Book Review: Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader

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Book Review: Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader edited by Karen H. Jobes

            As far as Hebrew Bible is concerned (the Christian “Old Testament”) Karen H. Jobes is a big player and a respected scholar. The book is designed to help students read the Greek of the Septuagint or LXX, that is, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek done about three centuries before the time of Christ. However, anyone interested in learning Biblical Greek should look for help elsewhere; this material is for someone with a good year of Koiné Greek under their belt and interested in progressing in their reading skills.

            The student will find help with the wider Greek vocabulary of the Septuagint (as compared to the more limited vocabulary of the New Testament). There will also be help with the peculiar Hebrew-influenced syntax of the LXX Greek, as it will be challenging for the person used to the Greek constructions in the New Testament.

            There are chapters with readings from Genesis, Exodus (the Ten Commandments!), Ruth, some Psalms, Hosea, Jonah, Malachi, and my favorite, Isaiah, including, of course, Isaiah 53, the most famous Messianic chapter in the Hebrew Bible.

            The notes explicate terms, syntax, and contextual issues; there are also notes on textual issues both in the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint manuscripts, and even the Dead Sea Scrolls. I think I would have liked more detailed notes on exegetical issues (or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Daniel Wallace’s intermediate Greek syntax). Jobe’s book also has a brief Glossary of Technical Terms.

4/5 stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

Book Review: What Happened in the Garden, edited by Abner Chou

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Book Review: What Happened in the Garden edited by Abner Chou

Written by the faculty of the Master’s College, the book takes a Bible-believing, conservative stand. What is at stake in the issue at hand is the reality of Adam and Eve as real people directly created by God, and their actual fall into sin that left humanity in need of a Messiah that would atone for all sin and restore creation back to its original state. The story of redemption from that time, through the Patriarchs and Israel to Jesus and the New Covenant community, and the awaited eschaton are explained by that need, unless the story of Adam and Eve is just a metaphor and not an actual event in history. Well, some Christian scholars are precisely asserting the latter and the Master’s College faculty take the task of defending the traditional view in a no less scholarly way.

            With chapters on Hermeneutics and History, Genetics of Adam, A Map of Misreadings, Genesis 3 and Original Sin, Thermodynamics and the Fall, etc. there’s something for everyone. Nicely footnoted (and the footnotes are at the bottom of each page! Yay!), the authors are in conversation with liberal and conservative scholars on their respective topics.

            A good resource to have on a foundational issue. Get this book, read it and share it with your church.

4/5 stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

­Book Review: Eschatology: Biblical, Historical, and Practical Approaches edited by D. Jeffrey Bingham and Glenn R. Kreider

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Book Review: Eschatology: Biblical, Historical, and Practical Approaches edited by D. Jeffrey Bingham and Glenn R. Kreider

The book is edited by two Dallas Theological Seminary graduates so the overall perspective will be from that Seminary’s ideological point of view; though the writers come from different universities, including three former professors of mine at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It is refreshing that the ideology behind this study is one of Biblical trustworthiness; one will not have to worry about whether the authors think Paul was mistaken in his prophetic views (as some liberal Christians assert).

Part 1 introduces the foundations for a doctrine of the future, including a good chapter by Charles C. Ryrie himself. Part 2 is a Biblical theology of the future, examining what the Bible itself has to say on the topic, division by division (Historical books, the Prophets, the Synoptic Gospels, etc.). I was surprised to find myself enjoying the historical part of the book, and the analyses on part 3 will be helpful to anyone wanting a primer on, say, Augustine’s view of the future, or that of John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, or Jürgen Moltmann. Overall, the authors made an excellent effort in laying out the basics of each view. Part 4 brings in the praxis of a doctrine of the future to contemporary situations.

Of course, as other books, my personal theological stance on prophecy is not represented since I am not a traditional or progressive Dispensationalist, but no one expected the authors to be perfect. :-)

Finally, I applaud Kregel for printing the footnotes at the bottom of the page (as opposed to endnotes that one has to hunt down to make sense of), making it more useful to students and scholars; the book is much, much better because of this.

A solid 4/5 stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

Book Review: 40 Questions About the Historical Jesus by C. Marvin Pate

Book Review: 40 Questions About the Historical Jesus by C. Marvin Pate

Kregel is publishing some exciting books; I am a fan of this series (did I say that before? It’s still true). If you’ve had questions on all the talk about “the historical Jesus”, this is a good book to begin your quest for understanding.

Pate is a first-rate scholar, highly respected, and sometimes he is even correct in his stances. He is well-read and is able to write in a non-academic way, which sometimes is lacking on other scholars. ;-) Furthermore, this is not a skeptic voice, but a believing one. Pate is a conservative, but that does not mean he is not a careful scholar (isn’t it sad I have to make sure to point this out? Liberal propaganda certainly colors the way people see Bible-believers). You will find some good answers for those that assert the Gospel stories cannot be taken as historical truth.

Again, this is a good primer on the topic and I think you could do much worse than this series by Kregel.

4/5 Stars


 Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.