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New Book: Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?

Crossway has just released a 540-page book with more than 20 articles from a number of leading evangelical scholars. The full title is Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture.

Amazon has a list of endorsements, but I find the table of contents to be much more helpful in seeing the potential value of this book for my studies and thinking. (It’s probable that most of the reviewers endorsed the book based on the table of contents and did not read the book.)

Before adding the (lengthy) contents listing, a few additional notes: (1) Crossway’s website has the first chapter for free; (2) the paperback sells for $23, but the Kindle version is now just $10; (3) I have put in bold the chapters of most interest to me personally.

Part 1: Biblical, Systematic, and Historical Theology:

1. Thomas H. McCall, “Religious Epistemology, Theological Interpretation of Scripture, and Critical Biblical Scholarship: A Theologian’s Reflections”

2. Graham A. Cole, “The Peril of a ‘Historyless’ Systematic Theology”

3. Mark D. Thompson, “The Divine Investment in Truth: Toward a Theological Account of Biblical Inerrancy”

4. James K. Hoffmeier, “‘These Things Happened’: Why a Historical Exodus Is Essential for Theology”

5. Michael A. G. Haykin, “Fundamentum et Columnam Fidei Nostrae: Irenaeus on the Perfect and Saving Nature of the Scriptures”

Part 2: Old Testament and Issues of History, Authenticity, and Authority

6. Richard E. Averbeck, “Pentateuchal Criticism and the Priestly Torah”

7. Robert B. Chisholm Jr., “Old Testament Source Criticism: Some Methodological Miscues”

8. Robert D. Bergen, “Word Distribution as an Indicator Authorial Intention: A Study of Gen. 1:1-2:3″

9. John W. Hilber, “The Culture of Prophecy and Writing in the Ancient Near East”

10. Richard L. Schultz, “Isaiah, Isaiahs, and Current Scholarship”

11. Alan Millard, “Daniel in Babylon: An Accurate Record?”

12. Willem A. VanGemeren & Jason Stanghalle, “A Critical-Realistic Reading of Psalms Titles: Authenticity, Inspiration and Evangelicals”

13. Jens Bruun Kofoed, “The Old Testament as Cultural Memory”

Part 3: New Testament and Issues of History, Authenticity, and Authority

14. Robert W. Yarbrough, “God’s Word in Human Words: Form-Critical Reflections”

15. Craig L. Blomberg, “A Constructive Traditional Response to New Testament Criticism”

16. Darrell L. Bock, “Precision and Accuracy: Making Distinctions in the Cultural Context that Give
Us Pause in Pitting Gospels Against Other”

17. Eckhard J. Schnabel, “Paul, Timothy, and Titus: The Assumption of a Pseudonymous Author and of Pseudonymous Recipients in the Light of Literary, Theological, and Historical Evidence”

18. Thomas W. Davis, “Saint Paul on Cyprus: The Transformation of an Apostle”

Part 4: The Old Testament and Archaeology

19. John M. Monson, “Enter Joshua: The Mother of Current Biblical Debates”

20. Richard S. Hess, “Yahweh’s ‘Wife’ and Belief in One God in the Old Testament”

21. Michael G. Hasel, “New Excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa and the Early History of Judah”

22. Steven M. Ortiz, “The Archaeology of David and Solomon: Method or Madness?”

Tagged Resources

Swifts Welcomed at Western Wall

From Arutz-7:

The Common Swift, a unique bird that spends most of its life on the wing, returns to Western Wall for a short vacation from Africa. Nature-lovers are planning a welcoming ceremony Monday.
The Friends of the Swifts Association, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and Tel Aviv University are working together to save existing nesting sites of the special bird. Its arrival at the Western Wall also symbolizes the approaching spring, said the sponsors of the welcoming ceremony.
[…]
They said that a special study to map the nests was conducted in 2002 by researcher Ulrich Tigges and by the late Prof. Mendelssohn, during which 88 nests were noted. This study map served as a guideline during the work of strengthening the Western Wall, keeping the nests unblocked.

The full story is here.

Birds have been making their nests near the temple ever since the psalmist wrote, “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, a place near your altar….Blessed are those who dwell in your house” (Psalm 84:3-4).

Pigeon perched in hollow of the Western Wall

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

Bryant Wood has written a short summary of the 2009 and 2010 excavation seasons at Khirbet el-Maqatir, a site he believes may be biblical Ai.

Of the Talpiot Tomb, Richard Bauckham has a detailed examination of the four-line inscription, concluding that it does not have anything to do with Jesus or early Christianity but is nonetheless a very interesting ossuary inscription. Paleobabble observes that there is nothing in the “Jesus Discovery” related to Jesus or early Christianity. Those interested in reading about the first “Jesus tomb” in Talpiot can access a 2006 issue of Near Eastern Archaeology on the subject for free.

The Maps of the Zucker Holy Land Travel Manuscript have been digitized and put online by the University of Pennsylvania. The map was made in the late 1600s.

John Monson’s lecture on “Physical Theology: The Bible in its Land, Time, and Culture” at the Lanier Theological Library last month is now online.

Wayne Stiles visits the Mount of Beatitudes, Tel Dan, and Beth Shean. He provides an interesting quotation from George Adam Smith about Beth Shean, written in 1896: “There are few sites which promise richer spoil beneath their rubbish to the first happy explorer with permission to excavate.”

How right he was!

Joe Yudin describes a favorite hike in lower Galilee.

Turkey claims that Roman mosaics at a university in Kentucky were stolen in the 1960s and should be returned.

The Roman ruins in Palmyra are apparently being threatened by the Syrian army.

Greece is re-burying ruins because of a lack of funds.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Triumphal arch of Palmyra
(source, with 30 free photos of the site)

Tagged Greece, Resources, Syria, Tomb of Jesus, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Great Deal: New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible

Christianbook.com is running a Fabulous Friday sale on The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible for only $130.

This five-volume work includes 7,100 articles and many illustrations. NIDB is not quite as comprehensive or detailed as Anchor Bible Dictionary but it is more up-to-date. Amazon sells it for $316.

Carl Rasmussen’s excellent Zondervan Atlas of the Bible is also marked down to $18 for the sale (which lasts through Monday).

Tagged Resources

Survey of Gerasa Region

One does not often read reports in the media of archaeological surveys, and this review of the Jarash Hinterland Survey is an interesting account of the final season in October 2010. The article notes that the population of Jerash (biblical Gerasa) has doubled in the last 15 years, making the survey of field and farm, tomb and quarry, an important project. They estimate that about “10% of the archaeological sites around the city are being lost to development year upon year.”

The team faced dangers such as scorpions, shabab-ed, and nappies. But they had great success as well, identifying 203 tombs, along with numerous other ancient features.

It is all too easy to get distracted from the survey by kind offers of tea, but as always local knowledge is gained as a result. For instance, to be informed that a tomb containing about twenty sarcophagi on Abu Suwan had been used as a bomb shelter in 1973 and had subsequently been filled in leaving no visible trace represented a great result. The route of a Classical water course in the Wadi Deir – now scattered and bulldozed – was shown to us by a man who played in it as a child. An intense artefact scatter also got us excited, only to be told to our disappointment that it had been deposited by trucks moving earth from elsewhere in the preceding few months.

The article includes a video and some great photos (click one to begin a slideshow).

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Jordan

Wednesday Roundup

I am going to forego a roundup of the Talpiot tomb(s) at this point, instead pointing you to Paleobabble’s “State of the Question,” Jack Poirier’s rebuttal of the name statistics, James Tabor’s colored drawing of the “fish,” and Robert Cargill’s case that the image was photoshopped. I’m not aware of any scholar who didn’t publish a book on the subject within the last week that subscribes to the fish/Jonah interpretation.

The first three chapters of Lois Tverberg’s Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus are available to read online.

While the snow in Jerusalem was pretty, and the Sea of Galilee rose more than a foot, the weekend storms caused about $8 million in damage to agriculture in Israel.

The “All Out Adventure” column this week describes hikes in the lower and upper sections of Nahal David.

Finding a place to volunteer to excavate in the spring is next to impossible, but Tel Burna is accepting volunteers the week of March 18-22.

Ferrell Jenkins has the latest on discoveries at the Colossi of Memnon. For additional photos, see the Luxor Times.

Luxor Times also reports on the discovery of the name of a king from the 17th Dynasty. While it is the first artifact related to the king, it is not the first time we’ve known of him.

Wayne Stiles has a post for the first day of the Insights for Living tour. (Unfortunately, they seem to have rejected my proposal that Herod Agrippa was struck down not in the theater of Caesarea, but in the amphitheater.)

More than 2,400 years ago, the Lord delivered the Jewish people from evil men in Persia. The remembrance of that deliverance begins tonight. Current threats from modern Persia (Iran) should
keep the celebration sober. Happy Purim!

Tagged Egypt, Tomb of Jesus, Weather, Weekend Roundup