The Ascension in Luke’s Narrative

The bodily resurrection of Jesus—the reanimated, physical man—is an important part of New Testament theology, one beclouded by dogmatic accretion and in great need of disambiguation. The ascension seems to play right into this: Jesus, fully embodied, is lifted to the clouds. Yet I don’t think that bodiliness plays much of a role in early [...]

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Paul Ad Hoc: The Rock was Christ

Earlier I began to explore a view of the inspiration of the Bible that would allow biblical writers greater room for personal creativity and would explain certain phenomena in the biblical texts as human literary activity rather than Divinely-communicated truths. Later I wish to say a few more things about the implications of this, but [...]

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The Finger of God and the Kingdom, 3

[Part 1]  [Part 2]
In Luke 11.14-21 the evangelist has demonstrated great fidelity in his work. His text is in close agreement with the independent Matthean tradition. Additionally, he has preserved an obscure word, a redundant clause, and a difficult Hebraism.
These last two things also tell us that Luke has gotten us very close to the [...]

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The Finger of God and the Kingdom, 2

[Part 1]
Having examined Mt 12.25,26 and Lk 11.17,18 it is readily apparent that Matthew and Luke preserve the same story of Jesus’ confrontation with his opposers. Close analysis reveals both the earlier, underlying form of the story and the proclivities of the individual evangelists. In this portion of the narrative Matthew leans toward editing his [...]

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The Finger of God and the Kingdom, 1

The Beelzebul controversy at Mt 12.22-31/Lk 11.14-21 and to a lesser extent Mk 3.23-30 provides an interesting window into Jesus’ life and thinking. I should like to explore at another time how a key phrase in this encounter, “the finger of God,” might inform our understanding of his pneumatology and theology proper, but here I’m [...]

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Postmodern Jesus

Silviu N. Tatu at WP weblog Studiul Vechiului Testament wrote something (in Romanian, be forewarned) here about yet another book attempting to wipe away the encrusted religious establishment and revealing a relevant Jesus. Tatu notes not only the myopia of emphasizing the brighter, easier biblical doctrines, but the danger of the church using this partial [...]

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Taking Jesus Seriously

There is an interesting article on bibleinterp.com by Jay Williams, which I found alternately profound and amusing. Williams should be heard directly, but here I quote a couple of paragraphs after his overview of Jesus’ stark and acetic ethic.
There is little doubt in my mind that even the most fervent Protestant believers would argue that [...]

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Koine Greek Pronunciation

Former professor of biblical Greek William Mounce trenchantly wrote in his grammar, “The only people I have heard say that Greek is not important are those who do not themselves know Greek.”[1] The same may perhaps be true of those who argue for the academic, or modified Erasmian, pronunciation of koine Greek. It may be [...]

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Jesus and the Pharisees

Sometimes I wonder how Jesus kept getting invited to dinner, especially by the Pharisees. In Luke 14.1-24 he heals a man seemingly without any regard for the offense they would take (on the sabbath), lectures them on taking the most honored places at a meal because he had just observed them taking the most honored [...]

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The Place of the Tetragram

Whatever one may think of the Catholic Church’s recent ban on the divine name in liturgy, it’s absurd to think that this was done on biblical grounds. Christendom’s use, or rather, neglect of YHWH is heavily influence by the Judaic position, and if that’s considered legitimate on the grounds of the value and continuity of [...]

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