Sunday, October 31, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

New Arrival

I want to thank David Allen, as well as Jim Baird of Broadman & Holman, for a copy of Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.  I will probably work my way through the book during Christmas break and post the review here.

Forthcoming Commentaries

I just checked out Bestcommentaries.com to see what commentaries on Hebrews are forthcoming.  This is the list:
This list does not even include commentaries by Philip & Loveday Alexander (ICC), Gareth Cockerill (NICNT) and Wolfgang Kraus.  That is a lot of commentaries!

Of making many books there is no end (Ecc 12:12)!  The writer of Ecclesiastes had no idea how true that statement is!

New Article Added

The following article has been added:

Sharp, Jeffry R. "Philonism and the Eschatology of Hebrews: Another Look." East Asia Journal of Theology 2.2 (1984): 289-98.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Robert Gordon Book Available In PDF

The following book is now available as a PDF download:

Gordon, Robert. Hebrews. Readings: A New Biblical Commentary. 2d ed. 2002.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Karrer Review of O'Brien

Review of Biblical Literature has posted a new review of Peter O'Brien's commentary on Hebrews.  The review is done by another Hebrews scholar Martin Karrer.  The review is in German.

O'Brien, Peter. The Letter to the Hebrews. Pillar New Testament Commentay. 2010.  Review by Martin Karrer.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Sermons/Bible Studies/Devotionals Page Tab Added

I have added the final resources tab to this blog (since blogger apparently only allows a maximum of 10 pages), entitled, "Sermons, Bible Studies, Devotionals."  This resource blog has heavily emphasized scholarly materials, but since pastors and laypeople may also be accessing this site, I have decided to add this final tab which consists of links to church and ministry resources that include sermons, Bible studies, devotionals, some online commentaries and so forth.  These resources are generally more popularized in nature.

At this point, I feel I need to add a disclaimer (I have included a disclaimer on the sidebar as well).  This blog is intended to provide a service to the church and academia.  I have provided links to resources that obviously range widely in terms of quality and theological perspective.  Posting resources on this blog does not constitute an endorsement of all the views expressed in these resources, nor does it guarantee that all of the sources provided are of equally high quality.  This caveat especially applies to the resources provided under this final heading.  Many of these resources have been developed by individual, churches, and/or ministries that--generally speaking--do not have the same kind of quality control usually found in most academic circles.  I trust that my learned readers will be able to use these resources appropriately and to be able to make their own judgments regarding the quality and accuracy of these resources.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

New Articles Added

The following articles have been added, thanks to this site.

Barclay, William. "The Letter to the Hebrews." Chapter 5 of Many Witnesses, One Lord.

Heard, Richard. "The Epistle to the Hebrews." Chapter 19 of An Introduction to the New Testament.  

Just, Felix. "The 'Epistle' to the 'Hebrews.'" Catholic-resources.org.

Koester, Craig. "Conversion, Persecution, and Malaise: Life in the Community for Which Hebrews Was Written." Hervormde Teologiese Studies 61 (2005): 231-51.

Steyn, Gert J. "Addressing an Angelmorphic Christological Myth in Hebrews?" Hervormde Teologiese Studies 59 (2003): 1107-28.

Steyn, Gert J. "Some Observations about the Vorlage of Ps 8:5-7 in Heb 2:6-8." Verbum et ecclesia 24 (2003): 493-514.

Wallace, Daniel B. "Hebrews: Introduction, Argument, and Outline." Bible.org.

Worledge, Paul. "The Centrality of 'Conscience' Terminology in Hebrews 9-10." The Theologian: The Internet Journal for Integrated Theology (2005).

New Pages

I have added new pages to the blog.  First, I have created an Electronic Books page that contains limited preview or partial books on Hebrews.  Second, I have created a Scholars page containing links to web pages featuring prominent scholars on the book of Hebrews.  By "prominent" I mean anyone who has published a commentary, monograph, and/or numerous articles on Hebrews.  Obviously, it is impossible to be comprehensive and it is a work in progress.  Any help for this page would be greatly appreciated.

Reflections on Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop

Yesterday I attended the Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.  The workshop was held in their impressive new conference center, the Riley Center.

David Allen began with "Introduction and Structure of Hebrews."  He briefly discussed the leading candidates for authorship of Hebrews before concluding with the most likely candidate (in his view), Luke.  He then went over the structure of Hebrews, beginning with an outline based on the linguistic structures of Hebrews, which becomes the basis for the thematic outline.  The thematic outline then can become the framework upon which to build one's expository preaching.  Allen is of the conviction that exegesis must precede theology.  Hence, when preaching through a book of the Bible, one should determine the overall flow of thought to see how the individual passages fit within the larger argument of the book.  Steven Smith built upon Allen's outline to provide a "Preaching Plan for Hebrews."  He also provided examples of how to use expository preaching to preach a series based on key words or on thematic elements. 

After an outstanding lunch, Herbert Bateman discussed the "Warning Passages in Hebrews."  When preaching the warning passages, one should consider the historical context for Hebrews, the literary challenges of Hebrews, before considering the pastoral concern in Hebrews.  One must understand how the author of Hebrews weaves together exposition and exhortation.  Despite what one might think is going on in the warning passages, Jesus is the focus.  He is the regal priest and turning away from him will result in undesirable consequences for the believer.  Many of his handouts are pre-published material that will appear in his forthcoming book (2011), Charts on the Book of Hebrews, which will be part of the Kregel Charts of the Bible and Theology series. 

Calvin Pearson discussed "Rhetorical Techniques in Hebrews."  He contends that "rhetoric is the study of how we are persuaded, based upon how God structure our minds."  He identified a few rhetorical techniques and illustrated them in Hebrews.  Understanding rhetorical techniques helps us not only to understand what is going on in Hebrews, but also can help us improve our proclamation of the Word of God.

Finally, Matthew McKellar, modeled expository preaching with a sermon on Hebrews 13:9-16 entitled, "We Have An Altar!".  He argued that the revolutionary sacrifice of Jesus for you demands a radical surrender from you.

I felt somewhat of a celebrity there.  David Allen recognized my name from this blog and then he introduced me and announced this blog to the attendees and so I had a bunch of people come up to me asking for my blog address.  So, if you are new to this blog and are reading this, welcome.  I will eventually add a tab for links to preaching resources on Hebrews.

Afterward, I had a nice chat with Dr. Allen and we got to know one another a little and we discussed his commentary and some theology.  Since, I will be reviewing his commentary shortly, I discussed some of my critiques of his book, and he took it all very graciously.  Dr. Allen is not a Calvinist, but he does believe in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.  I am, of course, an Arminian and don't believe in that doctrine (although I do believe that the saints should persevere).  But we were able to discuss our differences amicably.  Dr. Allen is a gracious man, who combines confidence with humility--something that more academics should learn to do.  I hope that it is the beginning of good friendship with Dr. Allen.  I guess this means I'll have to be nice to him when I critique his commentary ;-)