OnScript

Oliver Crisp - The Word Enfleshed

Episode: What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? Much, actually. Oliver Crisp brings his considerable philosophical acumen to bear on Scripture and tradition in order to break new ground in christology. Oliver and OnScript host Matthew Bates think through classical topics in christology, including the eternal generation of the Son and the Trinity, the incarnation, image of God, and the hypostatic union. Discover why Oliver is addicted to theology, how writing The Word Enfleshed helped feed the addiction, and why philosopher Mike Rea can appropriately be labeled "the man."

Guest: Oliver Crisp is Professor of Systematic Theology in Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Theology. Along with Dr. Fred Sanders, Oliver has initiated the Los Angeles Theology Conferences, which are held at Biola and Fuller in alternate years. Dr. Crisp is also widely published. He is the author of numerous articles, ten monographs, and has edited or co-edited another ten. Some of his titles include Divinity and Humanity (2007), Deviant Calvinism (2014), and Jonathan Edwards Among the Theologians (2015). The book under current discussion is The Word Enfleshed.

Book: Oliver D. Crisp, The Word Enfleshed: Exploring the Person and Work of Christ (Baker Academic, 2016). The literature on Christology is large and ever-expanding. The same is true for work on the atonement, which has blossomed in the last decade. Few studies attempt to connect the dots between these two theological topics, however. In this volume, respected theologian Oliver Crisp offers a fresh analytic-theological account of the person and work of Christ, focusing on the theme of union with God Incarnate. Along the way, he engages a range of contemporary and historic Christian thinkers and tackles a number of key issues in contemporary discussions. Wide-ranging and carefully argued, this unified account of the person and work of Christ will be of interest to scholars and students of Christian theology.

The OnScript Quip (our review): Rooted in tradition but daringly imaginative, The Word Enfleshed combines philosophical precision with an easy, lucid style. This wide-ranging book treats classical christological cruxes pertaining to eternal generation, the incarnation, the hypostatic union, and the atonement. Thanks to Crisp, the church's christological grammar is now considerably sharper. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Mary Katherine Hom – The Assyrians and the Old Testament

Episode: For this episode, Matt Lynch sits down with long time friend Mary Hom to talk about her longstanding interest in the Assyrians and the Old Testament. Matt asks questions about her work on Jonah and Girard, Isaiah and the Assyrians, and Hezekiah’s tunnel (or not). They also discuss the intersection between Mary’s interest in the Old Testament and her ministry work in anti-trafficking.

Guest: Mary Katherine Hom is a freelance Old Testament scholar currently residing in Cambridge, UK. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Ambrose University (College), she has since explored more integrative approaches between Biblical Studies and the Christian life, from an in-depth exploration of the charismatic movement at Bethel Church to backpacking southern Africa to volunteering alongside anti-trafficking NGOs in Asia to—most personally humbling and profound for her—caring for her 95-year-old grandmother in hospice at home.

Podcasting Live in Matt L’s Basement

Mary has a BM in Violin Performance; an MDiv in New Testament and Theology (Regent College); a ThM in Old Testament (Regent College); and a PhD in Hebrew Bible (University of Cambridge). Her published dissertation, The Characterization of the Assyrians in Isaiah: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives (LHBOTS), awaits its prequel as she updates the remainder of her PhD work for a similar study on the characterization of the Assyrians in Kings and Chronicles. She also has interests in collaborative, interdisciplinary work, having published this year on the confluence of Biblical Studies and Archaeology in the Journal of Biblical Literature and recently presented at the Psychology and Biblical Studies unit at the Society of Biblical Literature annual conference. If and when she completes her various ‘high-brow’ projects, Mary would like to focus more on biblical-theological work that speaks to the church and Christian life, in its depth and width.

Book: Mary is the author of The Characterization of the Assyrians in Isaiah: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2014). Her book explores the varied portraits of the Assyrians in Isaiah from synchronic (i.e., textual unity) and diachronic (i.e., textual development) perspectives. Her work focuses on the literary artistry, rhetorical effect, and theological significance of Isaiah’s Assyrian portraits.

 

David Starling – Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship

Episode:  Christians like to speak about letting Scripture interpret Scripture, but beyond using an easy passage to make sense out of a more difficult one, what does this mean? David Starling has written a unique book, Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship, that provides a compelling answer. David and OnScript host Matthew Bates ponder how our biblical authors model the art of good scriptural interpretation. And, beware, it’s coming, so watch out for the hermeneutical snowball.

Guest: David Starling lives in Sydney, Australia and teaches New Testament at Morling College. His PhD studies were at the University of Sydney and his thesis, on Paul’s use of exile imagery, was published as Not My People (de Gruyter, 2011). Subsequent publications include Theology and the Future (London: T&T Clark, 2014), UnCorinthian Leadership (Cascade, 2014), and The Gender Conversation (Morling/Wipf & Stock, 2016). He is currently writing commentaries on Colossians, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians. David is married to Nicole, and they have a son and three daughters. They are involved in serving together at Macquarie Baptist Church. David also serves as a member of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Doctrine and Christian Unity.

Book: David I. Starling, Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship: How the Bible Shapes Our Interpretative Habits and Practices  (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016). This book offers a fresh approach to the art of biblical interpretation, focusing on the ways Scripture itself forms its readers as wise and faithful interpreters. David Starling shows that apprenticing ourselves to the interpretive practices of the biblical writers and engaging closely with texts from all parts of the Bible help us to develop the habits and practices required to be good readers of Scripture. After introducing the principles, Starling works through the canon, providing inductive case studies in interpretive method and drawing out implications for contemporary readers. Offering a fresh contribution to hermeneutical discussions, this book will be an ideal supplement to traditional hermeneutics textbooks for seminarians. It includes a foreword by Peter O’Brien.

The OnScript Quip (our review): With regard to thoughtful biblical interpretation, David Starling shows himself to be a master craftsman. Why? Because he has sat attentively at the feet of the prophets and apostles, learning the art from them. And like any genuine master craftsman, he is also an expert teacher, helping us undertake a more profound apprenticeship to God’s word. This is a unique and uniquely compelling book. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Mark Smith – Where the Gods Are

Episode: The polymathic Mark S. Smith joins OnScript to discuss his book on God’s body, and the way Hebrew and Ugaritic literature present divine embodiment in human space. Along the way we discuss Mark’s scholarly mentors and his passion for early Israelite religion, the Hebrew Bible, Ugaritic, and yes, even footnotes. Toward the end of the episode we do a ‘lightning round’ on a bunch of Hebrew Bible and ancient Israelite stuff.

Guest: Mark S. Smith is the Helena Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary. He’s the author of over 15 books, including Poetic Heroes (Eerdmans, 2014), God in Translation (Eerdmans 2008), The Origins of Biblical Monotheism (Oxford University Press, 2001), The Early History of God (Eerdmans, 1990; 2nd ed., 2002), and our book for this episode, Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World (Yale, 2016). Mark previously held the Skirball Chair of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU.

Book: In this episode we discuss Mark’s most recent book, Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World (Yale, 2016). This book draws together several previous studies on the way texts represent gods (like Israel’s god) interacting with human space. In the first programmatic section of the book Mark discusses God’s body in the Hebrew Bible, focusing on human-like, ‘super-sized,’ and cosmic representations of God. He then proceeds to discuss animal representations of divinity, and the way that deities interact with temples and cities.

Larry W. Hurtado – Destroyer of the Gods

Episode:  Larry Hurtado and OnScript host Matthew Bates smash gods. Well, actually Larry is the one who brings the heavy artillery, drawing from his recent Destroyer of the Gods (Baylor University Press, 2016). What does a typical day look like in the life of Larry Hurtado? How does he come up with new scholarly ideas? What made earliest Christianity distinctive?–and why does that matter today? What should we make of Richard Bauckham’s “Christology of Divine Identity”? In his characteristically lucid style, Hurtado answers these questions and more. Join the conversation and find your sensibilities about religion turned upside down.

Guest: Larry Hurtado is a world-renowned expert on Christian origins, the New Testament, and early christology. Born in Kansas City (Missouri), in 1996 Larry Hurtado accepted the professorial chair in New Testament in the University of Edinburgh, where he founded the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins. Since his retirement in 2011, he remains active in research and publications dealing with various questions concerning the origins of Christianity. Arguably his most influential book is One God, One Lord (1988; 3rd ed., Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), which culminated in his magisterial, Lord Jesus Christ:  Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003). He has also written a pioneering study of the physical features of earliest Christian manuscripts, The Earliest Christian Artifacts (Eerdmans, 2005). In addition to the book under discussion here, Destroyer of the Gods, he has also recently penned Why on Earth did Anyone Become a Christian in the First Three Centuries? (Marquette University Press, 2016).

Book: Larry W. Hurtado, Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Baylor University Press, 2016). Christianity thrived despite its new and distinctive features and opposition to them. Unlike nearly all other religious groups, Christianity utterly rejected the traditional gods of the Roman world. Christianity also offered a new and different kind of religious identity, one not based on ethnicity. Christianity was distinctively a “bookish” religion, with the production, copying, distribution, and reading of texts as central to its faith, even preferring a distinctive book-form, the codex. Christianity insisted that its adherents behave differently: unlike the simple ritual observances characteristic of the pagan religious environment, embracing Christian faith meant a behavioral transformation, with particular and novel ethical demands for men. Unquestionably, to the Roman world, Christianity was both new and different, and, to a good many, it threatened social and religious conventions of the day. Christianity’s novelty was no badge of honor. Called atheists and suspected of political subversion, Christians earned Roman disdain and suspicion in equal amounts. Yet, as Destroyer of the gods demonstrates, in an irony of history the very features of early Christianity that rendered it distinctive and objectionable in Roman eyes have now become so commonplace in Western culture as to go unnoticed. Christianity helped destroy one world and create another.

The OnScript Quip (our review): Whether one applauds or disdains the values of contemporary Western culture, what we assume to be good, true, and normal has been shaped to a surprising degree by early Christianity. Demolishing taken-for-granted assumptions about what religion was, is, and can be, Hurtado’s provocative exploration deserves a broad audience. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Nyasha Junior – An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation

Episode: Matt L. discusses womanist biblical interpretation with Nyasha Junior of Temple University. If this is a new subject to you, or you’re on the hunt for a great introduction to the subject, go no further. Matt discusses Nyasha’s journey into academic biblical studies and the story behind her book An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation, and also discusses sexism in the academy and more.

Guest: Nyasha Junior is Assistant Professor of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and has research interests in race, gender, and religion. She is currently writing a book on Hagar and Blackness. In addition to her research, Nyasha is a public speaker and lecturer, and can be found Tweeting at @NyashaJunior. For more information about Nyasha and her work, please visit nyashajunior.com.

Book:  An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation (Westminster John Knox Press, 2015) provides an engaging and informative introduction to womanist approaches to the Bible. Nyasha Junior situates Womanist Biblical interpretation in relation to feminist and womanist scholarship, and manages to cut through the complex range of ways that writers employ the term ‘womanism’ to offer a clear description and analysis of her subject. This book sits at the leading edge of a field in biblical studies that is already gaining ground.

Richard B. Hays – Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels

Episode:  Richard Hays joins us to talk about his recent book Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels. Richard speaks candidly about his recent battle with cancer, revealing how it has shaped his writing and theological outlook. After walking us through several of his own favorite scriptural “echoes,” Richard covers diverse topics, including figuration and early Christology. His reflections on best scriptural reading practices for the church are beautiful and  profound. In our follow-up afterwards, Richard remarked this was “the sort of good, stimulating conversation we might have over a couple of beers.” And although we regret to inform our listeners that no beer was consumed in the making of this episode, we assure you that the episode will be enhanced by an IPA. So grab a pint and pull up to table. It’s Richard Hays, along with your hosts Matt Bates and Matt Lynch.

Guest: Richard B. Hays is George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He is a world renowned scholar of the New Testament–widely cited, deeply admired, and greatly beloved for his creative yet faithful engagement with the Bible. Some of his most influential books include The Moral Vision of the New Testament, The Faith of Jesus Christ, and The Conversion of the Imagination. Two previous books deserve special mention: Reading Backwards and Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, as these two books are closely related to the book under discussion.

Book: Richard B. Hays,  Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Baylor University Press, 2016). The claim that the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection took place “according to the Scriptures” stands at the heart of the New Testament’s message. All four canonical Gospels declare that the Torah and the Prophets and the Psalms mysteriously prefigure Jesus. Hays shows how the Evangelists summon readers to a conversion of their imagination. The Evangelists’ use of scriptural echo beckons readers to believe the extraordinary: that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, that Jesus is Israel’s God, and that contemporary believers are still on mission. The Evangelists, according to Hays, are training our scriptural senses, calling readers to be better scriptural people by being better scriptural poets.

The OnScript Quip (our review): With ear bent to attend to the subtle voice of Scripture, Richard Hays is able to isolate, mix, and amplify so that our own listening is enhanced. This is not just scholarship, it is a beautiful concert. Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels will reverberate through academic lecture halls and church corridors for countless years. — Matthew J. Lynch and Matthew W. Bates, OnScript

Chris Tilling – Talking New Testament Christology

Episode: Matt & Matt finally co-host an episode! In this one we discuss the thriving field of New Testament Christology. Guest Chris Tilling joins us to help map the field of play, offering insights on Paul’s early divine Christology, Jesus’ divinity in the Gospels, and Richard Bauckham’s “Christology of Divine Identity” model. He also tells us what ideas (or scholars?) in NT studies need to die.

Guest: Dr Chris Tilling is Tutor and Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at St Mellitus College. He is also a visiting Lecturer in Theology at King’s College, London. Chris recently co-authored How God Became Jesus (Zondervan, 2014). He is also the editor of Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul (Cascade, 2014) and author of the critically acclaimed Paul’s Divine Christology. Chris has also published numerous articles on topics relating to the Apostle Paul, “Christology”, “justification”, the “historical Jesus” and the theology of Hans Küng. He is the New Testament editor for the exciting journal Syndicate, and he has appeared as a DVD media figure for Biologos, GCI and HTB’s School of Theology. He maintains his own personal blogging fiefdom, Chrisendom, which is popular and always worth a visit. He is married to Anja with one child, and he enjoys playing golf and chess.

Book: This episode ranges farther afield than one book, but nonetheless, we frequently found ourselves steering back in the direction of Chris Tilling’s book, Paul’s Divine Christology. (We couldn’t help ourselves–to be honest, it’s a great read). Originally published by Mohr Siebeck in 2012, Paul’s Divine Christology has recently been republished by Eerdmans (2015) with a foreword by Douglas Campbell. The book offers a new way of conceptualizing Paul’s divine Christology, one that takes seriously Paul’s own relational categories and ways of understanding the identity of Jesus.

 

Alison Joseph – Portrait of the Kings

Episode: Take a journey into the heart of the Deuteronomist to discover more about the king after God’s own heart through the eyes of the book of Kings. Matt Lynch interviews Alison Joseph about her Manfred Lautenschlaeger award-winning book Portrait of the Kings. As an intro bonus to this episode Matt gives a little 10-minute overview of the Deuteronomistic History, free of charge (but you can skip to get to the good stuff).

Guest: Alison Joseph is a visiting assistant professor of Jewish Studies at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She received the prestigious Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2016 for her work Portrait of the Kings. She earned her PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds degrees from Emory University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Barnard College. She has taught at Haverford College, Towson University, Villanova University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Ursinus College.

Book: Alison’s Portrait of the Kings: The Davidic Prototype in Deuteronomistic Poetics is published by Fortress Press, 2016. Her book examines the rich literary texture of Kings, especially the use of the Davidic ‘prototype’ and its ‘antitype’ in the figure of Jeroboam.

The OnScript Quip (our review): Alison Joseph’s Portrait of the Kings bridges a divide rarely crossed in biblical studies – the divide between literary and historical critical studies. Drawing inspiration from Robert Alter’s ‘type scenes’ and Frank Moore Cross’ double redaction hypothesis, Joseph observes the importance of the ‘Davidic prototype’ and its Jeroboam ‘anti-type’ in the book of Kings, where each king receives evaluation in terms of his relationship to David’s cultic loyalty. Oddly, David looks different in Kings than in Samuel, leading Joseph to ask, ‘Is David like David?’ Her answer is both creative and convincing, and offers further support for a thesis that the Deuteronomistic History’s first edition hit the shelves during the reign of Josiah, or thereabouts. — Matthew J. Lynch, Westminster Theological Centre, OnScript

David J. Downs – Alms

Episode:  Martin Luther found the sale of indulgences objectionable, so he nailed 95 theses to the door of his bishop’s castle, launching the Protestant Reformation. But where did the idea that giving money could somehow alleviate the human sin problem originate? OnScript host Matthew Bates welcomes David Downs to discuss the biblical and systematic implications of atoning almsgiving. Interviewing from Tanzania (please forgive the occasional authentic Tanzanian background noise!), David’s reflections on charitable giving for the church today is multicultural and profound. His book Alms is certainly highly recommended. Listen. Share. Read.

Guest:  Dr. David J. Downs is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.  He holds degrees from Clemson, Fuller, and Princeton, having served as a teaching fellow at Princeton and a visiting professor at Holy Cross. In addition to Alms, David has also published The Offering of the Gentiles: Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem in Its Chronological, Cultural, and Cultic Contexts (Mohr Siebeck, 2008; repr. Eerdmans, 2016), as well as numerous journal articles.

Book:  David J. Downs, Alms: Charity, Reward, and Atonement in Early Christianity (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2016). Christianity has often understood the death of Jesus on the cross as the sole means for forgiveness of sin. Despite this tradition, David Downs traces the early and sustained presence of yet another means by which Christians imagined atonement for sin: merciful care for the poor. Alms, in the end, illuminates the challenge of reading Scripture with the early church, for numerous patristic witnesses held together the conviction that salvation and atonement for sin come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the affirmation that the practice of mercifully caring for the needy cleanses or covers sin. Perhaps the ancient Christian integration of charity, reward, and atonement has the potential to reshape contemporary Christian traditions in which those spheres are separated.

The OnScript Quip (our review): A broad yet deep study of the atoning power of merciful action in ancient Judaism, the New Testament, and early Christianity, Alms is beautifully written and persuasively argued. Deposit this book in your library’s treasury and generations of readers will be enriched. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript