. My thesis was that we do not confess our sins in order to be forgiven, but to have the once-for-all work of Christ applied afresh to our hearts and consciences, thus restoring our assurance and fellowship with God. It may sound a bit unconventional to say that we do not confess our sins in order to be forgiven, but if we believe in the the doctrines of (a) propitiation (1 John 2:2), (b) justification (Rom 5:1), and (c) union with Christ (Eph 1:4-6), then it follows that all our sins - past, present, and future - ar... [read more]

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I am convinced that the two-source hypothesis explaining the origins of the synoptic Gospels is basically correct. The two-source hypothesis is that Matthew and Luke independently relied on two sources, Mark and Q (= all the material common to Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark), which, together with additional material, they reworked to fashion their own theological narratives of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.  But there are different ways of conceiving of Q. Some scholars think of Q merely as oral tradition. Others think it was a written document, merely ... [read more]

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Seyoon Kim has informed me that his new book was released on October 8 and that he just received his author’s copies. As soon as I can get a hold of a copy I’ll read it and review it here. Here’s the description on the Eerdmans site: The slogan “Paul and the Empire” is much in vogue in New Testament scholarship today. But did Paul truly formulate his gospel in antithesis to the Roman imperial cult and ideology and seek to subvert the Empire? In Christ and Caesar Seyoon Kim first examines five epistles of Paul exegetically and shows how the dominant anti-imperial inter... [read more]

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If my previous post piqued your interest in studying the LXX, here are some good resources to get you started. The LXX (or Greek Bible) is an exciting field that is burgeoning these days, so there are a lot of great resources. First and foremost, read and digest Jobes & Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint (Baker, 2000). Several other introductory books on the LXX have recently become available (e.g., Jennifer Dines, Natalio Fernandez Marcos, Martin Hengel), but this one is the best by far. Sidney Jellicoe is actually pretty good too, but it was originally published in 1968 and the... [read more]

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