Hebrews Highlights November 2022

Ken Schenck makes some brief comments about the author of Hebrews.

Rethinking the Atonement

I recently picked up a copy of David M. Moffitt's new book, Rethinking the Atonement: New Perspectives on Jesus's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, published by Baker Academic.

I wanted to check the contents before posting anything on this blog. The book contains 15 chapters: an introduction and 14 essays. Most of the essays have appeared in a similar form in earlier articles and book chapters. David told me that a couple of chapters are new. Chapters 2–11 are focused on Hebrews, while the remaining chapters deal with other NT books. Here is the blurb from the website:

"Traditional views on the atonement tend to be reductive, focusing solely on Jesus's death on the cross. In his 2011 groundbreaking book Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews, David Moffitt challenged that paradigm, showing how the atonement is a fuller process. It involves not only Jesus's death but also his resurrection, ascension, offering, and exaltation.

In the succeeding years, Moffitt has continued to expand and clarify his thinking on this issue. This book offers a more fulsome articulation of his work on the atonement that reflects his recent thinking on the topic. Moffitt continues to challenge reductive views of the atonement, primarily from the book of Hebrews, but he engages other New Testament passages as well. He offers fresh insights on sacrifice and atonement, the importance of resurrection and ascension, Jesus's role as priest, and a new perspective on Hebrews.

This important book brings Moffitt's award-winning and influential scholarship to a broader audience."

Bird Preaches Three Sermons on Hebrews

Michael Bird preached three sermons on Hebrews at Ridley Chapel.

Hebrews at SBL

Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting

November 19–22, 2022

Denver, Colorado

P18-212

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Institute for Biblical Research
11/18/2022
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Room: Governor's Square 11 (Plaza Tower - Concourse Level) - Sheraton Downtown (SD)

Theme: Hebrews and the Pauline Tradition
This research group explores the relationship between Hebrews and the Pauline tradition. While Hebrews must be able to speak on its own terms, historical and canonical imperatives call for it to be read alongside Paul’s letters. This year, we invited papers that engaged with specific texts or themes in Hebrews and the Pauline Epistles. For more information, please contact Madison Pierce (mpierce@tiu.edu) and Bryan Dyer (bdyer@bakeracademic.com).

Bryan R. Dyer, Baker Academic/Calvin University, Welcome

Cynthia Long Westfall, McMaster Divinity College
Am I Not an Apostle? Authorship and the Signs of an Apostle (25 min)
Tag(s): Intertextuality (Interpretive Approaches), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Julie Leyva, Duke University
Faith in Many and Various Ways: Abraham’s Πίστις in Paul and Hebrews (25 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Paul T. Sloan, Houston Baptist University
What Could the Law Not Do? Paul and Hebrews on the Law’s Incapacity to Resurrect Mortal Humans (25 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Amy L. B. Peeler, Wheaton College (Illinois)
Discipline of the Body (25 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Discussion (20 min)

 

 

P19-129

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Institute for Biblical Research
11/19/2022
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Governor's Square 14 (Plaza Tower - Concourse Level) - Sheraton Downtown (SD)

Theme: IBR Unscripted
This session of the IBR Annual Meeting offers biblical scholars the opportunity to present their new and innovative ideas in an engaging forum inspired by the famous TED talks. Scholars will speak without notes and are encouraged to use a variety of media to help the audience interact with their ideas. A generous discussion time will follow each presentation. For more information, see Institute for Biblical Research (https://www.ibr-bbr.org/).

May Young, Taylor University, Presiding

 

Madison N. Pierce, Western Theological Seminary
Hebrews within Judaism? On Conversations within New Testament Studies (17 min)
Tag(s): New Testament (Ideology & Theology), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Religious Traditions and Scriptures (History of Interpretation / Reception History / Reception Criticism)

Discussion (17 min)

 

 

S19-221

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Gospel of Mark
11/19/2022
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 703 (Street Level) - Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Features of the Emerging Reign of Jesus in Mark

Robert Snow, Ambrose University College, Presiding (1 min)

 

Naomi Sheley, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
The Markan Davidssohnfrage and Psalm 110: Is Melchizedek or Premundane Divine Begetting Evoked? (25 min)
Tag(s): Gospels - Mark (Biblical Literature - New Testament), New Testament (Ideology & Theology), Religious Traditions and Scriptures (History of Interpretation / Reception History / Reception Criticism)

Discussion (10 min)

 

 

S19-223

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Hebrews
11/19/2022
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Aspen A (Third Level) - Embassy Suites (ES)Eric F. Mason, Judson University (Elgin, Illinois), Presiding

Jihyung Kim, McMaster Divinity College
Memory as a Possible Means of Hebrews' Quotation of the Old Testament: Hebrews 1 as a Test Case (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Social-Scientific Approaches (Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology) (Interpretive Approaches)

Alberto Solano, University of Oxford
The Sinaitic Event in Hebrews 1–2 (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Other Rabbinic Works - Exegetical Midrashim (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches)

Peter Battaglia, Marquette University
Psalms That Move: The Interplay of Movement and Psalms in the Epistle to the Hebrews (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Jeffrey B Gibson, Harry S Truman College (City Colleges of Chicago)
Did the Author of Hebrews Proclaim That Jesus’ Sinlessness Was Absolute? A New Understanding of Heb. 4:15 (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Discussion (30 min)

 

 

P19-259

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Institute for Biblical Research
11/19/2022
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Room: Governor's Square 11 (Plaza Tower - Concourse Level) - Sheraton Downtown (SD)

Theme: The Relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament
The theme for 2022 will be “Appropriating Hebrews's Scriptural Hermeneutic for the 21st Century.” For more information, please contact Dana Harris (dharris@tiu.edu) and David Stark (david@jdavidstark.com).

Dana M. Harris, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Introduction (5 min)

Nick Brennan, Westminster Seminary California
"As It Was in the Beginning": Deontic Origins and Creational Hermeneutics in Hebrews (20 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches), New Testament (Ideology & Theology)

Alexander Stewart, Gateway Seminary
The Rhetorical Use of Old Testament Narratives in Fear Appeals in Hebrews: Hermeneutical Observations (20 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches), Rhetorical Criticism (Interpretive Approaches)

Bryan R. Dyer, Baker Academic
Who Tells Your Story: Situating the Reader within the History of Israel in the Epistle to the Hebrews (20 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches), Rhetorical Criticism (Interpretive Approaches)

William Olhausen, St. Matthias' Church
Hebrews and the Spirit of Hermeneutics: Participation and Experience in the (Ideal) Sermon Situation (20 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches), Ideology & Theology (Ideology & Theology)

Gareth Cockerill, Wesley Biblical Seminary (emeritus), Respondent (15 min)

Discussion (20 min)

 

 

S19-316

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Homiletics and Biblical Studies
11/19/2022
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Centennial H (Third Level) - Hyatt Regency (HR)

Theme: Open Paper Session

Eunjoo Kim, Iliff School of Theology, Presiding

 

Julie M. Leyva, Duke University
Today If You Hear God’s Voice: Preaching with Hebrews’s Intertextual Hermeneutic (30 min)
Tag(s): Homiletics (Ideology & Theology), Intertextuality (Interpretive Approaches), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament)
 

Bryan J. Whitfield, Mercer University
What Hebrews Has Taught Me about Preaching (30 min)
Tag(s): Homiletics (Ideology & Theology), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

 

 

S20-236

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The Historical Paul
11/20/2022
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Agate A (Third Level) - Hyatt Regency (HR)

Theme: Pauline Manuscripts as Biographical Memorialization
This session explores the Pauline manuscript tradition as a site of biographical memorialization, asking how Paul’s biographical legacy was reflected in and shaped by the manuscripts that contain his letters.

Brigidda Bell, University of Toronto, Presiding

 

Janelle Peters, Loyola Marymount University
The Historical Paul as Reconstructed from Hebrews, 1 Clement, and P46 (20 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Apostolic Fathers (Early Christian Literature - Other)

 

 

S20-308

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Contextualizing North African Christianity
11/20/2022
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Agate B (Third Level) - Hyatt Regency (HR)

Theme: Bible, Text, and Tradition in North Africa 2
This session continues the focus on the reception and use of Scripture in North Africa, including the interpretation of specific texts, knowledge of biblical languages, the formation of the canon, and other aspects related to the theme.

Cassandra Perry, Presiding

Jonatan Simons, Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia
Hebrews 1:3 in Contra Celsum 8.12–14 for Origen’s Concept of Divine Simplicity (30 min)
Tag(s): Early Christian Literature (Early Christian Literature - Other), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Theological Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches)

 

 

S21-217

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Ecological Hermeneutics
11/21/2022
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Agate A (Third Level) - Hyatt Regency (HR)

Theme: Recent Books on Ecology and NT Epistles
Reviews of Jeffrey Lamp, "Hebrews: An Earth Bible Commentary A City That Cannot Be Shaken" (Bloomsbury, 2020) and Presian Burroughs "Creation’s Slavery and Liberation: Paul’s Letter to Rome in the Midst of Imperial and Industrial Agriculture" (Cascade Library of Pauline Studies, forthcoming).

Laurie Braaten, Judson University (Elgin, Illinois), Presiding

 

Jeffrey Lamp "Hebrews: An Earth Bible Commentary"
Eric F Mason, Judson University (Elgin, Illinois), Panelist (15 min)

Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Panelist (15 min)

Jeffrey Lamp, Oral Roberts University, Respondent (15 min)

Discussion (10 min)

 

 

S21-222

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Hebrews
11/21/2022
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 405 (Street Level) - Convention Center (CC)Madison N. Pierce, Westminster Theological Seminary, Presiding

Charlotta Nordström, Lunds Universitet
John Chrysostom and Supersessionism in the Letter to the Hebrews (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Religious Traditions and Scriptures (History of Interpretation / Reception History / Reception Criticism), Early Christian Literature (Early Christian Literature - Other)

Joshua Heavin, Houston Baptist University
Christ Our Contemporary: Comparing Paul and Hebrews on Participation in Christ (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Christian (Ideology & Theology)

Marcus Mininger, Mid-America Reformed Seminary
Revisiting the Impossibility of Repentance in Heb 6:4–6: Exegetical Problems in Past Interpretations and Parameters for a New Approach (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Sydney Tooth, Oak Hill College
The Threefold Offices and Hebrews's High Priest (30 min)
Tag(s): Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Discussion (30 min)

Hebrews at ETS

Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting

November 15–17, 2022

Denver, Colorado

November 15

General Epistles
Contributions of the General Epistles to Soteriology
Plaza Building, Concourse Level - Governor’s Square 10
 

9:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Jared Compton
(Bethlehem College & Seminary)
Divine Christology and Salvation in Hebrews


Holiness
New Testament I
Plaza Building, Concourse Level - Plaza Court 7

11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
Cole Feix
(Carlton Landing Community Church)
Holiness as Wholeness in Hebrews

New Testament
Hebrews
Plaza Building, Concourse Level - Plaza Court 7
Moderator: Jihyung Kim
(McMaster Divinity College)

2:00 PM - 2:40 PM
Jihyung Kim
(McMaster Divinity College)
The Function of Abel and His Offering in Hebrews 12:24
 

2:50 PM - 3:30 PM
Jae-Seung Lim
(McMaster Divinity College)
Places Where We Were Made Holy: Two Tabernacles in
the Book of Hebrews
 

3:40 PM - 4:20 PM
J. Michael McKay Jr.
(Cedarville University)
God’s Holy Temple Fire as Possible Background to Heb
10:27: “fury of !re”
 

4:30 PM - 5:10 PM
E. Randolph Richards
(Palm Beach Atlantic University)
Hebrews was Always Included with Paul’s Letters

New Article in the Asbury Journal

Odor, Judith. “Creating Community: Rhetorical Vision and Symbolic Convergence in the Book of Hebrews.” The Asbury Journal 77.2 (2022): 318–40.

"Since the introduction of social identity theory to the field of biblical studies, the Epistle to the Hebrews has become something of a proving ground for depicting the intergroup relations that are key to understanding relationally-oriented identity dynamics and community identification. However, while social identity theory is a valuable tool for describing how communities self-perceive as unique social entities through the use of in-group and out-group language, social identity theory does not describe the rhetorical process by which such language and communication develops or why this development is so key to creating a distinct community. Symbolic convergence theory, with its elements of fantasy themes, symbolic cues, and rhetorical vision, gives us the unique language we need to describe that process, and the epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates not only the characteristics of a collective identity, but the very birth of that identity as well."