Teaching rhetoric as part of NT Exegesis: Some helpful sources.

I have the privilege of teaching the graduate course "Introduction to New Testament Exegesis" every two years. This year, I've decided to shake up my normal way of teaching the class and add in a part on "New Testament Rhetoric," which I've begun dabbling in, for better of for worse!

Now, "rhetoric" itself is difficult to define, and scholars do not always agree amongst themselves. Carl Joachim Classen provides us a good starting point: "The deliberate, calculated use of language for the sake of communicating various kinds of information  ini the manner intended by the speaker (and the theory of such a use)" (Classen 2002, 45). In a nutshell, the study of rhetoric assumes that how an author says something is important in addition to what he or she says. 

In modern scholarly treatments on NT rhetoric, the focus is often on macro-rhetoric, or the overall structure of a letter and its persuasive power. This was popularized with Hans Dieter Betz's commentary on Galatians (1979), where he mapped the structure of the epistle according to formal Greco-Roman conventions. This, however, is highly controversial, as seen in a recent issue of Bulletin for Biblical Research which included a debate between Ben Witherington + Jason Myers vs. Stanley Porter on this topic (see below). Interestingly, out of all the New Testament epistles besides Galatians, 2 Peter is perhaps the most likely to be analyzed in terms of formal Greco-Roman rhetoric (ever since Duane F. Watson published his highly influential monograph in 1988).

I'm a bit more interested in "micro-rhetoric," which deals with the minutiae such as word-order, word-play, alliteration, etc., as well as how such items impact or illuminate the social relationship between the author and his or her audience. To a certain degree rhetorical studies and discourse analysis overlap here, though virtually nobody that I know of discusses how the two intersect (except, intriguingly, Alan Kam-Yau Chan's 2016 monograph on Melchizedek Passages in the Bible, though all too briefly). 

Anyways, here are some resources I've found especially helpful for studying the topic. All of them are reasonably priced (we're not talking inaccessible $100 monographs here). I should also mention that I will require my students to read my Doktorvater, David Alan Black's Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek, which has sections on both rhetoric and discourse analysis.

Helpful resources:

Black, C. Clifton. The Rhetoric of the Gospel: Theological Artistry in the Gospels and Acts, 2nd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2013. C. Black's essay in the 2010 book Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation (2nd ed.) is also helpful.

Bulletin for Biblical Research 26 no. 4 (2016), with an initial article by Stanley E. Porter, a response by Jason A. Myers and Ben Witherington, and a rejoinder by Porter. For more on Porter vs. Witherington, see The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 55 no. 2 (2012) for a critique by Porter of Witherington's work in social-rhetorical criticism, and then JETS 58 no. 1 (2015) for Witherington's defense of analyzing NT texts in light of Greco-Roman rhetoric.

Classen, Carl Joachim. Rhetorical Criticism of the New Testament. Boston: Brill Academic, 2002.

Kennedy, George A., trans. and ed. Invention and Method: Two Rhetorical Treatises from the Hermogenic Corpus. Writings from the Greco-Roman World. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. This is one of the key ancient sources on rhetoric, and we can thank Dr. Kennedy for providing a modern translation (I've tried to translate parts of this on my own from TLG; I didn't fare too well!). The reader should also be aware that Aristotle's The Art of Rhetoric is a much earlier Greek source on the topic.

Kennedy, George A. New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.

Martin, Troy W., ed. Genealogies of New Testament Rhetorical Criticism. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014. Personally, I found this book very helpful in explaining the various views out there on rhetorical criticism in NT studies.

Muilenburg, James. "Form Criticism and beyond." Journal of Biblical Literature 88 no. 1 (1969): 1-18. Notwithstanding its somewhat misleading title, this article (originally a presidential address) is considered a landmark source that reignited interest in rhetorical criticism in biblical studies.

Watson, Duane Frederick. Invention, Arrangement, and Style: Rhetorical Criticism  of Jude and 2 Peter. SBLDS 104. Atlanta: Scholars, 1988.

Witherington, Ben, III. New Testament Rhetoric: An Introductory Guide to the Art of Persuasion in and of the New Testament. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2009.

Wuellner, Wilhelm. "Where Is Rhetorical Criticism Taking Us?" Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 no. 3 (1987): 448-63. Wuellner helped facilitate a movement to pay more attention to the social dimensions of rhetoric.

Warning! Closing theological digression alert! As a final point, for those of us that  believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, we must take the issue of rhetoric a step farther: how the Holy Spirit says something is relevant, in addition to what He said in Scripture. More than just the choice of words, such things as structure,  word-order, word-play, etc., are all part of the inspiration of the original documents. Which is why any claim for perfection of a particular translation actually diminishes the doctrine of inerrancy: The Holy Spirit himself inspired the alliteration in Hebrews 1:1, alliteration which is lacking in the King James (and almost all English translations). This means that no matter how solid a translation might be on Hebrews 1:1 (and the KJV translators did an excellent job here), if it did not alliterate in the target language, it is not perfectly preserving all that the Holy Spirit inspired. End of theological digression!

How to Stock your Biblical Studies Toolbox (guest post by David Stark)

David Stark is a professor at Faulkner University and a fellow graduate from Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Indeed, we began the doctoral program together, and a number of us early on, myself included, considered David the cream of the crop of new PhD students! His career has lived up to expectations, as he has published his dissertation with the prestigious T&T Clark, along with articles in multiple journals, including Bulletin for Biblical Research. He also has an entire blog devoted to making the study of Scripture much easier (see the link to "Work Better in Biblical Studies," to the right). I am honored to have him publish a guest post on the Paroikos Bible Blog.

[update 3/5/21--here's a link to Dr. Stark's discussion of two more "tools": backup systems and password managers. Click here. Also, here is a link to sign up for Dr. Stark's helpful "toolbox" updates]

Plumbers, electricians, and carpenters all have specific tools they use for their trades. As they hone their skill in those trades, a good part of that development means improving their skill at using the tools of their trade.

If you had a plumber who ended up being able to use his or her tools only as well as a weekend “do-it-yourselfer,” you’d probably find someone else next time. (I’ve seen this recently. It wasn’t pretty.)

A Problem with Biblical Studies

The same dynamic plays out in academic biblical studies. But academic biblical studies has a huge disadvantage to “blue collar work” like plumbing.

That’s because biblical studies is a kind of “knowledge work.” As such it shares a deficiency with other kinds of “knowledge work” in precisely an area that “blue collar work” recognizes as important—how good you are with the tools of your trade.

Biblical studies pays attention to some of these tools, things like biblical languages, historical criticism, or effective writing. But it often wholly overlooks more fundamental tools and skills that make it possible to develop expertise in these areas.

If you’re turning a wrench on a pipe and your mind wanders, your subconscious will probably keep your hand turning. But if Facebook beckons for your attention while you’re studying Greek vocabulary or writing a journal article, your attention’s going to go down the drain.—And once it’s gone, even the best plumber can’t help you get it back out of there.

Why You Need a Toolbox

This illustration shows up two reasons you, as a knowledge worker in biblical studies, need some specific tools:

1)    Tools allow you to do things you otherwise can’t. That might be joining pipes or cutting wire. Or it might be tracking dozens of secondary sources for a major research project so that you can recall what’s in each.

2)    Tools allow you to not do things you otherwise would. Sure, you can try to pound a screw with a hammer. But the work is a lot easier to use a screwdriver. It’s still easier if you predrill the hole. Similarly, you could try to manage all of your obligations in your head and not drop any of the plates you’re supposed to be spinning. But it’s a lot easier if you put all of that somewhere that will surface the information you need when you need it and let you forget about the rest to focus on something else.

And just like plumbers, electricians, and carpenters, a good part of honing your craft in biblical studies depends on developing skill with the tools of your trade.

How to Stock Your Toolbox

Exactly what are these tools for biblical studies? The specifics will vary from one person to another. They also have various forms (e.g., paper versus electronic). Or they might take the form of a process (e.g., going to a specific location).

Precisely which variety of a specific tool you have is less important than having and getting the most out of what works for you—just like having a drill is vastly more important to making a hole than whether the drill says “Ryobi” or “Kobalt” on the side.

In that light, I’d suggest there are 8 basic types tools you need in your toolbox as a knowledge worker in biblical studies.

1. Attention Management

In biblical studies, if you don’t have control over your attention, nothing else gets done. Everyone’s attention is prone to wander, and you need a tool to help you put your attention where it needs to be.

2. List Management

There’s a lot of “stuff” that comes at you. That might be a paper to write, a language to learn, groceries to get, or meetings to prepare for. Long term, trying to keep all of that in your head will cause more stress and lead to poorer outcomes than if you have a tool to put the stuff into to help you keep track of it all.

3. Calendar

You schedule meetings with others. But you can take that up a notch by scheduling meetings with yourself when you’ll put your attention on and plug away at a specific project. Keeping a calendar can also help you with long-term planning as well as seeing things like how accepting that meeting means you won’t make it to your kids’ soccer practice.

4. Biblical Studies Resources

You need biblical texts, monographs, commentaries, journal articles, etc. Tools in this area that are maybe the most obvious.

5. Bibliography Management

What was that book you read that had that argument about that phrase you’ve now started pouring over? Research is great. Re-searching …repeatedly … again and again?—Not so much.

6. Notes

You might have notes from a meeting. You might have notes on reading a journal article. Unless you want to continually reread the article or ask another attendee about some point of the meeting you can’t quite remember, you need a tool to keep notes for yourself.

7. Word Processing

You need some way of putting your work into words. You can do it orally in theory. But most often in biblical studies, putting your work into words requires writing that produces an electronic file.

8. Communication

And once you have your work written up, how are you going to get it to others? Again, you could read the paper to them. But you also really need to be able to communicate the written text of your work, as well as to interact with others over any number of other questions, academic and otherwise.

Conclusion

From the tools I’ve described above, you’ll notice not everything is strictly “academic.” Being at your kids’ soccer practice isn’t going to be a graded assignment in your course syllabus. And it’s not going to show up on tenure review.

But being a biblical scholar is a particular way of being human. As such, honing your craft in biblical studies means improving how you handle your whole life. And that’s not to mention that you’ll be more productive in better ways if you’re not also preoccupied with the costs of under investing in key relationships or other aspects of your life.

Embracing all of that well into a single whole is a process, not a state. But there are tools that can help like those that I’ve mentioned above.

What works best for you may be different from what works best for me or, indeed, from what will work best for you in a year or two’s time.

Still, it can be helpful to not have to start picking out tools from scratch. So, if you want to have a look inside my toolbox, just let me know.

I’ll be more than happy to send you a free downloadable of the main things it contains, as well as a further bonus category that isn’t a core tool but definitely proves helpful.

Peer-Reviewed Journals Pt 1 (and the benefits of Galaxie Software for the seminary student)

Anybody can publish (especially in an age of “e-publishing” and “self-publishing”), but whether or not what is written is worth reading is another matter altogether. For theological and biblical research, graduate school demands the highest quality of sources. This is where the concept of “peer-review” comes in to play. If a book or article has been “peer-reviewed,” this means that established scholars have read it and rendered a verdict as to its academic quality and contribution to scholarship (regardless of whether or not they agree with it). This provides a standard that (at least in theory) weeds out sloppy work, false information, and material that simply rehashes what others have said. While not a perfect system, this provides “quality assurance” at the academic level (though obviously not at the spiritual level).

            Most peer-reviewed journals are “anonymous” peer-review, which means that the articles were evaluated solely on the basis of content, not authorship. This eliminates favoritism and bias (in theory, any seminary student could be published in a mainstream journal if their work was up to par). In my next post, I will list the most important journals for graduate students to be aware of and utilize.

Many of these journals, especially the top-tier journals, are behind a “paywall,” which means they are not accessible for free unless an institution has an ATLA database subscription or something similar (ours does not). However, some journals are “partial paywall,” which means all but the last couple volumes are accessible for free online. For example, at https://www.ibr-bbr.org/bulletin-biblical-research you can access all volumes of the Bulletin for Biblical Research up through 2011. For journal websites that allow such access, my former student David Dzimianski has shown me how to search for key words and topics via google. For example, to search BBR for any articles that discuss “angels” you would type the following:   site:www.ibr-bbr.org filetype:pdf angels   Also, some journals that are “partial paywall” may not be accessible on the official website, but may be accessible through http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/articles_evangelical_quarterly.php (e.g. Evangelical Quarterly) or related sites.

            Finally, “Galaxie Software” (http://www.galaxie.com), for a recurring charge of only $5 a month, will give you fully searchable access to all or almost all of the volumes of the top evangelical journals. I believe “Logos” offers a similar option (though I am not sure if it is more expensive or cheaper than Galaxie). Also, just recently, Galaxie software added some sort of compatibility with Zotero software (I'll confess the technical details are beyond me; I don't use Zotero yet).
           I have strongly urged my seminary students to subscribe to Galaxie Software's journal library. At present they have a incredible 37 journals, fully-searchable (a few of them will not have the last two years or so available, but those become available over time). All of these are confessional journals, which means they are published by schools or organizations who would self-identify as Christian (I think almost all of them evangelical). On the one hand, the top-tier journals will be lacking (Journal of Biblical Literature, New Testament Studies, etc.). However, almost all the top evangelical journals (many of which are cited by mainstream publications, not just evangelical publications) are included, including the top two evangelical journals in the world, Tyndale Bulletin and Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (well, the top two according to my humble but correct opinion, at least!). In addition. other top academic evangelical journals include Bulletin for Biblical Research, Trinity Journal, Westminster Theological Journal, Bibliotheca Sacra, etc. At the academic level, the only major evangelical journals not included here, in my opinion, are Expository Times and Evangelical Quarterly.
      Not all journals in Galaxie's collection are of equal quality, of course (and some of them are more valuable for nostalgia or historical studies than academics per se). Having said that, there are a number of journals that, while less academic, are immensely helpful for pastoral studies or even personal spiritual reflection. In this category I would include Emmaus Journal, Faith and Mission (though since replaced with the more academic Southeastern Theological Review, also included in Galaxie), Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (has some helpful material for non-Baptists, too, in my opinion), and Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry.
    Finally, for those interested in the debate on gender roles within evangelicalism, Galaxie Journals includes both sides with 1. Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Complementarian) and 2. Priscilla Papers (Egalitarian).
   At $5 a month, this is an incredible valuable resource for any seminary students or pastors who take their study time seriously (case-in-point: for a series of classes on the Trinity I'm presenting at Falls Baptist for the layman and laywoman, I have already utilized three journal articles I accessed via Galaxie for my research).
    Next post I will discuss what are the top-tier journals that graduate students and especially doctoral students need to have access to.

Why our seminary students now have to read From Topic to Thesis by Michael Kibbe.

The other day, while reading a Bibliotheca Sacra article from over 100 years ago, I was struck by the thought that it seemed so much more polished than the scholarly material of today. My mind also reasoned (correctly or incorrectly, I don't know) was that perhaps since proportionally more people publish today than over 100 years ago, the overall literary quality of the writers is significantly diminished. The N. T. Wright's and John Piper's of the world (i.e., the top biblical writers) become a much smaller percentage compared to the "average" published author, even the average peer-reviewed author. We may be tempted to suggest that, on the other hand, the capability to research may be improved, and to the degree that technology and textual discoveries enables us to access and analyze material, yes (A. T. Robertson did not, after all, have access to Logos software or the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae). However, 100 years ago the "average" published author was quoting Calvin in Latin (not English) as a matter of course, while B. F. Westcott was collating ancient manuscripts by hand, without any electronic helps! They did more with what they had, in other words.

The internet, of course, only compounds the problem (the lower literary quality of writers), by removing peer-review. Now everybody with an opinion automatically assumes they're worth being published just because, you know, they have an opinion! [and don't get me started on Twitter :) ] Consequently, schools today have their work cut out for them. Since more people are writing (and that's not a bad necessarily a bad thing, mind you), graduate schools especially need to be more rigorous in developing the talents of their students.

This year a professor named Michael Kibbe published From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research (click here for the Amazon link). Kibbe is a professor at Moody in Spokane, Washington, and fairly new to the field of scholarship (his revised dissertation was just published by the very prestigious De Gruyter. His book fills a very important niche for seminary students in three ways:

1. First, the book is a step-by-step guide to the process of theological research, with very specific instructions. For example, one very helpful portion of the book discusses the difference between "Primary," "Secondary," and "Tertiary" sources, and where in the research process each comes into play. Elsewhere, he discusses the note-taking process, how to interact with sources, and how to narrow your topic into a solid thesis. While I don't always agree with him (actually, page 66 on taking notes is probably the only place I disagree with him significantly), this is an excellent and very specific treatment of the research process, from assignment to crafting an argument. Note also that Kibbe has some very helpful appendices (including one devoted to the bibliographical software Zotero).

Caveat: the book does not cover writing per se (for that, I would suggest Joseph Williams, Style: Writing with Clarity and Grace (required in my doctoral studies), nor does Kibbe really discuss how to proofread, etc. This is mostly about research, developing a thesis, and interacting with sources, not how to actually write.

2. Secondly, this book is written specifically for theology students by a Biblical scholar who clearly sees theological research as a spiritual activity, not a neutral endeavor: "The one thing theological research cannot be is a purely academic exercise or one limited to certain spheres of my existence and kept away from others" (p. 30). Indeed, the introduction is very well-written and well-thought out in regards to why theological research needs to be done properly and with the right attitude.

3. Finally, and this will sound a bit odd, but I believe this book benefits from having been written by a younger, less well-known scholar. In other words, if this book had been written by D. A. Carson or Larry Hurtado or another well-established scholar, quite possibly it would have been too far removed from the average seminary student to be as helpful, not to mention uber-intimidating, to boot. Granted, Kibbe is probably smarter than most of us, anyways, but he's still closer to the average seminary student than a 20-year veteran of academia. And that, I believe, is a good thing.

So I highly recommend this book for graduate students, with the caveat that you need some other resource to help you with the technical aspects of writing itself.

Preparing to teach NT Biblical Theology: Resources and Decisions

In the early stages of my doctoral studies, I had the privilege of taking "Biblical Theology" with Dr. Andreas J. Kostenberger at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. My first of two papers for that class (on a Petrine theology of prophecy), with the encouragement of Dr. Kostenberger, was submitted for publication and eventually ended up in the Bulletin for Biblical Research, vol. 21.2 (2011). Consequently, I am very passionate about the subject, and now, for the first time, I have the opportunity to teach the entire class at the seminary level here in Menomonee Falls, WI.

The first question is, obviously, "What is biblical theology"? It is not, contra the name, "theology that is biblical as opposed to unbiblical." In fact, it is very possible to conduct "biblical theology" that is in antithesis to the Christian faith. On the other hand, biblical theology is most definitely not "systematic theology." While I am still working on my own definition for the class, I would strongly view the former as allowing the text to give us theological categories rather than starting with theological categories and seeing what the text has to say about them. In other words, systematic theology says "I wonder what the Bible has to say about angels," having already made up its mind which topic to investigate. Conversely, biblical theology says, "I wonder what theological topics are important to Jude and how does he develop them?" The difference is significant. Both are essential, (systematics is necessary to see how all the pieces fit together and show what relevance they have to everyday belief), but biblical theology must precede systematics if we wish to avoid a sort-of "conservative rationalism" that places our opinion of what topics are important over the text's opinion of what topics are important. 

A plethora of resources on biblical theology exist. Indeed, simply settling on a textbook is causing me grief! (In a pleasant sort of way; much like a child "grieves" over having to choose between two competing flavors of ice cream). Option one will be Frank Thielman's Theology of the New Testament, which from what I understand conducts biblical theology the way I want it done (not that I'm the authority on "how it should be done!"). Once it arrives in the mail, I shall proceed to analyze it. The second option will be to have the students purchase (but only read part of) the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP Academic), and then supplement their reading with a book of their choice from one of the many excellent series out there, e.g., New Studies in Biblical Theology (IVP), New American Commentary Studies in Bible and Theology (B&H Academic), Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Zondervan), etc.

For the required paper, I am planning on allowing two approaches: 1. focusing on how a particular theme is developed in a particular book or author (e.g., Atonement in Hebrews; Kingdom in Matthew; etc.) or, 2. Tracing a major theme throughout the entire New Testament, either from a canonical or historical perspective (e.g., tracing the theme of the Parousia in the NT); the latter, of course, requires enough knowledge of the NT to know what themes are most important to the majority of the NT and will require 
acknowledging tension when necessary (key point: tension does not mean contradiction; there's a difference).

Finally, there's a series of articles that I intend to have them read. Foundational to understanding the entire discipline are, I believe, the articles by D. A. Carson ("Current Issues in Biblical Theology: A New Testament Perspective,"  BBR 5.1, 1995) and Andreas J. Kostenberger ("The Present and the Future of Biblical Theology," Themelios 37.3, 2012). These both provide an excellent overview of the state of the field of study today.

I'll also force them to read my own article in BBR on Petrine theology (just because very few people write on Petrine theology, a noticeable exception being Larry R. Helyer's excellent The Life and Witness of Peter). After that, there's a few articles I've taken a fancy to that I consider to be good examples of biblical theology: Torrey Seland, "Resident Aliens in Mission: Missional Practices in the Emerging Church of 1 Peter" (BBR 19.4, 2009); Josh Chatraw, two articles in JETS (vol. 54.3, September 2011; and vol. 55.2, June 2012), the first of which refutes Bart Ehrman on "contradictory theologies" when comparing the Synoptics, and the second of which provides a needed balance to N. T. Wright's corporate view of repentance in Luke. In addition, I liked what I saw in Robert L. Plummer's "Imitation of Paul and the Church's Missionary Role in 1 Corinthians," JETS 54.3 (Spetember 2011), so they'll probably read that as well.

Finally, I'm thinking of having my students read a brand-new article in a top-tier journal: Jack Levison, "A Theology of the Spirit in the Letter to the Hebrews," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 78 (2016).
In this fascinating article, Levison attempts to correct the assumption a la H. B. Swete, Barnabas Lindars, et al, that there is no "theology of the Spirit" in Hebrews. Although I do not agree with everything Levison writes (mostly the first half--I think he's over-reacting to areas where Hebrews diverges from the LXX, and also his approach to the warning passages), I'm nevertheless thinking of having my students read this article because Levison provides an excellent example of how to correct a dearth of scholarship on a biblical-theological theme. His five concluding points are well-thought out (and I would only really quibble with how he develops the first one): in Hebrews, 1. "The Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture," 2. "In the push for perseverance in this letter, the Holy Spirit plays a central role," 3. "The Holy Spirit is essential to the process of salvation," 4. "The theology of the Spirit communicates the currency of salvation," and 5. "This theology of the Spirit communicates the currency of salvation."

So that's the plan for "biblical theology" at Baptist Theological Seminary! There's a ton of resources out there, but I would advise the reader interested in dipping his or her toe into the ocean of biblical theology to start with Carson's and Kostenberger's articles, both of which are available for free online.

What my New Testament Intro seminary students have to read

Starting this  coming Monday, I have the privilege teaching "New Testament Introduction" to the seminary students here at Baptist Theological Seminary (Menomonee Falls, WI). Since this is my "bread and butter," so to speak (my doctorate was in New Testament), I'm immensely excited at the opportunity. While I did get the opportunity to teach the class in a "hybrid" format while I was at Southeastern (part of the class was online lectures by a resident faculty, and about 12 hours of the class was my own "face-to-face" lectures to about 20 some students), this is the first time I've had the class all to myself.

My own interpretation of the topic is going to be less "book-by-book" than many treatments. While there will be plenty of that, the first half of the class will deal with broader issues, including 2nd Temple history and literature, the "quest for the historical Jesus," the historicity of the Resurrection, the Synoptic problem, the New Perspective on Paul, textual criticism, etc. 

In light of that, my textbook is not going to be the classic New Testament Introduction by Carson, Moo, and Morris (oddly, Morris' name dropped off in later editions--I still haven't figured out why that is), Rather, our textbook is The Cradle, the Cross, the Crown: A New Testament Introduction by Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles. Granting my bias (two of the authors were my professors), I feel Kostenberger and co. do a way better job of working with both the background of the NT and modern theological issues (such as the so-called "quests" for the historical Jesus).

I'm requiring my students to read a couple chapters from Richard Bauckham's fantastic Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, considered one of the most significant books for defending the veracity of the Gospel accounts, as well as a chapter from Reinventing Jesus (Komoszewski, Sawyer, and Wallace) that completely demolishes the "resurrection as an imitation of the Osiris myth" argument (to paraphrase one part of the chapter, the "Osiris" story is actually closer to "Frankenstein" than to the biblical concept of Resurrection). On the other side of the spectrum, I'm having my students read two chapters from Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities. I'm deliberately exposing my students to pop-culture liberalism, the kind of book that the average man or women on the street is most likely to read, so that they are better prepared to deal that sort of material (if this were a class devoted strictly to textual criticism, I'd probably have them read some of Ehrman's more scholarly work).

Finally, my students will read a number of journal articles dealing with a variety of topics. N. T. Wright has some fantastic articles in the Sewanee Theological Review vol. 42 on the Resurrection (available online here). In addition, his essay "Five Gospels but No Gospel," originally published in Authenticating the Activities of Jesus (eds. Bruce Chilton and Craig Evans) is a humorous and masterful demolishing of "The Jesus Seminar." In the other hand, I'm also having them read Thomas Schreiner's article against the New Perspective on Paul (and against N. T. Wright) in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society vol. 54.1, March 2011 (click here). The article is entitled "Justification: The Saving Righteousness of God in Christ." Right after that, my students will be reading the ever-enjoyable Michael Bird's article "What Is There between Minneapolis and St. Paul? A Third Way in the Piper-Wright Debate" (the very next issue of JETS). 

[Side note: Somehow Bird always manages to inject humor into his academic writings. I've tried to imitate that, and failed miserably! I had a very dry article (though hopefully a worthwhile one) accepted for publication recently, but a different article, in which I tried to inject some humor, was rejected by a different journal with one of the comments being that my attempt at levity was "inappropriate." Oh well. :( ]

Anyways, looking forward to this class! The students are great, the reading material is great, and we'll see if the teacher is up to the challenge!

Evangelical New Testament Commentaries: A Short and Totally Biased Guide

First off, a shout-out to my friend Joe Greene who has re-entered the blogosphere with his newest post, "10 How-To Steps of Biblical Interpretation" (click here). By the way, for those interested in pneumatology in Biblical Studies, see his article on "The Spirit In The Temple: Bridging The Gap Between Old Testament Absence And New Testament Assumption," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 55 (Dec. 2012): 717-742.

The other day I had the privilege of addressing the seminary students here at Baptist Theological Seminary, a fine, strapping group, if I do say so myself! I was asked to create a "commentary guide," so I obliged by sharing with them my top 2-5 commentaries on each NT book (the OT list will have to wait, though I will say I'm very found of C. John Collins' Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary and Daniel I. Block's New American Commentary on Ruth.

The following list is, ultimately, my own creation, but it has been heavily influenced by my own biases (some of the authors were profs of mine), various reviews I read, and Daniel Akin's massive "Building a Theological Library" document (revised, 2011). The 2013 update, which I have not read, is here:
http://www.danielakin.com/building-a-theological-library-2013-update/

At the end, I list 20+ books that should be in every seminary student or pastor's library (eventually).
Please note that some parts of this list are more competent than others! My list on 1 Peter, for example, actually counts for something because I've actually published in that realm (and just had a new article on 1 Peter 2:6 accepted recently, my first article since finishing my doctorate!). Conversely, my section on Mark is woefully ignorant and inadequate, but hey, I'm posting it anyways and if you object you can get your own blog! :) Or, better yet, make suggestions in the "comments" section.

This list is subject to revision, especially if I get any good comments.

Matthew

      1. D. A. Carson, in volume 9 of the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary (2010).
 This is probably pound-for-pound the best commentary on Matthew, even though I'm normally not a fan of the Expositor's series.
      2. David L. Turner, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2008).
      3. John A. Broadus, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (no specific series).
 This is the classic conservative work, still highly regarded today (was reprinted
 in 1958, but probably public domain).
     4. R. T. France, New International Commentary on the New Testament (2007).
     5. Also worth having, D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount: An Evangelical
 Exposition of Matthew 5-7 (1978).

Mark
     1. James R. Edwards, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2001).
     2. R. T. France, New International Greek Testament Commentary (2002).

Luke
     1. Darrell L. Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2
volumes, 1994)
     2. Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (2007)
     3. I. Howard Marshall, New International Greek Testament Commentary (1978)

John
     1. Andreas Köstenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
(2004). I'm a bit biased on this one, since Köstenberger was one of my teachers,
 but it really is an excellent source. For a more entry-level source, see
Köstenberger's Encountering John.
      2. D. A. Carson, Pillar New Testament Commentary (1990). Carson was
 Köstenberger's mentor, so you no doubt you'll see some of the same emphasis, but both are good commentaries in their own right..
     3. G. R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary (1987). Usually the WBC
 series is daunting and rarely the most conservative; however, Beasley-Murray's
 work is a golden exception (and Beasley-Murray was a Baptist pastor and
 scholar).
     4. Leon Morris, New International Commentary on the New Testament (1995).
 Almost anything by Leon Morris will have significant value.
     5. Note: the premier commentary on John for broader academia (not conservative
 but with some value) is Raymond Brown's Anchor Bible commentary (2 vols,
 1970)
     6. Also, the two-volume commentary by Craig Keener (stand alone, I think, but published by Baker Academic)--Dr. Keener puts the "epic" back on commentary-writing (see acts, below). Thanks to my friend Joe Greene for this suggestion.

Acts
     1. Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (3 volumes; stand-alone, no
 series; 2011-2014). It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the most epic
 commentary ever written on any book in the New Testament (and I do not use
 the term "epic" lightly!). While all three volumes will cost you a pretty penny,
 this pretty much represents "almost everything you wanted to know about the
 book of Acts" by a conservative scholar.
     2. Darrell Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2007).
     3. I Howard Marshall, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (2007).
     4. C. K. Barrett, International Critical Commentary (2 vols., 2000).
     5. In addition, the ministry student should be interested to hear that the "lost"
 commentary on Acts by J. B. Lightfoot has just recently been published: The
 Acts of the Apostles: A Newly Discovered Commentary (2014), ed. by Ben
 Witherington III (who personally discovered Lightfoot's notes in the Durham
 Cathedral Library, collecting dust).

Romans
     1. Douglas Moo, New International Commentary on the New Testament (1996).
     2. Grant R. Osborne, IVP New Testament Commentary (2004). Osborne is
 probably the most Arminian on the list, while Schreiner is probably the most
 Calvinistic, but both have value.
      3. C. E. B. Cranfield, International Critical Commentary (1979). 2 vols.
      4. Thomas Schreiner, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
 (1998).
     5. Leon Morris, Pillar New Testament Commentary (1988).
     6. F. F. Bruce, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (2nd ed., 2007).

First Corinthians

     1. Gordon D. Fee New International Commentary on the New Testament (1987).
     2. Anthony C. Thiselton, New International Greek Testament Commentary (2002).
A bit intimidating, and some parts are overly technical, but still good.
     3. David Garland, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.

Second Corinthians
      1. George Guthrie, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2015).
 Brand new, and Guthrie was one of my profs one summer, so I can personally vouch for his
 solid conservative scholarship.
      2. David Garland, New American Commentary (1999).
      3. Mark A. Seifrid, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2014)

Galatians
     1. Douglas Moo, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2013).
     2. F. F. Bruce, New International Greek Testament Commentary (1982).
     3. Timothy George, New American Commentary (1994).

Ephesians
      1. Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (stand alone, no
series; 2003).
      2. Peter T. O'Brian, Pillar New Testament Commentary (1997).
      3. F. F. Bruce, New International Commentary on the New Testament (1984;
 includes Colossians and Philemon).

Philippians
      1. Gordon Fee, New International Commentary on the New Testament (1995).
      2. Peter T. O'Brian, New International Greek Testament Commentary (2005).
      3. Ralph P. Martin, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (2007).

Colossians and Philemon

     1. F. F. Bruce, New International Commentary on the New Testament (1984;
 includes Ephesians).
     2. Douglas J. Moo, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2008).
     3. David E. Garland, NIV Application Commentary (1998). Please don't let the
 series title turn you away; this series has some excellent resources, makes a
 genuine effort to be practical and relevant to the Christian life (without
 neglecting scholarship), and will correct the NIV when the author feels it to be
 appropriate.

First and Second Thessalonians
     1. Gordon D. Fee, New International Commentary on the New Testament (2009).
     2. Gene L. Green, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2002).
     3. Charles A. Wanamaker, New International Greek Testament Commentary
 (1990). A bit odd in that Wanamaker thinks 2 Thessalonians was written first,
 but still a helpful resource.

Pastoral Epistles
     1. William D. Mounce, Word Biblical Commentary (2000). This volume is a bit
 intimidating, but very thorough, with probably the best defense of Pauline
 authorship you will ever see.
     2. George W. Knight III, New International Greek Testament Commentary (1992).
     3. Donald Guthrie, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (1990). The most
 accessible volume on this list; use it when you're in more of a hurry. The "big
 three" for serious study are really Mounce, Knight, and Towner.
     4. Philip H. Towner, New International Commentary on the New Testament
 (2006).
     5. I. Howard Marshall, International Critical Commentary (1999).

Hebrews
     1. Peter T. O'Brian, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2010).
      2. George H. Guthrie, NIV Application Commentary (1998). The NIVAP series is extremely practical, one of the rare series that seems to care about its readers spiritual health. Guthrie's represents  one of the better books in the series.
     3. David Allen, New American Commentary (2010).

James
     1. Douglas Moo, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2000).
     2. George H. Guthrie, volume 13 of the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary
 (2006).
     3. Peter Davids, New International Greek Testament Commentary (1982).

First Peter (my area of expertise)
      1. Karen H. Jobes, Baker Exegetical Commentary (2005). Being a specialist on 1
 Peter, I would like to strongly stress that this is flat-out the best commentary out
 there (with some good theological observations as well).
      2. Douglas Harink, Brazos Theological Commentary (includes 2 Peter; 2009). This
 is one of the most quotable commentaries you'll find, packed with excellent,
 challenging discussion. It does not, however, deal with the minutia of the text
 like others on this list.
     3. Wayne Grudem, Tyndale New Testament Commentary (1988). Entry-level,
 more accessible than others on this list. I would use Grudem if teaching a college-level class, but Jobes for grad school or beyond.
     4. Peter H. Davids, New International Commentary on the New Testament 1990).
     5. The premier commentaries in broader academia (i.e., not necessarily
 conservative) are John H. Elliott (Anchor Bible) and Paul J. Achtemeier
 (Hermeneia). Also, John Elliott's A Home for the Homeless, a social-scientific study of 1 Peter, had a huge impact on my first book (for what it's worth, my first book is Foreknowledge and Social Identity in 1 Peter, published by Wipf&Stock).
     6. Larry R. Helyer, The Life and Witness of Peter (2012), is an excellent book for
 broader studies on Peter, his writings, and his theology.

Second Peter and Jude
     1. Peter H. Davids, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2006).
     2. Gene L. Green, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2008).
     3. Thomas R. Schreiner, New American Commentary (2003). Also includes First
Peter, but I prefer other commentaries for that epistle.

1, 2, 3 John
     1. Colin G. Kruse, Pillar New Testament Commentary (2000). Superior to Akin's book
 when dealing with difficult passages.
     2. Daniel L. Akin, New American Commentary (2001). I'm slightly biased, since
 this author gave me my last diploma, but if you want a solid conservative work
 written by somebody with both pastoral experience and scholarly credentials,
 this is probably the best. Also has three helpful appendices dealing with the term
 antichrist, "Welcoming False Teachers into your Home," and "Homiletical
 Outlines."
     3. I. Howard Marshall, New International Commentary on the New Testament
 (1978).
      4. Robert W. Yarbrough, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
 (2008).

Revelation

     1. Grant R. Osborne, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2005).
 Though not a dispensationalist, Osborne's commentary is still, in my opinion,
 the best for your money (especially on background matters). [Yes, my theological biases are revealed here]
      2. Robert Thomas, Revelation: An Exegetical Commentary (1995; 2 volumes;
 stand-alone, not part of a series). This is the most scholarly dispensational
 treatment. Though a bit dry at times (and weaker on the background), still a
 must-have for dispensational pastors.
     3. John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1966; stand-alone, not part of
 a series). The classic dispensationalist commentary, valuable for theology (in my thoroughly theologically biased opinion) but
 somewhat weaker on background matters and as an introduction to the book as a
 whole.
      4. Also highly recommended: Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches
 of Asia in Their Local Setting (1989). Note to the student or pastor: Revelation
 was written to seven distinct locales, each with their own rich history that Jesus
 Christ, in his address in chapters 2-3, draws on (e.g., the Laodiceans and their
 sickening water supply). The expositor who wishes to be true to Jesus' message
 should study the background of these churches and their geographical locations.
    5. Also (with thanks to Joe Greene), G. K. Beale's NIGTC volume.

Note: For the biblical theology of individual NT authors,, Zondervan is in the
process of producing a fantastic series (called "Biblical Theology of the New
Testament," ed. by my former professor Andreas J. Köstenberger). Published
volumes so far include Peter H. Davids, A Theology of James, Peter, and Jude, and
Köstenberger's A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters.

Other New Testament resources that can benefit graduate students and
pastors (not in any particular order):

     1. D. A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd ed.
 (2005).
     2. Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle,
 the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament (2009). In
 historical and background matters, I believe this is a superior introduction to
 Carson and Moo.
     3. Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, 4th ed. (1990).
     4. Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 3rd ed. (1955).
     5. Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd ed. (1993). If you can
 only afford one backgrounds book, let it be this one!
      6. Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, Gene L. Green, The New Testament in
 Antiquity (2009).
     7. Larry R. Helyer, Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A
 Guide for New Testament Studies (2002).
     8. David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide (1994).
 An entry-level, easily readable guide to textual criticism.
     9. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Michael J. Kruger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy
 (2010). If you find yourself needing to refute the works of Bart Ehrman, the
 "Bauer thesis," and the like, this is one of the better books.
    10. J. Ed Komoszewski, J. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace, Reinventing
 Jesus: How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular
 Culture (2006). A fantastic book that refutes all the pop culture (and liberal
 scholarship) views on Jesus, including alleged parallels between the
 Resurrection and the "Osiris myth," etc. Much more readable than
 Köstenberger/Kruger and more suitable for the average Christian.
    11. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of
 the Old Testament (2007). A massive tome that can quite easily repay your
 investment. Comprehensive examination of every (or almost every) New
 Testament use of the Old Testament, from the hands of capable conservative
 scholars.
    12. James R. Edwards, Is Jesus the Only Savior? (2005) A fantastic treatment of
 Jesus Christ as the only Name under heaven by which we are saved! An
 effective refutation of pluralistic liberalism.
    13. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (1997). If you can only
 afford one Greek reference book, this should be it.
    14. Murray J. Harris, Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament
 (2012). An surprisingly useful resource!
    15. Peter Cotterell and Max Turner, Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation (1989).
 A fantastic book dealing with discerning appropriation of the biblical
 languages in exposition.
    16. D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (1996). This is an extremely helpful
 resource, a good safeguard against certain excesses in preaching.
    17. J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God's Word: A Hands-On
 Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 3rd ed. (2012). In
 my opinion, the best book on hermeneutics. As a bonus, it has what other books
 on hermeneutics too often lack: an entire chapter on the Holy Spirit.
    18. F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (latest edition
 2003; one of the most significant and best-selling books in conservative
 scholarship).
    19. David Alan Black, Using New Testament Greek in Ministry: A Practical Guide for Students and Pastors. A very practical book that shouldn't scare anybody away!
    20. Tom (N. T.) Wright and Stephen Neil, The Interpretation of the New Testament: 1861-1986. This is, in my opinion, probably one of the best books for preparing for further studies in NT beyond a master's degree.
    21. Any kind of "Reader's Lexicon" of the New Testament that assists you in
 reading through your Greek NT (a "reader's lexicon" will go verse-by-verse
 and supply rare words, e.g., that occur less than 25 times in the NT; you can
 have it open as you read through your Greek NT and not have to look up
 individual words).

Hermeneutics: The Two Great Dangers, The Law of Hermeneutical Authority, and Resources for the Student and Teacher

Of all the classes I've had the privilege of teaching, I am by far the most passionate about Hermeneutics (which, I'm happy to report, is required for all college students here at BCM, both guys and gals, as is Greek). I strongly hold to the presupposition that we can understand God's Word as it was meant to be understood, but that on the other hand it will usually take some work. Thus a little child can understand John 3:16 in any modern translation and trust Christ, while a myriad of scholars will write a cornucopia of academic articles on what in the world "Saved Through Childbearing" means (1 Tim 2:15; and even the Apostle Peter admitted that the Apostle Paul could be difficult to understand--2 Peter 3:16).

The ultimate goal of Hermeneutics is to understand the Word of God. Yet in the process, two great dangers (even sins, if we're not careful) loom in front of us. On the one hand, we must avoid at all costs the devil's trap of asking "Has God really said  . .?" if, indeed, God has clearly spoken (Genesis 3:1). Yet the other side of the coin is that we must absolutely avoid saying "Thus saith the Lord" if God has not spoken! In other words, the danger of Ezekiel 22:28 is just as serious as Genesis 3:1. To claim to speak God's Word on a topic while distorting the actual meaning can be just as serious as outright ignoring what God has said.

If God's Word truly is sacred yet occasionally difficult, we can expect various levels of disagreements on the adiaphora, the non-essentials. Nevertheless, no excuse exists for misinterpreting God's Word through lack of study or exalting one's own opinions over the plain sense of Scripture. The ultimate example of hermeneutical incompetence, and one that I show to my students, is the popular YouTube clip arguing from the alleged Aramaic behind Luke 10:18 that President Obama is the Antichrist (no, I am not making that up).

Bad hermeneutics, though, can have more serious consequences than just another round of "let's name the Antichrist or date the rapture." Second Timothy 2:15-18 seems to imply that a failure to "rightly divide" God's Word leads to the errors of Hymenaeus and Philetus, who began to teach seriously wrong theology. Consequently, I am stressing to my students something I call the "Law of Hermeneutical Authority"—namely "The authority of your claim that 'Thus says the Lord' is diminished in direct proportion to your mishandling of the meaning or application of a passage of Scripture." In other words, dear students of Scripture (and I speak to myself here as well), you cannot make dogmatic claims on meaning or application if you are manhandling the Word of God to suit your needs or opinions. God's Word is authoritative when it is properly understood. Quoting Scripture is cheap; anybody can do that (as does the devil himself, as well as his human minions). The question is: are we understanding this particular passage in Scripture as it was meant to be understood? If not, there goes any claim to authority on that passage. (At this point I will briefly stress the difference between "meaning" and "significance"--the former will always stay the same, while the latter may change to a certain degree from person to person, and sometimes as the Spirit leads, but it will always be grounded on the former).

This does not mean that anybody is perfect! All of us, at some (or many) points in our lives, will definitely mess up in our interpretation. Jesus Christ remains the only infallible interpreter of the Word (after all, he is the Word). Nevertheless, we must cultivate an attitude of respect towards the Bible, coupled with a determination to study matters out.

With that in mind, I'd like to share with my readers some of the resources that have been a great help to me in teaching this class.

First of all, our main textbook is Grasping God's Word, by Duvall and Hays (3^rd ed.; Zondervan, 2012). This book is easily-readable, meant for college students--not technical, yet solid and very practical. Unlike the majority of textbooks out there, it actually has an entire chapter on the Holy Spirit! (Definitely a point in its favor). Furthermore, this book truly resonated with a lot of what I personally wanted to stress in class. I do disagree with much of chapter 1 (being a Byzantine-text guy, among other things), but this could not even come close to deterring me from requiring this excellent book for my students.

I am also requiring my students to read all of the fantastic Scripture Twisting by James Sire. This book does a very competent job of exposing the hermeneutical fallacies of cults and extreme fringe groups; the discussion on "Worldview Confusion" is especially helpful.

For my own personal study, I made it a point to purchase both Cracking Old Testament Codes (eds. Sandy and Giese) and A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible (eds. Ryken and Longman) since we will be covering a lot of material on genre in the class (as well as backgrounds, language, theology, etc.)

One book that has surprisingly challenged me in an "outside-of-the-box" kind of way is Peter J. Leithart's Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture. If you, dear reader, feel that you have a basic grasp of hermeneutics, and you already own Grasping God's Word or something similar, then go ahead and buy Leithart's Deep Exegesis—it will make you think!

Some other useful sources: Grant Osborne's The Hermeneutical Spiral is considered a classic for seminary-level work.  For those of a more dispensational persuasion, Roy B. Zuck's Basic Bible Interpretation is very helpful (and was the textbook of choice with the previous teacher of BCM's hermeneutics class), while Graeme Goldsworthy's Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics is a bit more of a reformed persuasion, though both Zuck and Goldsworthy would be worthy additions to your library and have their own strengths. Also, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, by Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, is a useful book; for advanced studies, I must needs put a plug in for Invitation to Biblical Interpretation by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Richard D. Patterson.

Though most of the students will probably have taken Greek by the time they get to class (but very few will have had Hebrew, which I also teach at BCM), I will be showing them how to do very simple word studies via Strong's numbers (while stressing that meaning is derived from both context and semantic range, not either in isolation). For backgrounds, I am pointing them to the various excellent sources out there, including Second Temple literature and other primary sources (for secondary sources, I am especially fond of The New Testament in Antiquity by Cohick, Green, and Burge, and Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Everett Ferguson).

Naturally, NT use of the OT, a sub-division of hermeneutics, has a whole host of books that you should be aware of; nevertheless, that is another post for another time.

Ideally, a knowledge of Hermeneutics should go hand-in-hand with competency in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Nonetheless, hermeneutics is the foundational class; it will not matter how well you know the original languages if you fail to treat Scripture and its original authors (both divine and human) with the respect and reverence they deserves. Hermeneutics does not give you all the answers, but it does teach you which questions to ask!

Some Resources for Studying and Teaching the Pastoral Epistles (and Some Odds and Ends)

How many professors can claim that they co-taught a class with their father? Yet this is exactly what I had the privilege of doing in December. In our 4th block (a two-week block), my father, retired missionary John Rice Himes, and I taught an upper-level college class on the Pastoral Epistles. Below are some excellent resources for studying this trio of books.

But first, some odds and ends! These past few weeks I have been working through two very unique and fascinating books. First of all, Markus Barth and Verne H. Fletcher, a long time ago and in a different era, wrote an under-recognized and sadly neglected monograph called Acquittal by Resurrection: Freedom, Law, and Justice in the Light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1964). The book focuses on, among other things, the primacy of Christ's resurrection within the doctrine of justification (both Christ's and ours). The authors try to make their thesis apply to modern ethics, as well (though the discussion of capital punishment is, I believe, more convincing when applied directly to believers rather than society as a whole). Furthermore, the first chapter or so interacts with various modernistic views of the resurrection and does an excellent job of dismantling them (with plenty of quotable material).

Secondly, in two weeks I will begin to teach Hermeneutics, a class about which I am wildly excited (like a kid in a chocolate factory, I've been telling folks!) My textbooks are Grasping God's Word by Duvall and Hays, together with Scripture Twisting by James Sire. However, in preparation for this class, I've been reading and been greatly challenged by Peter Leithart's Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2009). A couple comments. First of all, Leithart is a very good writer. Not many writers can make reading theological and biblical studies a pleasure, but Leithart does that. Secondly, Deep Exegesis is provocative: it's making me think outside my comfort zone! His treatment of Matthew's "Out of Egypt I have called my Son" citation has really made me stop and ponder. Finally, I really think Leithart takes a few good points and then overextends them. In particular, I think he needs to better nuance "meaning vs. significance" (though it is in the discussion of post-event significance that this book really gets interesting), as well as offer at least some-safe guards regarding personal interpretation. Having said that, I am very, very grateful that I got this book before I started teaching, since it's turning out to be extremely interesting and thought-provoking.

Anyways, on to the Pastorals! My own contribution to Pastorals scholarship is just one article on the imperatives in the Pastorals (Filologia Neotestamentaria vol. 23, 2010). However, I did have the privilege of taking the class at the doctoral level with Dr. Benjamin Merkle, who has published quite a bit on the topic (I especially recommend his article in Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 121, "Are the Qualifications for Elders or Overseers Negotiable?") By the way, check out my friend Chuck Bumgardner's blog at this link Chuck is currently doing doctoral work on the pastorals under the mentorship of Dr. Andreas Köstenberger, and he quite often posts helpful material on the PE).

First off, our textbook for these college students was the very accessible Tyndale New Testament commentary by Donald Guthrie. It's a bit dated, but is still an excellent blend of accessible scholarship and theological discussiion, thus suited for Bible college students. I would recommend it to any Christians who do not have a theological degree yet are interested in studying these three books.

In addition, I highly recommended the following three commentaries to my students (these are, in my opinion, the "big three" of evangelical commentaries): William Mounce's Word Biblical Commentary (WBC); George W. Knight III's New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC); and Philip H. Towner's New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT). A close fourth (though possibly more influential) is I. Howard Marshall's International Critical Commentary (ICC). I would also mention Dr. Andreas Köstenberger's commentary in the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary.

As far as articles and monographs, in addition to Dr. Merkle's article mentioned above, I would first and foremost recommend the excellent article by John K. Goodrich, "Overseers as Stewards and the Qualifications for Leadership in the Pastoral Epistles." Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 104 (2013): 77-97. Basically Dr. Goodrich reads the lists of pastoral virtues in light of the role of the overseer in ancient Greco-Roman society. I really think he's onto something here, and I required all of the students to read and discuss it. In addition, I would draw your attention to Andrew B. Spurgeon, "1 Timothy 2:13-15: Paul's Retelling of Genesis 2:4-4:1" in JETS 56 (2013). I know, I know, "not another article on saved-through-childbearing?! When will it ever end!" Nevertheless, this one almost has me convinced. Spurgeon draws heavily from the interrelation of Adam, Eve, and God in Genesis 2 to conclude that "saved through childbearing" actually refers to the reconciliation of Adam and Eve through God's graciousness (i.e., it answers the question--why would a woman ever want to have children after the curse?) I can't do it justice in a short blog post, but it's worth reading (for me, 1 Timothy 2:15 remains "the toughest verse ever," which is why I intend to include it on next semester's Hermeneutics final exam, bwahahahahah!!).

A couple books worth mentioning, very quickly. Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul's Theology in the Pastoral Epistles, eds. by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Terry L. Wilder has a host of helpful articles by various authors. In addition, Ray Van Neste, Cohesion and Structure in the Pastoral Epistles (JSNTSup 280; London: T&T Clark, 2004) has become very influential among evangelical scholars. Finally, I would also mention George W. Knight's The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker 1979), an older but very significant monograph.