Paul and Jesus Through Jewish Eyes

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

John Fischer, "Paul in his Jewish Context," The Evangelical Quarterly 57.3 (July-Sept. 1985): 211-236. Click here to read.

My thanks to Dr Fischer of Menorah Ministries for his kind permission to place the article on-line. His Evangelical Theological Society address Jesus Through Jewish Eyes: A Rabbi Examines the Life and Teachings of Jesus can be found here.

Prof. Martin Hengel on Gospel Origins

For some time I have been planning to include some scholarly material in video format on my websites. This is now starting to appear as and when I am able to find time to review it. I was very pleased to find this material by Martin Hengel produced as part of The Christ Files documentary series. Based on a lifetime of scholarly research his answers are refreshing.

Martin Hengel, Interview from the Christ Files, Part 1.


Martin Hengel, Interview from the Christ Files, Part 2.


Martin Hengel, Interview from the Christ Files, Part 3.


Martin Hengel, Interview from the Christ Files, Part 4.

Bible and Church 2010 Conference - June 12, 2010, 10.30 a.m. to 4.45 p.m., London

Following on from the first Bible and Church Conference in London in 2009, the same three scholars unite together again to seek to confront head on the big questions about the reliability of the records about Jesus. These day conferences are aimed at equipping ordinary Christians to understand the historical basis of the Christian faith and to share it with confidence.

The Authentic Gospels: More Evidence Old and New

Talk 1: Evidence of eyewitnesses: Whose testimony can we trust?: Peter J. Williams

Talk 2: Evidence of manuscripts: The four gospels and the other gospels compared: Dirk Jongkind

Talk 3: Evidence of history: Who has the true message of Jesus?: Simon Gathercole

In Bible and Church 2010 attendees will not only be presented with classic evidence for the faith, but also with previously unheard arguments for the reliability of the canonical gospels.

Details:

June 12, 2010, 10.30 a.m. to 4.45 p.m.
Venue: St Helen's Bishopsgate
Price: £15, unwaged £7.50

Speakers:

Dr Peter J. Williams
Dr Dirk Jongkind
Dr Simon Gathercole

See bibleandchurch.com for more information about this year's conference.

Forthcoming Event - Jesus and the Eyewitnesses Conference - 29 January 2010

Spurgeon's College is pleased to announce details of a study day led by Richard Bauckham, Professor Emeritus at St Mary's College, University of St Andrews.

Professor Bauckham will present two papers on the Gospels and eyewitness testimony, and a further paper on the Bible and ecology.

Dr Nigel G. Wright and Dr Stephen I. Wright will offer short responses to the papers. It is also envisaged that there will ample time for questions 'from the floor'.

Delegates must pre-book their places. For further details and a booking form, please contact Dr Terry J. Wright at rjbconference(at)aol.com.

Date: Friday, 29 January 2010

Time: 10:15 - 16:30

Location: Spurgeon's College, London, UK

Hitherto Unpublished Lecture by C.F.D. Moule - Jesus: Grounds for the Christian Estimate

A few weeks ago I was contacted by an Anglican minister from Wales with an enquiry about the rights to the works of the late Professor Charlie Moule. To cut a long story short (it is included in the article if you are interested), he had been sent a copy of the original text of a lecture given in Cambridge in 1968. After successfully tracking down the executor of the Moule estate I am now delighted to publish for the first time this fascinating piece of work:

C.F.D. Moule, Jesus: Grounds for the Christian Estimate. A lecture delivered at Cambridge University in the Lent term, 1968.

Where were the nail-prints in Jesus’ hands - in his wrists or his palms?

This question was raised last Saturday during a day conference on biblical archaeology at Tyndale House in Cambridge. Put simply the problem was stated as follows:

Crucifixion normally involved nailing the victim to a horizontal beam through the wrist between the radius and the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). The nail was then firmly trapped by the carpals from ripping out of the hand between the fingers. If the victim were nailed through the palm of the hand the weight of the suspended body would simply cause the nail to pull through the flesh between the metacarpals (see here for an illustration of the bones involved). That much seems clear. However, in John 20:27 Jesus commands Thomas to:

“…See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” [Italics mine]

Surely, the argument goes, if the nail marks where in Jesus’ wrists then he would have told Thomas to look there for them and not in his hands?

Solution

I think the answer to the problem is fairly straightforward, once we look at the Greek text. The Greek word for hand – χειρ – which is used twice in the passage cited above means “A hand or any relevant portion of the hands, including, for example, the fingers.” (Nida & Louw, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1, p. 98.). The question is whether the word “hand” in Greek also included the wrist. The word “wrist” or “wrists” appears only in Acts 12:7 in the NIV New Testament. In the Old Testament it appears twice in the Genesis 38:27 & 30, in Jeremiah 40:4 and Ezekiel 13:18. In Acts 12:7 and in the Septuagint of the OT verses the “wrist” is a translation of χειρ. So, it would seem that “wrist” was included within the semantic range of χειρ and so the problem seems to be solved. John 20:27 could quite accurately be translated: “…See my wrists. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Nida & Louw note that there is a precedent for using a specific body part in place of the general term “hand”. Luke 15:22 reads “…Put a ring on his χειρ…” χειρ here is to be translated finger, not hand.

Peter Cotterell on Sociolinguistics and Biblical Interpretation

The following article is now available in PDF:

Peter Cotterell, "Sociolinguistics and Biblical Interpretation," Vox Evangelica 16 (1986): 61-76.

Peter Cotterell uses sociolinguistic analysis to throw some further light on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

Paul Merkley on the New Quest for the Historical Jesus

The following article is now on-line in PDF:

Paul Merkley, "New quests for old: one historian's observations on a bad bargain," Canadian Journal of Theology 16.3/4 (1970): 203-218.

Paul Merkley offers a stern critique of the "New Quest for the Historical Jesus" from the perspective of a historian.

E.C. Blackman on the Historical Basis of the Christian Faith

The following articles are now on-line in PDF:

E.C. Blackman, "Jesus Christ Yesterday: the Historical Basis of the Christian Faith," Canadian Journal of Theology 7.2 (April 1961): 118-127.

E.C. Blackman, "Jesus Christ Yesterday: Further Notes on the Historicity of the Kerygma," Canadian Journal of Theology 8.2 (April 1962): 116-125.

In these two articles Dr Blackman the importance of the historicity of the life of Christ and the effect that this has on our understanding of the Gospel itself.

William Lane on Milestones in Markan Scholarship

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

William L. Lane, "From Historian to Theologian: Milestones in Markan Scholarship," Review & Expositor 75.4 (Fall 1978): 601-617.

William Lane (author of the Commentary on Mark in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series) provides a brief but helpful summary of the history of Markan interpretation.

Vox Evangelica Volume 10 (1977) now on-line

The following articles are now available in PDF:

Leslie C. Allen, "Faith on Trial: an Analysis of Psalm 139," Vox Evangelica 10 (1977): 5-23.

M.M.B. Turner, "The Concept of Receiving the Spirit in John's Gospel," Vox Evangelica 10 (1977): 24-42.

F.P. Cotterell, "The Gospel of Barnabas," Vox Evangelica 10 (1977): 43-47.

A brief but helpful discussion of this famous medieval muslim forgery.

A.N.S. Lane, "The Rationale and Significance of the Virgin Birth," Vox Evangelica 10 (1977): 48-64.

I found this the most interesting of the articles in this volume. It is not often you find a discussion of the reasons why it is thought that the virgin birth was necessary and this is certainly the best I've read.

R.L. Sturch, "The Metaphysics of the Incarnation," Vox Evangelica 10 (1977): 65-76.

Vox Evangelica Volume 5 (1967) now on-line

The following articles are now available in PDF:

Geoffrey W. Grogan, "The Experience of Salvation in the Old and New Testamentx," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 4-26.

I don't know of many articles on this subject, so this should be useful.

H. Dermot McDonald, "The Idea of Creation in Historical Perspective," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 27-48.

I wish I had know about this article when I did my research on the early church's doctrine of creation.

Harold W. Rowdon, "Edinburgh 1910, Evangelicals and the Ecumentical Movement," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 49-71.

This is a very interesting article for those studying the history of evangelicalism, missions and the ecumenical movement.

Donald Guthrie, "The Importance of Signs in the Fourth Gospel," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 72-83.

Review articles:

H. Dermot McDonald, "John Hick's Evil and the God of Love, MacMillan," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 84-87.

Geoffrey W. Grogan, "H. Richard Niebuhr's Schleiermacher on Christ and Religion, S.C.M.," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 88-91.

J. Clement Connell, "Jesus of Nazareth, Savious and Lord (edited by Carl F. Henry), Eerdmans," Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 92-96.

Gospel Perspectives Vol 1 - Your chance to choose an article

The British Library have just supplied me with a copy of Gospel Perspectives, Vols 1: Studies of History and Tradition in the Four Gospels. R.T. France & David Wenham, eds. JSOT Press, 1980. Please vote for your favourite article by 21st December - remember to say why you think it is the best. The article by Rainer Riesner is not included below because it is in German.

F.F. Bruce, "The Trial of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel," pp.7-20.

Bruce Chilton, "Targumic Transmission and Dominical Tradition," pp.21-46.

Peter H. Davids, "The Gospels and Jewish Tradition: Twenty Years After Gerhardsson," pp.75-100.

R.T. France, "Mark and the Teaching of Jesus," pp.101-137.

Sydney H.T. Page, "The Authenticity of the Ransom Logion (Mark 10:45b)," pp.137-162.

Phillip Barton Payne, "The Authenticity of the Parable of the Sower and its Interpretation," pp.163-208.

Robert H. Stein, "The 'Criteria' For Authenticity," pp.225-263.

Thanks in advance for your input.