The Bible and Culture

You're allowed to go a little over the top at your 60th birthday. You may blame my sister Laura for the hat and the glasses. Yes, I am also wearing a Jerry Garcia tie. The picture was taken by that intrepid OT scholar---- Bill Arnold. … [Read more...]

Dr. Witherington is resting on his laurels today and celebrating having survived 60 years of living. He is listening to the Beatles prospective classic 'When I'm 64' and thinking about the future. He will return to his blog tomorrow, an older, but hopefully wiser man. ----- Jeff James of Ichthus fame has sallied forth with a bit of verse for birthday BW3-- Here it tis..... Throughout the world there 're few we've found Whose thoughts are published all around In blogs and books … [Read more...]

There are two prerequisites for being a movie reviewer in Lexington Ky.: 1) review all films involving George Clooney (which in itself is a formidable task since he seems to appear on the big screen more than the local weatherman does on the TV) and 2) review all movies about horses (usually filmed here as well, e.g. Seabiscuit). I am in good standing when it comes to these criteria. The phrase 'that ole Warhorse' comes actually from the world of music, and refers to a familiar tune often … [Read more...]

B. RICHTER AND THE EPIC OF URZEIT UND ENDZEIT EDEN Sandra Richter is nothing if not forthright in throwing down the gauntlet in her book, The Epic of Eden. The Bible, she says is the story of redemption, but lest we think this study will be all narratology and no history, she also stresses at the outset that when one opens the Bible one discovers “the God of history has chosen to reveal himself through a specific human culture. To be more accurate, he chose to reveal himself in several … [Read more...]

CODA: RECENT ATTEMPTS AT BIBLICAL THEOLOGY Since there actually have been some rather well-received attempts at doing Biblical theology of late, it will be well to evaluate them, especially since we also now have the careful and helpful textbook on Biblical theology written by James K. Mead. Our approach in this Coda will be to examine some of things the Mead brings to light first, and then apply those insights to the analysis of two important works, Sandra Richter’s The Epic of Eden, … [Read more...]

THE UNITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT In my full length study The Problem with Evangelical Theology, one of the main points I tried to stress repeatedly is that the problem with Evangelical Theologies of various sorts is, paradoxically enough, that they are not Biblical enough, and even more to the point they become unbiblical at the precise junctures where they try to say something distinctive from the things orthodox Christians all basically agree on. For example, the theologies of … [Read more...]

(We continue to offer here excerpts from near the end of Vol. Two of The Indelible Image). GOING BEYOND THE BIBLE? This in turn brings us to another and rather daunting topic. What about going beyond the Bible? What about the incomplete ideas in the NT canon which point us beyond themselves? This question will always be raised somewhat tentatively by those who have taken seriously the Reformation notion of ‘sola Scriptura’. But even the strongest advocates of that position in the … [Read more...]

INCOGNITO He came in incognito, A thinly veiled disguise The not so subtle son of man, A human with God’s eyes. The messianic secret, Left many unawares A God had walked upon the earth And shared our human cares. We did not see his glory, At least not at first glimpse, It took an Easter wake up call, Before it all made sense. The truth of Incarnation, Of dwelling within flesh, Shows goodness in creation, And Word of God made fresh. Standing on the boundary Twixt … [Read more...]

THE BONDING A cold and listless season, And full of cheerless cheer, When hopes are raised and dashed again And joy dissolves in tears. The search for endless family The search for one true Friend Leaves questers tired, disconsolate With questions without end. Best find some potent pleasure quick Some superficial thrill Than search for everlasting love When none can fill that bill. So hide yourselves in shopping And eating ‘til you burst, Use endless entertainment As … [Read more...]

LOGOS LOGIC (John 1. 1-18) TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY Tallula Bankhead was undoubtedly one of the most flamboyant and colorful women of her era. She talked loud, she dressed loud, she was not known for her subtlety. She was also not much given to attending church. But on one occasion she heard that there was to be some real pageantry and ceremony at the local Catholic Cathedral for a famous bishop was coming to town for a special worship service. She decided she wanted to go … [Read more...]