New Book by Seyoon Kim on Paul and Luke

Chris Tilling shared a while ago some books he got for review.  One that I took interest in and would like to read is Seyoon Kim’s recent work: Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke (Eerdmans, 2008). 

I’ve read one other book by Seyoon Kim and it was really good, though pretty heavy in its academic approach – it’s not light reading.  It is Paul and the New Perspective: Second thoughts on the origin of Paul’s Gospel (Eerdmans, 2001).  In this work Kim dialogues with James Dunn on issues related the New Perspective on Paul and just how and when did Paul formulate his gospel.  For the NPP folks and others, they see a progression in the development of Paul’s gospel from his Damascus conversion to his writing of Romans (one of his last letters).   Kim argues otherwise and asserts Paul got his gospel message nearly instantly (and completely) at the moment of his Damascus Road conversion.

Now, in this book, Kim takes on everyone’s beloved Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright.   Wright leads the way in arguing that much of Paul’s writings are anti-imperialistic in their tones.   Kim takes on Wright and his NPP cohorts and challenges the notions that Paul is as strongly anti-imperialistic as Wright makes him out to be. 

I know Gordon Fee takes a similar position as Wright – he spoke at a Chi-Alpha Retreat once right after his work on Philippians and talked some about Paul’s use of κυριος (Lord) and how it was menat to be in contrast to the Roman usage of καισαρ (Caesar)and also that the Caesars, with their self-imposed diety status (the Imperial Cult and Ideology), insisted the people refer to them as “Lord.”  Thus, the implication that any claim that “Jesus is Lord” (over and against the Caesars) is anti-imperialistic.   The wonder was, how could a crucified messiah figure be Lord over and against the young robust Caesars of the Roman Empire?

Here are Chris’ thoughts:

Kim argues, against Wright, Crossan and co, that an anti-imperial interpretation is actually unlikely. I look forward to reading this exciting contribution and having my own views challenged. It simply makes sense to me that some of Paul’s important language would have naturally struck cords in people’s minds concerning the empire, and that this was no accident on Paul’s part. Kim may just change my mind on how, or even whether, I see this happening. Of course, he may not and I am not altogether convinced of the rather mathematical approach he takes to the Damascus Road experience and Paul’s theology, but Kim is a scholar of considerable standing so I expect to be challenged and to learn a lot reading this new book.

Here is the product description from 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 interpretation is actually difficult to sustain.

Next, he examines the Lukan writings (Luke-Acts) to see how Luke talks about the encounters of Paul and other gospel preachers with Roman imperialism.  Kim explores why it is that Luke makes no effort to present Christ’s redemption as materialized in terms of political liberation.  Finally, Kim compares the exaltation Christologies of Luke, Revelation, Paul, and Hebrews and inquires about the hermeneutical possibility of developing a political Christology in our present-day context.

This sounds like some pretty heavy stuff!  In my opinion, more folks need to pay attention to Kim’s work on Paul.

C.S. Lewis on the Divinity of Christ

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a good moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.  But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

C. S. Lewis – Mere Christianity

Two themes of 1 John

As I’ve mentioned in the past I am working through the Letters of John with our congregation, or, those who come on Sundays.  We are up to chapter 4 and will be covering 1-6 this week.   We took off four weeks for Advent and focused on preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord.  But now that that is over, I wanted to do a review sermon to get people caught up to where we left off on 1 John before getting back into it.  Well, I have been reading it quite a bit and have also been browsing various commentaries to get other perspectives through the Amazon reader feature.  For myself, I made a discovery (something that’s always been there, and someone else probably already noted; I rarely come up with things all on my own) in meditating on 1 John and putting together some things I have been reading and thinking about.

I am finding there are two major themes that could effectively serve as hinges on which the teachings of 1 John hang.  I also figured these two themes could serve as balances on a scale since the first theme is in 1 John 1:5 and the second theme is in 1 John 4:16b (also noted in verse 8).   These to themes together provide the balance for living a life in proper relationship to God and to one another in Christian community.

The first is, as noted in 1 John 1:5, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.  This truth comes up early in John’s letter.  Light and darkness in the Johannine corpus have to do with truth and falsehood, life and death, reality and deception, purity and impurity, etc.  John here is communicating a very significant truth about God: that he is pure light, life, truth, and reality.   This statement stands in stark contrast to what can be said about John’s opponents the false teachers who were in every sense, impure, full of falsehood, and deceptive.  Their way is the way of death.

John’s letter then flows from this theme and focuses on ethical living in the light of fact that God is light.  So he admonishes his readers to “walk in the light” of God.  God is light, live accordingly.  Stop living a sinful life and start living in the light of God.

The second theme is, as noted in 1 John 4:16b, which is at the other end of John’s letter, that God is love.  That God is love means he is the source and the origin of love.  It is not something to which he adheres, but rather it is the essence of his existence and being: God is love.  Therefore, love comes from God and anyone who claims to “know God,” loves God and loves other people.  Why?  Because God is love.  The ultimate display of this truth is that God sent his one and only Son into the world to give his life on the cross for the sins of humanity (1 John 4:9-10), that human beings may be reconciled to God.  This ties into John’s ethical teaching related to God as light.  Verse 11 reads, “Beloved, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”    Then, there is the second part of 1 John 4:16: “God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

This proceeds the love section of 1 John – because God is love, those who know God should love one another.  God loved us by giving his Son to the world.  For us then, love is that act of self sacrifice to put another person in a place of importance above the self.  Love is a kind of selflessness.  Basically you are giving another person the place of priority; you’re putting them in front of you.  In certain instances you, your needs or interest don’t matter, the other person does.  Your own interests get laid aside for the interest of another.  This is also called service – when you serve another person you are loving them.  Jesus said that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45).

This again is in stark contrast to the character of the false teachers.  They did not love.  In fact, they were loveless and selfish.  They had their own agenda and didn’t care one ounce about others.   They may have claimed to know God but they did not in any way love God or love one another.   They did not walk in the light or live in love.

So, as John admonished his readers to “walk in the light” he also admonishes them to “live in love.”

These are the two themes that serve to balance the scales of the Christian life: God is light and God is love.

So the life we are to live in proper relationship to God and one another is to walk in the light and live in love.

is newer necessarily better?

I am learning this isn’t always the case….  especially when it comes to books, theology, general biblical studies, and such.

Well, in some instances, “new research” can be better and lead to improved understandings of the biblical text or other issues related to biblical studies.  Keeping in mind advances in liguistics in conjuction with bliblical languages and translation theory would be one example.

But I think in a lot of cases “new advances” or “new discoveries” aren’t always better advances or discoveries necessarily.  Various archeological findings and such don’t necessarily provide for better understanding of the Bible.  Archeology is one of those neutral things where it doesn’t prove or disprove the Bible one way or the other. 

A while ago, I put up a post about possible commentaries to consider for the Letters of John.  I noted one that is the newest addition to the BECNT series by Yarbrough.  It looks interesting and all but I decided on going with the Sacra Pagina Series one by John Painter.  I think Painter handles the text better and it seems to have a better flow of thought than what I am seeing with Yarbrough though he is helpful at points.   Now, Painter’s text isn’t that much older but he follows the thoughs of many older commentators for 1 John and also has a similar approach to the one taken by John Stott in the Tyndale series.  Painter also handles the Greek well and this was a strong point for me. 

One reviewer for Painter on Amazon made the comment “This doesn’t advance the ball much but… it’s still a good text” (or something like that).  Why is this a problem?  I guess it goes with the whole need for originality thing in the publishing world and the world of biblical studies.  Well, I suppose it had some originality or it wouldn’t have been published.  But even so, what if the biblical text, says what it says, and there isn’t much need to “advance the ball”?   Perhpas, Yarbrough had originality but I think sometimes that doesn’t always cut it.  But that is how I see it.

Newer isn’t always better.

New books

So, I took advantage of a CBD sale and got a couple books for less than $2.00 each!

One is Brevard Childs’ Biblical Theology: A Proposal, Fortress Press, 2002.  It is quite small and compact with the actual text at 80 pages.  It is an adaptation from Child’s larger more significant work: Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflections on the Christian Bible, Augsburg Fortress Press, 1992.    The description at the CBD site reads:

“After presenting a historical overview of biblical theology as it has traditionally been written, Professor Childs discusses issues vital to theological construction that have not been emphasized, such as differences between the Hebrew and Greek canons; the Old and New Testaments; and appropriate subject matter. Includes bibliography.”

This is my first book by Childs or adapted as such.  Perhaps it will motivate me to get the larger work from which it was adapted?

 

The second is an edited compilation of articles on the Bible, Cross, and Mission – called Fanning the Flame: Bible Cross & Mission – Meeting the Challenge in a Changing World, Zondervan 2003).  The description at the CBD website reads:

Titled after the landmark 2003 National Evangelical Anglican Congress – the first such event in fifteen years – Fanning the Flame contains important material written specially for the occasion. Its theme of “Bible, Cross and Mission” explores why each of these themes can rightly claim to be essential to our identity as evangelicals, and why each is crucial in a different way:

The Bible is God’s Word from which we must not stray, by which we must live, and which we must proclaim.

The Cross is God’s gift from which everything we believe and do flows.

Mission is God’s calling to which we are all committed.

It had Christopher Wright so I figured its going to be a good read.

One book Every Pastor/Preacher/Teacher should (must?) have:

Walter Kaiser. Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching. Baker Academic, 1998. 

I know the old joke about Kiaser always moving towards something yet never arriving, and I know Kaiser’s interpretation of 1 Cor 14:34 in this book made it in to Carson’s Exegetical Fallacies book, but nonetheless – you should get this book and read it throughly and carefully and practice the methods of analytical diagramming he puts forth (contectual, syntaxtical, verbal, theological, and homiletical analysis).  If you learn how to do this and do it well, you will excel in both preaching and teaching the Bible.  It is for if you do or do not know the biblical languages.  It is for no matter what theological persuasion you are – it is for learning to understand what a particular biblical text is saying so you can preach or teach accordingly.   Of course there will be points of disagreement but even so, get it, read it, digest it.  Put it into practice.

Let me know thy thoughts!

Colossians 3:12-17 (NLT)

Colossians is one of my favorite books in Paul’s letters – there is just so many good things in this letter. The following is one of my favorite passages in the letter and I put it out for you all to read and think about today.  I purposely took out the verse numbers and bolded a few of the more salient points for meditation.

BTW: if you mediate through the book of Colossians verse by verse it takes about three months.   

Colossians 3: Living the New Life

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.  You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.  But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.  Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.  In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free.  Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.   And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Dealing with sin

Get rid of it.  Do whatever it takes.  Get rid of it.

Hebrews 12:1-6

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as children?  It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child.”

——————–

I might not be the best person to be a pastor – I tend to lack compassion and can get too frustrated with things and people.  This is an area where I need some growth.  While we do need to get rid of sin and do whatever it take to do so, there is still grace.  Maybe my understanding of what it means to be a pastor is still growing.  Its more than preaching and more than merely administering the ordinances and more than simply pointing people to God in the midst of life’s struggles.  Or is it?

I get tired of the excuses people make when they don’t or won’t do what is needed to overcome sin in their life – particularly life controlling sins such as drug abuse, alcoholism, pornography, etc.  I got tired of my own.  I understand there are actually chemical issues involved in each of these situations and so it take take a lot to break out of it.  But God’s grace is stronger.  I know it is not easy – it is very difficult to break free from a life controlling addiction but this is all the more reason why we need to be in a community of faith and that while holding the line, the community of faith needs to accept one another where people are at so the healing can begin.

I know,  I once had a internet pornography addiction (yes, I was supposedly a Christian during it all), which in turn lead to frequent bouts of black depression and deep relational brokenness and social isolation (few if any real friends).  So, I’ve been there.  Perhaps its been long enough that I am forgetting what it was like but I doubt it.

While I know dealng with a life controlling issue is more about the heart than anything else I really believe there is one main thing a person needs to do for the breaking process to begin:

Cut off the source.

If one is not willing to cut off the source one is not willing to really be free.  It was when I cut off the source and stuck with the local church that I was able to begin breaking free.  What do I mean by cutting off the source?  If one has an internet porn addiction then one needs to not simply think about not looking at porn but going the whole way and getting rid of the internet for a time.

Extreme situations call for extreme measures

I would say being addicted to porn or even alcohol are pretty extreme situations, and that extreme measures are needed to really begin breaking free.

Look, if the water main breaks in your house which of the following do you do first?

1. Grab a bucket and start bailing out.
2. Grab a mop and start mopping
3. Turn off the Main

Here is where I have had quite a few disagreements.  Seems to me that if you want to begin the process of fixing the problem you got to turn off the main first.  Some think because addictive behavior is a spiritual problem, in a case such as pornography, getting rid of the internet is out of the question (I use it for work, I can get around blockers, etc).  Well, I know there are options like accountability and such websites like Covenant Eyes, I still argue that in order to begin the healing process you have to cut off the source of the sin and brokenness – otherwise it will remain a temptation too difficult to resist, you’ll keep revisiting the sites and only purpetuate the problem.

As the Author of Hebrews says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” I read that to mean get rid of sin in your life and do whatever is needed to do so.  If that means cutting off the internet, or a bad/unhealthy/unsafe relationship, or taking a different way home that doesn’t pass the local bar or liquor store or porn shop, etc – then DO IT. It is not the only solution but it is one that can get you back on track and allow the healing to begin.

So again, if you are caught up in a life controlling addiction – please cut of the source.

New BECNT on 1-3 John

Gosh, this is one commentary on 1 John I would like to have now considering I am determined to preach/teach through this book in our church.  It doesn’t come out until November…

An Excerpt:

Robert Yarbrough, coauthor of the leading New Testament survey text Encountering the New Testament, here offers a historical and theological commentary on the Johannine Epistles. The commentary explores the relationship between John’s Epistles and Jesus’s work and teaching, interacts with recent commentaries, reviews the history of interpretation, and seeks to relate these findings to global Christianity. Yarbrough looks at the Johannine Epistles from several perspectives–sociological, historical, and theological. The result is a guide that clearly and meaningfully brings 1-3 John to life for contemporary readers.

An Endorsement:

“By attempting to read 1-3 John in a fresh way, uncoerced by (though not uninformed by) scholarly tradition, Yarbrough offers a helpful and often different perspective on the Johannine Epistles, some of the most interpretively complex material in the New Testament. I find especially helpful his illuminating engagement with the history of interpretation, his careful attention to textual questions, and his quite insightful appeal to the language of the Greek version of the Old Testament (the background John and his audience shared).”–Craig S. Keener, professor of New Testament, Palmer Seminary

2 Timothy 2:15 – my notes

Here are my efforts at working this verse.

ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΜΟΘΕΟΝ Β΄ 2:15
……………………………………………….
σπούδασον σεαυτὸν δόκιμον παραστῆσαι τῷ θεῷ ἐργάτην ἀνεπαίσχυντον, ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας.

My Translation:

Make every effort to present yourself as one approved to God, a worker who is not ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

or

With all diligence present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who need not be ashamed [who] accurately handles the word of truth.

I like “diligence” too because it connects Paul with Peter who stresses “making every effort” and “be diligent” in living the Christian life (cf. 2Peter 1)

parse and explain your translation for σπούδασον (why you chose the word you did).

aorist active imperative from σπουδαζω – BDAG 939.3: to be especially conscientious to discharging an obligation, be zealous/eager, take pains, make every effort, be conscientious. Guthrie sees a notion of persistent zeal (New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the GNT, Zondervan 1998). Perhaps one could say here “have persistent diligence” or “have persistent zeal” – but “make every effort” says the same thing.

Something interesting about the aorist imperative is “the force generally is to command an action as a whole, without focusing on duration, repetition, etc.” The aorist imperative has different functions. Here it has the tone of a command. Wallace calls it “a summary command.” (Wallace, GGBB, 485). It seems Paul may be giving a command that applies to all of life not just certain instances. σπουδαζω here is also the main verb.

parse and explain your translation for παραστῆσαι (why you chose the word you did).

aorist active infinitive from παριστημι/παριστανω – for this I am going to go with BDAG 778.1.d which notes one use of παραστημι in relation to the language of sacrifice, offer, bring, present, which is also used in Romans 12:1 and would be consistent with Pauline usage. If this verse is in juxtaposition with the verses before and after it, it can take much work and sacrifice not to get sucked into the ways of the world (ie., face rejection, loose friends, etc). I can relate to this being a new Pastor in a context where it can be quite easy to be given over to an ungodly lifestyle.

It is possible this is a complementary infinitive (used with helping verbs to complete a thought) for this to be the case παραστημι/παριστανω has to nearly always occur with the infinitive. One could say here “be diligent to present yourselves…” “Make every effort to present yourselves…” (see also Wallace, GGBB, 598-99).

parse and explain your translation for ὀρθοτομοῦντα (why you chose the word you did).

present active participle from ὀρθοτομε͗ω – BDAG 722 to guide [something] along a straight path, in this case, the word of truth (the Scriptures); One could put accurately handling the word of truth.

Possibly an adverbial participle of manner meaning how the finite verb is carried out – here meaning in our diligence and work we rightly divide the word of truth. Or it is an adverbial participle of result – the result of the main verb – here the result of our diligence is rightly dividing the word of truth.

———–

My whole point for putting this up is in looking at σπουδαζω I realized “study” did not fit the context or usage of the word and that it is not talking about the need to study our Bibles but rather living a godly life. Of course we are to read and study our Bibles but this isn’t the verse to argue that point (though telling this to a KJVO person would be futile).

Thanks to those who participated in working on the verse.