Book Review – The Pillar Commentary on Thessalonians (Gene Green)

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This latest addition to the Pillar series of commentaries is reminiscent of O’Brien’s Pillar Commentary on Ephesians in that it has a long introduction (75 pages), which includes a critique of the rhetorical analysis approach to the epistles and defends Pauline authorship. He also explains why he is not convinced by arguments placing 2 Thessalonians before 1 (contra Wanamaker).

However, the bulk of the introduction is spent providing historical background on the city of Thessalonica and tying in the Acts accounts of how the gospel came to that city. Green goes right back to tell the story of how the Romans came to take the region of Macedonia from the Greeks and lists the various uprisings that the Romans crushed. There is also a good deal of information about the religious beliefs and practices of the time.

While it is all interesting, I couldn’t help feeling that some of this material would have been more suited to a New Testament background reference book, or at least interspersed in the commentary as excursuses. However, Green believes that the historical background is key to interpreting the letter, and he does particularly well at highlighting the reasons why the gospel was so badly received when it first arrived in Thessalonica.

The opening chapters of 1 Thessalonians in particular are closely tied in to both Paul and the Thessalonians’ historical and geographical situation. Green fills in the details from Acts, as well as making regular quotations from ancient documents to illustrate his points. Like Edward’s Pillar commentary on Mark, quotes from first century documents are regularly found, while interaction with other commentators is generally left to the footnotes.

The section on the second coming is handled in a level-headed manner, careful not to draw out more than the text says (as is the section on the man of lawlessness in 2 Thess 2). He does not particularly attempt to synthesize with prophetic passages from Revelation, the Gospels or the Old Testament, and only makes the briefest of comments to dismiss some fanciful interpretations of the rapture.

The historical background established in the introduction proves helpful as he seeks to interpret the commands concerning idleness in terms of the patron-client system that was operating in those days. The idle are understood as those who are “disorderly” and are remaining as clients. They are counselled to get out of local politics and live a quiet life, which contrasts with the more common understanding of this passage as being simply a critique of laziness.

I found this to be a worthy addition to the excellent Pillar series, which will serve evangelicals who want to dig deeper into the meaning of the text, but don’t necessarily require great elaboration on contemporary application. As with the other volumes in the Pillar series, the comments are based on the NIV text, while feeling free to question some of the translators decisions, but maintaining a reverent attitude to Scripture throughout.

My New Testament Commentaries

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Finally this month, I completed my desire to buy an intermediate / advanced level commentary on each New Testament book. On the whole I think I have selected the most appropriate one, although there are still a few others I would like to get. My friend Graeme asked me if I would list them on my blog, so here they are, along with my ideas of what I might supplement the collection with. Visit my commentaries page if you want Amazon and publisher’s links for these books.

Matthew – D A Carson (Expositors Bible Commentary), R T France (New International Commentary), Leon Morris (Pillar New Testament Commentary).
Mark– James Edwards (PNTC), R T France (New International Greek Testament Commentary).
Luke – Robert Stein (New American Commentary), Darrell Bock (Baker Exegetical Commentary).
John – D A Carson (PNTC), Andreas Kostenberger (BEC).
Acts – F F Bruce (NICNT), Darrell Bock (BEC)
Romans – Douglas Moo (NICNT), Tom Schreiner (BEC).
1 Corinthians – Gordon Fee (NICNT). I intend to supplement this with Rosner and Ciampa in the PNTC.
2 Corinthians – Ralph Martin (Word Biblical Commentary), Murray Harris (NIGTC).
Galatians – Richard Longenecker (WBC). I hope to add Tom Schreiner’s ZEC volume to this soon
Ephesians – Peter O’Brien (PNTC). I intend to add either Clinton Arnold (ZEC) or Frank Theilman (BEC).
Philippians – Gordon Fee (NICNT), Moises Silva (BEC).
Colossians & Philemon – Peter O’Brien (WBC), Douglas Moo (PNTC)
1 & 2 Thessalonians – Gene Green (PNTC), Gordon Fee (NICNT)
Pastorals – W Mounce (WBC), Philip Towner (NICNT).
Hebrews – W Lane (WBC), Peter O’Brien (PNTC)
James – Douglas Moo (PNTC), Craig Blomberg & Mariam Kammel (ZEC)
1 Peter – Thomas Schreiner (NAC), Karen Jobes (BEC)
2 Peter & Jude – Thomas Schreiner (NAC), Peter Davids (PNTC)
1-3 John – Colin Kruse (PNTC). Possibly I’ll add Robert Yarbrough (BEC).
Revelation – Grant Osborne (BEC), G K Beale (NIGTC)

The Message of Exodus (Alec Motyer)

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This recent addition to the BST series is another from the respected commentator Alec Motyer. Although, in keeping with the series, this volume does not attempt to be a commentary, it would appear that Motyer would quite like to have written one anyway. The normal flow of the book, which considers the Christian relevance of the message of Exodus is interrupted with regular “Notes” sections (in addition to the standard footnotes), which relate specifically to individual verses, and are much more like the material found in a standard commentary. This can make it a bit disjointed for those reading cover to cover, but will be helpful to those who approach the book as a reference.

The main sections of commentary deal with Exodus in moderately sized chunks, drawing out the main theological and practical lessons found there. The book is of course understood in the light of the New Testament, and while Motyer expresses caution about spiritualising interpretation of the closing chapters of the book, generally he is in agreement with the main points that older commentators have detected. Christians are understood as priests under the great high priest Jesus.

The notes sections are more technical, and often refer to the Hebrew, which is always transliterated. Only selected verses are covered in this way, and it also allows extra space for Motyer to highlight the chiastic structures he finds throughout the book. While he does not make a full case against the documentary hypothesis, he takes regular opportunities to show why he feels it is unfounded.

Different portions of Exodus are covered at different speeds, with two thirds of the commentary covering the first 20 chapters of Exodus. Motyer is concerned to highlight aspects of Yahweh’s self-revelation throughout the book, and also to parallel the experience of the Israelites with our own – for example the struggles we face through life are like the wilderness experience.

Many theologically controversial issues are touched upon through the course of the book. For example, issues of free will and God’s sovereignty, the ongoing place of the Ten Commandments in Christian life, what to make of some of the severe punishments meted out, and God’s changing his mind. Motyer’s comments are usually balanced and instructive, without offering full treatments of these subjects.

Overall it is a bit more heavy-going than other BST volumes to read cover to cover, and perhaps Motyer’s work would have been better suited to a more intermediate level commentary series. Having said that, there is a broad range of helpful and practical material here that will benefit those who want fresh insight and deeper understanding of the book of Exodus. As with all BST volumes, the author’s deep reverence for God and respect for his word is evident throughout, alongside a pastoral heart for the readers.

New Wine 2005

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Last week I spent at New Wine. The week was spoiled somewhat by a catalogue of health issues which started before I left and continued until after I got back, one thing after another. It all meant that I was simply not able to go to as many sessions as I normally would. So it wasn’t quite as enjoyable as I had hoped, but there was still some good stuff.

One of the highlights of the week was Simon Downing’s morning series on Hope from the book of Ezekiel, which was excellent. If anything he tried to cram a bit much in, but it was really good teaching on both a subject and a book of the Bible that are not often covered. Of the seminars, I enjoyed Alan Storkey’s two Jesus and Politics talks, but I didn’t buy his book, as I feel that I have already read a lot of N T Wright saying much the same things about the political message of Jesus’ ministry.

The most inspiring evening meeting was hearing Simon Guillebaud whose message was a simple reminder of the urgency of the gospel – “Jesus is coming, no one knows when, are you ready?” It was one of two occasions I visited “Venue 2” which I guess was the slightly more trendy (or perhaps “emerging”) venue. Like previous years there were some tables on the fringes, but this year saw the addition of a licensed bar. I’m not sure why this was desirable or necessary really. Its one thing to ensure people aren’t unduly uncomfortable, but this seems to be a big step in the direction of turning worship into a spectator sport. I hope this doesn’t become the latest must have feature of regular church services.

Open to the Spirit

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Occasionally in charismatic circles, you will hear a person or a church described as being “open to the Spirit”, usually meaning that they are receptive to the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues being used in their churches and individual lives. But even those who are “open” to certain aspects of the Spirit’s ministry may be closed to others. To truly be “open to the Spirit” is to welcome his work in whatever form it comes.

For example, one ministry of the Spirit is to convict of sin, and yet it is quite possible for us to ignore his promptings over certain deeply rooted sins. We may be open to being guided as to where we should live, but not to being called to serve overseas. We may desire the gift of healing, but refuse the fruit of patience. We may be open to him teaching us through a high profile Christian preacher, but not through our own small group leader.

There are many diverse ways that the Spirit can speak to us – through the Bible, through preaching, through the advice of friends, through inner conviction, through dreams and visions, through the gift of prophecy, through suffering, through signs and wonders. And there are many subjects that he wants to speak to us about – our time, our money, our relationships, our witness, our sins, our future, our ambitions, our love for God and our knowledge of God. Are we really listening? Or do we only hear what we want to hear?

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, we are warned against quenching the Spirit. Verse 20 reveals that this can happen if we despise the gift of prophecy, an important aspect of the Spirit’s ministry. But I think it follows that we can quench the Spirit by being closed to any of the ways he desires to work in and through us. Of course we will require discernment, as verse 21 reminds us that not all that purports to be from the Spirit actually is, but that does not give us an excuse to retreat into our comfort zones, restricting God’s working in our lives to ways we find acceptable. We must let the Spirit’s fire blaze in our hearts, destroying what is worthless and producing holiness instead. Don’t quench the Spirit, but be open to all he has for you.

ESV – a breathtaking translation?

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The ESV is becoming increasingly popular among evangelicals, and has been receiving lots of praise on various blogs recently (especially Adrian Warnock’s). I have been reading through it this year, and on the whole have been impressed, but I still think there is room for improvement. (see my comments on this post by Parableman for an example).

Earlier this week I read 2 Chronicles 9, and it highlighted one of my areas of concern. The commitment to literal translation is so strong, that unfamiliar idioms are used even when minor modifications would make the text immediately understandable to a much broader spectrum of readers.

For example, in 2 Chronicles 9:4, we are told that when the Queen of Sheba saw the wisdom and riches of Solomon, “there was no more breath in her”. This is a very awkward phrase, never used in conversational English, but there is actually a perfectly common idiom that expresses exactly the same sentiment – “it took her breath away”. I really can’t understand why the translators do not make this type of change, even if it moves from the strictly literal into the dynamic equivalence realm.

Interestingly, the NIV doesn’t go for this option either, preferring to say “she was overwhelmed”. I’m surprised that they have made this choice, as a number of paraphrases and literal translations have opted for “she was breathless” (NLT, CEV and NASB). HCSB and the Message are the only ones I came across that use what I consider to be the best option – “it took her breath away”.

The same chapter has a second example. In verse 31, it is said that Solomon “slept with his fathers”, meaning of course that he died. Sleeping with someone is a euphemism in English, but it does not mean dying. The NIV’s “rested with his fathers” keeps close to the Hebrew idiom while losing the unhelpful connotations. The commonly found “rest in peace” on gravestones testifies to our association of ‘resting’ with death.

I’m not suggesting that anyone will fail to understand the meaning of these two verses, but I don’t see why the principle of literal translation must be so rigidly adhered to in cases such as these, where similar idioms or euphemisms can be used. As Wink says, it is preferable to “emphasize readability over “literalness”.

I am what I am

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In Kingsway’s latest brochure “Equipping the church”, the following book is advertised:

Your best life now, by Joel Osteen

The blurb says the following:

What do you believe? According to Pastor Joel Osteen, we will become what we believe. Our beliefs will prove either a barrier or vehicle as we strive to go higher, rise above our obstacles, and to live in health, abundance and victory. As he says “I am what I am today because of what I believed about myself yesterday. And I will be tomorrow what I’m believing about myself right now”

Seriously, I cannot believe that this is considered a Christian book. I can only hope that the synopsis grossly misrepresents Osteen’s message, because it certainly misrepresents the gospel.

Paul had a saying a bit like Osteen’s one – “I am what I am today…”, apart from it ended somewhat differently. Check out 1 Cor 15:10 if you don’t already know the answer.

Pride and Envy

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The Bible strongly warns Christians against the sins of pride (e.g. Ps 101:5; Prov 16:5; Isa 2:12; Rom 12:16; James 4:6) and envy (e.g. Mark 7:22; Prov 14:30; 1 Cor 13:4; Gal 5:21; James 3:14; 1 Pet 2:1). We detect these sins easily enough in others, but how can we examine our own hearts? Particularly when it comes to our service in the body of Christ, it is possible for these sins to sneak in subtly under false pretences. Although they are rarely listed together in Scripture, I think there is a good deal of overlap between them, and they can be detected if we consider the attitudes we have when we compare other people’s gifting and ministries with our own.

Pride will affect the way we think about others who we consider to have less gifting or are less spiritual than ourselves. Envy will affect the way we think about those who have more recognition, success or status in our own area of gifting.

Pride and envy stop us receiving from other people who minister to us. We won’t be taught or served by them, as we know better (pride), or resent not being in their shoes (envy).

Pride and envy stop us rejoicing with other people as they are used by God in ministry. We don’t want to share the limelight with someone else (pride), or we resent them having opportunity that we would like ourselves (envy).

Pride and envy stop us recognising the gifting other people have for ministry. We begrudge them praise and opportunity because it detracts from the our own status (pride), or we have a critical attitude because we are bitter that they are doing what we want to do while we are not (envy).

What’s the remedy for these obnoxious attitudes? Humility. May the Holy Spirit help us to search our hearts and repent of any pride and envy we find there.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

Book Review – Prophetic Evangelism (Mark Stibbe)

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Prophecy and evangelism are not often thought of as going together, but in this book, Mark Stibbe argues forcefully for the importance of the gift of prophecy as an evangelistic tool. By “prophetic evangelism” he means God speaking supernaturally through a believer to an unbeliever in such a way that convinces the unbeliever of the reality of God. He also believes that God can speak prophetically to unbelievers in ways which are significant steps towards their conversion. He demonstrates many examples from Scripture where prophetic insight had evangelistic impact (For example: Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus and Nathaniel, Peter and Cornelius, Joseph and Pharaoh)

He is clearly aware that all sorts of objections will be raised. What about the primacy of the gospel? What about other methods of evangelism? What about false prophecy? Isn’t prophecy just for the church? The answers he provides are sensitive to evangelical concerns for the Scriptures to be our guide and the Gospel to be our message. However, he does presume sympathy to a charismatic view of the gifts.

The book is written for a wide audience, and should not take too long to read, especially as it contains a generous helping of prophetic evangelism anecdotes. Although I have heard Mark Stibbe preach on only 6 or 7 occasions, I think I had heard pretty much all his stories before!

The aim of the book is to encourage people to try it, based on his firm belief that all can and should seek to prophesy. As well as providing guidelines for prophecy which will act as safeguards against potential problems, he also outlines some suggestions for how churches can train people in this gift. He is a proponent of the “have a go” school of thought, where after a seminar on prophecy, delegates are actively encouraged in small groups to attempt to prophesy over one another. I have always been somewhat uneasy about this approach as it pressurizes people to make things up if they have heard nothing. I certainly have been on the receiving end of obscure prophecies at such events.

I think this book will widen the reader’s horizons about how God can use the prophetic gift in evangelism. It will inspire you to pray for God’s supernatural intervention as you witness. There is a danger that it will leave people feeling somewhat inadequate, as their own experience falls short. How widespread this gift ought to be, is a point hard to determine Biblically. Mark Stibbe clearly feels we should expect much more of it.

On the whole, Mark Stibbe’s handling of Scripture is careful. I questioned his exegesis at a couple of points (e.g. on Rom 12:6 and his defence of a tripartite human nature), but this book has the potential to add a new dimension to charismatic thinking about the gift of prophecy.

New Frontiers Leadership Conference – Wednesday

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I had the privilege of attending the New Frontiers Brighton leadership conference for the day on Wednesday. I arrived just in time to sneak into Ian Stackhouse’s seminar on preaching. I chose the seminar because I had never heard him before and I was hoping that he might discuss some of the issues in his new book (that I haven’t read) – the Gospel Driven Church. However, the main point of the seminar was that preaching is still relevant and that we should stick to the Biblical text and let it speak. He seemed to disapprove of using lots of illustrations or preaching on topics and current events without explicitly saying that you shouldn’t. I was annoyed I hadn’t chosen Philip Greenslade’s seminar instead.

Anyway, things greatly improved for me when I got to the bookshop. I noticed a man buying 10 volumes of the Word Biblical Commentary series. I knew immediately that this meant it was on special offer and so I ran to make sure I grabbed the 2 volume Hebrews commentary by William Lane. This means I now own my first choice commentary on each book in the New Testament.

The first main session of the day was a sermon by Dave Holden, and as usual he was outstanding. His main point was encouraging those who build churches to build them well. I had lunch with a doctor and two pastors, who discussed how to help people with terminal illnesses (the balance between praying for healing and preparing people for death). It was a subject that I felt way out of my depth on, but for these guys, its part of their job.

The afternoon was a seminar by PJ Smyth, one of New Frontiers up and coming new leaders. His style is very dynamic, and he likes his audience to participate with various noises and actions. My preference is for preachers to be a bit more boring and academic, but I guess I’m in the minority there as lots of people really appreciated his style. His sermon also brought up the interesting issue of how we treat contemporary prophecy as compared to the Bible. Much of the sermon was based around significant prophectic words spoken about New Frontiers. His main point was that New Frontiers needs to be getting into the major world cities and building big (‘juggernaut’) churches from which to plant smaller (‘fiat uno’) churches.

I had dinner with a bunch of Ukranians who didn’t speak any English, but I did also get to speak to someone who has just got back from an extended visit to Zimbabwe. Sounds like things are really bad there – she told us about beheadings of people who voted the wrong way in the recent elections.

The evening was CJ Mahaney. I explained to someone beforehand that CJ was a very dynamic and amusing speaker, and most likely to speak on subjects such as humility, suffering or the cross. I got it exactly right. He did one of his typical extended introductions where he waxes lyrical about his gratefulness, love and admiration for New Frontiers. Finally, he preached a very solemn and passionate sermon on Christ’s gethsemane experience – where he looked into the cup. It was an unashamed advocation of the penal substitution theory of the atonement, which it looks like New Frontiers are underlining their commitment to in light of Steve Chalke’s book, which Dave Holden had subtly alluded to in his talk.

Another great blessing of the conference was that it gave me an opportunity to finally meet Andrew Fountain, who I have been in email contact with for some time now. (In fact we met up just before the conference as well). I’m hoping to get him round to my house to tell me all about New Covenant Theology before he heads back off to Canada.