OnScript

Matt & Matt - Listener Q&A + More

Episode: In this episode, Matt & Matt reflect back on the last year of OnScript-ing, answer some listener Q&A, and ... make a big announcement. Yes, we have some exciting news to share with you! Matt L. also quizzes Matt B. about his latest book Salvation By Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King (Baker, 2017).

Guests: OnScript co-hosts Matt Bates and Matt Lynch. You can read about us here, but basically, we teach and write about the OT & NT. Matt B. depends heavily for his work on people like Matt L., but the reverse is not necessarily the case. Matt L. teaches at Westminster Theological Centre in the UK, and Matt B at Quincy University, in Illinois.

Book: Matt's Salvation By Allegiance Alone offers a 'fresh proposal for what faith means within a biblical theology of salvation, Matthew Bates presses the church toward a new precision: we are saved solely by allegiance to Jesus the king. Instead of faith alone, Christians must speak about salvation by allegiance alone. The book includes discussion questions for students, pastors, and church groups and a foreword by Scot McKnight' (from the Baker Academic website).

Brent Strawn - The Old Testament is Dying

Episode: Guest Brent Strawn unfurls his provocative thesis that The Old Testament is Dying with OnScript host Matt Lynch. Matt and Brent discuss the malaise of ignorance about, hostility toward, and success-driven re-packaging of, the Old Testament in recent and ancient history. Along the way Brent laughs a lot, sheds a few tears (I didn't verify that), and even sounds a few hopeful notes ... but not before letting his diagnosis sink in.

Guest: Brent A. Strawn is Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta. He is the author of What Is Stronger Than a Lion? Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2005), and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law (Oxford University Press, 2015), along with Iconographic Exegesis of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible: An Introduction to Its Theory, Method, and Practice (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2015) and other books, including his most recent book The Old Testament is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker Academic, 2017). Brent taught previously at Rutgers University and Asbury Theological Seminary, and has taught as a visiting lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary and visiting professor at Columbia Seminary.

Book: The Old Testament is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker Academic, 2017). 'This timely book shows how the Old Testament is like a language - a language is used and learned or it falls into disuse and eventually dies. Brent Strawn details a number of ways the Old Testament is showing signs of decay, demise, and imminent death in the church and criticizes common misunderstandings of the Old Testament that contribute to its neglect. He also shows that it is possible for a language to be recovered. Drawing fresh insight from recent studies of how languages die and are revived, Strawn offers strategies for renewing the use of the Old Testament in Christian faith and practice. This clearly written book will appeal to professors and students of the Old Testament as well as pastors and church leaders.' (From the Baker Academic Website)

The OnScript Quip (our review): The title of this book is not click bait. It's a serious data-supported diagnosis by one of today's leading doctors of all matters Old Testament. Brent A. Strawn (Candler School of Theology, Emory University) examines the Church's inability to speak fluent, or even near-fluent, Old Testament, and he names the forces at work against language acquisition. Strawn claims that at best the Church speaks a pidginized form of the Old Testament, a kind of baby speak: 'Joshua win battle!' 'David kill Goliath!' He examines three factors that accelerate language loss: The New Atheists, The Neo-Marcionites, and the health and wealth 'Happiologists,' and discusses their attractiveness and their impact on the Church's native tongue. Strawn lets his diagnosis sink in deeply before letting just a few shafts of hopeful light enter the dimly lit hospital room where the Old Testament lies, attached to a ventilator.

Kevin Vanhoozer - Biblical Authority After Babel

 

Episode: What's the verdict? Kevin J. Vanhoozer presents the case and renders a judgment. It is easy to charge the Protestant Reformation with the crime of fracturing the unity of the church. Others have added skepticism and secularization to the list of misdeeds. In Biblical Authority After Babel, Vanhoozer explores these common criticisms of the Protestant Reformation--and finds them wanting.

OnScript host Matthew W. Bates and Kevin discuss a wide variety of topics: whether Kevin is truly an anarchist, what motivates Kevin's research, the interaction of grace and nature, "faith" in philosophy and theology, models for how Scripture and tradition relate, and the keys of the kingdom as this relates to church authority. These matters are central to the gospel and salvation!

Guest: Kevin Vanhoozer is currently Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He was formerly Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. He has written numerous books, including several award winning publications: Is There a Meaning in this Text? (Zondervan, 1998; Christianity Today Book Award, 1999) and The Drama of Doctrine (Westminster John Knox, 2005; Christianity Today Best Theology Book of the Year, 2006).

Book: Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Biblical Authority After Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity (Brazos, 2016). In recent years, notable scholars have argued that the Protestant Reformation unleashed interpretive anarchy on the church. Is it time to consider the Reformation to be a 500-year experiment gone wrong? World-renowned evangelical theologian Kevin Vanhoozer thinks not. While he sees recent critiques as legitimate, he argues that retrieving the Reformation's core principles offers an answer to critics of Protestant biblical interpretation. He offers a positive assessment of the Reformation, showing how a retrieval of "mere Protestant Christianity" has the potential to reform contemporary Christian belief and practice.  This provocative response and statement from a top theologian is accessibly written for pastors and church leaders..

The OnScript Quip (our review): Schism. Skepticism. Secularization. Due to these crimes the case against the Protestant Reformation appears overwhelming. Here world-class theologian Kevin Vanhoozer acts as an expert trial lawyer. He sifts the evidence, weighs causes, and presents his case in a winning fashion. The table-turning verdict: "Not guilty!" -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Daniel Kirk - A Man Attested by God

Episode: Matt L. and J. Daniel Kirk discuss the humanity of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels, and the idea that Jesus' humanity meant much more than the fact that he could eat, sleep, and become exhausted. Daniel argues that an unintended consequence of the studies that proffer a divine Christology is an underdeveloped human Christology. Matt and Daniel discuss 'idealized human figures' in early Judaism, several possible objections to Daniel's thesis that the Gospels don't offer a divine Christology, and much more that can be found in the 600 and some odd pages of A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels (Eerdmans, 2016).

Guest: Daniel is the author of Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God (Eerdmans, 2008), Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity (Baker, 2012), and now A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels (Eerdmans, 2016). He is also an avid blogger at Storied Theology, and hosts his own podcast called The Lectiocast, which follows the common lectionary to help ministers prepare for their upcoming sermons. Daniel is also the Newbigin Fellowship Pastoral Director at the Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco.

Book: In A Man Attested by God J. R. Daniel Kirk presents a comprehensive defense of the thesis that the Synoptic Gospels present Jesus not as divine but as an idealized human figure. Counterbalancing the recent trend toward early high Christology in such scholars as Richard Bauckham, Simon Gathercole, and Richard Hays, Kirk here thoroughly unpacks the humanity of Jesus as understood by Gospel writers whose language is rooted in the religious and literary context of early Judaism. Without dismissing divine Christologies out of hand, Kirk argues that idealized human Christology is the best way to read the Synoptic Gospels, and he explores Jesus as exorcist and miracle worker within the framework of his humanity. (from the eerdmans.com website).

Dru Johnson - Knowledge by Ritual

Episode: Matt L. discusses with Dru Johnson his claim that the Bible offers an epistemology, one where humans know by ritual. They discuss key influences on Dru's work, the importance of the body for knowing, whether Dru burns incense in his office, and more. This is Johnson's third book on biblical epistemology (and it's really good!), so you won't want to miss his reflections on this topic.

Guest: Dru Johnson studied psychology as an undergraduate before going to Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO). Prior to his Ph.D., he both studied and taught analytic philosophy at the University of Missouri—St. Louis. Dr. Johnson occasionally teaches as a visiting professor at Covenant Theological Seminary. He took research leave in Spring of 2013 to be the Templeton Senior Research Fellow in Analytic Theology at The Herzl Institute (Jerusalem, Israel). He currently serves as the co-chair for the Hebrew Bible and Philosophy program unit in the Society of Biblical Literature. He's the author of Biblical Knowing: A Scriptural Epistemology of Error (Cascade Books, 2013), Scripture's Knowing: A Companion to Biblical Epistemology (Wipf & Stock, 2015), and Knowledge by Ritual: A Biblical Prolegomenon to Sacramental Theology (Eisenbrauns, 2016).

Starting at 17 years old, Dru served two years active duty and five years in the reserves of the U.S. Air Force—extensively involved in counter-narcotics operations in the Amazon basin of Colombia from 1993–98. Working in I.T. from college through seminary, he then served for eight years as an associate pastor at GracePoint of Webster in St. Louis, Missouri and two years with Holy Trinity in St Andrews (Church of Scotland). He teaches regularly in Western Kenya in a school for rural pastors and is currently ordained in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He and his wife have four children. (Info from The King's College website).

Book: Johnson's recent Knowledge by Ritual: A Biblical Prolegomenon to Sacramental Theology (Eisenbrauns, 2016) argues that the rites of Israel, as portrayed in the biblical texts, disposed Israelites to recognize something they could not see apart from their participation. By examining the epistemological function of rituals, and engaging with contemporary theorists like Michael Polanyi, Catherine Bell, and Jonathan Klawans, Johnson's monograph gives readers a new set of questions to explore both the sacraments of Israel and contemporary sacramental theology.

The OnScript Quip (our review): Knowledge by Ritual offers a robust and coherent biblical epistemology. With ample examples, philosophical support, and even some pictures, Johnson shows how knowledge of God in Scripture is inextricably 'ritualed.' We cannot know apart from the embodied practices in which we engage, and the trusted authorities to whom we listen. He also demonstrates that ritualed knowing is no mere marginal subject for the biblical writers, but is of central concern. I can't not see it as I now read the Bible. - Matt Lynch

Fred Sanders - The Triune God

Episode: Fred Sanders and OnScript host Matthew Bates talk Trinitarian theology. Fred's exciting book, The Triune God, is the launching point for the discussion. Discover why it is imperative that we correctly order our Trinitarian doctrine (and why Matt shouldn't be a narcissist), how Rahner's Rule was formulated, and the appropriate boundaries of mystery in Trinitarian discourse. Fred and Matt also discuss why compromising Trinitarian doctrine invariably results in a compromise of the gospel itself. Fred's book is loaded with exciting new proposals that all theologians and biblical scholars would do well to consider. Join the conversation.

Guest: Fred Sanders is a professor at Biola University in the Torrey Honors Institute. With Oliver Crisp he also co-convenes the Los Angeles Theology Conference. In addition to the book featured in this episode, The Triune God (Zondervan, 2016), he has also penned The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Crossway, 2010) and The Image of the Immanent Trinity: Rahner's Rule and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Peter Lang, 2005).

Book: Fred Sanders, The Triune God (Zondervan, 2016). The Triune God aims to secure our knowledge of the triune God by rightly ordering the theological language with which we praise him. It reaches its conclusions about how the doctrine should be handled on the basis of the way the Trinity was revealed. As such, it is a study that offers dogmatic principles for trinitarian exegesis.

The OnScript Quip (our review): Spirited, spritely, and sparkling with energetic new proposals for the doctrine of the Trinity, The Triune God will stimulate scholars and students alike. Drawing on ancient sources and the best of contemporary scholarship, this is old wine in new wineskins, with fresh ideas bursting forth.  -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Iain Provan - Discovering Genesis

Episode: Matt L. sits down with his former professor Iain Provan to discuss Discovering Genesis: Content, Interpretation, Reception. Their conversation ranges from fly fishing and salmon forests to the wilds of Genesis. They discuss the imperfection of Eden and the history of interpreting Genesis. Iain also finesses his way through an OT-focused 'speed round' (tbh - Iain always keeps his answers concise and jam-packed).

Guest: Iain Provan is Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College (no, not Regent University) in Vancouver, BC. Provan has written numerous essays and articles, and several books including commentaries on Lamentations, 1 and 2 Kings, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, and co-authored with Phil Long and Tremper Longman A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2nd edition, 2015). He has also published Against the Grain: Selected Essays (Regent College Publishing, 2015), Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor University Press, 2014) and Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). His most recent book, and the topic of our interview, is Discovering Genesis, (Eerdmans, 2016). He is currently finishing a book on Protestant biblical hermeneutics, projected for release in 2017.

The On-Script Quip (our review): Discovering Genesis offers readers a fascinating journey through a book that has shaped the imagination and lives of countless Jews and Christians through the ages. Provan sets the stage for reading Genesis by tracing the book's history of interpretation and then guiding his reader through a brief history of biblical hermeneutics. In the book's main body he then offers a brilliant literary and theological exegesis of the book. He adds to his exegesis the insights of countless Jewish and Christian interpreters, theologians, artists, historians, playwrights, and films. This book is no predictable introduction. It's jam-packed with Provan's original and creative insights alongside the time-tested and sometimes bizarre interpretations of Genesis that pervade the history of biblical interpretation. - Matt Lynch, Westminster Theological Centre, OnScript Podcast

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