The Bible and Culture

Chapter Five (pp. 147-78) deals with the issue of multiple genre of literature in the Bible, and walks through some of the usual pitfalls and questions people raise when a more literarily sensitive approach to the Biblical text is taken. Here Craig deals with Genesis 1-3, Jonah, Job, the possibility of multiple Isaiahs, pseudonymity in the NT, and some related issues. The over arching theme of the chapter is that we must recognize the type of literature we are reading, and interpret it within … [Read more...]

First of all, I am on record as to my views on the inerrancy controversies in Evangelicalism. You may check out my article in the Spring issue of JETS of this year entitled 'The Truth Will Out'. You may also read what I say about the doctrine of Scripture at length in my The Living Word of God. Here I will simply interact with Craig's presentation. Sadly, a good deal of what he honestly chronicles is the story of Evangelicals behaving badly, especially in the Robert Gundry cause celebre when … [Read more...]

The chapter on translations is in some ways the most useful one for those lost in the sea of different versions, different editions, etc. Yet despite the many many different Protestant translations of the Bible available (and the vast majority of them are done by Protestants), really only four have been able to capture more than 10% of the market in the last decade or so--- they are the NIV (despite all the unnecessary polemics against it), the New Living Translation, the NKJV, and the old KJV. … [Read more...]

The second major chapter of Craig Blomberg's book deals with the issue of how we got the NT, or put another way, how the canon of the NT came about. Was the NT canon a product of the politics of Constantine and his cronies? Was it the product of the winners in the heresy wars? Or was it something else altogether?Craig begins this chapter by again quoting some of the misinformation one can derive from read Bart Ehrman on how we got the NT canon. To be fair, Bart has changed some of his … [Read more...]

This video was recorded about eight and a bit years ago at Asbury, back when my hair was still brown! The first five minutes deal with topics then current, but J.D. Walt and I go on to have a good conversation about the Word of God as a sacrament, and how it graces us. See what you think.BW3 … [Read more...]

Mention the issue of textual criticism and some people think you're actually talking about criticizing the text of the Bible. Nope. Text criticism is the attempt to reconstruct the earliest form of the Biblical text possible, based on the thousands and thousands of partial and whole manuscripts of various portions of the Bible. In other words, since what we want in our Bibles is the original inspired text plus nothing of what was added later, text criticism is crucial and a positive thing for … [Read more...]

In the Introduction to Craig Blomberg's new book on the trustworthiness of Scripture, he lays down some premises which let us know his orientation from the outset. Inerrancy will be a big topic in this book so he lets us know from the outset that "not a single supposed contradiction [in the Bible] has gone without someone proposing a reasonably plausible solution." (p. 2). On the questions Doesn't the Bible promote slavery, Blomberg's brief answer is no but God allowed it, and "in Israel it was … [Read more...]