Five Years of Doctoral Studies: What Went Well and What Could Have Gone Better

[updated 6/10/2013 to briefly discuss teaching abroad as a very legitimate option for newly graduated doctorates]

Dear reader, I am very interested in hearing about your own personal experiences in doctoral work, especially if you are/were a married student or who attended a different kind of school. Please feel free to comment below.

Through the grace of God, the mercy of my advisers, and the support of my friends, after 5 full school  years of doctoral work, I have my doctorate in hand! In light of that, I thought it would be beneficial to add some personal reflection on what went well and what could have gone better in my five years as a student. Naturally, doctoral work goes differently for everybody, and the perspective you have here is the rather subjective musings of a bachelor who worked full-time during his studies at a Southern Baptist school. Married students will have a significantly different perspective, as will those lucky few who didn't have to work full time. Naturally, attending a secular university or a school of a different denomination will also provide a different experience. Nevertheless, I hope that this post will provide some food-for-thought for those contemplating (or currently in) doctoral studies.

Overall, the experience was positive, and I believe that I experienced the Lord's leading both to and through this particular program. I want to emphasize that with a lot of help and support, I survived it, and I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, so to speak, nor am I the most diligent of students (though I got better through the years). Thus, once again, let me stress that this was a positive though difficult experience. I want to start with some negatives, however, just so that I can end on a strongly positive note.

The following is somewhat subjective and focuses mostly on my own personal experience. Nevertheless, I hope it can be an encouragement and a forewarning for those considering doctoral studies. As I mentioned above, I am definitely interested in hearing from others who have already finished (or are in the midst of) this journey.

5 years in a Ph.D.: what could have gone better

1. Finances

Now, fortunately, I paid my bills on time and no burly mobsters with names like Benny "the Cement Truck" Antonelli will be coming round to beat my tuition payments out of me [note to the impressionable reader: that is not generally how SBC schools operate, so you may put aside your concerns]. Nevertheless, I was unprepared for the cost of a doctorate and the amount of debt I would accrue.

Now, I'm not exactly a free-spender, at least with the big stuff. My car was made in the last millennium. My only computer is over 5 years old. I rent a small apartment with a housemate. I don't own a 72-inch plasma TV (or any TV, for that matter, though my housemate has a decent one). I try to shop cheaply for groceries. So as far as the "big stuff" goes, I'm not extravagant. (now the "little stuff" can be a different story; let's just say I've made too many "impulse purchases" of books on Amazon, not all of which were necessary for doctoral work).

Furthermore, I've worked full-time or close to full-time for most of my academic career. I was able to avoid actual school debt until my last year of seminary in Pennsylvania. So for a total of 9 years, through one bachelor's and almost two complete masters' degrees, I was fortunate to accrue only some credit card debt and no school loans.

Nevertheless, doctoral work is a whole different story. From the moment I received my acceptance letter in my last semester of my M.Div. ("Congratulations, you're in! By the way, you now owe us a $2,000 non-refundable enrollment fee"), things went downhill. And this was at a cheaper school! It is possible to stay out of debt even in a doctorate (I have a friend with a family who is working full-time and so far has been able to stay debt free), but it takes a whole lot more dedication and knowledge than I had at that point.

In retrospect, I wish I'd had somebody to go to, perhaps a few years before doctoral studies, that could have sat me down and just given me some financial advise. I'm capable of working hard and balancing my checkbook, but I've never learned long-term financial planning. Looking back, I think I could have planned better, made a few more sacrifices, and ended up in a slightly better situation. Of course some stuff is unpredictable (when my Geo Metro went from 3 cylinders to 2 cylinders, I had to shell out 4,000 for another used car, and that went straight to a credit card; I don't see how that could have been avoided).

On the plus side, the Lord provides. Whether it was a friend giving me a check, or my parents lending me some money to take a particular summer class, I've always had enough to pay my bills without missing anything of benefit in the program, though my checking account ran dry once or twice. Nevertheless, I'm on the verge of starting a second job just to survive until I can find a teaching position. So my advice to any prospective doctoral students is this: start planning financially years before you are accepted into a program (especially for married students, I imagine). [note: for what it's worth, Southeastern is actually very affordable for doctoral students. I paid a higher rate since I was not an SBC student, but it was still cheaper than comparable evangelical schools. The school does have some quirks, however, such as not allowing you to pay tuition on a credit card and making it difficult to obtain a federal student loan, as opposed to a private (e.g., Sallie Mae) student loan. The wise prospective student will research each school's financial policies and overall expenses before committing].

Once again, though, let me stress that the Lord always provided, sometimes in the nick of time. Often that provision came through good friends of mine, sometimes through anonymous sources, sometimes through overtime at work, but He always provided.

2. Lack of Sleep

This one may be more unique to me, but hopefully this can still prove to be a useful warning. My lack of sleep was not caused by the doctoral workload, which is actually quite manageable. Rather, I worked third shift and my body refused to sleep in the daylight hours to the extant that it should. I don't know why (and yes, I tried darkening the room, wearing "blinders," drinking "Zzz-Quil," both eating and fasting before I went to bed, etc. Nothing worked consistently). For most of my 15 years since college, I have worked third shift to some degree (the exception was 3 years in a factory, second shift, during my M.Div.). During my college days, I had no trouble sleeping whenever, be it morning, noon, or night (and, occasionally, during class or chapel! :) Something changed when I started my MA, however, and I'm not sure what. Suddenly I had more difficulty sleeping. The result is that for 3-4 days out of the week over most of my ph.d., I have only managed about 4 hours of sleep a day, and I'm not sure why. I had the time to sleep, but not the ability. I don't know if this is something that other doctoral students have struggled with (some people can work 3rd shift with no problems sleeping during the day), but I think my advice to doctoral students would be to try to get a 2nd shift job if at all possible. Most classes will be in the morning or early afternoon anyways, and you can dedicate most of your mornings to research and reading. If you work from 4pm to midnight (or similar hours), you can still, most likely, get at least 6 hours of solid sleep for the day. (yeah, I know, that's less than ideal for good health, but this is doctoral work; the rules change!)

For those of you that may have to work 3rd shift, coffee and strong energy drinks are your greatest allies. It's probably not actually safe to drink the latter (there's nothing like actually feeling your heart rate elevate as you chug down a can), but if it's a matter of drinking an energy drink or allowing yourself to plow off the road on the way home from work or school, the former is much preferable. During classes, make sure you drink plenty of coffee and you should have no trouble staying awake (you do not want to fall asleep during a doctoral class!)

[disclaimer: despite having a ph.d., the author, Paul Himes, is not an actual physician and is not qualified to dispense advice regarding the safety, or lack thereof, of coffee, energy drinks, or other caffeinated beverages. The reader should drink such beverages at his or her own discretion! The author is not responsible for any resulting caffeine addictions or the urge to get involved in extreme sports]

3. Lethargy and lack of discipline

This one is partially connected to the last one. I believe working 3rd shift and being unable to sleep a reasonable amount per day resulted in bouts of inactivity that could have been put to better use. One the one hand, in the grand scheme of things I don't think I'm a lazy person. I've worked multiple jobs all throughout my education, most of them time full-time, and I've turned in my work on-time. Furthermore, this is not about taking legitimate breaks and relaxing by yourself or with friends. Often times a good science fiction book or watching a movie with friends helped me relax and regain my sanity.

What I am talking about, however, is bouts of inactivity where I did nothing at all constructive. Partially, I was tired and frustrated that I couldn't sleep. Partially, however, I lacked the self-motivation to get myself up to start doing something useful. (I suspect this is more likely to be a problem for bachelors than married students!) Had I been a bit more disciplined, I'm sure I could have accomplished much more and probably finished at least half a year earlier than I did.

Furthermore, "idleness is the devil's workshop." The less busy you are, the more open you are to temptations and even depression. When I was tired and lethargic, I could occasionally get depressed. Now I don't mean "depressed" in the sense of considering something drastic (like jumping off the Empire State Building!) Rather, I mean "depressed" in that there were a few dark moments where I wondered about myself, doctoral studies, and a multitude of worries and cares that fly in whenever the door is left open. These moments only came when I was alone and only when I was not busy doing something constructive. The solution, I think, is to have a solid, consistent schedule (including personal time in the Word) and to spend time around other people. Allow yourself time to relax and read a book or play a game, but try to not have any real "downtime" where your are bored and just lounging on the couch. I am ashamed of the many hours I wasted that could have been put to use writing or exercising or reading.

4. Early sloppiness in my work (that improved)

This is both a negative and a positive. It wasn't until my mentorship and dissertation work with Dr. Black that I realized how careless and sloppy I had a tendency to be. I'd always been told that I was a decent writer, but the technical aspects of my work left a lot to be desired (for any former teachers, at any level, reading this post, I apologize for any papers of mine you read that had a lot of typos! As somebody who has read and graded papers, I know how annoying that can be). I sincerely wish I could go back and re-write some of the papers and even articles that I wrote during the earlier stages of my doctoral work. The problem, frankly, was a little bit of laziness on my part. I'd done very little proofreading through most of my education. By the time I was working on chapter 3 of my dissertation, I was personally proofreading each chapter six times and having others look at my work as well! So, fortunately, there was improvement.

The solution, I think, is that doctoral students should start a habit early on of rigorously proofreading each paper they write (and, ideally, make a deal with another student to read each other's papers). Some professors will be generous with their grading; others will not. But there's two things you should never have to be called to task for in doctoral work: sloppy writing and sloppy research.

(and I desperately hope that this post is not so full of typos as to render my previous paragraphs ironic!)

5. Lack of a teaching position.

It's a bit disheartening when you apply for a relatively small Christian college and get word back that they had over 100 applicants and you're not one of their final choices. It's also a bit discouraging to apply to a school that you think you might be a good fit for and then not even receive an acknowledgement of their receipt of your application. So, dear prospective student, let me spell it out for you: for every school you apply to teach at, there's probably 99 other applicants, and most of them are more qualified than you are! In other words, do not assume you will have a teaching job waiting for you as soon as you become ABD. Having said that, begin applying to schools as soon as you pass comps and become ABD, and begin praying quite frequently for the Lord to open doors. Also, establish contacts and connections with people and schools. My own situation is currently that of trying to pick up a second job in addition to my security job just to pay my bills for the next year. Come late Fall 2013, I'll start the application process once again and pray for direction. [note: my advisor has been very helpful in providing letters of recommendation and keeping his eyes out for positions. I doubt that all advisers are as helpful as mine has been, so make sure you cultivate relationships with a number of professors that may later help you out with letters of recommendation and job leads]. To put it in perspective, over the past school year I applied to 20 schools with openings (six of which did not even acknowledge my existence) and was only granted one phone interview. But never give up hope, and keep trying!

[updated 6/10/2013] As a friend recently pointed out in the comments, there is one very important option that all doctoral students should look onto: namely, teaching abroad. I know of two very recent grads from SEBTS that are doing so, one of them in an evangelical school and the other in a restricted access nation. Generally, you'll have to at least some support (some schools overseas may pay you a bit, but rarely will you get a full-paying job), but the benefits as to the experience you gain and the potential ministry opportunities cannot be matched. At the very least, I believe every evangelical doctorate should attempt to become involved with teaching overseas during summer or winter breaks; but for now, there are many positions overseas crying out to be filled by doctorates, and who better to answer the call than evangelicals? For more information on this, keep an eye or two open for a forthcoming JETS article by a friend of mine who is currently teaching overseas. [end update]

It's worth noting that the work load of the doctorate was not unreasonable. I felt that, even working full-time, I had plenty of time to do quality work. Hopefully this is an encouragement (though married students who also work full-time probably have it worse than I did).

5 years in a Ph.D: what went awesomely well!

1. Great teachers and mentors

And now for the positive! Possibly the most significant aspect of your doctoral work will not be which school you went to, but rather who you studied under and who influenced you. This is only partially a matter of prestige (i.e., how many books/articles somebody has written); mostly, it is a matter of guidance and influence. I was extremely fortunate to write my dissertation under Dr. David Alan Black, grade (and teach) for Dr. Maurice Robinson, and take classes with Dr. Andreas Köstenberger. Yet all of the teachers that I took at Southeastern were awesome, and all proved to be an encouragement in one way or the other.

Dr. Black was my mentor and advisor, and he helped "whip me into shape" for my dissertation and has strongly encouraged me in my endeavors. My reasoning for asking to study under him was because of his broad work in New Testament studies and Greek, and I was told I could write on anything related to the New Testament or New Testament Greek under him. Dr. Black was very "laissez-faire" in regards to the content of my writing while at the same time very strict on the technical aspects (and also very tough on making sure I was reading foreign language sources!). Furthermore, mentorship under him had a spiritual component to it as well; Dr. Black is heavily involved in the New Testament Christian life, including missions, and wishes to ensure that his students are as well. Studying under him was definitely a great choice.

I highly recommend being a research assistant or a grading fellow for somebody during your years in doctoral work (and it doesn't have to be your advisor). Grading itself is usually not too great a commitment (a couple hours a week; much more during the final weeks of the semester, but by then your own work should be mostly done). This will pay a little bit, but more importantly this is about gaining experience (grading and teaching) and building a relationship. I was fortunate to be Dr. Maurice Robinson's grader for 4 out of the 5 years I was here; Dr. Robinson, probably more than any other professor at Southeastern, was very much familiar with my church background (independent/fundamental, only with more "fun" and less "mental"), and we had some good conversations. Also, he had great stories! While I never got to take a class with him, I was nevertheless influenced towards a Byzantine (Majority) textual position just by being around him (although, in my case, it's a lot about my dissatisfaction with the sacred cows of eclecticism). Both Dr. Robinson and Dr. Black have been very helpful in my attempts to find a job teaching.

Teachers are the greatest asset of any school, and I was privileged to take classes with a number of great scholars. Especially beneficial were my classes with Dr. Köstenberger. His encouragement is the reason my first paper got accepted for publication (in BBR), and his Second Temple Literature class opened my eyes to a whole new field of research. In addition, I took a summer class with Dr. George Guthrie on Hebrews, which was one of the greatest classes I ever took at any level, and I was able to have a distant ed. class with Dr. Gene Green from Wheaton on 1 Peter (nobody at Southeastern has taught 1 Peter at the doctoral level in a long time, to my knowledge). This was extremely important for my dissertation.  You should especially try to take classes where the professor has written on the topic (especially if their dissertation or a major publication is related to the topic of the class). Also, although many advise that you should structure your classes around your dissertation, I strongly disagree. I deliberately took the class "Christian Faith and Science," even though it has nothing to do with my dissertation, simply because I was interested in the topic. My paper for that class was eventually published in the British journal Science & Christian Belief. Furthermore, I audited "Old Testament Theology" simply because I felt that it would be a shame to go through a doctorate in Biblical Studies and not take anything Old Testament related.

The bottom line is this: consider your teachers and classes well, and take those teachers and classes that you will enjoy. Ultimately, it is the people, not the school name, that determines the value of your doctorate.

2. A great local church.

Get involved in a local church. Period. No "buts"! First of all, you may find an outlet for your studies (I once did an entire Wed. night Bible study on Biblical Lament, based off of what I had learned from Dr. Heath Thomas in a one day seminar; hopefully it wasn't overly academic, but you'll have to ask somebody else about that!). Secondly, you will find a family that will encourage you and be your friends. With a good church, Sunday truly becomes a day of relaxing fellowship and worship, a welcome respite from the rigours of the week.

So I cannot stress this enough: find a good church, make friends and minister with them, influence people, and be influenced in turn. Through my church I have received a lot of encouragement and prayer, I gained many opportunities for ministry (preaching, teaching, ushering, sound booth, missions committee), and Sundays truly became a day of rest and worship. In addition, your brothers and sisters at church will offer various degrees of accountability that you can take advantage of.

3. Getting published

Trying to get published is a lot like trying to ask a girl out. Expect to get rejected time and time again! (so keep trying!) Having said that, it is a worthwhile endeavor, not (hopefully) for selfish reasons (look at me! I published an article[that few people will read but that somebody, somewhere, will someday misquote for a mostly insignificant paper at some obscure college!]), but rather because it is an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing discussion of biblical theology, to make your voice heard in the conversation (even if it's a small voice!). Being published can also give you a sense that your work is not wasted (regardless of whether or not somebody actually reads your article; at least it's there if anybody is researching the topic!)

For me, getting my first paper accepted for publication resulted from just a bit of encouragement from a certain professor. He had called me into his office and suggested sending in my latest paper for publication somewhere; it's unlikely that I would have done so otherwise, since this particular paper was one that I was not exactly sure of. Furthermore, the first journal I sent it in to rejected it. Yet perseverance and stubbornness should be hallmarks of a doctoral student, so I tried again and was privileged to have it accepted.

The lesson, I guess, is to listen to feedback from teachers and others and constantly try to publish your papers (or at least present them at conferences). Expect to be rejected, but keep trying--not for your own glory (trust me; you won't become famous with a few articles) but rather to take part in the awesome, ongoing conversation that we call "theology."

4. Finishing

Well, in the end, I finished, and that's something to be grateful for. It's a good feeling. I guess it's a certain vindication of my parents' and friends' investment in me. I don't know what the Lord will permit in the future, but to have finished doctoral work is an immense privilege. Furthermore, I will stress again, it was, overall, a very positive experience. Good people, a good church, good classes, and good guidance from those wiser than me contributed to create a solid five enjoyable years of Bible study. Who can complain about that? 



A Dissertation: The Raw Data (along with some slightly subjective commentary)

Since I've had the privilege of defending and walking, I thought some might be interested in learning what exactly goes into a dissertation. So here goes:

Total number of hours:
Not sure about this one; I originally tried to keep a weekly log, but it soon fell by the way side. However, from the moment I passed comprehensive exams and began working on my dissertation's prospectus, it took me a total of 2 years and roughly 9.5 months (from the middle of June 2010 to the end of April 2013). However, I had to redo my prospectus so that set me back a little bit. Also, I worked full-time. Frankly, sometimes I had some bouts of inactivity that could and should have been avoided with a bit more self-discipline, so I'm confident I could have actually finished everything in about 2 years and 3 months with a little bit more effort on my part. On the other hand, I'm not married, and no doubt otherwise it would have taken me a bit longer.

However, it is possible to do an entire chapter in about 5-6 weeks, even with a full-time job (including plenty of time for rigorous proof-reading), because this is about the pace I had for my last few chapters (granted, they had less original research then some earlier chapters, however). Also keep in mind that your prospectus supplies much of your content for the first chapter.

All in all, in theory, it should be possible for a single guy or lady to produce a dissertation in about a year, even if working full-time, if that person has a clear sense of direction and is very self-disciplined (I did mostly well on the former, could have done better on the latter!)

Total number of pages:
284, including front matter and the bibliography.
238 for the actual content (not counting front matter or bibliography); this is actually a little bit shorter than average, it seems.
My bibliography was 28 pages, which I think is about average or possibly a bit above average.

Total number of words, including footnotes, bibliography, and front matter
91,954   (not, I'm not going to figure out how many sentences!)

Comments on the bibliography
By my count, I had approx.  362 sources. Out of those,
approx. 80 were foreign language sources (not translations), 41 of those were ancient Greek sources (including apostolic fathers, but mostly secular 1st century sources), 26 were German, 9 were french, 2 were Dutch, and one each were Latin and Italian. It is  recommended that at this level the student not rely on translations but rather provide his or her own translation. My own weakness was that, not being proficient in Latin, I had to rely on translations for Augustine, etc. (with one exception where I translated a simple phrase from John Calvin). In the case of my dissertation, I was working with a lot of 1st century Greek sources that used the terms prognwsis or proginwskw, so it was important that I provide both the Greek text and my own translation (with a couple exceptions; the Greek physician Rufus was especially difficult to work with, and in one particular citation of Plutarch I wimped out and had to use Sandbach's translation!).

Most utilized work outside of the Bible: John H. Elliott's A Home for the Homeless, which was extremely influential for my thesis.

Most surprisingly helpful source: Paul Boom, How Children Learn the Meaning of Words (in my opinion, this book had some great thoughts on lexical semantics)

Most obscure source (i.e., most difficult to get a hold of): Horst Goldstein, "Das Gemeindeverständnis des ersten Petrusbriefs." This was actually an inaugural dissertation (so far as I can determine) for Dr. Goldstein when he began teaching at Münster U. I had to purchase this from a German bookseller in Germany (please note that when buying from a store in Germany, there is a fee for transferring money, and the fee may actually turn out to be more than the cost of the book, including shipping!). Anyway, it's quite possible I own the only copy of this work in the U.S. A close second place goes to the commentary on 1 Peter in French by Ceslas Spicq, which, so far as could determine, only exists in one library outside of Europe a library which shall remain nameless since it refused to lend the book out! :) Fortunately, I got my own copy for roughly 30 dollars via the very helpful "ABE Books".

Most bizarre source (i.e., odd to find it in a dissertation on 1 Peter): James Holden, History of Horoscopic Astrology. This was actually a somewhat helpful source because it gave brief biographical sketches of some of the obscure 1st century astrologers I was citing (because they used the terms prognwsis or proginwskw).

Some final thoughts (that are hopefully helpful):
A dissertation is a long journey, but it helps if you focus on one chapter at a time. Once you finish  the introductory chapter, treat each chapter as a paper in its own right. However,
Keep the big picture in mind: in other words, be constantly asking yourself how that chapter fits in with your thesis. A couple times I got lost and actually had to remind myself what I was supposed to be proving!
Figure out formatting and abbreviations early on: I wasted a lot of time going back and fixing abbreviations to fit SBL standards (or, in some cases, making up my own if SBL didn't have it). Do this chapter by chapter and make sure you stay consistent.
Constantly update your bibliography: unfortunately, I waited until near the end, and let me tell you there's nothing more daunting that putting together a 30-page bibliography from scratch!
Proofread and have others proofread: this is a lesson I had to learn early on. By the time you're writing your dissertation, sloppy work with typos is not acceptable (in retrospect, I think I could have done better, both stylistically and technically, on all those papers and articles I wrote leading up to my dissertation). After the first chapter, I learned that I needed to proofread each chapter at least 6 times  (don't try to do 6 read-throughs all at once, trust me on this), and then I had 3 other people proofread for me as well (here's a tip: make a deal with another ph.d. student or two that you'll read their dissertation if they'll read yours).

And now, when all is said and done, I have the summer to revise my dissertation (thanks to feedback from my primary, secondary, and outside readers) and, if the Lord wills, eventually try to publish it. For now, I think I'll just take a deep breath and go read something totally unrelated to Academic Biblical studies, preferably something involving spaceships, aliens, and distant planets :)

 

Dissertation Defended!

By the grace of God and the mercy of my readers, I have successfully defended my dissertation! The prayers of my friends and acquaintances were gratefully appreciated. I am also grateful to those who went out of their way to support me, and to my three proofreaders. You all know who you are! This morning I will make some final changes before printing out copies for the library, but I have passed my defense and will be graduating with a Ph.D. in New Testament this month (this summer, though, I've got some more work to do to try to make this something that can especially contribute to scholarship).

The next few posts on this blog will be a discussion of doctoral work and dissertations.

My readers were Dr. David Alan Black (my advisor), Dr. David Beck (also from Southeastern), and Dr. Gene L. Green (from Wheaton). My title is "A Foreknown Destiny for the Socially Destitute: An Examination of 1 Peter's Concept of Foreknowledge in the Establishment of Social-Spiritual Identity."
My abstract is as follows:

begin abstract
"Much has been written on the social and spiritual status of the audience of 1 Peter. Scholarship has not, however, devoted much space to exploring how foreknowledge in the first section of 1 Peter relates to the development of social and spiritual identity. First of all, most scholars see the terms prognwsis (1 Pet 1:2) and proginwskw (1:20) as representing either God's foreordination or his previous commitment to a relationship with believers (i.e., "loving beforehand"). Secondly, virtually nobody has discussed how these two terms, together with the concept of foreknowledge in 1 Pet 1:10-12, factor into 1 Peter's argumentation and theology from 1:1-2:10.

This dissertation will attempt to demonstrate that foreknowledge in the first major section of 1 Peter acts as a word of comfort to offset the audience's status of social displacement, ultimately pointing them towards their new social status as a new community bound to Jesus Christ. In the process of developing this thesis, this study will explore both social scientific criticism and lexical semantics.

Regarding the former, this study will interact with John H. Elliott's A Home for the Homeless and its critics, defending Elliott's contention that 1 Peter's audience consisted of literal strangers (i.e., the socially displaced) while acknowledging that this concept of social displacement functions as a broader, spiritual paradigm regarding the relationship of the Christian to the world.

Secondly, this study will examine every occurrence of prognwsis (1 Pet 1:2) and proginwskw (1 Pet 1:20) in the literature of A.D. 1-100 and the Septuagint, demonstrating that he overwhelming sense of these words is "prescience" (knowledge of the future or the act of knowing the future). This study then examines 1 Pet 1:1-2, 10-12, and 20 within their immediate contexts in the epistle.

Finally, this study examines the concepts of foreknowledge and social identity within the broader scope of 1 Peter's theology. It is demonstrated how foreknowledge acts as a bridge from the state of displacement to the new state of the believer's social identity in Christ. In this way, foreknowledge acts as a word of comfort in 1 Peter, for both the present, negative circumstances of the epistle's audience and their ultimate destiny (bound up with Christ) have forever existed in the mind of God and are a part of his grand master plan."
end abstract

On the plus side, I believe this is the only study to date that actually looks at every single occurrence of prognwsis and proginwskw within the literature of the 1st century (A.D.). Also, this is one of the few studies that actually provides a substantial defense of Elliott's work (for the most part; there's one area I do disagree with him, but I mostly defend him). Some areas for improvement (among others) brought up by the readers include a tendency to overstate my case (to the potential alienation of some of the readers I'm trying to convince), not enough work on the communities of Asia Minor and their social makeup, not enough work on "foreknowledge" as a concept (including an examination of other words that refer to foreknowledge and also the need for more awareness of Greco-Roman discussions of foreknowledge during this period), and the need for more work discussing linguistic theory that would challenge my own methodology.

Also, my advisor strongly suggests that I need to have mastered Latin at this point rather than relying on translations (note to self: start working on that this summer!) He was pleased that I provided my own translations for most other languages, though. Let the reader note: you don't have to be a brilliant linguist (like my dissertation readers!) to be able to utilize German and French without relying on a translation. Honestly, I was one of the worst students in Southeastern's theological German class (I got a "conditional pass," which meant I had to do extra work that summer to pass the class), but I worked hard at developing adequate translations of my German sources within my dissertation, deliberately ignoring available translations (e.g., for Goppelt's classic commentary, I go with the German instead of the English). I stress again: I'm not the smartest with languages (much less than I used to think, in fact, despite growing up bilingual), but it's less a matter of intelligence and more a matter of willingness to spend a lot of time working through a work in its original language. (one other note: the old printed script German is extremely difficult to read! Seriously!!)

One final note: I am extremely grateful for a very balanced critique by my outsider reader. His comments are gracious and fair (despite the fact that I know there's at least two key points of my dissertation that are at odds with material he's published!) Dr Green's comments will form the basis of my revisions this summer (if the Lord wills, assuming I don't decide to run off and join the circus and leave academia behind forever! :) Fellow ph.d. students will know what I mean). I am also grateful for a very encouraging dialogue with Drs. Black and Beck. Overall, the defense was a very positive (though long!) experience (we started at 2 pm, and I think by the time Dr. Black was done with me it was about quarter to 4).

Prayer of an ABD, in preparation for the dissertation defense

Dear Heavenly Father,

Every good and perfect gift comes from you. The very fact that I am now about to defend my dissertation is due to your mercy and grace. Thank you for letting me get this far. Thank you for my advisor, who invested his time in my work. Thank you for my parents, my first Bible teachers. Thank you for my friends and their encouragement. Thank you especially for my local church, the love and encouragement they have shown me. Thank you for relatively good health throughout my education. And thank you for the teachers here at this school and all I have learned from them.

Facing my defense, I am naturally encountering some trepidation. May I not struggle with worry or fear, both of which would be contrary to your love. But may I rather have the confidence that your child should have, that my value to your kingdom lies not in degrees or academic accomplishments but in service to others and the proclamation of the Gospel.

Two requests I bring to you. First of all, in all the time I have spent studying 1 Peter, please grant that I "get it." In other words, that I have fairly represented the Apostle Peter and what he wrote under the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. If, after all that work, I have failed to understand Peter and his epistle, then my dissertation is a failure. Worse yet, if I lead others astray by my work, then I have become a potential hindrance to the church and its understanding of Scripture. Please Lord, may that not happen. Grant that, although my work may be far from perfect, I have at least "gotten" some of what Peter was trying to say and not grossly misrepresented him. Along with that, may this dissertation ultimately glorify you in its study of Scripture.

Secondly, help me in my defense. May I not be overly-sensitive when offered correction or rebuke, but may I also know the difference between personal opinion and areas where I clearly could have done better. Help me not to be arrogant on the one hand, but also not to be cowardly. May I listen to the council of my elders, and may the defense be a reasonably edifying experience for all involved. Bless my advisor, and bless both my secondary reader and my outside reader. Give them wisdom in their analysis. Thank you for their investment in reading and commenting on my dissertation.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Translating Idioms (guest essay by missionary John R. Himes)

With final preparations for my dissertation defense under way, I thought this would be the perfect time for another guest essay by my father, missionary John Himes (who is currently involved in a new translation of the Greek New Testament into Japanese). Actually, his essays are more popular than mine on my own blog, but if you think about it, somebody who has spent 30+ years on the mission field should be heard before some young whipper-snapper who has yet to finish school and get a life!  :)

What Shall We Do with Those Idioms?

By John R. Himes

I know it’s a poor pun, but my wife enjoys saying, “Are you calling me an idiot?” every time I get linguistic on her and use the word idiom. This essay will tackle how to translate idioms, but first we need to define what one is. This brings up an interesting problem. The usual definition of an “idiom” says that it has two or more words. But can an idiom have only one word?

Nida and Taber define it this way: “idiom: an expression consisting of several words and whose meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of the individual words, e.g. kick the bucket for die; also called exocentric expression” (Eugene Nida and Charles Taber, The Theory and Practice of Translation, 203). A dictionary of linguistics has: “A set expression in which two or more words are syntactically related, but with a meaning like that of a single lexical unit: e.g. ‘spill the beans’ in Someone has spilled the beans about the bank raid, or ‘put one’s foot in it’ in Her husband can never make a speech without putting his foot in it“ (P. H. Matthews, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, 2nd ed., 183). 

Another definition doesn’t specify more than one word, but gets the definition wrong: “Idiom: (1) Any expression peculiar to a language, conveying a distinct meaning, not necessarily explicable by, occasionally even contrary to, the general accepted grammatical rules” (Dictionary of Linguistics, Mario Pei & Frank Gaynor, p. 95). What is wrong here is that an idiom must be defined in terms of semantics, not grammar (though we must admit their point in that occasionally an idiom will defy conventional grammar).

Oddly enough, even a book of idioms proclaims that an idiom must be two or more words. Harold C. Whitford (Handbook of American Idioms and Idiomatic Usage, 183) says in his preface that, "An idiom...consists of more than one word." However, in the book Whitford gives many one-word idioms, such as "arms" (weapons), "axe" (used when firing someone), "baloney," etc.

So now we need to clarify what an idiom is. First of all, note that idioms are culture specific, or "culture bound" as secular translation scholar Susan Bassnett puts it (Translation Studies, 3rd ed., 30). For example, consider some idioms from the Old West, such as "men with the bark on" (tough men) and "salty" (good in a fight), easily found in western novels like those of Louis L'Amour. This illustrates how an idiom comes into existence from some aspect of the culture. These idioms are not used in modern America except for a few places out West where the Old West culture lingers on.  

Secondly, note that an idiom is a word or words which may carry a very different meaning than the literal meaning.  So in the examples from Whitford, the idiom “arms” does not mean human appendages but weapons, “axe” does not mean an edged weapon or tool but the firing of a person from a job, and “baloney” does not mean a sandwich meat but is an expression of doubt. This characteristic is what makes idioms fascinating but often hard to translate. The translator is not able to begin from a word-for-word meaning, but must carefully determine the non-literal meaning of the idiom in the original text.

Koine Greek has many idioms, as is well documented in books by C. F. D. Moule and Stewart Custer. However, very few writers on Bible translation have dealt with how to translate idioms. The only mention of the problem I can find in my library is by Eugene Nida and Charles Taber, who write, “The adjustments are quite understandably of three types: (a) from idioms to nonidioms (sic), (b) from idioms to idioms, and (c) from nonidioms (sic) to idioms” (The Theory and Practice of Translation, 106. There is about one page on the problem in this text). However, this statement misses the possibility of translating an idiom as is, even in cases where the target language does not have the same idiom. In rare cases an idiom from the source language can make sense in the target language. Let’s consider that possibility first, since it may be the most ideal rendering, assuming a genuinely equivalent meaning in the target language idiom. 

In a culture with bilingual people, sometimes an idiom will migrate directly from one language to another. In such cases one may translate the idiom literally and have it make sense. For example, “in Canadian French the idiom ‘to talk through one’s hat’ has acquired the equivalent ‘parler a travers son chapeau’” (“A Methodology for Translation” by Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet, in The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed., ed. by Lawrence Venuti, p. 134). Since many in Canada are bilingual in French and English, this idiom migrated successfully with almost exactly the same meaning.

A Bible example of the migrating idiom is “kick against the ox-goads” (Acts 9:5, 26:14), which is an idiom meaning “resist leading,” understandable literally in English through Greek from Hebrew. The KJB translates it literally, as does the HCSB, NIV and ESV (all three of which render “kick against the goads”), and many other versions. (Note that only the TR has the phrase in 9:5, but all Greek texts have it in 26:14.) This is a case when an idiom can be translated literally and retain its meaning. The original idiom migrated from Hebrew to Greek, and then the Greek idiom was translated into English with no loss of or change in meaning.

There are other cases where the original idiom can be retained in a language with no loss of meaning. This is only true in cases when the idiom makes sense outside of its cultural milieu. One example of this is the idiom common in the teachings of Christ, o ecwn wta akouein akouetw, “The one with ears, let him hear.” Though it may seem strange to our English-tuned ears, it makes sense, since it puts extra emphasis on hearing, thus meaning to the non-Greek ear something like, “You had better listen, this is important!”

Another possibility is translating an idiom with a non-idiom. A Greek example of when this is necessary is in 1 Peter 2:24, where we have taiV amartiaiV apogenomenoi (“being dead to sins”). It’s very hard to make this idiom work literally in Japanese, and one may question its literal rendering in English. It just doesn’t make sense in an Asian language, and may even steer the reader completely away from the authorial intent! So in our new Japanese translation we had to choose a wording that made sense. So, we have translated this into Japanese as 罪と係わりを断った私たち (refusing connection with sin), an idiom into a non-idiom.  

Again, the HCSB translates an idiom with a non-idiom in 2 Cor. 2:17,  kaphleuonteV ton logon tou qeou (“dilute the Word of God”) with “market God’s message for profit.” This idiom refers to the practice of wine merchants illicitly adding water to their product to make more money. This rendering does carry the original meaning over into the target language, but perhaps it loses some of the flavor of the original idiom. A possible rendering that keeps the flavor of the original idiom is, “huckster the Word of God.”

A third possibility is translating an idiom with an equivalent idiom. This is another good solution, better perhaps than translating an idiom with a non-idiom, since there is a certain nuance, perhaps a feeling the reader has when he reads, in the very fact that an idiom is used. (We have seen how this happened with the Hebrew idiom, “kick against the goads,” was translated into Greek.) Once again semantic equivalency is still necessary. 

According to secular scholar Susan Bassnett, Hilaire Belloc gave this guideline for translating idioms in 1932: “The translator should render idiom by idiom ‘and idioms of their nature demand translation into another form from that of the original.' Belloc cites the case of the Greek exclamation 'by the dog!', which, if rendered literally, becomes merely comic in English" (Translation Studies. 3rd ed., 2002, p. 116). So, while Belloc believed the best way to translate an idiom is with another idiom, he realized that the original idiom often may not be carried into the target language, but requires an idiom equivalent in meaning.

Basnett gives another example from the Italian: “The translation of idioms takes us a stage further in considering the question of meaning and translation, for idioms, like puns, are culture bound. The Italian idiom menare il can per l’aia provides a good example of the kind of shift that takes place in the translation process. Translated literally, the sentence Giovanni sta menando il can per l’aia. becomes John is leading his dog around the threshing floor. The image conjured up by this sentence is somewhat startling and, unless the context referred quite specifically to such a location, the sentence would seem obscure and virtually meaningless. The English idiom that most closely corresponds to the Italian is to beat about the bush, also obscure unless used idiomatically, and hence the sentence correctly translated becomes John is beating around the bush” (Basnett, 30-31).

Finally, let’s consider translating from a non-idiom into an idiom. HCSV translates a Greek non-idiom (aporoumenoV de egw, the verb being aporew) with an idiom in Acts 25:20, “Since I was at a loss . . . .” One wonders why an idiom was chosen to translate a non-idiom here when a fairly literal translation (“I was in doubt”) would accurately convey the meaning. Then one looks at the lexicons and learns that “at a loss” is given as a meaning in almost all of them! (I checked BAGD, Abbot-Smith, the Fribergs’ Analytical Lexicon, Louw-Nida, etc.) So obviously it is not a mistake to render “at a loss” here. Indeed, it might be argued that “at a loss” is a good rendering with a vivid meaning. But we could then ask, is vividness the right strategy here, since the original is a formal letter from one ruler to another? It seems obvious that translating from a non-idiom to an idiom should be carefully considered based on the context before making a final decision.

So, as can be seen, the translation of an idiom is not an easy task. The meaning of the original idiom and its possible renderings should be carefully considered in every case. Hopefully this brief essay will be a help in that regard to translators and future translators.

Christian identity, Markan soteriology, and a spiritual journey: Three fascinating scholarly articles from 2012

I originally intended to conduct an entire survey of journal articles from 2012 and bring the most interesting to your attention. However, since I'm in the middle of "crunch time" with my last dissertation chapter (hurrah!), I've toned down my ambitions somewhat and will simply point you to three really fascinating articles that I've come across (two of these are fairly non-technical, as well).

Jürgen Moltmann's spiritual journey
First off, we have a very moving personal reflection by German theologian Jürgen Moltmann (based off of his Faraday Lecture on 2/14/2012), entitled "From Physics to Theology--A Personal Story," in Science & Christian Belief vol. 24 (2012). Now, I will have one caveat about this article, where Dr. Moltmann does seem to go way off into left field, but this article is nonetheless well worth reading and should prove to be spiritually moving. The first half of this article is about Moltmann's own personal testimony of how he came to Christ as a prisoner of war in England. You see, Moltmann had actually been part of the German army during World War 2, conscripted into it when he was 16 years old. Seeing a companion destroyed by a bomb right next to him began his struggle with mortality and the existence of God.

Captured at the end of the war and shipped off to the United Kingdom, Moltmann was touched by the kindness of the Scots: "They met us, their former enemies, with a  hospitality that profoundly shamed us. We heard no reproaches, we were not blamed, we experienced a simple solidarity and a warm common humanity. For me this was quite overwhelming" (p. 101). After receiving a Bible from a British army chaplain, Moltmann struggled with the implications of Psalm 39 and Jesus' cry on the cross in Mark 15:34. He writes, "I began to understand the forsaken Christ, because I knew he understood me. He was the divine brother in need, . . . the fellow sufferer who carries you in your pain. . . . I read the story of the passion of Christ again and again and discovered my little life story in his great story" (p. 102). Shortly after, still technically a POW, at the first post-war SCM conference, he and his fellows were approached by a group of Dutch students: "They told us that Jesus Christ was the bridge on which they came to meet us and that without Christ they would not have been able to speak to Germans. . . . We too could step on this bridge which Christ had built from them to us,even if we did so only hesitantly at first, could confess the guilt of our people and ask for forgiveness." This defining moment then pointed Moltmann towards his lifelong passion: the study of theology (pp. 103-104). By the end of his term as a POW, Moltmann could say, "What at the beginning had looked like a grim fate became an undeserved blessing. It had begun in the darkness of war and then when I went to Norton Camp the sun had risen. We came with severely wounded souls, and when we went away 'my soul was healed'" p. 104).

The second half of the article provides Moltmann's perspective on science and God. There's some good stuff here, but at one point he goes off into left field--nay, actually goes up into the left field bleachers!--when he starts to talk about the earth as a living organism (p. 107--"At a certain point in its evolution the earth began to feel, to think, to become conscious of itself and to sense reverence. . ."; and I don't think that's just poetic license). Nevertheless, Moltmann still has some excellent observations, especially p. 106 where he states, "In the great dramatic picture of creation in Job 38-40, a human being is very small and insignificant before God's wild and immense creation. 'Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Can you bind the chains of the Pleides? Can you loosen Orion's belt?' And Job answers: 'I am unworthy--how can I reply?' This is the answer of human wisdom. True knowledge presupposes cosmic humility, as Richard Bauckham maintains, not the 'arrogance of power'. True science is bound to truth and is not for sale" (emphasis added).

Yes, occasionally academic articles can actually be spiritually beneficial and moving, and I believe this is one of those (caveat aside).

Brian Gamel's Markan Soteriology
While not quite as moving as Moltmann's article, Brian Gamel's article on Mark's soteriology was so well-written it actually made me want to preach a sermon on Mark 15:39. This is another of those rare articles that actually blesses the reader rather than simply enlightening him or her (or confusing, depending on the subject matter!)

Brian K. Gamel (who I think is a student at Baylor), in his article "Salvation in a Sentence: Mark 15:39 as Markan Soteriology," in the Journal of Theological Interpretation 6 (Spring 2012), basically argues that
". . . Mark 15:39 demonstrates what salvation means for Mark. Specifically, it shows that for Mark the cross offers eschatological sight, rapprochement between the hostile spheres of humanity and divinity, and the extension of Israel's blessings to the Gentiles" (p. 66).

Basically, Gamel's article is an exercise in biblical theology, demonstrating how Mark's soteriology peaks in the centurion's confession about Christ: "truly this man was the Son of God"  (Mark 15:39). Now Gamel's thesis is somewhat controversial; you could interpret the Centurion's statement as "the son of a god," i.e., simply a pagan's musings on the unique characteristics of the heroic death in front of him (and one of my friends just successfully defended his ph.d. dissertation where he takes a similar view on that verse). Gamel does deal with the "positive" vs. "negative" interpretations of the Centurion's statement, but some may not be convinced that the confession should be viewed positively.

Yet if Gamel's interpretation holds, then the rest of the article brilliantly unpacks that statement in light of what the author, Mark, was trying to accomplish by focusing on the Centurion. According to Gamel, in Mark 15:39, "Eschatological sight is offered to the ultimate outsider of Israel, and what is seen is that God and humanity are now united together" (p. 77). Furthermore, the key to Markan soteriology ". . . is understanding that the cross does not merely 'show' salvation in a series of connected, soteriologically loaded phrases. It effects salvation."

That'll preach, won't it!?

David Horrell on 1 Peter 2:9
I am very fortunate that Dr. Horrell's article came out when it did, because it is turning into a key source for the last chapter of my dissertation. In his article, "'Race', 'Nation', 'People': Ethnic Identity-Construction in 1 Peter 2:9," in New Testament Studies 58 (January 2012),  David G. Horrell (professor at the University of Exeter) examines the identity terminology of 1 Peter 2:9 (the terms "genos," ethnos," and "laos"), and focuses on this as "ethnic identity language, and a crucial early step in the construction of Christian identity in ethnoracial terms." (p. 125).

Dr. Horrell initially surveys use of these words in the LXX and elsewhere in the NT, as well as early Christian writings. He then focuses on 1 Peter 2:9 itself. While cautioning against "importing modern and debatable assumptions--about the biological essentialisms of race, or the nation-state as the obvious locus of sovereignty--into our studies of early Christianity and our translations of ancient texts" (p. 138), he nonetheless states, "The concepts of both ethnicity and race remain relevant to the study of early Christianity . . . ." A major point of Horrell's article seems to be how (more-or-less) flexible the concepts of "race" and "ethnicity" are in the NT social context and how, consequently, these concepts could be developed and attached to this community of believers in 1 Peter. Thus, "The letter's overall strategy, in which the identity-designations of 2.9 play an important role, is--put in terms of social identity theory--to develop a positive sense of in-group identity, of the status and honour that acrue to membership of the community, in the face of negative evaluation and stigmatization on the part of the outsiders." (p. 141-142).

Finally, "Just as 1 Peter represents the first attempt to claim what came to be the identity label par excellence--Christianos--as a positive badge of self-identity, so too it represents the first move to designate Christians explicitly as a genos, a move that was of considerable significance in the evolution of Christian identity discourse." (p. 143)

Chapter 6 of my dissertation will focus somewhat on how this "positive badge of self-identity" is a reaction to the status of "strangers" (displacement) in which the readers find themselves (in chapter 2 I partially defend John Elliott's view that they were literal "strangers/foreigners/resident aliens," not just "strangers" in a metaphorical-spiritual sense). (by the way, the term "pilgrim" is an absolutely horrible translation for any word in 1 Peter, but I digress . . .) Regardless of one's views, however, Horrell's article here is an excellent discussion on a key part of 1 Peter, Christian self-identity.

    

The hardest verse in the NT (1 Tim 2:15-"saved through childbirth"): A possible solution in the latest issue of JETS?

Note: updated 2/5/2013 to reflect one more observation on the article made by a friend.

The latest issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, volume 55 (December 2012), has a number of interesting articles for NT students (forgive my bias towards New Testament studies; it also has some decent non-NT related articles as well!) We have K. G. Beale's article on Matthew's citation of Hosea 11:1 and my friend Joe Greene's article on the Holy Spirit and God's temple in the NT as well as others (including some sort of debate on 1 Corinthians 10:13 and free will!). What especially caught my eye, however, is Moyer Hubbard's article on 1 Timothy 2:15 ("saved through childbearing"), what I've long considered to be the most difficult verse in the New Testament to interpret.

Hubbard is a NT prof at Talbot School of Theology (Biola). His well-written article does not advance a new thesis, but rather provides new and improved arguments for a particular view on this passage. I'm almost convinced of his arguments (his view is not a view that I've held to in the past), though there are a few areas I would like to see developed better. The reader especially interested in this notoriously difficult debate should make sure they get a copy of the latest JETS (or at least this article) for themselves rather than relying on my own summary and (sort-of) analysis.

Summary of Hubbard's article
Hubbard's thesis is that 1 Tim 2:15 should be translated ""But she will be kept safe through the ordeal of childbearing" (p. 743); in other words, it is not a reference to salvation or the Savior per se (the other two common views), but rather the act of giving birth to a child.

The first two sections deal with the meaning of sozo ("to save") in the New Testament and in Paul's letters. He correctly argues that sozo in the NT can mean both save and rescue (i.e., non-soteriological). He counters the common objection that Paul's usage of sozo is strictly soteriological by pointing to 2 Timothy 4:18 and 2 Cor 3:15. The former relies on his analysis of the preposition eis combined with sozo, while the second depends on his assertion (following BDAG) that the word here simultaneously works on both the spiritual and the physical level. Thus, for 2 Cor 3:15, the phrase "saved through fire"  "is intended to be heard on two levels, as the climax of the metaphor (the foolish builder escaping through the billowing flames) and as its application (saved, albeit through dangerous circumstances)" (p. 749).

In the third section, Hubbard examines "The Literary-Theological Context of 1 Timothy 2:15." In the process, he critiques the other common views on this passage. Against the view that this passage means  "although Eve transgressed, women can be saved through childbearing," Hubbard objects that this does not explain why Paul brings up the issue of childbearing in the first place  and that it would allow for a non-Pauline "theological conundrum of salvation by works" (pp. 750-751; more on this later). Regarding the second common view, that the passage is actually referring to "the childbirth" (i.e., the coming of the Messiah), he quickly dismisses this by arguing that such a highly technical and unprecedented meaning would not be easily picked up by the reader: ". . . with this interpretation, one must postulate a meaning for this word that is completely unattested" (p. 752). Also, key in this section is how Hubbard points out that 1 Tim 2:15 can be directly linked back to the curse of the pain of childbearing in Genesis 3 (Paul is using a cognate noun of the LXX reference to childbirth in Genesis 3:16).

In part 4, "The social-historical context of 1 Timothy 2:15," Hubbard focuses on the very real danger of child mortality (and maternal mortality) in the 1st century. In part 5, Hubbard discusses the function of the preposition dia in the phrase "saved/delivered through childbearing."  He argues that dia here is used as "attendant circumstances" rather than "means," and he cites 1 Corinthians 3:15 as a clear instance of Pauline usage where dia is used with sozo to refer to preservation "through difficulty." For the 5 instances that sozo with dia refer to "saved by means of," Hubble argues that ". . . the only reason we know this--is because the phrase attached to sozo dia makes its meaning obvious beyond doubt: saved by means of Christ's death, the cross, faith, etc." (p. 757)

In part 6, Hubbard deals with the most serious objection against his thesis, namely that good Christian women do indeed die in the process of childbearing. Hubbard argues along the lines of 1 Tim 2:15 being a more generic "proverbial promise of blessing" such as found in 1 Peter 3:10 (i.e., not every single person who guards his tongue lives a long life) and Ephesians 6:2-3 (not every obedient child lives a long life). Also as support of this, Hubbard takes verse 3:1, "this is a faithful saying," as belonging to the previous verse. In other words, "This is a faithful saying" = "the blessing pronounced in 2:5" (p. 759).

Section 7 deals with the suggestion that "childbearing" in 1 Tim. 5:14 represents [citing Douglas Moo] "the general scope of activities in which Christan women should be involved." Hubbard argues, contra Moo and others, that "A synecdoche is an easily recognizable, virtually transparent figure of speech in which the whole is represented in terms of its parts, or vice versa" (p. 759) and that "childbearing" (teknogonia) here most likely does not qualify. For Hubbard, "If teknogonia is being used as a synecdoche, it is probably the most opaque and obscure example in biblical literature," in addition to the fact that it makes sense as a reference to just the act of childbearing (p. 760).

Finally, in section 8, Hubbard defends his contention that "saved [soteriologically] by means of childbirth" is un-Pauline. He acknowledges that exegesis must precede theology, but suggests that this particular sense simply does not fit with what Paul says elsewhere.

In conclusion, Hubbard argues that, in light of the context and his exegesis, the expression in 1 Tim. 2:15 means "God will be faithful to those who are faithful, and he will keep you safe even through this harrowing ordeal of childbirth" (p. 762).

Some thoughts
First of all, this is an excellent contribution to the discussion, and I am almost convinced by Hubbard's arguments ("almost," for now; with some more thought I may be totally convinced). His linking of 1 Tim 2:15 to the language of the LXX in Genesis 3:16 is very convincing and one of the strongest parts of his argument, in my opinion.

However, for me, it all hinges on section 6 of the article, "1 Timothy 2:15 as a Proverbial Promise of Blessing." If Hubbard can convince me of that, then the article has won me over. More work needs to be done here, however. It's one thing to point out that there are general statements of blessing in Scripture that are not applicable to every single individual; it's another thing to prove that 1 Timothy 2:15 falls into that category, and I think Hubbard could have devoted some more effort into this and into the "Faithful Saying" of 3:1 (there's been some significant literature written on the function of the "faithful sayings" Paul's writings, literature which I don't see Hubbard citing. He downplays the importance of 3:1 for his argument, when in reality this may be the key piece that brings some of us over to his side).

On the other hand, I am very sympathetic to his rejection of the soteriological interpretation of "saved through childbearing." A straight-up reading like that does seem to indicate salvation by works (specifically, giving birth!) If we argue that it means something like "saved eschatologically by adhering to the good works of motherhood that stem from genuine conversion," then this dies the death of a thousand qualifications and is way too nuanced an interpretation, in my opinion.

Furthermore, there's a critique of the "saved [soteriologically]" position I would like to bring up: namely, it only applies to married woman or mothers in general. What about single ladies? (in the sense of "those who have never become mothers")  Paul himself elsewhere extols the virtue of singleness for both men and women, yet here he's saying that a woman is saved by means of giving birth? [or "adhering to her proper role as a wife," or whatever] The single women are left out! I guess they can't be saved then (forgive my facetiousness). This problem completely disappears in Hubbard's view, since single women miss out on the pain of childbearing anyway, and the context overall is focusing on the specific consequences of the woman's fall (including the pain of childbirth). Although, this needs more thought, because on second thought even Hubbard's view might exclude single women from the blessing when single women, it could be argued, are also in view in verses 9-12, unless we argue that it's more about the relationship of a husband to wife?? Hmmmm. Okay, I need to think this one through a bit more. Dear reader, please don't hold me to anything I just said in this particular paragraph, at least not yet!

Anyways, one final critique regarding the article. I wish Hubbard had given the "saved through the Childbirth [i.e., Christ's coming]" view a bit more thought. He dismisses it in a single paragraph, and personally I think it's worthy of a more thorough examination. It's been my preference ever since reading George Knight's commentary in the NIGTC series, though I fully acknowledge that it's a difficult view to defend exegetically.

So there you have it: Hubbard's article is well-worth reading and meditating on. Whatever positions we come to, however, we must approach the text in humility. Scripture can be very difficult, good people can disagree, and even the brightest scholars are bound to be wrong once in a while! Let's not let the difficulties of 1 Tim. 2:15 cloud over the Scripture's many clearer themes and more important doctrines.

Updated note: one more quibble. As a friend and fellow ph.d. student points out, Dr. Hubbard hardly touches on the last clause of 1 Tim. 2:15--"if they continue . . ." This is disappointing, since surely that clause has a bearing on how we should interpret the phrase "delivered through childbearing." While I'm sure that Hubbard can accommodate the role of that clause within his view, he needs to deal with it much more thoroughly before he has a fully convincing argument.

Greek Resources: Two Great Websites

Studying Greek is not just for "professional" students and Bible scholars! Many "regular" church folk throughout the centuries have taken up the challenge of learning the Biblical languages and making use of that in their own personal study, while, conversely, many "professionals" in the ministry possess just enough knowledge to be dangerous (e.g., placing too much emphasis on the Aorist tense in their sermons or falling into the etymological fallacy on the meaning of terms!). Furthermore, arguably the greatest Biblical language scholar of the 1700s, British abolitionist Granville Sharp, was self-taught in both Greek and Hebrew (though, admittedly, the man did possess an incredible intellect, enough to make Sherlock Holmes look like Elmer Fudd).

With that in mind, I hope that everybody, both those readers involved in academic studies of the Bible and those readers who are not, will take a look at these extremely helpful websites on the language of the New Testament.

Dr. David Black's New Testament Greek Portal
First off, we have the recently revamped "New Testament Greek Portal" by Dr. David Alan Black. It can be accessed here (or just see the sidebar to this blog). Two words: extremely comprehensive. Seriously, anything remotely related to studying New Testament Greek can be found here, generally in the form of links to helpful websites or programs. These include links to free flashcard programs, links to public domain grammars and other books on Google Books or The Internet Archive, links to websites on teaching Greek (including material on teaching Greek to children), links to dictionaries, and (for the more technically inclined), links to the full text of helpful articles discussing some of the finer points of NT Greek. Furthermore, the vast majority of the links on this website are annotated, with Dr. Black's own comments (or those of his grad assistant) describing what exactly the resource is good for.

Dr. Rodney Decker's NT Resources
Like Dr. Black's website, Dr. Decker's is devoted to providing the reader with resources on learning or teaching Greek. It can be accessed here. Dr. Decker's website is somewhat less comprehensive than Dr. Black's, but Dr. Decker is more likely to send the reader directly to his own personal discussion on a topic (normally in a pdf file). Dr. Decker's NT Resources site is a little bit less friendly to the casual learner, but does contain helpful, technical discussions on certain ares of NT Greek that you are less likely to find elsewhere (e.g., photos of papyri P21, technical diagrams of specific NT texts, Dr. Decker's famous "Poor Man's Porter" which attempts to delineate Dr. Stanley Porter's highly technical [and expensive] discussion of Verbal Aspect into a more manageable essay). Dr. Decker also has some helpful resources geared specifically towards students starting their first year of Greek (e.g., "Recommended Bibliography for Beginning Greek Students" and a chart on "Difficult Primary Verb Forms"). Finally, the NT Resources site also contains links to broader topics, including reviews of the ESV and NIV (2011), a "Bible Reading Chart," and a "Biblical Theological Dictionary" for those of us that need help sorting through the myriad of technical terms in Biblical studies. Also, there's a link to various papers in the ETS "Dispensational Study Group" which may prove interesting to some readers.

Both Drs. Black and Decker are bona fide Greek scholars with multiple published works (and great blogs), but more importantly they are dedicated teachers who wish to make the Biblical languages accessible to the average Joe (or Josephine).
[Irrelevant closing remark: Wouldn't it be hilarious to someday see a book written or edited by "Black & Decker"? Perhaps with articles on "Power Tools for Studying the Bible" or "Building up Your Church"? Sorry, couldn't resist a good pun]

Book Alert: Peter, Paul, and Prepositions

“Of making many books there is no end” (Ecclesiastes 12:12, kjv). Ah, if only the Preacher knew how true this would be in the modern era! Today we are overly-blessed (or cursed, perhaps) with a seemingly infinite influx of new books each year, and 2012 is no exception. Naturally, some books are more worthy of attention than others. While it is ultimately impossible to give a nod of recognition to every book in Biblical studies that deserves it, I’d like to highlight four noteworthy books from 2012 that caught my attention (and, subsequently, my credit card).

Note: the following are not reviews (though I might review one or all of them later), but rather just brief descriptions designed to pique the reader’s interest.

1. First of all, we have Larry R. Helyer’s The Life and Witness of Peter (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2012; 329 pages including indices).  To a certain degree, this is the book I’ve been waiting for the past few, ever since I decided to focus on Petrine studies. If you threw a stone, you could probably hit a dozen Pauline theologies or studies, but works focusing on Peter’s theology and writings are comparatively rare. Now Helyer’s book is not a pure Petrine theology per se, but rather a comprehensive study of both Peter and his writings (part of the book, then, is a Petrine theology; e.g., chapter 7, which deals with “Peter’s Christology”).  Much of The Life and Witness of Peter focuses on Peter’s role in the early church, but Helyer also devotes two chapters to 1 and 2 Peter, chapters which serve a similar role to their equivalent chapters in a standard NT Introduction (i.e., discussing issues of authorship, date, key themes, etc.). Other chapters, as mentioned above, deal with specific theological themes in Peter’s writings. Ultimately, The Life and Witness of Peter fills a very important, oft-neglected niche in scholarship. Furthermore, Helyer is a better writer than most; The Life and Witness of Peter is very scholarly but not at all stuffy, usually finding that right balance between overly-simple and too technical. This is a characteristic he carries over from his other  works, as well. In the doctoral seminary “Second Temple Literature,” Dr. Köstenberger required us to read Helyer’s Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period (as well as George Nickelsburg’s excellent Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah), and I remember being struck by how enjoyable Helyer’s book was compared to most required textbooks.

2. Secondly, we have my own advisor, Dr. David Alan Black’s, revision of an earlier monograph (and his dissertation) Paul, Apostle of Weakness: Astheneia and Its Cognates in the Pauline Literature (Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick, 2012; 193 pages including indices). Throughout this book Black examines the concept of “weakness” in the Apostle Paul’s writings and how it is developed throughout. Chapter 5 contains both an excellent overview of “weakness” in Paul’s theology (culminating in the conclusion that Paul’s concept of weakness is "markedly theocentric," p. 161) as well as a very valuable section on “Pauls’ Relevance for Today” (a welcome  addition to any academic monograph!) with the following thought provoking statement, “Too many Christians are disheartened over their infirmities, thinking that only if they were stronger in themselves they could accomplish more for God. But this point of view, despite its popularity, is altogether a fallacy. God’s means of working, rightly understood, is not by making us stronger, but by making us weaker and weaker until the divine power alone is clearly manifested in our lives” (pp. 161-162).

Like Helyer, one of Dr. Black’s strengths in writing lies in the fact that his works are generally easily accessible and often enjoyable (the reason Learn to Read New Testament Greek remains one of the most popular 1^st year Greek textbooks). Even Paul, Apostle of Weakness, which is a monograph (and should, by definition, be incredibly dull!), still manages to be both interesting and surprisingly easy to follow. Despite the occasional citation of untranslated German (he did, after all, get his doctorate at the University of Basel), this is a book that most Christians, even those without much education, can get some value out of (especially chapter 5).

Let me emphasize again, then, that accessible, enjoyable writing is a skill that should be prized in Biblical studies. Now, granted, it’s not like we want our scholars making their academic works read like the next Michael Crichton novel (although, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea . . . [Zondervan, give me a call! I’ve got a great idea for Minnesota Mounce and the Participles of Doom!]) Yet the fact remains that academic works in Biblical studies do not have to be dry! (two of the best examples of enjoyable NT writers, in my opinion, are Michael Bird and N. T. Wright, regardless of whether or not one agrees with them).

3.Thirdly, we have a book that is already making quite the splash within Biblical scholarship. Murray J. Harris’ Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament: An Essential Reference Resource for Exegesis (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2012; 293 pages including indices) does not represent a new area of research per se, but is itself, to a certain degree, a refinement or expansion upon Harris’ essay in volume 3 of Colin Brown’s New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Harris provides a thorough overview of the Greek preposition in the New Testament, helpfully discusses “Dangers to Be Avoided in Any Examination of New Testament Prepositional Usage” (ch. 3), and then proceeds to examine every proper and improper preposition that occurs in the NT, paying special attention to important and/or controversial usage. At this point, Harris’ work does indeed seem to be turning into what the title promises: “An Essential Reference Resource.” See my friend Craig Hurst's review here. 

4.Finally, here’s a fantastic idea that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner: Devotions on the Greek New Testament: 52 Reflections to Inspire & Instruct, ed. by J. Scott Duvall and Verlyn D. Verbrugge (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2012). This book is exactly what the title suggests: devotional treatments of Greek texts, basically Our Daily Bread for seminary students. The authors write in a casual, occasionally personal manner (sometimes including stories). Each writer focuses on one Greek text (a verse or two) and unpacks it, pointing the reader to its practical application in the Christian life. The authorial lineup is a partial “who’s-who” of New Testament scholarship (Darrell Bock, George Guthrie, Lynn Cohick, Ben Witherington III, to name a few) with a few “rising stars” (such as my friend Alan Bandy, recent doctoral graduate from SEBTS).

Well, there’s a whole lot more books worth reading from 2012, but hopefully these will prove to be helpful to those interested in New Testament studies. Looking forward to what 2013 will bring!