Summer Vacation!

So we arrived in Charlotte, NC late last night.  Ryan, my fantastic brother, picked us up from the airport even though he had to work the next day.  He even cooked breakfast for me the following morning (Liz slept in)!

On the itinerary for our summer is to meet up with Steven, Amanda, & Kates tonight for dinner.  We head out to Florida to see my Andrea, Ella, parents, and grandparents for a week.  Then its off to the Crystal Coast to visit la playa (had to thrown in some random Spanish) and great friends.  After a stop off at my seminary to raid the library, we will finally end up in Virginia.  There is a wedding at the end of summer somewhere, but that seems too far away to think about. 

Somewhere amongst all of this traveling, I am taking a directed study w/ my mentor, David Alan Black, on the subject "The New Testament's Use of the Old Testament."  Here is my reading list for this summer:

Books:

Beale, G. K, ed. The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?  Essays on the Use of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994.

Carson, D. A, and H. G. M Williamson, eds. It Is Written--Scripture Citing Scripture: Essays in Honour of Barnabas Lindars. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Evans, Craig A. From Prophecy to Testament: The Function of the Old Testament in the New. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.

Hays, Richard B. Echoes of Scripture in the letters of Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.

———. The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2005.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. Uses of the Old Testament in the New. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001.

Longenecker, Richard N. Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1999.

McLay, R. Timothy. The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2003.

Moyise, Steve. Paul and Scripture: Studying the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,, 2010.

Porter, Stanley E. Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006.

Journal Articles:

Beale, Gregory K. “The Old Testament Background of Paul’s Reference to ‘The Fruit of the Spirit’ in Galatians 5:22.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 15, no. 1 (2005): 1–38.

Bock, Darrell L. “Evangelicals and the use of the Old Testament in the New.  Part 1.” Bibliotheca sacra 142, no. 567 (July 1985): 209–223. (accessed December 17, 2009).

———. “Evangelicals and the Use of the Old Testament in the New.  Part 2.” Bibliotheca Sacra 142, no. 568 (October 1985): 306–316.

Carr, G Lloyd. “The Old Testament Love Songs and Their Use in the New Testament.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 24, no. 2 (June 1981): 97–105.

Enns, Peter E. “Apostolic Hermeneutics and an Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture: Moving Beyond a Modernist Impasse.” Westminster Theological Journal 65, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 263–287.

Ericson, Norman R. “The NT Use of the OT: A Kerygmatic Approach.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30, no. 3 (September 1987): 337–342.

Hutchinson, John C. “The vine in John 15 and Old Testament imagery in the ‘I am’ statements.” Bibliotheca sacra 168, no. 669 (Ja-Mr 2011): 63–80.

Johnson, Luke Timothy. “The Use of Leviticus 19 in the Letter of James.” Journal of Biblical Literature 101, no. 3 (Spring 1982): 391–401.

Kaiser, Walter C. “Davidic promise and the inclusion of the gentiles (Amos 9:9-15 and Acts 15:13-18) : a test passage for theological systems.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 20, no. 2 (June 1977): 97–111.

Longman III, Tremper. “The Divine Warrior: The New Testament Use of an Old Testament Motif.” Westminster Theological Journal 44, no. 2 (Fall 1982): 290–307.

Ng, Esther Yue L. “Father-God Language and Old Testament Allusions in James.” Tyndale Bulletin 54, no. 2 (2003): 41–54.

Patrick, James E. “Matthew’s Pesher Gospel Structured Around Ten Messianic Citations of Isaiah.” Journal of Theological Studies 61, no. 1 (April 2010): 43–81.

Pickup, Martin. “New Testament Interpretation of the Old Testament: The Theological Rationale of Midrashic Exegesis.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 51, no. 2 (June 2008): 353–381.

Roehrs, Walter R. “The Typological Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.” Concordia Journal 10, no. 6 (November 1984): 204–216.

Scott, James M. “Paul’s Use of Deuteronomic Tradition.” Journal of Biblical Literature 112, no. 4 (Winter 1993): 645–665.

Smith, S Marion. “New Testament Writers Use the Old Testament.” Encounter 26, no. 2 (Spring 1965): 239–250.

Swanson, Scott A. “Can We Reproduce the Exegesis of the New Testament?  Why Are We Still Asking?” Trinity Journal 17, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 67–76.

Thatcher, Tom. “Cain and Abel in Early Christian Memory: A Case Study in ‘The Use of the Old Testament in the New’.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 72, no. 4 (October 2010): 732–751.

Thomas, Robert L. “The New Testament Use of the Old Testament.” The Master’s Seminary Journal 13, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 79–97.

Weir, Jack. “Analogous Fulfillment: The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.” Perspectives in Religious Studies 9, no. 1 (Spr 1982): 65–76.

Research Paper (you know I gotta write one): "The Shema in James 2:19: Its Theological Significance and an Alternate Interpretation.”

This is a big list, so I better get started.  Have a great summer and stay posted to see what the Decker's are up to Summer 2012!

My Class

During the last week of school I took a class photo.  I am going to miss these students.

This is our new soccer field.  The students LOVE it!

School is Coming to an End...

Now that school has come to a quick end, everyone has decided whether to stay another year here in Honduras or head back to the states.  Tim and I signed a two-year contract, so our decision was easy...we're staying.  But for many of our friends the decision was a little more difficult, and now the result is bringing mixed emotions.

Here is a picture of me and Ruth at school.  She and Luke have decided to move back to the states because of new job opportunities. We are sad they won't be around to hang out with next year.

We'll miss you guys!!

Ruth and I realized we were matching one day so we took a picture. :-)

The Justification of God

I just had the enjoyment of finishing John Piper's The Justificationof God: An Exegetical & Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23.  Let me say 2 things off gate to start this little review.  First, it was really good.  I felt like Piper left very few stones unturned and masterfully handled difficult exegetical issues in as academically honest tone as possible.  Which leads to my second "thing": I was not expecting the depth of analysis that was provided!  This book is not for slouches, least of all Greek slouches.  It is primarily an exegetical commentary of the Greek text of Romans 9:1-23.  I was not ready for that, although I tremendously appreciated that.

Some of this book's strengths are felt immediately once the reality that this little 220 page book is an exegetical force to be reckoned with (granted the print was small).  First, much of it interacted not only with English writers but also German scholarship as well.  This is only fitting and expected since Piper did his doctorate in Germany.   But this exposure beyond American Evangelicalism is always good and extremely important.  Piper also demonstrated various views and fairly presented them to the reader.  I am able to say "fairly" (as in justly or accurately) because I used to hold to the view he was arguing against.  He spent pages demonstrating the opposing views points and arguments.  They even seemed convincing, that is until he destroyed them with his own points and arguments.

Every strength has its weaknesses, however.  Piper's book is no different.  Although it was central to his argument and established what the "righteousness of God" is in Romans, chapters 6-8 take a detour to build a case for his meaning of the phrase "righteousness of God."  This was necessary to establish his point, but it did seem a bit taxing at times.  It gave the book a sense of discontinuity that I felt would have strengthened his view. 

Perhaps another weakness (or this could simply be my mistake) is that I was expecting a more "lay-level" explanation of Romans 9:1-23.  Instead, what I got was a fantastic exposition of the Greek text.  Piper didn't even supply translation or transliteration most of the time.  So for those whose Greek (and Hebrew at times) needs improvement, it is challenging.  This in turn limits the range of audience for which this book will be useful.  Could someone with no knowledge of Greek and Hebrew read this?  Yes, but it would be very difficult. 

Lastly, Piper's conclusions are not real popular; at least they are not popular where I'm from.  But I am glad he was willing to demonstrate and undergird them with solid exegetical support.  The basic premise is that Romans 9 is dealing with individual election unto salvation.  If that is the case, then what should we do with phrases like the following:

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion,"

"So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills,"

"Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use,"

"What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction"?

Piper advocates reprobation also known as the unfortunately titled doctrine of "double predestination."  This view sees God as the ultimate sovereign power of the universe.  And yes, he creates some for honor and some for destruction.  I would have liked Piper to develop that a bit more, but he mainly just cites Daniel Fuller who basically says that this is not unrighteous for God to do since the only way to express his great mercy is for people to see and desire it out of his wrath.  This gives the word "grace" an entirely new meaning.

I hope for our sake that Piper, with his upcoming transition from the pastoral ministry to a teaching/writing ministry, will be commissioned by a publisher to write an entire commentary on Romans that will match the intensity and depth that The Justification of God reached (a commentary would also update this now almost 30-year-old book).  This one was fantastic – 2 thumbs way up.  It has a limited readership, but its usefulness for the study of Romans 9 cannot be denied.