RBL Newsletter (October 17, 2009)

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include the following:

New Testament and Cognate Studies

• Brevard Childs, The Church’s Guide for Reading Paul: The Canonical Shaping of the Pauline Corpus, reviewed by Paul E. Trainor
• Desta Heliso, Pistis and the Righteous One: A Study of Romans 1:17 against the Background of Scripture and Second Temple Jewish Literature, reviewed by Lars Kierspel
• Martin Mosse, The Three Gospels: New Testament History Introduced by the Synoptic Problem, reviewed by Pheme Perkins
• Charles Puskas, The Conclusion of Luke-Acts: The Significance of Acts 28:16–31, reviewed by Deborah Thompson Prince
• Huub van de Sandt and Jürgen Zangenberg, eds., Matthew, James, and Didache: Three Related Documents in Their Jewish and Christian Settings, reviewed by William Varner
• Robert Stein, Mark, reviewed by Joel F. Williams
• Alan Thompson, One Lord, One People: The Unity of the Church in Acts in Its Literary Setting, reviewed by Bobby Kelly

Jewish Scripture and Cognate Studies

• Rein Bos, We Have Heard That God Is with You: Preaching the Old Testament, reviewed by Jordan M. Scheetz
• Billie Jean Collins, The Hittites and Their World, reviewed by Dirk Paul Mielke
• Jörg Lanckau, Der Herr der Träume: Eine Studie zur Funktion des Traumes in der Josefsgeschichte der Hebräischen Bibel, reviewed by Bart J. Koet
• Nicola Laneri, ed., Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, reviewed by Aren Maeir
• Pekka Lindqvist, Sin at Sinai: Early Judaism Encounters Exodus 32, reviewed by James N. Rhodes
• Werner Schmidt, Das Buch Jeremia: Kapitel 1–20, reviewed by Wilhelm J. Wessels
• Herman J. Selderhuis, Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms, reviewed by Randall McKinion
• Andrew Sloane, At Home in a Strange Land: Using the Old Testament in Christian Ethics, reviewed by Andrew Davies

Maturing Scientific Communities

As young scientists routinely obtain, through education, their introduction into mature, scientific communities, young scientific communities may require some time to mature and develop their communities’ paradigms (Kuhn 11). During this early phase, nascent scientific communities typically involve different schools of thought that seek “relevant” facts somewhat individualistically according to whatever paradigms they find most influential from other areas of thought (Kuhn 15–17). Typically, one of these “pre-paradigm schools” will triumph over the others at some point and usher in a community’s paradigmatic period (Kuhn 17–18). The precise point of transition from nascent to mature scientific community is seldom easily identifiable, but neither is this transition completely obscured because of the notable advances achieved in the move from the pre-paradigm period into the paradigm period. Instead, a general, historical period can typically be identified in which this transition occurred for any given, mature field (cf. Kuhn 21–22).

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In this post:

Thomas Kuhn

Better News for Biblical Studies at Sheffield

The Facebook group “Don’t Shut down Biblical Studies at Sheffield” has reported to its 1100+ members that “[t]he Biblical Studies Department is essentially back from the dead.”

Jim West has the university’s memo to this effect posted on his blog.

Journal of Biblical Literature 128.3

The fall issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature is due to be released shortly. This issue includes:

New Testament

• Jason Hood, “Matthew 23–25: The Extent of Jesus’ Fifth Discourse,” pgs. 527–44
• Adela Yarbro Collins, “Mark’s Interpretation of the Death of Jesus,” pgs. 545–54
• N. Clayton Croy, “The Messianic Whippersnapper: Did Jesus Use a Whip on People in the Temple (John 2:15)?” pgs. 555–68
• Jamie A. Banister, “Όμοίωζ and the Use of Parallelism in Romans 1:26–27,” pgs. 569–90

Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies

• Paul Niskanen, “The Poetics of Adam: The Creation of אדם in the Image of אלהים,” pgs. 417–36
• Meir Malul, “אישעחי (Leviticus 16:21): A Marginal Person,” pgs. 437–42
• Agnethe Siquans, “Foreignness and Poverty in the Book of Ruth: A Legal Way for a Poor Foreign Woman to Be Integrated into Israel,” pgs. 443–52
• Song-Mi Suzie Park, “The Frustration of Wisdom: Wisdom, Counsel, and Divine Will in 2 Samuel 17:1–23,” pgs. 453–68
• Brad E. Kelle, “Dealing with the Trauma of Defeat: The Rhetoric of the Devastation and Rejuvenation of Nature in Ezekiel,” pgs. 469–90
• Saul M. Olyan, “Unnoticed Resonances of Tomb Opening and Transportation of the Remains of the Dead in Ezekiel 37:12–14,” pgs. 491–502
• James E. Miller, “A Critical Response to Karin Adams’s Reinterpretation of Hosea 4:13–14,” pgs. 503–506
• Richard C. Steiner, “On the Rise and Fall of Canaanite Religion at Baalbek: A Tale of Five Toponyms,” pgs. 507–26

Other Fields

• Zeba Crook, “Honor, Shame, and Social Status Revisited,” pgs. 591–612

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52.3

The fall issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society arrived in the mail yesterday and includes the following:

New Testament

• Kevin W. McFadden, “The Fulfillment of the Law’s Dikaiōma: Another Look at Romans 8:1–4,” pgs. 483–97

Jewish Scriptures

• Greg Goswell, “The Order of the Books in the Greek Old Testament,” pgs. 449–66
• Chee-Chiew Lee, “גים in Genesis 35:11 and the Abrahamic Promise of Blessings for the Nations,” pgs. 467–82
• Andrew S. Malone, “God the Illeist: Third-Person Self-References and Trinitarian Hints in the Old Testament,” pgs. 499–518

Systematic Theology

• William Hasker, “Why Simple Foreknowledge Is Still Useless (in Spite of David Hunt and Alex Pruss),” pgs. 537–44
• David P. Hunt, “Contra Hasker: Why Simple Foreknowledge Is Still Useful,” pgs. 545–50
• Scott C. Warren, “Ability and Desire: Reframing Debates Surrounding Freedom and Responsibility,” pgs. 551–67
• Mark Sweetnam and Crawford Gribben, “J. N. Darby and the Irish Origins of Dispensationalism,” pgs. 569–77

Other Fields

• Timothy T. Larsen, “Literacy and Biblical Knowledge: The Victorian Age and Our Own,” pgs. 519–35

Good News for Biblical Studies at Sheffield

Biblical studies students at Sheffield apparently now have some good news. According to Christianity Today,

Following student protests, the University of Sheffield in England decided to not close the department of biblical studies. A review by the pro-vice-chancellor had recommended shutting down the department down after current and 2009-2010 students completed their degrees, citing the loss of staff and declining student demand. At 8 a.m. today, 1,064 members had joined the Facebook group “Don’t shut down Biblical Studies at Sheffield” and a website was created to send the vice chancellor petition letters, several of which were posted on the website. . . . “The number of [student] entries last year were capped at eight, but this year’s graduates and level three students represent all-time high figures,” Hurrell said in an e-mail. “While five senior lecturers have left over the last 2 years, the university has not allowed the department permanent staff to replace them for a variety of reasons.” The university senate was supposed to vote on the department’s future on October 7, but after students heard through the students’ union and protested, the decision was postponed. . . . Taylor said that the the faculty will draw up plans for the department, including new staff appointments.

HT: Jim West

מורה הצדק and Qumran Hermeneutics

In working through some bibliography recently for a conference paper proposal about מורה הצדק (the teacher of righteousness), I came across the following:

Der Lehrer [der Gerechtigkeit] ist von Gott autorisiert, die Geheimnisse der Prophetenworte zu enträtseln, denn die Worte der Propheten sind Geheimnisse (רזים [pHab] 7,5), die man ohne Auslegung des Lehrers nicht verstehen kann. Der Lehrer tritt also mit seiner Verkündigung nicht neben die Schrift, sondern er basiert auf der Schrift. Er allein hat von Gott das rechte Verständnis offenbart bekommen. Darum kann er und mit ihm seine Gemeinde nach dem Willen Gottes leben (Jeremias 141).

The teacher unlocked prophetic meaning in the community’s scriptures, and the community depended precisely on this insight to learn the proper practice(s) to which they were called through the prophets.

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In this post:

Gert Jeremias