Ridley Hall, Cambridge

Resources: Biblical Studies Bulletin 19

Vol 19: Mar 2001

Books in Brief

Charles C Williamson, Acts. Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press, 2000. 99 pages. £5.99. ISBN: 0664501052

This is one of the first volumes in a new series from the Interpretation commentary stable with which many readers of BSB will be familiar. The series describes itself as aimed at 'lay people' for use in small groups or for personal study and reflection. The material presented here is between the kind of technical information provided by a traditional commentary and the often minimal background and textual information given in publications marketed as Bible Study guides for small groups. The great strength of this book is to provide enough information for the keen, interested reader with pointers to where certain topics or questions can be studied further. The material is uncluttered and well focused and the pointers for further study are helpfully located in marginal boxes rather than getting lost in footnotes or appendices.

Each chapter has a few questions for study in a group or for personal reflection. While some of these are helpful, more thought needs to be given to the dynamic of how these questions might be answered in a group setting. Sometimes they do not go far enough in encouraging personal engagement with the text.

This series will be most useful for individuals who are starting out in biblical study or who want to gain a quick but not minimalist introduction to a biblical book. They may also be useful in a small group where members are prepared to do some reading beforehand and formulate their own questions for discussion.

Bernhard W. Anderson with Steve Bishop, Out of the Depths. Revised and Expanded edition. Westminster John Knox Press, 2000. 336 pages. $24.95; £17.08 from Amazon.co.uk. ISBN: 0664258328

This is a thoroughly revised and expanded edition of the old classic. With Steven Bishop, Anderson has updated it to reflect scholarly developments and contemporary approaches in the study of the Psalmswithout making it heavy or dry. It is, rather, a celebration of the Psalms for those who want to understand their heights and depths.

The original text is renowned for its focus on the poetic forms of the Psalter and the setting of the psalms in worship. There are now three new chapters: on the style of poetry in the psalms; on the penitential psalms; and on reading the book of Psalms as a whole.

As with previous editions, the basis is a form-critical classification of the Psalter according to literary form and liturgical function. But Anderson goes far beyond this, with a careful and inspiring study of some of the rhetorical features, and writes always with an eye to the use of the Psalms in the life of faith.

This revision makes an old friend seem even more exciting. It is one of the few introductory books on the Old Testament that could be well used in a devotional context. I would recommend it, for example, to a house-group looking for a change in Bible study, hungry to tackle the poetry of the Old Testament.

Letters to the Editor

Craig Bartholomew (Research Fellow of Cheltenham and Gloucester College of HE) writes,

Your readers might be interested in a very useful chapter by Kevin Vanhoozer in Evangelical Futures: A Conversation on Theological Method (edited by J G Stackhouse Jnr, Baker and Apollos, 2000). The chapter is entitled, 'The Voice and the Actor: A Dramatic Proposal about the Ministry and Minstrelsy of Theology' (pp 61-106). This is a highly creative proposal for a communicative hermeneutic by one of the really interesting contemporary Evangelical theologians.

Last issue's corny jokes evoked the following from Craig:

Do you know who was the wisest financier in the Bible?

Noah because he was floating his assets when everyone else was in liquidation!

Yes, but what about Pharaoh's daughter? She found a prophet in the rushes on the banks!

Keith Gruneberg observes that the following proposed titles for the Grove Biblical Series will never see the light of day:

Home Furnishings: A Biblical Study [think about it...]
Circumcision: Hermeneutics at the Cutting Edge
Decision Making: Two Biblical Perspectives
Naturism: What does the Bible Reveal? (there is in fact a Grove booklet on this subject!)
Biblical Proposals concerning Marriage
Greek Grammar: A Biblical Case Study

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Comments on Commentaries

An assessment of commentaries and other works on books of the Bible to keep you up to date with what will help in preaching and teaching in the local church.

NT: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus

I write as the biased author of the ICC volume on the Pastoral Epistles (T & T Clark, 1999) which is intended to give readers all the necessary exegetical information and options. A similar task is done by W D Mounce in his even more recent volume (WBC; Word, 2000). Readers of either should consult the other since we differ on several significant issues. G W Knight III (NIGTC; Paternoster, 1992) is a good, basic clarification of the Greek text.

M Dibelius and H Conzelmann (Hermeneia; Fortress, 1972) is full of background information but uninspiring to the preacher. The enormous volumes by J D Quinn on Titus (AB; Doubleday, 1990) and [with W C Wacker] on 1 and 2 Timothy (Eerdmans, 2000) are mines of information, but in the later volume it is poorly organised and dull.

Of shorter exegetical commentaries the most useful are those by G D Fee (NIBC; Paternoster, 1988), and P H Towner (IVPNTC; IVP, 1994). Older but still useful are D Guthrie (TNTC; IVP, 1957), J N D Kelly (Black, 1963) and C K Barrett (NClB; OUP, 1963), which will warm your heart. M Davies (EC; Epworth, 1996) is short but valuable for seeing the text from a different angle than the evangelical scholars. A T Hanson (NCB; Marshall Pickering, 1982) is full of original suggestions and sharp comment.

Of expository commentaries easily the best are the two volumes by John Stott, Guard the Gospel: The Message of 2 Timothy (IVP, 1973), and The Message of 1 Timothy and Titus: The life of the local church (IVP, 1996); these are based on sound exegesis, and bring out the contemporary message clearly, sharply and compellingly. The NIV Application Commentary deserves to be better known in the UK: W Liefeld provides excellent preparatory material for preachers (Zondervan, 1999).

Shorter commentaries published in the USA include T C Oden (Interpretation; John Knox, 1989)a systematic theologian working through the epistles thematically and finding them really exciting.

Bible Puzzle

Can you find the names of 16 books from the Bible in the paragraph on the next page without the aid of your Bible? (One minister found 15 of the books in 20 minutes, but it took him weeks to find the last one.)

I once made the remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu; kept people looking so hard for facts... and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph.

Computer Corner

• Sue Groom draws our attention to two mailing lists of possible interest to readers. Preachers and others preparing lessons based on Scripture may want to join the list at the following email address: preaching@coin.org.uk This list discusses the Revised Common Lectionary for main Sunday service, sometimes with completed sermons, more often with retrospective comments or sermon suggestions.
  Another list which features discussion of Common Worship services and resources is common-worship@coin.org.uk
• The Research Report is an online newsletter published by The Resource Center for Theological Research (RCTR), an evangelical ministry in Pennsylvania specializing in theological and apologetic resources. Several issues of the Report have been posted at the website: http://mh102.infi.net/~apologia The website has some interesting material, including links to Real Audio debates between scholars on various issues. To find out when new editions of the Research Report are posted, e-mail apologia@lancnews.infi.net
• Simon Kershaw writes:
  'Oremus Bible Study is a forum for members to share informal reflections on a daily text, particularly with regard to practical application of the biblical message. The texts are chosen based on the Oremus daily office lectionary [a three-year office lectionary meant to complement the Revised Common Lectionary, i.e. to fill out those passages which are omitted from week to week]. Members are encouraged to engage the texts and post at least one reflection a week.' For details of how to subscribe, follow the link to Bible Study at http://www.oremus.org
• Users of Apple Mac computers may be in the minority, but they can find some helpful information about Christian software available at http://www.cmug.org
• Babelfish, the website for translating phrases to and from English, has moved to http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn
• David Instone-Brewer of Tyndale House in Cambridge points out the following links for those searching for details of particular books:
  The Library of Congress Catalogue: http://catalog.loc.gov/
  The British Library Catalogue: http://opac97.bl.uk/
  Tubingen Library (useful for foreign theological works): http://opac.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/olix_.html
  WebCat (now LibDex - 2005) lists all the online library catalogues: http://www.libdex.com/
• Amazon now finds out-of-print books as well (amazon.com is better than amazon.co.uk): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ats-query-page/
• Bibliofind searches thousands of second-hand bookshops: http://www.bibliofind.com/cgi-bin/texis.exe/s/search

The Big Picture

Giving an overview of the Old Testament

In Margaret Killingray's booklet Encouraging Biblical Literacy (B 6) she comments on the importance of giving people an overview of the Bible. Rosemary Cox revisits the same question in relation to children in Using the Bible with Children (B 15). To enable children (and adults) to read with understanding they need two things: to see how the parts fit into the whole (an overview); and to see how the parts differ from one another (genre).

On my last Sunday as stipendiary curate in our church (where I have remained as an associate member of staff), rather than preach in the evening service, I offered the congregation the chance of an 'any questions' session on the Bible. More than half the questions related to how to make sense of the Old Testament. So we decided to put on a six-evening course this Spring giving an overview of the Old Testament and how to read it.

The course takes place in the church on alternate Wednesday evenings, so that those attending can also attend home groups in the intervening weeks. We have about 60 people signed up and coming. Each evening consists of:

• a short time of worship, which helps put the learning in its right context
• initial teaching input (up to45 minutes) with some interaction. This is partly factual, introducing the content of the section of the OT we are looking at, and partly addressing questions of interpretation.
• small group study, where there is a choice of passages to look at, followed by feedback and questions
• comment on a difficult question in relation to the Old Testament, and
• comment on the relation of the texts studied to the ministry of Jesus.

It is a lot to fit into an hour-and-a-half, but it keeps the evening moving along!

An important part of the process is the construction of a simple wall chart. This starts blank with some dates on it, and as the course progresses we add the names of characters, books and periods (patriarchs, slavery, monarchy, schism, exile etc). In this way, folk can see the overview being put together week by week, and it is more effective than presenting a completed chart for them to take in.

Each evening looks at a section of the Old Testament, roughly related to genre:

1. Genesis 1-11. Why the OT is important. Introducing genre.
2. Genesis 12-50. Why narrative is important. How to read it..
3. Exodus-Deuteronomy. How to read Law. Theological themes in the OT.
4. Joshua-Chronicles. History and the Old Testament. The problem of war.
5. The Prophets. Foretelling versus 'forthtelling.' Relation between prophecy nad law. Prophecy and fulfilment in the NT.
6. Wisdom literature. The imprecatory psalms. Feedback.

Covering so much ground each evening inevitably feels superficialbut then that is what overviews are about. It appears to be a valuable way of giving people a map with which they can navigate better for themselves. If they want to stop in one place and go deeper, at least they know where they are.

If you would like more information about this course, email me on editor@grovebooks.co.uk. Even more importantly, if you have tried to do something similar, write to Mike Thompson, editor of BSB (address below).

Grove Biblical Series

This month's booklet is Divorce and Remarriage in the First and 21st Century by David Instone-Brewer. David makes recent scholarly insights relevant and accessible in an area of much current discussion, to which this will be a significant contribution.

Readers will also be interested to know of the second booklet in the Renewal series on Baptism in the Holy Spirit by Max Turner. The substantial part of the booklet consists of a detailed consideration of the relevant biblical material.

Look out for March's issue of Bible Society's The Bible in TransMission. It includes a number of articles by Grove notables, including Craig Bartholomew and Ian Paul.

Future Grove Biblical titles are planned to cover preaching with the grain of Scripture, gender issues, Proverbs, anti-Judaism in the gospels and 'liberation' approaches to interpretation.