A Reformation Day Reflection

Tomorrow marks the 489th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of a building at the University of Wittenberg where he taught. Although not intended as the start of a new religious movement, Luther's theses set fire to the brush fire that became the Protestant Reformation. But before that fateful day it was his study of Romans that unlocked the mystery of the gospel, and it was Rom 1:17 ("For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."). Here are Luther's own words on his struggle with that text:

"I greatly longed to understand Paul's epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, 'the justice (righteousness) of God', because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage Him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what He meant." "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice (righteousness) of God and the statement that 'the just (righteous) shall live by his faith'. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into Paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas the 'justice (righteousness) of God' had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven."

May we who are Protestants be good stewards of this rediscovery of the gospel in our own day and work for reformation in the church for the glory of God and the advance of the kingdom.

Book Recommendation: Exegetical Fallacies

Although it has been out now for almost 12 years, I still find that some are unaware of the execllent little book by D.A. Carson entitled Exegetical Fallacies. In it Carson explores four different "categories" of exegetical fallacies: word study, grammatical, logical and presuppositional/historical. In the fifth and final chapter Carson offers concluding reflections on additional areas where fallacies may lurk. Each chapter contains an abundance of examples, largely drawn from NT scholarship (including an example from his own work!).

Everyone who ministers from God's Word will benefit from Carson's incisive scalpel. Awareness of these common errors can save us all from flawed conclusions or flawed arguments used in support of valid conclusions. Perhaps best of all, it is less than 150 pages, meaning one can read through this quickly and benefit immensely. Even if you have little or no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, you will still benefit from reading Exegetical Fallacies

And even if you have read this in the past, if it has been awhile since you have perused the pages it is worth carving out some time to skim back through and be reminded of those fallacies we are most inclined towards.

Weekend Talk Series @ Ohio University CCC

This weekend I am speaking four times at the Fall Retreat for Campus Crusade for Christ at Ohio University (my alma mater). The series is called "Snapshots of a King" and is taken Matthew's Passion Narrative:

"A Humble King" (Matt 21:1-11)

"An Obedient King" (Matt 26:36-46)

"A Sacrificial King" (Matt 27:33-54)

"A Triumphant King" (Matt 28:1-20)

If you think of it, I would appreciate your prayers. Pray that God would enable me to paint a compelling picture of Jesus the King!

Further Evidence for an Inclusive Reading of "Us" in Gal 3:13-14?

As discussed in the previous post, I am persuaded that when Paul says Christ redeemed "us" from the curse of the Law, he is referring to Jewish and Gentile Christians, not merely Jews. An additional line of evidence for this may be found in 3:22, where Paul says "But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."

Here there should be no question that Paul refers to not only Jews but everyone (in the Greek it is ta panta, which could even be translated "all things") being imprisoned under the reign of sin. But instead of saying "the Law" has imprisoned everyone he says "the Scripture." Now, this could merely be Paul using a synonym, or Paul could mean the entire OT witness (Law, Prophets, Writings). Or he may even have a particular Scripture reference in view, which if that is the case then why not Deut 27:26, quoted in Gal 3:10? If so, that would provide further evidence of the link between the curse of the Law and the larger curse that rests on all creation from Eden.

So what do you think? Am I desperately grasping for evidence to support my flimsy view or is there something to seeing a link between 3:10ff and 3:22?

Christ redeemed "us" from the curse of the Law

In Gal 3:10-14, Paul asserts that those who rely upon the works of the Law are under a curse (presumably because no one is able to perfectly keep the Law). He then claims that Christ has redeemed "us" from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for "us" (3:13). But who does the "us" refer to? Does it refer to Jews (exclusive) or to Jew and Gentile alike (inclusive)? Each view has its difficulties. On the inclusive view one must explain in what sense Gentiles were under the curse of the Law as well as the significance of the citation of Deut 21:23. Advocates of the exclusive reference must account for the seeming parallel between the "us" of 3:13 and "we receive" in 3:14 as well as the seeming implication that Paul would be speaking of exclusively Jewish reception of the Spirit in 3:14. The parallel between the "us" of 3:13 and "we receive" in 3:14 strongly suggests to me that Paul has in view an inclusive reference to believers in both places — Christ redeemed Christians (Jew and Gentile alike) from the curse of the Law so that Christians (Jew and Gentile alike) might receive the promise of the Spirit.

If this is so, that raises the question as to how Gentiles who did not have the Law can be subject to its curse. Admittedly, Paul does not directly answer this question in Galatians. But he does address a similar issue in Rom 2:12-16. There Paul argues that Gentiles who sin without the law perish without the Law (2:12) and that “whenever Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts” (2:14-15). From this passage in Romans, then, it is not a significant step to the idea that Paul considered Gentiles to be under the curse of the Law. After all, Gal 3:10-14 emphasizes that “whosoever” relies on doing the Law, regardless of ethnicity, are under a curse, for no one is able “to do all that is written in the book of the Law.”

This line of argumentation has led me to consider the possibility that Paul considered the curse of the Law as a particularization/focusing of the larger curse that rested upon all of creation as a result of Adam's transgression in Eden. This post is already too long to add further argumentation, so I will simply open the floor for comments and questions. What say you, friends?

The Purifying Effect of Looking at Christ

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3

In 1 John 3:1-3, the author speaks of that great day when we will see Christ face to face. He admits that it is not entirely clear what this will entail, but he does assert on thing very confidently: "when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is." But being transformed into the image of Christ is not something that is only a future hope. In the very next verse John asserts "everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." As I read the text, it seems to me that the implication is that in our present condition we are also purified as look upon Christ. In our present condition that looking takes place as we "see" Christ in the proclamation and incarnation of the gospel with the eyes of faith. (Cp. the similar line of through in Paul at 2 Cor 3:18-4:6)

Central, then, to growth in holiness (or as it is sometimes called today "spiritual formation") is looking at Christ.

Knowledge in 1 John and the Postmodern Epistemological Crisis

This semester I am taking my Greek exegesis class through 1 John. This time through the epistle one of the things that has struck me is the emphasis that John places on knowledge. The two verbs meaning "to know" (oida and ginosko) appear a combined total of 39x. Even more striking is the variety of direct objects used with these verbs. They can be broken up into two categories. The first is peronal objects (whether pronouns or proper nouns) that refer to God, sometimes to specific persons of the Trinity (2:3, 4, 13, 14; 3:6; 4:2). The second group consists of abstract concepts such as truth (2:20) or God's commands (2:4). Related to this second category are examples where a verb of knowing is followed by a phrase that expresses the content of what a believer knows (2:3, 5, 29; 3:2, 5, 14, 15, 19, 24; 5:2, 13, 15, 18, 20).

Two reflections suggest themselves from this data:

1. Central to the Christian life is the "experiential" knowing of God, something not reducible to mere intellectual assent to a set of propositions.

2. Central to the Christian life is the cognitive knowing of certain propositional truths about God.

To be biblical, we must embrace both the experiential and cognitive aspects of knowledge. Losing sight of either of these realities results in a distorted view of Christian knowledge. This is important today especially in light of those who, enamored with postmodern critiques of intellectual hubris, wrongly claim that propositional knowledge must be jettisoned as a relic of modernity. Furthermore, not the confidence and certainty that John claims Christians have about the reality/truth of these claims. There is no hint of the false humility of postmodern culture that abandons certainty in the guise of humility. This of course does not mean that Christians have absolute or exhaustive knowledge of such matters, but it does mean that Christians can have sufficient knowledge for certainty on fundamental aspects of the Christian faith. At the same time, these observations also serve to correct those who in their pursuit of propositional truth lose sight of the experiential aspect of knowledge, thus reducing Christianity to a set of beliefs devoid of personal, experiential knowledge of God.

Jonathan Edwards' Blank Bible

Yale University Press has been publicizing the publication of Edwards' Blank Bible, which is one the most anticipated volumes in the series. To whet our appetites, you can now download for free a pdf copy of the section on Galatians. Just click on this link:

http://jonathanedwardscenter.blogspot.com/2006/08/download-edwards-on-galatians.html

and click on the link at the end of the post. Most notable in his notes on Galatians are Edwards' lengthy comments on 5:17 and the work of the Spirit.

For those who may not know, the Blank Bible was Edwards self-made study Bible. He unbound a Bible he had received, placed in between each page a blank sheet of paper, and then had the volume rebound. This allowed JE to make notes on the text as he went. These notes contain his own observations/reflections on the text as well as notes from other sources, in addition to references to his thoughts elsewhere in his writings. No doubt there are many treasures yet to be mined from JE in this new volume.

Christ Publicly Portrayed as Crucified

In his rebuke of the "foolish Galatians," Paul asks the question "Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified." Because there is so much going on in Galatians this little gem of a verse is often overlooked. But notice what Paul is saying--he is claiming that the Galatians "saw" Jesus Christ crucified in his preaching of the gospel. These Gentiles lived hundreds of miles from where Jesus ministered and several decades later; as such they never physically saw Jesus with their physical eyes. But in the preaching of Christ crucufued Paul claims that the Galatians "saw" Jesus publicly portrayed as crucified.

In my estimation this is one of the great descriptions of gospel preaching--preaching in such a way that those who hear the message "see" Jesus Christ as the crucified one. That they see Jesus as the one crucified for their sins. For it is in this seeing of Jesus that we are transformed into his image (2 Cor 3:18). This, then, is the great task of preaching.

Fulfilling All Righteousness

Recently I've begin working through Matthew in preparation for a retreat series I am doing for Campus Crusade at Ohio University. I'll be speaking four times from Matthew 21-28: the triumphal entry (21:1-11), Garden of Gethsemane (26:36-46), crucifixion (27:33-54), and the resurrection & commissioning (28:1-20).

Matthew's interest in Jesus' fulfillment of the OT is well-known. But as I was reading Matt 3, I was struck by Jesus' words to John to justify John baptizing Jesus - "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." When I read this it raised the question, "In what sense does John baptizing Jesus fulfill all righteousness?" So then, what does this mean, and why does Jesus (via Matthew) express it in these terms?

How Far is Too Far?

One of the most frequent questions I am asked regarding reading the Bible in a biblical-theological manner is whether we have the right to make connections that the Biblical texts themselves do not explicitly make. In other words, when reading an OT passage (such as Psalm 1) that is not explicitly quoted or strongly alluded to, am I on shaky ground to connect the concepts, themes, etc. to corresponding NT ones? I suspect that most of the people who read this blog would say such an approach is fine with appropriate constraints. But that raises the $64,000 question - what are those appropriate contraints? If you were helping someone to learn to read the bible in a biblical-theological manner, what sort of principles would you pass on to them to enable them to make good, substantive and appropriate connections?

Carson Quote on NT Theology

The following is one of my favorite quotes on NT Theology, but properly tweaked it would also apply to Biblical Theology:

“Those who write NT theology should ideally become intimately acquainted with the text of the NT, develop a profound grasp of the historical (including social and cultural) frameworks in which the NT books were written, maintain and sharpen the horizon provided by the entire canon, foster literary skills that permit varied genres to speak for themselves, spot literary devices and correctly interpret them, learn to fire imagination and creativity in a disciplined way and acknowledge and seek to accommodate and correct their own cultural and theological biases. All of these elements must be maintained in appropriate balance, nurtured by love for God and fear of God and growing hunger to serve his people.”

D.A. Carson, “New Testament Theology,” in Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Development, 810.

Oh that God would raise a generation of pastors, missionaries, scholars and lay people who are able to handle God's Word in such a manner!

Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is a fascinating beginning to the entire Psalter. There are many angles one might take in studying and teaching this psalm, but I want to focus on the psalm within its biblical-theological context. Throughout the history of the church some commentators have read the psalm Christologically (if I remember correctly including Calvin), seeing the description of the blessed man as pointing forward to fulfillment in Christ.

Is this legitimate? Why or why not? Are there indications in the text of Psalm 1 that such a reading is justified? And does the the fact that Psalm 2 which follows is clearly messianic in nature play any role in reading Psalm 1 christologically?

Big Week for the Harmons

On Friday (7/28) of this week (which also happens to be my 33rd birthday) we will be closing on our new house in Indiana, and then the following Monday (7/31) we will be moving to Warsaw, IN. In light of this my blogging will be sporadic at best, but once we're settled I hope to be more active again.

Keep checking in ...

Relationship between Biblical and Systematic Theology

Recently I've had a couple of conversations in which the relationship between biblical and systematic theology came up. One of the criticisms that is often levelled against those who emphasize biblical theology is that it is done to the neglect of systematic theology. While this may be fair in some cases, I do not think it is an accurate assessment of most who do biblical theology.

So how then would you explain the relationship between biblical and systematic theology? How do they contribute to one another? What contributions does biblical theology make that systematic theology does not, and vice versa? And is it possible to do both well at the same time or must they remain distinct at all times?

I have my own thoughts, but I want to hear from you.

Key Biblical Theological Themes

Tomorrow I begin teaching a course on Biblical Interpretation and Communication for Campus Crusade staff. One of the major emphases in the course is helping students to identify key biblical-theological themes in the particular passage they are working in so they can connect their passage to the larger canonical witness. Of course, one of the challenges we face is that for those who are new to such an approach, it can be quite challenging to identify those threads.

Consequently, I'd like to help them by giving them some suggested threads that are rather common in Scripture. Those of us who have done this for a whole can sometimes forget that it has taken us a while to get to the point where we immediately recognize such threads. So I'll get our discussion started by suggesting the themes of prophet, priest and king, all of which find their fulfillment in Christ. In other words, when working in an OT passage one thing to consider is whether any of the references to a prophet, priest, or king in some measure point forward to the ultimate prophet, priest, or king Jesus Christ. Sometimes that pointing forward is done in a negative way; in other words, the failures of a particular prophet, priest or king point forward to the need for a prophet, priest or king who does not fail (e.g. Saul in 1 Sam).

Another example would be the theme of God's presence with his people, be it mediated through a tabernacle, temple, his incarnate Son, or the people of God. Recognizing such a theme enables one to make helpful connections across the canon.

So what other key biblical theological themes or threads are so pervasive or pivotal in Scripture that knowing them opens one up to the ability make key connections to different parts of the Biblical story?

Job News

I am excited to report that today I officially signed a contract for the position of Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. Our family is excited about this ministry opportunity, especially the chance to train and equip pastors and missionaries to encounter Christ through the Scriptures.

The next 5 weeks will be full of details such as moving and the like. But we are so grateful to God for providing this opportunity. For the past ten years we have sensed that God was leading us in this direction, and to now come to the fruition of that calling is a joy that defies expression. It is no exaggeration when I say that I still am overwhelmed with how good God has been to us and how undeserving we are of his grace in calling us to this ministry.

I also trust that despite my teaching and writing responsibilities I will be able to continue our conversation on this blog.

The Role of Historical & Exegetical Background in Interpretation

Lately I've been reflecting on the place of the role that knowledge of background material plays in interpretation. In particular I have in mind the issue of Jewish exegetical traditions and interpretation of certain NT passages. One example that comes to mind is Paul's reference to the rock following the Israelites in the desert in 1 Cor 10. On the surface the reference seems quite strange; but if one knows of various Jewish exegetical traditions about that rock Paul's reference becomes more understandable, even if it remains striking.

The point I want to raise is the necessity of such background knowledge for understanding Scripture. On the one hand, my own work has revealed the value of understanding such exegetical traditions for illuminating Paul's own use of the OT. But on the other hand I firmly believe in the perspicuity (i.e., clarity) of Scripture and want to affirm that those who lack the opportunity of graduate education are entirely capable of understanding God's Word.

Perhaps the answer lies in asserting the general clarity of Scripture in its essential message and content while maintaining the value of background studies as providing a richness and depth to that essential message. One of the questions I was asked in my dissertation defense was something along the lines of "If Paul's use of Isaiah in Galatians is not essential to understanding Galatians, what is the value of your research?" The question was asked in a good spirit and in no way attacking. My answer (one that I am still thinking through) was that although Paul's basic message in Galatians is understandable even to those who do not notice the repeated allusions and echoes of Isaiah, the depth and richness of that message cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing Paul's profound engagement with Isaiah (esp. chs. 49-54).

So what say you?

Where's Matt?

As is obvious from the lack of any posts from the past three weeks, life has been extremely busy. So I wanted to give a very brief update. The past few weeks have been filled with dissertation revisions, travel, and many other things. Most significantly, however, is the very strong prospect of me taking a NT teachin position for the upcoming school year. Until it is completely official (i.e. I have signed a contract) I won't mention where, but it is a position that I am excited about. I have made two trips to the school, moved through the interview process, and now await final confirmation, which hopefully should happen by the end of this month. In light of this we are handling all of the logistics of house buying (we found a GREAT house), moving, etc.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention that I'm leaving Wed to teach for Campus Crusade for Christ for 4.5 weeks?

So if you think of it, ask for God's sustaining grace and blessing during this exciting but challenging time for us!

Recommended Resource: Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

A resource that I have found helpful in identifying biblical theological themes across the canon is The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, James C.Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III. After an introductory article covering topics such as image/symbol/metaphor and literary conventions, the rest of the volume contains articles on a wide variety of topics, ranging from Aaron's Rod to Zion. The vast majority of the articles that I have read appear to be well written and full of biblical references so that one can trace the theme throughout Scripture. There are no bibliographies attached to the articles, but the subject and scripture reference indeces are extremely helpful for quickly checking where a particular passage you are interested in is mentioned. Although it retails for $45, Westminster Theological Seminary Bookstore has it available for just $30 (follow the link with the name of the book above).

Have any of you found this resource helpful?