We just finished our fantastic week-long course on Galatians with Dr. Tom Schreiner. What a blast! And thoroughly exhausting. Chapters 2 and 3 seem to be the toughest, and I've got sections of commentaries by Dunn, Witherington, Fung, Longenecker, F.F. Bruce, Burton, along with articles by Doug Moo, Schreiner, and Andrew Cowan to digest. I also plan to get N.T. Wright's Paul in Fresh Perspective from the library, and some of Frank Thielman's works. If I can get an ILL copy of Ciampa's Ph.D. work in time, I'll try to skim that too (Thanks for the heads up, Johnathan). I'd appreciate any … [Read more...] about Galatians and the New Perspective
Children Without Sex?
Carl Djerassi, inventor of the first oral contraceptive (which paved the way for sex without children), heralds a Huxleyesque vision of children without sex. Says Djerassi, a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University: "It is my own prediction that within the next 30 to 50 years in the Western world, many women, when young, will bank their eggs or ovarian tissue, have them frozen, and use them when they feel the time is right for them to have a child. It will become commonplace." I've journaled a few thoughts on this, but will without judgement for the time being. One initial concern is … [Read more...] about Children Without Sex?
Simon Gathercole and Second Temple Judaism
I previously mentioned my upcoming exegesis paper on Galatians, as part of my intensive course in a few weeks. Well, no sooner had I chosen Galatians 3:10-14 as my passage as a classmate informed me that those verses are the most hotly contested in the entire book. Oh well. They seem to be crucial for the issue of how salvation by faith relates to works and the law. I found a very helpful article by Simon J. Gathercole, lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. It is called, "Torah, Life, and Salvation: Leviticus 18:5 in Early Judaism and the New Testament." (Leviticus … [Read more...] about Simon Gathercole and Second Temple Judaism
Different Types of Singles?
My wife and I recently wrote on singleness in With One Voice. Our interest in the topic was rekindled with Pastor John Piper preaching a series of messages on marriage (with his last two sermons being more related to singleness). He also pointed to a provocative, exegetical study by Barry Danyluk. All of this got us thinking about whether there might be different kinds of adult single Christians in the church today. The following graph (I am an engineer) is the fruit of our musings. We welcome any and all feedback on it, as we recognize that any one-page graph necessarily involved making a … [Read more...] about Different Types of Singles?
Hats Off To Mark Dever and Crossway
Mark Dever’s The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (Crossway, 2006) has been honored with the 2007 Christianity Today Award of Merit for Biblical Studies. Christianity Today International sponsors these annual awards to recognize the most influential contributions to Christian literature made in a given year. There were nearly three hundred submissions from over forty publishers. Crossway president Dr. Lane Dennis notes, “The Message of the Old Testament is a tremendous resource for understanding and applying the teachings of the Old Testament. With remarkable clarity, Dr. Dever … [Read more...] about Hats Off To Mark Dever and Crossway
Our Wedding Vows
A couple friends over the last few years have asked Marni and I for our wedding vows. I asked Marni if she'd mind if I posted them. Her reply was excellent: "Are you sure you want all that extra accountability?" Well, since we're already accountable to God and those who attended our wedding, we figure it can't be that much scarier to add you. Here they are -- you'll recognize that they are a mixture of the traditional vows with some of our own thoughts. I also should add that we are indebted to Pastor Tom Steller and his wife Julie, who were willing to share their vows with us before we … [Read more...] about Our Wedding Vows