Some Good Christian Documentaries

Jeff at the Scripture Zealot asked if there were any good Christian documentaries available.  One of the responses referred him to the Day of Discovery.  I've watched three so far and have really enjoyed them.  Not only are they filmed on location in Israel (at least the ones I watched were) but they also feature some very notable New Testament scholars like Darrell Bock, Michael Wilkins, Craig Evans and Klyne Snodgrass.  These were part of "Jesus: Man, Messiah, or More" segment.  I watched the one on the "Temple controversy" (part IV) and "The Jewish Examination of Jesus" (part VI).  I found them both interesting and informative.  They are not too long so they won't take much of your time (about 30 minutes).  I think these would be good to show in a small group and then have a time of discussion.  I look forward to watching more and I hope you enjoy them as well.   Thanks Jeff for raising the question!

In Store Now - A Sweet & Bitter Providence

For readers of this blog I doubt John Piper needs an introduction.  A Sweet & Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God is Piper's newest work which is about the book of Ruth.  The overall theme will be familiar to those familiar with Piper: the absolute sovereignty of God over all things--sin included.  Ruth and Boaz both are examples of people who honor sexual purity by avoiding the temptation of sex before their marriage.  But this marriage is also an example of an interracial marriage since Ruth was a Moabitess and Boaz was an Israelite.

Piper is well aware of those who have sharp words for his views.  He quotes one writer from the Wall Street Journal who said that when we "are confronted by the sheer savage immensity of worldly suffering . . . no Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God's inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God's ends." (26)  This is precisely what Piper believes but he firmly believes that this is precisely what the book of Ruth is teaching.  The alternative is not really comforting at all.  He says, "It is not comforting or hopeful in their pain to tell them that God is not in control. . . When the world is crashing in, we need assurance that God reigns over it all." (27)  The story of Ruth shows Naomi going from despair to hope to fulfillment.  As Piper says, "In the darkest of our times, God is plotting for out glory."  (58)  As Naomi returned to Israel she was blinded by bitterness but as God continued to work she could see that his "kindness has forsaken the living or the dead."  (Ruth 2:20)  We see a turn in Naomi's disposition as hope replaces bitterness and despair which results in what Piper terms "strategic righteousness."  As hope dawns, Naomi sets a plan in action to secure a husband for Ruth.  We know how the story ends but unless we see the setbacks and obstacles we allow ourselves to have the same blindness that struck Naomi.  Setbacks, obstacles, death, and pain are all part of this life but none of that should cloud us from the knowledge that God is in control and still working.  Piper says as part of his final appeals "To know that our Father in heaven has ordained our pain is not a comfortable truth, but it is comforting."  (138) 

For many this will not sit well.  They are somehow more comforted by making God part of the plight rather than part of the solution.  It seems to me this solicits our sympathy more than our confidence in God.  As a parent who has lost a child I know the pain I could only formerly imagine.  But through it all I never lost hope that God was working.  I don't say that to boast about anything in me but to rather testify that God can sustain us through the darkest and most painful moments precisely because he can and does.  Piper does not write from ivory towers but as a pastor who has consoled his people with the truths he finds here and throughout Scripture.  The other themes of the book, sex and race, are interwoven and Piper provides helpful and wise advice in both areas.  He ends the book with seven appeals: 1) Study the Scriptures, 2) pursue sexual purity, 3) pursue mature manhood and womanhood, 4) embrace ethnic diversity, 5) trust the sovereignty of God, 6) take the risks of love, and 7) live and sing to the glory of Christ.  I enjoyed this book and wish it a wide readership. 

It is a hardcover with 160 pages (I read it in a day.) from Crossway publishers and sells for $17.99. 

Bible Reading Plans

Justin Taylor has some helpful links to various Bible reading plans.  I don't plan on reading through the Bible next year but I have done so in the past.  The key to success for me was, oddly enough, not to stick to the plan.  Once you fall behind it becomes a chore more than a pleasure.  So what I would did was I read as long as I was comfortable.  I inevitably would end up a couple of weeks ahead of the plan.  This allowed me some breathing room for when I might miss a day or two (or three or four).  Some plans have those "free" days built in but it is usually not more than a few of days.  This also allowed me the freedom to stop and do more detailed study on a passage if I wanted.  This happened on several occassions and I was glad to have the time to "stop and smell the roses."  Finally, I never cared for the little pamphlets or cards with the passages listed.  I would always lose it or forget to check something off.  I prefered the One Year Bible. (I did the NLT three years in a row a loved it.)  Here are the links to Taylor's blog:

Bible Reading Plans
Six Ways to Access the ESV Bible Reading Plans
ESV Reading Plans as Podcasts
Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers

Jeff at Scripture Zealot also provides a link to 20+ reading plans.  Jeff notes that most of these are for hand held type devices. 

Occasionally, I get a request for a "Two Year Bible."  Yes, they did make one but it is now out of print.  You can find a copy on Amazon here. 

Happy Reading!

In Store Now - Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms

One of the finest series produced by Baker Academic is the Texts & Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought.  The latest entry to that series is this work by William J. Wright, Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms.  The catalog description follows:

"The concept of God's two kingdoms was foundational to Luther and subsequent Lutheran theology. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, that concept has been understood primarily in political terms. The most striking example is the Nazi corruption of the concept into a dualism that separated one's activities in the realms of church and state. But is a political reading of the two kingdoms a perversion of Luther's teaching?

Leading Reformation scholar William Wright contends that those who read Luther politically and see in Luther a compartmentalized approach to the Christian life are misreading the Reformer. For Luther, both kingdoms were under the laws and rule of God. Wright reassesses the original breadth of Luther's theology of the two kingdoms and the cultural contexts from which it emerged, showing the influence early Renaissance humanism had on Luther. He argues that Luther's two-kingdom worldview was not a justification for living irresponsibly or carelessly on planet earth. The book includes a variety of Luther's writings that reveal what the Reformer did and did not intend by the concept. These writings show how the two kingdoms converge in all areas of life: family, church, and society."

Some time ago Kevin DeYoung did a post on Two Kingdom theology which proved to be quite interesting.  This book will certainly provide a helpful perspective to that dialogue.  William J. Wright is professor of history and head of the history department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.   The book is a paperback with 208 pages and sells for $29.99. 

The Historical Jesus of the Gospels by Craig S. Keener

I honestly thought that after reading The Historical Jesus: Five Views I wouldn’t want to read anything on the topic for some time. One of my Christmas presents, however, was Craig Keener’s new book The Historical Jesus of the Gospels. I started reading it just to get a feel for what Keener was going to present and was quickly captivated. In part because Keener is such a good writer. I finished section 1 which is titled “Disparate Views about Jesus.” In this section he covers a brief history of historical Jesus studies. He covers in particular the views of John Dominic Crossan and Burton Mack which hold that Jesus was a cynic. The evidence for this view is found woefully lacking. The lens narrows as Keener considers those among what’s called the “Third Quest.” Among these are Marcus Borg (Keener admits he could have easily grouped Borg with Crossan and Mack but because of his Jewish focus he kept him in the latter group.), Geza Vermes and E. P. Sanders. He finds himself most in agreement with Sanders but does not hesitate to correct some weaknesses. The last part of the section addresses the thorny but very popular topic today of the “Other Gospels.” Keener dismantles the evidence offered by Crossan and others as to the reliability and usefulness of the extra-canonical gospels. Of particular interest is his discussion of the Gospel of Thomas and Q. The former is found to be of almost no use to historical Jesus studies in spite of the efforts by Crossan. His discussion of Q is a model of sanity. While granting the existence of Q, Keener thinks any discussion that takes us to the “layers” of Q and the “Q community” are exercises in speculation far removed from any available evidence. To speculate on what a community believed or did not believe based on a mere seven pages of text is a flight of fancy. Still other scholars, like Mack, seek to find the original Q by removing elements like eschatology so as to make Jesus appear more like the Cynic he believes Jesus to be. Keener also takes a brief look at some “more dependable noncanonical sources” like Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus but finds that they have little to offer and for good reason—Jesus was, quite frankly, not all that important to the point of their writing. Why should this surprise us? He notes, “Josephus claims to have been a Pharisee, and tells us much about the historic role of Pharisees. Yet he never mentions Hillel, founder of the Hillelite school revered in later rabbinic sources. Dio Cassius reports the Judean revolt of 132-135 CE without ever mentioning Bar Kochba—its leader! Similarly, we would not expect to find much interest in Jesus himself in contemporary Gentile documents, or in fact among anyone except his followers.” (68)

In the introduction Keener says he’s tried to “avoid technical jargon” and to keep the book “short and understandable enough to be useful to not only scholars but to students and former students of the subject, as well as others sufficiently interested in the topic to engage ancient sources.” (xxxiii) So far I would say he has met his goal. Some may question how well he managed to keep it “short” since it totals 831 pages. But consider this: 349 pages are the actual text. Pages 350 – 393 are appendixes. The remaining part of the book is footnotes, bibliography and indexes. So basically you’re looking at 400 pages of reading—not bad at all. For those looking for a good introduction to the topic this would be a great place to start.

Christmas - Laid in a Manger Wrapped in Swaddling Clothes

Advent is over and Christmas is here! The colors have changed from purple (or blue) to white. The readings for today are as follows:

Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Luke 2:1-20 and Titus 2:11-14. This is as they are found in my Ancient Christian Devotional. However, the readings for today, The First Sunday after Christmas, as found in the Revised Common Lectionary are these: 1 Sam. 2:18-20, 26; Psalm 148; Col. 3:12-17 and Luke 2:41-52. I used the ones in the devotional.

As I was reading through Luke I was struck by how much of the passage is so controversial. Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem? Is Luke accurate in his account of the census? What’s the significance of Jesus being the first born? Why was there no room at the inn? What does the “inn” refer to? Why are the shepherds watching their sheep at night if it was winter? Was it winter? The questions go on and on. I decided to review some of the treatment of the passage in Raymond Brown’s The Birth of the Messiah. Many of Brown’s conclusions are more liberal than my own but that doesn’t mean I don't learn from him. I enjoyed the short segment he had on the significance of Jesus being in a manger and in swaddling clothes. Here is part of what he wrote:

“Curiously, Luke seems more interested in telling his audience where Mary laid the newborn baby! He is careful to report that Jesus was swaddled and laid in a manger because of the lack of space at the lodgings. . . Most of the popular reflection on vs. 7, however misses Luke’s purpose. Certainly irrelevant are speculations about why there was no room at the lodgings (influx of people for the census; presence of soldiers who took the census inscriptions; etc), especially when these speculations lead to homilies about the supposed heartlessness of the unmentioned innkeeper and the hardship of the situation for the impoverished parents. As the Lucan account now stands, the manger does not signify poverty but a peculiarity of location caused by circumstances.

Since the manger appears in all three subdivision of Luke 2:1-20 (vss. 7, 12, 16) and Luke himself refers to it as a sign (12), what is its symbolism? [After offering one unlikely possibility Brown suggests a better one.] A better suggestion relates the symbolism of the Lucan manger to God’s complaint in the LXX of Isa 1:3: ‘The ox knows it owner; and the donkey knows the manger [phante] of its lord; but Israel has not known me; my people has not understood me.’ Luke would be proclaiming that the Isaian dictum is repealed. The shepherds have been sent to the manger to find the Lord who is the source of joy for all people of Israel; they go and, finding the baby in the manger, begin to praise God. In other words, God’s people have begun to know the manger of their Lord. . . The swaddling, far from being a sign of poverty, may be a sign that Israel’s Messiah is not an outcast among his people but is properly received and cared for. In Wisdom 7:4-5 Solomon, the wealthiest of Judah’s kings, affirms: ‘I was carefully swaddled and nursed, for no king has any other way to begin.’ Giblin has phrased the total picture well: Jesus is born in the city of David, not in lodgings like an alien, but in a manger where God sustains His people. His swaddling does not belie his royal role.” (pp. 418-420)

David Pao and Eckhard Schnabel in the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament have this observation: "In light of the emphasis on the Davidic dynasty in Luke 1-2, it is tempting to follow J. W. Oiley (1992) in seeing an allusion to 2 Sam. 7:6 LXX, 'I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a lodge [katalyma] and a tent' (cf. 1 Chron. 17:5), in the use of the word katalyma ('inn'). This would fit quite well in 'the city of David' and 'the house and family of David' (Luke 2:4). Nevertheless, this word alone is insufficient to establish this connection, since it also appears in the LXX in various contexts unrelated to the Davidic promises (cf. Exod. 4:24; 15:13; 1 Sam. 1:18; 9:22; Jer 14:8; 40:12 [33:12 MT; Ezek. 23:21)." (p. 266. The reference to Oiley is to Expository Times 103: 300-301, "God on the Move--A Further Look at Kataluma in Luke.")

Merry Christmas

On behalf of all the staff here at Baker Book House I would like to wish you a blessed and happy Christmas. For those of you who have an empty chair (or crib) this year for whatever reason I pray God's grace would be yours in abundance. Though the joy of the season will be lessened I pray it will not be eclipsed. May I say a special thank you to those who have continued to pray for me and my family. Your prayers are so very appreciated. Also, I want to give a public thank you to my co-workers who "adopted" our family and provided gifts and food to help us this year. Your generosity is overwhelming. But more than that your comfort and care have provided immeasurable support and strength. You've been a shelter in a storm. Coming to work is a joy and it's all because of you. Thank you.

From my family to yours: Merry Christmas!

A Note About Comments

I love comments as much as any blogger. But recently I have received a number of comments which are written entirely in Chinese (as near as I can tell). Thanks for the comments but unless I can read them I don't feel comfortable posting them. I welcome your comments but ask that you please use English to the best of your ability. I'm happy to edit them if they need a little polish. A friend tells me I should copy and paste them into a document and then get a program to translate it. Does any one know how reliable such programs are? If that's an option I may try that too. I'm not ignoring you. I would just like to understand what you are writing. Thanks!

In Store Now - Pocket Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

Well, this one slipped by me since I noticed we received it in the store back in October. For those of you who are like me who don't come from a liturgical background there is a lot of unfamiliar language. IVP has a series of Pocket Dictionaries which are excellent resources for laymen and especially small group leaders who need a handy reference work that will provide definitions on any number of topics. The latest in the series is this one: the Pocket Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship. Since I've decided to follow the liturgical year this year I thought this would be a great resource. I'll give you one example.

The other day I was looking through the Book of Common Prayer and I noticed something called "The Collects". There was a prayer that followed it but I didn't know why it was called a Collect. This was a perfect opportunity for me to use my newly acquired dictionary. I looked it up and sure enough it was there. Here's what it said:

collect. A fixed liturgical *prayer for a particular occasion (i.e., the prayer of the day), so called because it was the comprehensive prayer of the *minister that collected the prayers of others present. As some are quite ancient, collects encapsulate a tradition's theological reflection (see lex orandi, lex credendi). Many liturgical books provide the texts of numerous collects.

This was very helpful. You'll notice some words are preceded by an asterisk. This is to indicate that that word is defined elsewhere in the dictionary.

With that I thumbed through looking for words I was never quite sure of the meaning: vespers, matins, introit, daily office and more. They were all there and most were very helpful. I say most because I would have liked a couple of them to give a little longer definition but it is, after all, a pocket dictionary. Over 600 terms are included. Topics include:

- Practices, such as altar call and benediction
- Rites, such as baptism and Eucharist
- Symbols, such as incense and dove
- Texts, such as Apostolic Constitutions and Book of Common Prayer
- Gestures, such as kneeling and sign of the cross
- Vestments, such as alb and robe
- Musical terms, such as a cappella and Agnus Dei
- Observances, such as All Saints' Day and Easter
- Architectural features, such as apse and sacristy

It also has three pages of bibliography for those who want to dig deeper. It is a paperback with 136 pages and sells for only $8.00. I look forward to using mine all year long.

Priest Gives the OK to Shoplifting (as long as it's a big business and you really need it)

I was intrigued by the post from First Things that a priest added a footnote to the eighth commandment. But as I read the post I thought "this can't be right". It said that a priest actually sanctioned shoplifting as a viable option for the poor--as long as it was from large national businesses and not small ones. What? That couldn't be right. Someone has got this all wrong. But it wasn't.

Father Tim Jones of the UK said that in order to avoid greater sins like prostitution, mugging, or burglary it would be better if the poor shoplifted. He also said that God's love for the poor outweighs the property rights of the rich. Here's how Father Jones put it:

"I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need. I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognise that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay has created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope."

He continues, "Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift. The observation that shoplifting is the best option that some people are left with is a grim indictment of who we are. Rather, this is a call for our society no longer to treat its most vulnerable people with indifference and contempt. Providing inadequate or clumsy social support is monumental, catastrophic folly."

Has it really come to this? Shoplifting 101? Will Father Jones conduct a seminar to help the poor know when and how they qualify for this new entitlement? Who defines the "need"? What if you live in a small town with no large national businesses? (And yes, they do exist.) Is it then okay to steal from the mom and pop store? I have no doubt that Father Jones has seen the plight of the poor in ways that would break our hearts. But this is not the answer.

Jesus and the "Illegitimacy Tradition"

[The following post depends greatly upon the discussion by John P. Meier in A Marginal Jew vol. 1 pp. 89-111 and esp. 222-229, and Lynn H. Cohick’s Women in the World of the Earliest Christians, pp. 152-156.]

As early as the second century we have record of allegations that Jesus was born illegitimately. But is there any evidence that these charges go back even further? We start with noting that in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho (dating is debated but it was probably written after A.D. 150) there is no mention of it. Justin was an apologist and in this book he is arguing with a Jew over matters related to Jesus. One of those issues is the virgin birth. It is significant that in their lengthy discussion nothing is ever mentioned about Jesus being illegitimate.

In the New Testament itself two passages are most often appealed to in order to show that the charge was fairly early: Mark 6:3 and John 8:41.

Mark 6:3 reads, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.” (ESV)

John 8:41 reads, “You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God." (ESV)

The argument goes something like this: In Mark the reference to Jesus as “son of Mary” is unusual since people were referred to by who their father was not their mother. The reference is a subtle hint at Jesus’ illegitimate birth. In John the Jewish leaders mention that they are not “born of sexual immorality.” Surely this must be seen as a slur against Jesus’ own birth.

While even conservative commentaries often come to similar conclusions I don’t think it is a necessary one. What about Jesus being called “son of Mary”? It’s true that this is an unusual expression. Most people of the time were referred to by their father even after the father had died. But not always. Meier points to the Old Testament case of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, three leaders of King David’s troops. He notes, “These three notables—individually or together—are always identified in the Bible as the ‘son[s] of Zeruiah’ their mother, never as the sons of their father (see, e.g., 1 Sam. 26:6; 2 Sam. 2:23; and so without exception throughout 1-2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles, for a total of 24 occurrences). The usage continues in Josephus and the rabbinic literature.” (226) He concludes “The phrase indicates illegitimacy no more than it indicates virginal conception—another interpretation to which this battered text at times has been subjected.” Furthermore, Lynn Cohick observes that Jesus’ siblings are also mentioned. While these could be half- (or step) siblings she says “it is possible that all the children mentioned are Mary’s; since the other children’s legitimacy is not questioned, and Jesus is grouped with them, we could assume that the townsfolk are not commenting on Jesus’s illegitimacy.” (154) Finally, she notes that a textual variant does exist which reads “son of the carpenter and of Mary.” If this is the original reading then this could indicate a scribal change that removed the reference to the carpenter’s son thereby hinting at the virgin birth (especially since Mark does not include a nativity narrative). The expression therefore, in and of itself, cannot be used to indicate an illegitimate birth.

What about John 8:41? Meier shows from the context that it is Jesus that is on the attack here. He has accused the leaders that they have a father who is not Abraham but rather they were doing the works of their real father—the devil. According to Meier “Jesus, in effect, has accused them of disobedience or infidelity toward God. They reply: We are not guilty of spiritual infidelity to or apostasy from God, sins described in the OT in terms of fornication.” (228) Furthermore, “when the verbal battle becomes even fiercer in v 48, when for the first time the Jews stop defending themselves and start attacking Jesus with slurs, their first accusation is that he is a Samaritan. This is hardly intended in a physical, biological sense. Rather, by questioning the Jerusalemite Jews’ status as the true children of Abraham, Jesus, in their minds, is aligning himself with the ‘heterodox and schismatic’ Samaritans, who question the Jews’ status as the only children of Abraham and Jerusalem’s status as the one true place of temple worship.” (228) Meier concludes that “the theme of illegitimacy in John 8—as in Mark 6:3—must be judged a classic case of retrojecting later theological debates into an earlier text that shows no signs of such disputes.” (229)

Cohick adds another consideration—the accusation of Jesus befriending tax collectors and sinners. She says “if he was illegitimate, no one would comment on the fact that he was mixing with what would be seen as his own crowd. That he is with those ‘beneath’ him on the social ladder is what generates the comments and the shock. If he was the illegitimate outcast that some describe, no one in any leadership capacity would give him two minutes of their time. . . instead, it seems that Jesus spoke in synagogues, dined with Pharisees, and did the sorts of things that no outcast or illegitimate son would have the opportunity to do.” (155)

If this were a court case I think the testimony of both Cohick and Meier present enough evidence to give plenty of "reasonable doubt" on the charge of illegitimacy against Jesus. That it was true in later centuries there is no doubt but there is little, if any, evidence that it goes back to New Testament times.