Book IV of the Psalms and Psalm 107

The Prophetic Hope of the Sinai Covenant

The Kingdom of God

One of the best Forewords I’ve ever read
I picked up several interesting looking books at ETS this year and have begun to sit down and get into them.  Today I started reading To the Jew First: The Case for Jewish Evangelism in Scripture and History (Kregel, 2008; ISBN:0825436583), which was edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser.  Several very prominent scholars have contributed to this volume of articles that cover biblical, theological, and missional topics related to Jewish evangelism in the 21st century.  I’m both curious and eager to read through it.  One of the reasons is that Walter Kaiser, Jr., wrote one of the best forewords to a book that I’ve ever read.  I wanted to share a little excerpt t

Class on the Book of Genesis
Tonight will be the final class of the class I am teaching at Peters Creek Baptist on the Book of Genesis.  We’ve spent ten weeks going over the book, and I have been encouraged by both the questions asked and the reception of the message from the book.  As a way to preserve the class, I have been posting audio recordings of the sessions, as well as the class notes and several handouts I prepared to better appreciate the text.  These are available to all you if you are interested.  Just hover you mouse over the “Salt and Light” tab above and click on “Genesis” to be taken to the page.  You’ll also notice a “Psalms” link as well.  That

Critical Review of Seitz, “The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets”
In the first post about Seitz’ new book, I summarized the main argument of the book as follows: In several places, Seitz shows that popular explanations of canon formation are inadequate either methodologically (historical and social concerns, rather than theological and hermeneutical) or historically (misunderstanding the link between the Old Testament and the rule of faith).  His own proposal emphasizes a need for a canonical method which addresses theological and hermeneutical concerns, as well as suggesting a strong link between the Old Testament and the rule of faith.  He develops this proposal by first recognizing the differences in association between th

Book Review: Christopher Seitz, “The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets” (Baker Academic, 2009)
The book under review is: Seitz, Christopher R.  The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets: The Achievement of Association in Canon Formation.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009.  136 pp. Dr. Christopher Seitz is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Wycliffe College of the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Canada.  For years he has been a leading scholar in areas of biblical hermeneutics and interpretation, especially in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, and more particularly, the Book of Isaiah and the Twelve (or, Minor Prophets).  He is also a leading figure in the more recent subject of canon, following on the heels of great scholars such a

Some notes on 1 Peter 1:10-12 and the unity of the OT and NT
For some time I’ve pondered over 1 Peter 1.10-12.  It seems to be one of those key passages which helps us understand the relationship between the Prophets (OT) and the apostolic preaching of Jesus Christ (which would eventually become the NT).  The passage has been debated in recent years.  Some use it (as I will below) to show that the human prophets in the OT knew exactly what their prophecies meant.  In other words, the two authors (God and the prophet) meant the same thing in the text.  Others use the passage (IMO, erroneously) to support the idea that God’s intention was somewhat hidden from the prophets, and that they wrote down their prophecies not knowing exactl