NT Gateway Weblog

Many thanks to Holger Szesnat for this extremely useful listing of full text articles available on Robert Bradshaw's BiblicalStudies.org.uk web site:

M. L. Bailey, "Guidelines for Interpreting Jesus' Parables," Bibliotheca Sacra 155 (1988): 29-38

S. M. Baugh, "Cult Prostitution in New Testament Ephesus: A Reappraisal" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42(3) (1999): 443-460

W. S. Baxter, "Mosaic Imagery in the Gospel of Matthew", Trinity Journal 20(1)(1999): 69-83

F. F. Bruce, The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts. In: G A Tuttle (ed). Biblical and near Eastern Studies: Essays in Honor of William Sanford Lasor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978): 7-17

J. D. Charles, "Engaging the (Neo)Pagan Mind: Paul's Encounter with Athenian Culture as a Model for Cultural Apologetics (Acts 17:16-34)"
Trinity Journal 16(1) (1995): 47-62

R. T. France, "Inerrancy and New Testament Exegesis", Themelios 1(1) (1975): 12-18

C. Gempf, "Pseudonymity and the New Testament" Themelios 17(2) (1992): 8-10

J. Goldingay, "The Old Testament and Christian Faith: Jesus and the
Old Testament in Matthew 1-5 Part 1", Themelios 8(1) (1982): 4-10

J. Goldingay, "The Old Testament and Christian Faith: Jesus and the
Old Testament in Matthew 1-5. Part 2, Themelios 8(3) (1983): 5-12

W. Grudem, "The Meaning of Kephale ('Head'): An Evaluation of New
Evidence, Real and Alleged. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44(1) (2001): 25-65

A. J. Köstenberger, "Gender Passages in the Nt: Hermeneutical Fallacies Critiqued". Westminster Theological Journal 56(2) (1994): 259-283

M. J. Kruger, "The Authenticity of 2 Peter", Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 42(4) (1999): 645-671

R. N. Longenecker, "'Who Is the Prophet Talking About?' Some
Reflections on the New Testament's Use of the Old", Themelios 13(1) (1987): 4-8

B. M. Metzger, "English Translations of the Bible, Today and Tomorrow",
Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (1993): 397-415

B. M. Metzger, "Theories of the Translation Process", Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (1993): 140-150

B. M. Metzger, "Persistent Problems Confronting Bible Translators", Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (1993): 273-284

R. Nicole, "The Canon of the New Testament", Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40(2) (1997): 199-206

B. D. Smith, "The Chronology of the Last Supper", Westminster Theological Journal 53 (1991): 29-45

J. A. D. Weima, "The Pauline Letter Closings: Analysis and Hermeneutical Significance", Bulletin for Biblical Research 5 (1995): 177-198

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Grove Books' Biblical Studies Bulletin is a very useful occasional newsletter edited by Michael Thompson of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. The latest is now available on the web:

Biblical Studies Bulletin 31 (March 2004)

As usual, there is plenty of interest. It begins with the editor's review of The Passion of the Christ and I am happy to see that his viewpoint is quite similar to mine. The violence is graphic but not pornographic, the film is "not an attempt to portray 'what really happened,'" and the anti-Semitism charges are overstated:

For those who do not share Gibson's particular tradition, this well-acted film still has much to offer, and I am very glad that I saw it. The crucifixion did not move me as much as Peter's denial, the scourging, and a scene when Jesus stumbles and Mary in a flashback remembers running to rescue him when he was a child. Satan is present as tempter in Gethsemane at the start, and his repeated appearances effectively emphasize the constant temptation Christ endured of seeking a way of escape.

No one can see this film without being reminded that our redemption was costly and painful. If I were an incumbent, I'm not sure I would take my congregation to view The Passion, but it deserves to be seen. I would certainly plan an adult education programme to help people reflect on what it does and does not tell us about the death of Jesus. His crucifixion is a fact of history; rather than playing a game of distraction with side issues about the film, Christians have been given a brilliant opportunity to discuss the meaning of that fact.

The editor also has a software review of Accordance 6, which he obviously likes:

What makes it so good? Simplicity of use, intuitive controls and layout, powerful and sophisticated search criteria, speed, quality and range of available modules (far too many to begin to list here), easy import and export of data in a variety of formats, excellent online help, and a responsive development team immediately come to mind . . . .

. . . . . Full details can be found at the Accordance website (www.oaksoft.com). The good news for PC owners is that a free Mac emulator is available to enable them to join the Accordance party (http://www.torahresource.com/Accord.html). But there's a better way: simply get a Mac and say goodbye to computer worms and viruses!

And say goodbye to a few other things too, like right-clicking your mouse! I am one of those who is always a little taken aback by the sheer passion some have for Accordance and the Mac. I can't say that I am convinced that Accordance is so obviously superior to the Gramcord PC alternative. When we bought Gramcord for Windows for use here in Birmingham, I wondered whether it would be preferable instead to purchase Accordance and get an emulator to run it, but it was not clear to me that this represented any substantial advantage over Gramcord for Windows. I feel a bit like an unbeliever looking in when I hear the Mac devotees celebrating the wonder of Accordance. It is probably something we PC users simply will never understand unless we convert. And let's face it, that's not going to happen.

BSB 31 also has a useful computer corner, in which Mike Thompson is kind enough to mention this blog. He also draws attention to Paleojudaica and Hypotyposeis. There are a couple of other links that look very useful but require some more exploration:

Dr Constable's Bible Study Notes and Commentary

and

Bible Research
By Michael Marlowe

I know that I have visited this latter site before, but I fear that I've never listed it or blogged about it and it clearly is a particularly useful site. Constable's site is essentially hundreds of pages of commentary on the Bible in PDF files from a conservative perspective.

Update (23.56): in Bible Software Review Weblog, Rubén Gómez makes some sensible and balanced remarks about Accordance and Macs. I bow to Rubén's superior knowledge here; I just get a bit taken aback by the passion that the Accordance supporters like the review references above exhibit, especially when the old chesnut of "Get a Mac and you can run Accordance and do without viruses" comes out.

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This week's Church Times has the following review:

David M. Goldberg, The Curse of Ham: Race and slavery in early Judaism, Christianity and Islam [sic; it's actually Goldenberg]
Review by Revd Dr Pridmore

The premiss of the view that the infamous curse of Ham is a curse on all black people is the claim that Ham himself was black. The name "Ham", it is argued, means both "black" and "hot"; so the curse applies to black people from hot places like Africa. But this etymological connection cannot be sustained, and the claim is wholly spurious.

To appreciate the full weight of Goldenberg’s argument at this point requires a familiarity with Proto-Semitic linguistics — and, in particular, with the distinction between velar fricatives and pharyngeal fricatives — which this reviewer admits he lacks. One must defer to the specialists, but such is the clarity and cogency of the mainstream of Goldenberg’s discussion that there is every reason to trust his treatment of technicalities.

In fact, for so massively erudite a work this book is remarkable accessible. Goldenberg is sufficiently persuaded of the importance of the case he is making — that the Bible does not measure people’s worth by the colour of their skin — not to encumber the main body of his book with the kind of extended academic argument in whose thickets most readers would soon be lost.

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On Wednesday coming, BBC Radio 4 are broadcasting a documentary about the James ossuary. I talked to the producer about this a few weeks ago, just before she was about to go to Jerusalem in connection with this, and it sounds like it is going to be a really interesting documentary (in spite of the reference to a "limestone coffin" in the blurb below):

The Jesus Box
BBC Radio 4
Wed 19 May, 11:00 - 11:30 30 mins

In September 2002, archaeologists stumbled across what's been described as the biggest biblical find since the Dead Sea scrolls. A limestone coffin with the words 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus' was found in Jerusalem. But what's the meaning of this extraordinary discovery? An elaborate fake or the oldest archaeological link to Jesus?

Biblical archaeologist Jerome Murphy O'Connor picks through the evidence in a journey that takes him from the Wailing Wall to the archaeological bowels of the Sorbonne and asks whether we really are one step closer to proving that Jesus of Nazareth existed.

For readers outside the U.K., it should be available to listen to in the on-line archive after the broadcast. I'll post a link here.

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The Passion of the Christ is to be released on DVD and VHS in the USA on 31 August this year; no news yet on other countries. Press release here on MovieWeb (but you can find it in several other places):

The Passion of the Christ to hit DVD on August 31st

The Passion Of The Christ DVD is presented with a maximum bit rate, 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS, offering viewers the highest quality picture and audio. The film, which was shot in Aramaic and Latin, is presented with English subtitles on VHS and English and Spanish subtitles on DVD. Priced to own, the DVD is available in Widescreen or Pan And Scan for $29.98 and the VHS is $24.98.

Beginning June 1 at the film's website -- www.thepassionofthechrist.com -- information will be available regarding bulk orders and high-quality, visually stunning customized church sleeves and other downloads encouraging church ministry participation. Additionally, the site will feature trailers, film synopsis, cast biographies, and soundtrack background, among other information. For retailers from the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA), the DVD/VHS will be distributed through Zondervan, a leading international Christian communications company.

There are to be no extras except the 2 minute 45 second trailer. DVD Town reports the rumour that a "special edition" is in the works for Christmas / Easter release.

Update (17.19): the DVD release has an official page at Twentieth Century Fox Home Video available here:

The Passion of the Christ DVD and Video

Not much there yet but the announcement.

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On the Biblical Studies e-list, Cynthia Edenburg mentions a new film directed by Assi Dayan called The Gospel According to God apparently released this week in Israel. There's nothing on IMDb about it, so I've had a look around elsewhere. The only material I can find is on Haaretz.com this last Thursday:

A director plays God
By Goel Pinto

The movie is set in the middle of 2001. God, played by Dayan, and his son Jesus (Gil Kopatch), are sitting idle in heaven. In Dayan's view, heaven looks like a piece of Tel Avivian rooftop, just without the solar panels and water tanks. God, wearing a tattered robe that exposes a large cross, sits sloppily in front of a television set on which Vered David (Channel 1 news announcer) is shown reporting a war, alternately with Yaron Pe'er (from the shopping channel) tempting viewers to buy house slippers.

An emissary (Zion Baruch, a member of the Ma Kashur trio) appears on the roof and hands God a letter reminding him that on January 1, 2002 he has to send his son to Earth in order to redeem mankind.

To this end four characters come to Jesus' aid: Luke (Roberto Pollack) teaches him about his personal history and explains where and how the renewed redemption will take place; Torquemada (Golan Azulai), a homosexual who headed the Spanish Inquisition, teaches Jesus how to withstand suffering; Joan of Arc (Dana Parnas) teaches him love; and Mother Theresa (Erica Knoller) teaches him how to speak in front of a crowd.

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David Bruce's Hollywood Jesus web site has a new page available to celebrate the re-release of Life of Brian and it includes a review by Jenn Wright:

Monty Python's Life of Brian (2004)

See also Mike Gunn, on the related web site hosted on Hollywood Jesus called After Eden, for some extraordinary stories about Life of Brian:

Of Peace and Cheese
A Journal Entry for May, 2004

I first discovered the insidious plot to prevent a new generation of American audiences from seeing this movie -- while I was vacationing a couple of weeks ago in Florida. When I tried to rent Life of Brian in an unassuming retirement community video store, they didn’t have it. As the clerk explained, “Every time we try to carry the movie, someone steals it!” There’s no crime in that community! I didn’t see one cop for 9 days; but they can’t keep a copy of this movie in their video store? We can no doubt thank a community of fundamentalists doing their part for the “Kingdom of God.”

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Thanks to Jim West for the notice that Fresh Air have a feature on Life of Brian. Details are available here:

Fresh Air: Life of Brian

You can listen to the programme from that link and also hear some archive interviews, Graham Chapman from 2 July 1987, John Cleese from 22 September 1990, Michael Palin from 17 April 1990 and Eric Idle from 6 October 1999.

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Wieland Willker sends over a reminder that he has set up a new e-list on Textual Criticism on Yahoo!Groups:

Textual Criticism

His hope is that this will simply be a temporary group while TC-List is on hiatus. Both Jim Davila and Jim West have also posted notices of the new list.

I wonder if TC-List has gone for good? The last that was heard of it was this message from Jimmy Adair, the coordinator, on 26 February this year:

When the tc-list started in 1995, we used free software called majordomo to run the list. After a few years, we switched to a Web-based program called Lyris. One of my previous employers purchased the software so that they could host other lists, and the tc-list piggybacked on their license. Since the founding of the Religion and Technology Center (RelTech) in 2001, we have been using the same software, but two factors are affecting current performance: (1) the total capacity for the lists hosted on the site is supposed to be 500, and we're right at--or over--that limit; (2) the version we're running is so old that it is no longer supported; we're running 4.0, and the current version is 7.8. It's apparent that we need to upgrade. Whether that will solve all the problems people experience on the list is questionable, but it can't hurt!

As some of you know, the tc-list is associated with TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, and both are hosted by RelTech and made available on our servers free of charge. I'm the director--and currently the only full-time employee--of RelTech, which is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. In the past we've always funded upgrades, disk space, etc., ourselves, and I've done the majority of the maintenance work myself. I'm happy for RelTech to continue hosting the list as in the past. However, at the moment RelTech doesn't have the money to pay for an upgrade to the new software, so I have a proposal for the members of the list. The cost of the upgrade is $350, and I think that members of the list can raise this amount without any problem. I will donate a small amount myself, and I invite others to do the same. If you want to donate, please send a check to the address given in my signature line, below. $10 or $20 from several people will add up quickly. All donations to RelTech are tax deductable, and I'll be glad to send everyone a receipt for tax purposes. If we raise more than $350, I'll use the extra to have a former colleague do the upgrade (he is the one who installed Lyris in the first place), and if there's any left over, I'll apply it to the Biblical Manuscripts Project (http://purl.org/BibleMSS).

Make checks payable to "Religion and Technology Center," and write "tc-list" in the memo field. Thanks for your help and your support of the tc-list!

I have written to Jimmy to ask if there is any further news about the list. It would be a shame if it has finally gone to ground since it is one of the oldest of the Biblical E-Lists on the net. Only b-greek, as far as far as I am aware, is older. I wonder whether anyone did stump up some cash to try to rescue it? My guess is that people would be generally unwilling given the free availability of either advertising based e-list software (like Yahoo!Groups) and university based majordomo software (like that we use for Synoptic-L). If I hear any more, I'll post here. In the mean time, it looks like Wieland's list is the place to go, with 77 members so far and counting.

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You can tell that I've been under massive pressure over work recently; it's not often that there are days at a time when I can't even grab a moment to blog. It will be back soon.

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A reminder that from time to time I change the blog email to run away from spammers. I use the Bloglines facility to do this. I just mention it here lest you have put my blog email in your address book. Please don't do that because the old addresses go defunct. If you have my work email address in your address book, that's of course fine and still going.

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The American Bible Society has made available a lengthy segment of the Visual Bible's The Gospel of John on-line:

The Gospel of John: View the Video

It's a thirteen minute clip of part of the Passion Narrative in John, from about 19.13--20.17 (breaks off rather abruptly). You can view for broadband or dial-up; it is a very good quality clip, not quite DVD quality, but nof far off. The scene includes several features of interest that have been discussed here (e.g. here and here) Note in particular the way that Jesus' crucifixion is depicted, with nails through the wrists and through the ankles, in the style explicated by Joe Zias. And in relation to recent discussions about the titulus, you can see the full titulus here, in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, very clearly.

Something I noticed when looking at this clip is that the film provides an apparent explanation for Mary Magdalene thinking that Jesus was the gardener. It's because he is apparently doing some gardening!

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I ran across this on Jim West's Biblical Studies web site:

Rudolf-Bultmann-Gesellschaft
für Hermeneutische Theologie e.V.
Sitz: Marburg/Lahn

Um die Beschäftigung mit dem Werk Rudolf Bultmanns und dem Programm einer Hermeneutischen Theologie zu fördern, wurde am 12. März 1998 die Rudolf-Bultmann-Gesellschaft für Hermeneutische Theologie gegründet. Als Sitz der Gesellschaft wurde Marburg/Lahn gewählt, wo Bultmann studierte und wo er von 1921 bis zu seinem Tode 1976 als akademischer Lehrer tätig war.

These pages give details of the society's annual conference, which takes place in March of each year, and provides a useful bibliography, available in PDF, HTML or Word.

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The SBL Forum this month has an article providing some information about the Journal of Biblical Literature:

Journal of Biblical Literature Today
Susan E. Haddox

It's an interesting insight into some of the behind-the-scenes issues, for example the review process:

Even articles clearly unsuitable for publication, often by amateur scholars, receive consideration. O'Day generally assigns these articles to Emory doctoral students, who benefit from learning how to respond to papers in a professional manner. The typical well-researched and organized article gets two reviews. If there is a split between the two about whether the article should be accepted, it is sent out for a third read. In this way, the weight of the decision rests with the reviewers, rather than with the individual editor. O'Day prefers this approach because it respects the peer-reviewed nature of the journal and scrupulously protects the double-blind review process, in which neither the reviewers nor the author knows the identity of the other.

There are also some interesting figures on the number of articles submitted and how these break down into different areas, the numbers of men / women / US / non-US etc.

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Here's something I'd never noticed before. Richard Kiley, who plays the "old Matthew", the narrator of the Gospel, in the Visual Bible's Matthew (Reghardt van den Bergh, 1996), also voices "Luke" the narrator in Jesus (Krish and Sykes, 1979), my least favourite Jesus film.

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The sixth and final intalment of the Scholarly Smackdown on beliefnet between Elaine Pagels and Ben Witherington III, "Did Paul Distort Christianity", has now been published:

Scholarly Smackdown Round 3: Elaine Pagels

Pagels's post is (at the very least) a useful summary of her thinking on The Gospel of Thomas, on which she clearly thinks that Ben Witherington III's thinking is out of date since she refers repeatedly and disparagingly to what they learned in graduate school, e.g. here:

A further indication that Thomas is not "Gnostic," by your own definition, is that it does use the Old Testament in a very positive way—just as the Gospel of John does. Both frame their views of the gospel with midrashic interpretations of Genesis 1. Recognizing this has led scholars far beyond what you learned as a graduate student from Bruce Metzger, and what I learned in graduate school. That's why those of us working in this field—including Birger Pearson—have come to recognize these texts not as "Gnostic"—whatever that fuzzy term meant—but as early Christian, and immersed, like all the early Christian sources we know, in the Hebrew Bible.

Final reflection on the two Beliefnet Scholarly Smackdowns: so far they are a useful but flawed experiment. What they have been good at has been giving the reader a flavour of each of the author's views. They are useful mini-articles. What they have been less good at has been the (unfortunately titled) "smackdown" of the title, which I am told is a wrestling analogy. There is precious little wrestling here! Because the scholars concerned (Crossan, Pagels and Witherington) have been encouraged to write relatively lengthy, self-contained emails, the actual critical engagement has been too limited. There has been too much talking past one another. If you want a good quality of interaction, I still think you have to go a long way to beat Xtalk at its best. It's not always at its best, of course, but when it is it's the most stimulating around.

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Christianity Today have today published a review of The Gospel of John by Ben Witherington III:

The Gospel, Literally
A Break-through film makes the Word visible.
Reviewed by Ben Witherington III

I think Witherington gets this about right, especially over Cusick's performance:

There is a warmth and passion to Cusick's portrayal that is winsome and captures your attention, drawing you in. When he tells his first followers, "Come and see," immediately you want to do so.

Witherington is clearly a bigger fan of Jesus of Nazareth than I am, though, and he compares elements of that film favourably with The Gospel of John. Like Adele Reinhartz [para. 6], Witherington comments on the film's inclusion of Mary Magdalene among the group following Jesus. Like me, he also draws attention to the fact that the film does not identify the woman taken adultery with Mary Magdalene, though I'm not sure that that identification is so much a "mistake" as an inevitable, if regrettable, piece of typical Jesus film harmonizing.

Minor comments: I'm pretty sure Zeffirelli is spelt with two "f"s and not one.

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Latest reviews published on the SBL Review of Biblical Literature include:

Barrett, C. K.
On Paul: Essays on His Life, Work and Influence in the Early Church
Reviewed by Ian Scott

Bevere, Allen R.
Sharing in the Inheritance: Identity and the Moral Life in Colossians
Reviewed by Outi Leppa

Carson, D. A.
New Testament Commentary Survey, Fifth Edition
Reviewed by James P. Sweeney

Davis, Basil S.
Christ as Devotio: The Argument of Galatians 3:1-14
Reviewed by Ian Scott

Pao, David W.
Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus
Reviewed by Scott Spencer

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The first concordance of the Bible I bought, while still at school, was by Cruden. I was told the legend: he was a madman who channelled his madness into the production of the first ever concordance of the Bible. It turns out that the truth is even more interesting. A new book by Julia Keay looks at Alexander the Corrector and it has an enthusiastic review in The Independent:

Alexander the Corrector, by Julia Keay
Trials and triumph of a pedant in Bedlam
By Jonathan Sale

In this excellent biography, Julia Keay tells the extraordinary story of the Scottish scholar who, on the point of being ordained, was incarcerated on grounds of insanity. Cruden's reputation for madness survives in, for example, his entry in my copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. However, Keay presents evidence that he was not mad, but put away by a powerful Aberdeen family to silence him. He had discovered that a girl whom he was unsuccessfully courting was pregnant by her own brother. Later, the incestuous lady set herself up as the "wife" of another brother.

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Also in this week's Church Times:

K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003)
Review by John Barton

He is, in general, sceptical of all readings of the Bible based on an analysis of its literary character, seeing it instead as a huge repository of facts. I am sure he is right to think that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of historical scepticism. But the solution cannot be to go back before critical intelligence was applied to scripture.

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There's a lively review in the most recent Church Times of the following:

Fred Lapham, An Introduction to the New Testament Apocrypha (London & New York: T & T Clark, 2003)
Review by Leslie Houlden

But in one case the editor’s campaign has already had a resounding victory, in every school and church in the land. Sydney Carter’s hymn “The Lord of the Dance” had its origin in the Acts of John, from the mid-second century, where Jesus is depicted, just before his Passion, standing in the midst of his disciples and bidding them join hands and dance with him.

Now, none of the canonical writers thought of that, did they; and is it not wonderful?

Yes; and I didn't know that.

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Lorin Cranford has the following useful resource:

Bibliography on Gospel Synopses and Harmonies

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I recently asked about the whereabouts of the Acts-L older materials. Thanks to Mike Parsons for following this up. They are now located here:

Acts-L WWW Page

I've made the updates on my E-Lists and related pages.

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