My Review of “How the Bible Became Holy”
This past week, my review of Michael Satlow, How the Bible Became Holy (Yale, 2014) appeared in the latest volume of Themelios.
As the title suggests, this is yet another book (in a long list of predecessors) that insists that the idea of an authoritative Scripture is a late invention of Christians.
According to Satlow, the Bible was not originally holy. It became holy. And that didn’t even happen until well into the third century or later.
Although Satlow’s volume covers both OT and NT issues, my review addressed some weaknesses on the NT side of things:
…As for the development of the New Testament canon, Satlow provides a
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Tomas Bokedal Reviews “The Question of Canon”
Tomas Bokedal, Lecturer in New Testament at King’s College, University of Aberdeen, has recently reviewed my book The Question of Canon (IVP Academic, 2013) in the latest issue of the journal Theology (118:65-66).
I have only briefly met Tomas on few prior occasions, but I know through his publications that he is a bright scholar who himself has done some very solid work in the area of the NT canon. You can see his list of publications here.
Given Tomas’ own good work on canon, I was grateful for what was a very positive review. He writes:
…This second full-length monograph on the New Testament canon by Michael Kruger
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Tim Ward Reviews “The Question of Canon”
Tim Ward, Associate Director of Proclamation Trust’s Cornhill training course in London, just published a very kind review of my book The Question of Canon (IVP Academic, 2013) over at Reformation 21. Of course, Tim is the author of his own book on Scripture (also with IVP), an excellent piece of work entitled Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God (IVP, 2009).
Tim’s review actually covers two books, first J. Merrick and Stephen M. Garrett, eds., Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (Zondervan, 2013), and then The Question of Canon. As he observes, the first is a book on the theology of Scripture, the … Continue reading...
Great Review of Doug Kelly’s New Systematic Theology (Vol. 2)
Doug Kelly, the Richard Jordan Professor of Theology here at RTS Charlotte, has just released the second volume of his fantastic systematic theology series: Systematic Theology (Vol. 2): The Beauty of Christ–a Trinitarian Vision (Mentor, 2014). Although one might think there are enough systematic theologies out there, this volume (and its predecessor) are genuinely unique. In particular, Dr. Kelly engages the patristic writings with a level of detail that is unmatched by other volumes. Thus, Kelly roots his theological discussion deeply within the context of church history.
This very point was made by Robert Letham in a great view of Kelly’s book that just came out on The … Continue reading...
My Review of Peter Enns’s New Book “The Bible Tells Me So”
Pete Enns has just released his latest book, The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending the Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It (HarperOne, 2014). It’s quite a bold piece of work, with a lot of serious claims about the role and purpose of the Bible. Endorsers of the book include Rob Bell, Rachel Held Evans, and Brian Mclaren. Tony Campolo also offers a blurb, but qualifies it with the statement, “[I] have some problems with what he has written.” Given that Campolo is no fundamentalist, this is a telling statement.
Another telling statement is the inside flap of the book cover which states, “In The Bible Tells Me … Continue reading...