Hebrews Papers at ETS 2010

This year's Evangelical Theological Society meeting has several papers related to the book of Hebrews:

Wednesday, November 17:

Wesleyan Studies
11:00-11:40 am
Gareth Lee Cockerill (Wesley Biblical Seminary)
‘Justification’ or ‘Perfection’? Salvation in the Letter to the Hebrews

Justification in the NT and Early Fathers
3:40-4:20 pm
Gareth Lee Cockerill (Wesley Biblical Seminary)
More than Paul: the Justification: Debate and the Letter to the Hebrews

Thursday, November 18:

Letter to the Hebrews Section
Moderator: Herb Bateman (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

2:50-3:30 pm
Paul Hartog (Faith Baptist Theological Seminary)
Hebrews 2:9 and the “Orthodox Corruption of Scripture”

3:40-4:20 pm
Joseph R. Dodson (Ouachita Baptist University)
Ethical Exhortations in the Letter to the Hebrews and the writings of Seneca

4:30-5:10 pm
Todd R. Chipman (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Where is Exhortation in Hebrews? Discourse Analysis and Genre Division in the Epistle to the Hebrew

5:20-6:00 pm
Panel Discussion

Friday, November 19:

Letter to the Hebrews Section
Moderator: Jon Laansma (Wheaton College)

1:40-2:20 pm
Daniel J. Treier and Christopher Atwood (Wheaton College (IL)
The Living Word versus the Proof Text? Hebrews in Modern Systematic Theology

2:30-3:10 pm
Mickey L. Mattox (Marquette University)
Martin Luther and Hebrews

3:20-4:00 pm
Kelly M. Kapic (Covenant College)
Typology, Christology, and John Owen’s Theological Reading of Hebrews

4:10-4:50 pm
Panel Discussion

Justification in Paul

1:40-2:20 pm
Benjamin J. Ribbens (Wheaton College)
Forensic-Retributive Justification in Romans 3:21-26: Paul’s Doctrine of Justification in Dialogue with Hebrews 

John Paul Heil - Hebrews: Chiastic Structures and Audience Response

I have just discovered the publication of this new book on Hebrews:

Heil, John Paul. Hebrews : Chiastic Structures and Audience Response. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 46. Washington, DC : Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2010.

John Paul Heil is professor of New Testament at The Catholic University of America.

Jeffrey Khee - Lecture Notes on Hebrews

Recently, a new Facebook group, entitled "New Testament Scholarship Worldwide," was started by Johnson Thomaskutty, a former colleague of mine when I was at Princeton Theological Seminary. He states that "The paramount concern of this group is the "integration of Eastern and Western New Testament Scholarship." I recently sent an inquiry out requesting links to any articles or books by scholars from the global south or east. I have not received any responses yet from this inquiry, but I did stumble across the following:

Jeffrey Khoo. Hebrews. Lecture Notes. Far Eastern Bible College, Singapore.

A link to these notes has been added to the electronic articles page.

New Hebrews Consultation

I just got word from Eric Mason:

The new Hebrews consultation for the International SBL has just been approved.  David Moffitt and Eric F. Mason are co-chairs.  The group begins with the 2011 meeting in London, and the call for papers will appear on the SBL website shortly.

Steve Motyer on Physical Community in Hebrews

The following article has been added to electronic articles:

Motyer, Steve. “‘Not Apart from Us’ (Hebrews 11:40): Physical Community in the Letter to the Hebrews.” Evangelical Quarterly 77 (2005): 235-47.

David Gooding, Unshakeable Kingdom

I have added a link to the following book which is available electronically:

Gooding, David. Unshakeable Kingdom: An Exposition on the Epistle to the Hebrews. 1989.

David Willoughby Gooding, MA, PhD, professor emeritus of Old Testament Greek at Queen's University Belfast, is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Professor Gooding travels extensively, giving lectures and, besides academic works, is the author of expository books on Luke, John 13-17, Acts and Hebrews.

Interview with David Allen

Charles Savelle has a brief interview with David Allen about the upcoming Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop featuring the book of Hebrews.

New Articles Added

The following articles have been added to the electronic articles page:

Redden, Lester. "Hebrews a Petrine Document." Bibliotheca sacra 68.272 (1911): 684-92.

Riley, I. Woodbridge. "The Letters of Junius and the Epistle to the Hebrews: A Comparative Study in Higher Criticism." Bibliotheca sacra 58 (1901): 607-31.

Review of Lloyd Kim, Polemic in the Book of Hebrews

Review of Biblical Literature has added a new review on:

Lloyd Kim. Polemic in the Book of Hebrews: Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism, Supersessionism? Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock, 2006.

The review is by Lars Kierspel

New Article in NTS

New article on Hebrews:

Joshua W. Jipp. "The Son's Entrance into the Heavenly World: The Soteriological Necessity of the Scriptural Catena in Hebrews 1:5-14." New Testament Studies 56 (2010): 557-75.

Abstract

Hebrews 1.5-14 has proved difficult to integrate within the author's larger literary project. More recent scholarship has emphasized rightly that the catena centers upon the Son of God's royal enthronement, but the question as to why the author should begin his argument this way has yet to be answered. In this essay I argue that the event which the catena describes, namely the Son's enthronement to the heavenly world, is critical for the entire logic of the author's argument regarding how humanity's salvation is accomplished. The likelihood of this conclusion is bolstered by the rarely recognized inclusio between 1.5-14 and 12.18-29. Finally, I briefly examine four texts which suggest that the author envisions the Son's narrative, particularly his entrance into God's heavenly realm as described in 1.5-14, as a soteriological necessity, and pattern, for humanity.

The Son's Entrance into the Heavenly World: The Soteriological Necessity of the Scriptural Catena in Hebrews 1.5-14

Joshua W. Jipp (2010).

New Testament Studies, Volume 56, Issue 04, October 2010 pp 557-575

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=7889762

Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop On Hebrews

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will be hosting an Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop featuring the book of Hebrews.

Thinking about attending ...

HT: Charles Savelle

SBL 2010 Annual Meeting

I received my SBL annual meeting guidebook today, so I thought it was a good time to mention the papers on Hebrews that will be given at this year's annual meeting (click on the links for the abstracts):

S20-221 
Hebrews
11/20/2010
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room TBD - Hotel TBDEkkehard Stegemann, Presiding

Fritz Graf, Ohio State University
“You Have Become Dull of Hearing”: Hebrews 5:11 and the Rhetoric of Conversion (30 min)
Pamela Eisenbaum, Iliff School of Theology, Respondent (10 min)
Discussion (10 min)

David M. Allen, Queen's Foundation, Birmingham
Faithfulness in the Things before God: Caleb Typology in the Letter to the Hebrews (30 min)
Gabriella Gelardini, University of Basel, Respondent (10 min)
Discussion (10 min)

James W. Thompson, Abilene Christian University
Strangers on the Earth: Philosophical Perspective on the Promise of God (30 min)
Kenneth Schenck, Respondent (10 min)
Discussion (10 min)

S21-116 
Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism
11/21/2010
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Hanover Hall F - Hyatt RegencyTheme: Possible Provenances of Merkavah Mysticism

Silviu Bunta, University of Dayton
The Convergence of Adamic and Merkabah Traditions in the Christology of Hebrews (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)

S21-139 
Sabbath in Text, Tradition, and Theology
11/21/2010
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: A705 - Marriott MarquisTheme: The Sabbath in the First and Second Century

Michael Allen, Knox Theological Seminary
Is Hebrews a Supersessionist Text? Sabbath Theology in 3:7-4:13 as Test Case (30 min)

S21-320 
Hebrews
11/21/2010
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Hanover Hall E - Hyatt RegencyTheme: Emerging Studies
Kenneth Schenck, Presiding

Matthew D. Larsen, Church of the Incarnation (Episcopal), Dallas, TX, USA and Michael Svigel, Dallas Theological Seminary
The First Century Two Ways Catechesis as the Background of Hebrews 6.1–6 (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

David M. Moffitt, Duke University
Blood, Life, and Purification: Reassessing Hebrews’ Christological Appropriation of Yom Kippur (20 min)
Break (5 min)

Eric F. Mason, Judson University
Hebrews and Second Temple Jewish Traditions on the Origins of Angels (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Scott D. Mackie, Independent Scholar
Early Christian Eschatological Experience in the Warnings and Exhortations of Hebrews (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

D. Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary
Irenaeus and Hebrews (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (25 min)

S23-113 
Ecological Hermeneutics
11/23/2010
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room TBD - Hotel TBDTheme: Ecology and the New Testament

Jeffrey S. Lamp, Oral Roberts University
"We Have an Altar" (Hebrews 13:10): The Reclamation of Reinterpreted Liturgy for Ecological Responsibility (30 min)

Hebrews Carnival August 2010

For this month's carnival two themes have emerged. First, I will introduce two blogs of fellow Baylor colleagues who had brief posts on Hebrews:

Scott Rushing, a Ph.D. candidate in theology with a specialization in Patristics, has a lectionary reflection on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16.

Keith Reich, with his newly-minted Ph.D. in New Testament, has a newly-minted blog on the Rhetoric and the NT. He identifies the rhetorical figures in Hebrews 1:1-4.

The other major theme that emerged this month is the issue of authorship of Hebrews:

Derek Ouellette has an Interview with Ruth Hoppin, Author of Priscilla's Letter. Ruth Hoppin also has a guest post on Hebrews 11:32, the controversial passage often used to dismiss the possibility of a female author for the book. You can read my critique of her argument and our subsequent exchange there.

Derek Ouellette also has a review of David L. Allen's book, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.

Christianbook.com is doing a Read In for Allen's new book:
Part 1: the Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.
Part 2: Whose [sic] Your Author?.
Part 2 Supplemental.
Linguistics and the Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.
Part 2: Linguistics and the Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.
Stenography in Hebrews?
Allen's "Independent" Hypothesis and Lukan Methodology.
Some Reflections

General posts:

Michael Bird considers some Central Themes in Hebrews.

Steven Coxhead proposes that the Perfecting of Jesus as High Priest took place upon the cross.

Alan Knox has a brief post on the translation of Hebrews 10:24.

Dave Spotts has posted a couple of sermons on Hebrews 11:1-16 and Hebrews 13:1-17.

Helps from Hebrews

I have just added the following book to the electronic books listing:

Boatman, Don Earl. Helps from Hebrews: A New Commentary, Workbook, Teaching Manual. 1960.

Boatman was the President of Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Mo.

HT: Joel

New Commentary on Hebrews by David L. Allen

Today I found a surprise package on my doorstep. Broadman & Holman sent me a complimentary review copy of David L. Allen's commentary on Hebrews. I am thrilled! I want to thank Jim Baird from B & H for the review copy.

Currently, I am working my way through about 65 commentaries or so on Hebrews for my dissertation (all lined up in one long row on my tables in my home office), so the arrival of this commentary is quite timely. In due course I will post a thorough review of this commentary. I also plan to post my recommendations on the best commentaries on Hebrews once I have worked my way through them sometime in the future.

I currently teach a Sunday school class at my local church and we are working our way through the historical books of the OT. I have been generally impressed with the quality of the commentaries in the New American Commentary series. They are readable and thorough in their comments, so they are ideal for pastors to use, yet they are scholarly enough that scholars can benefit from them too. In my estimation it is one of the best overall series on the OT there is (and I have been using commentaries from other series like the AB, OTL, WBC, Interpretation, Tyndale etc.), perhaps matched only by the NICOT. Other series may be more thorough in technical matters, but for preparation for teaching and preaching, this series is tops. So, I expect some good things from this commentary.

The book weighs in at 671 pages so it is quite meaty. The 72-page introduction includes topics on the nature of the book, historical circumstances (authorship, recipients, location, date), purpose, theology, use of the OT, and an outline and structure of the book. The author is dean of the School of Theology, professor of preaching, and director of the Center for Biblical Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. I have heard him speak and he is quite an engaging speaker so I hope his commentary will be equally engaging.

Typology and the Message of Hebrews

The following article is now available online:

Jeffrey R. Sharp. "Typology and the Message of Hebrews." East Asia Journal of Theology 4.2 (1986): 95-103.

HT: Rob Bradshaw

Hebrews Carnival July 2010

William Varner talks about his experience of seeing the oldest extant manuscript of the book of Hebrews, P46, in the Chester Beatty Papyrus collection. He notes that even in this oldest of manuscripts the title was "To the Hebrews." He gives a picture of it here.

Steven Coxhead has a discussion on The Eternal Nature of the Eternal Covenant in Hebrews.  He has a follow-up discussion on When Jesus Became Our Great High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek.

Zondervan has posted an excerpt of the complete chapter on Hebrews from Carson, Moo, and Naselli, Introducing the New Testament.

Arminian Today has a meditation on Hebrews 7:23-28 entitled, Jesus, My Faithful, Perfect High Priest.

New Swetnam Article

New article on Hebrews:

James Swetnam. "The Crux at Hebrews 2,9 in Its Context." Biblica 91 (2010): 103-11.

Hebrews Carnival June 2010

Jason reflects on Hebrews 6:4-8 and the tensions he finds with his own Calvinistic theology.

William Varner reposts his piece on Jude the Author of Hebrews.

Charles Savelle has a description and table of contents on David L. Allen's book, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews.

Derek Ouellete also reflects on Who Wrote Hebrews?

Peter Head discusses the nomen sacrum at Hebrews 4:8 in P46.

In Memoriam: Robert McLachlan Wilson

I received this email today:

It is with deep regret we report the passing of Prof. emeritus Robert McLachlan Wilson who suffered a major stroke last week and died on Sunday at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. He was 94 years old and hadbeen active virtually up to the end of his life. Prof Wilson had been on the staff at the University of St Andrews between 1954 and 1983, when he retired from the chair of Biblical Criticism. A Fellow of the British Academy, he was also awarded its Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies. In 1981-2 Robin was elected President of SNTS. His scholarship focussed on Nag Hammadi studies, New Testament Apocrypha and the New Testament itself (with his commentary on Colossians & Philemon appearing in 2005!). But equally significant was his work in translation and editing. He was associate editor and then editor of the SNTS Monograph Series and its journal (New Testament Studies) for many years. There were many other significant roles he performed (member of the International Committee for the publication of the Nag Hammadi codices, member of the editorial board of the Nag Hammadi Studies monograph series, and English translator of Hennecke-Schneemelcher's NT Apocrypha).

Wilson also wrote the Hebrews commentary for the New Century Bible Commentary