Welcome to the September 2014 Biblical Studies Blog Carnival!

September means one thing in Texas: football season is back! And of course, I’m speaking of American football – both college and NFL teams are now on the field once again. I know that many of our biblical studies bloggers are more inclined towards the internationally recognized form of “football” (what we down here in Texas call “soccer”), so please accept my apologies for picking such a culturally-biased theme. You might enjoy the video below of a confused “football” coach attempting to coach a “soccer” team.

College football divides each team into certain conferences – the SEC (Gig ‘Em Aggies!), Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, etc. Thus, I’ve divided this month’s excellent blogging into four conferences:

– The OTC (Old Testament Conference)
– The NTC (New Testament Conference)
– The CHTC (Church History, Theology, and Hermeneutics Conference)
– The BRC (Book Review Conference)

However, just because a post might not be in one of the above conferences it still might have merited a place in the Wild Card Race (Miscellaneous Posts).

There were a ton of great blog posts this month.
Thanks to all who contributed –  happy reading!

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The OTC (Old Testament Conference)

• James Pate at James’ Ramblings asks the question from 1 Chronicles 27 that has been on everyone’s mind: Could priests (like Benaiah son of Jehoida – one of David’s mighty men) fight in war without violating purity laws?
• Brian Collins at Exegesis and Theology investigates the importance of “land” in Genesis 10.
• Craig Keener at Bible Background writes on Slaughtering the Benjamites:
  – Benjamin’s Depravity (Judges 19:1-20:28)
  – Merciless Anarchy (Judges 20:29-21:25)
• Rusty Obsorne at Law, Prophets & Writings lists Five Important Texts for Thinking About the Old Testament Canon.
• Paul Wallace makes an interesting link between Creationism and Gay Marriage.
• Chaplain Mike at the Internet Monk creates a hypothetical “Whirlwind Creation Museum.”
• Age of Rocks explores the question “Four Rivers, One Problem: Where in the World was the Garden of Eden?”

The NTC (New Testament Conference)

• Phil Long at Reading Acts has been doing a good amount of blogging on the Gospels recently:
  – First, he gives a series of posts on biblical criticism: Behind the Gospels: Source Criticism, Form Criticism, and Redaction Criticism
  – He writes on the Cultural Context of the Gospels: The Temple
  – He discusses the Words of Jesus and the Criteria of Authenticity
  – He asks interesting questions such as “Did Disciples of Jesus Keep Notebooks?” and “What About the Actions of Jesus?”
  – He comments on Jesus and the end of exile.
• Andrew Perriman asks “Was Jesus Wrong about Abiathar the High Priest?”
• Bill Heroman asks: “Did Jesus Bring the Twelve with him to Nazareth?
• Njay Gupta at Crux Sola writes: “Beyond the Myth/History Binary Approach to the Gospels”
• Larry Hurtado recommends an article by James Ware (concerning 1 Corinthians 15:3-5) in his post “Paul on Jesus’ Resurrection: A New Study” and also writes about the book of Acts: Part 1 | Part 2.
• Peter Leithart at the Trinity House writes on “Paul and the Troublers of Galatia.”
• Marg Mowczko at New Life explores:
  – “The Prominence of Women in the Cultic Life of Ephesus”
  – “Titus 2:5 – ‘Workers at home’ or ‘Keepers at home’?”
• Wintery Knight discusses “the earliest historical source on the life of Jesus.”
• Glenn at Thomistic Bent asks, “What About the Resurrection Body?”
• Here at Cataclysmic, I ask, “Did Mark’s Jesus HAVE to die on the cross?”
• Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed writes about “That Elect Lady” in 2 John.
• Ron Frost at Cordeo explores the role of the Holy Spirit in Romans.
• Jacob Cerone writes on “Jesus the Insurrectionist” in Luke 23.
• James McGrath at Exploring Our Matrix blogs on:
  – “The Case of the Severed Ear” from Mark 14 and parallels.
  – “An Interpolation in 1 Thessalonians”
• Brian Pounds at The Jesus Blog offers a reply to Dale Martin’s JSNT Essay on Jesus’ “Crucifiability”: Part 1 | Part 2
• Robert Myles at The Jesus Blog on “The Homeless Jesus in Matthew.”
• Wayne Coppins at German For Neutestamentler comments on “Bultmann, Kasemann, and The Righteousness of God in Paul.”
• Matthew Malcom at Cryptotheology writes on 1 Corinthians:
  – 1 Corinthians 11 and Subverted Hierarchy
  – 1 Corinthians 12:33-34 and Silenced Women
• Biran Leport at Bible Study and the Christian Life asks, “Was John the Baptist Elijah Redivivus?”

The CHTHC (Church History, Theology, and Hermeneutics Conference)

• Eerdword reflects on the legacy of Pannenberg: Remembering Wolfhart Pannenberg
• Doug Chaplin at Catholicity writes on “The First Century Church and Its Varied Meeting Places.”
• Larry Hurtado clarifies and corrects a few issues concerning “The Codex and Early Christians.”
• Shane Fenwick at Living Agape explores “The Gospel of the Church Fathers.”
• Ian Paul at Psephizo writes on “The Spirit and Critical Study”: Part 1 | Part 2
• Here at Cataclysmic, Chad Chambers reminds us that “The Spirit Energizes.”
• Medieval Manuscripts writes on “Visions of the Apocalypse: A Heavenly Choir or a Lake of Fire?”
• Roger Olsen blogs about:
  – Calvinism and God-Ordained Suffering
  – What is Marcionism? (My Response to a Ludicrous Accusation)
  – Follow Up Thoughts on God and Genocide
  
• Rob Grasyon at the Internet Monk talks about the oh-so-common phrase “The Bible Clearly Says.”
• Jonathan Bernier at Critical Realism and the New Testament writes:
  – On innerancy: “The First Word”
  – Concerning Medieval Exegesis: “The Medieval Criteria”
• Wyatt Houtz at PostBarthian examines “Herman Bavinck’s Organic Inspiration of the Scriptures.”
• Ben Myers at Faith and Theology on the question: “Does Theology Reflect Self-Interest?”
• Jeff Carter suggest that “Faithful Children Doubt the Bible.”
• Ben Corey at Formely Fundie lists “5 Things to Consider Before Taking the Left-Behind Movie Seriously.”
• Speaking of Left Behind, here at Catalysmic Michelle Mikeska re-blogged her popular post: “Why Left Behind series should be Left Behind.”
• Fred Clark at Slacktivist narrates that “The White Evangelical Tribe is Itself Post-Evangelical”: Part 1 | Part 2.
• Paul Penley at Jesus Creed argues that “Bible Reading Destroys the Church”:
  Part 1 | Part 2
• Here at Cataclysmic, I explore how Jesus interpreted divine violence in the OT.
• Don’t miss out on the continuing “Does the Bible Ever Get it Wrong? Facing Scripture’s Difficult Passages” blog series at Michael Kruger’s Canon Fodder:
  – #2: Craig Blomberg
  – #3: Darrell Bock
  – #4: Andreas Kostenberger
  – #5: John Currid
• While you’re reading the above, don’t forget to check out Peter Enns’ 17th installment of his “Aha” Moments: Biblical Scholars Tell Their Stories series: Michael Halcomb.

BRC (Book Review Conference)

•  Kevin Brown had a busy month and produced the following book (and movie) reviews:
  – New Testament Language and Exegesis: A Diachronic Approach by Chrys Caragounis
  – The Vine and the Son of Man: Eschatological Interpretation of Psalm 80 in Early Judaism  by Andrew Streett
  – The Death of Jesus by Alexander J.M. Wedderburn
  – The Spirit of God and the Christian Life: Reconstructing Karl Barth’s Pneumatology by JinHyok Kim
  – UBS5 Greek NT
  – God’s Not Dead (Movie Review)
• Speaking of God’s Not Dead, J.W. Wartick also reviews it here.
• Jim West reviews:
  – Paul and Mark and Mark and Paul
  – Deviant Calvinism by Oliver Crisp
• Njay Gupta at Crux Sola endorses:
  – Thinking Through Paul by Longenecker and Still
• Jim Lee at The Domain for Truth reviews:
  – The Doctrine of the Christian Life (A Theology of Lordship) by John Frame
  – Can I Really Trust the Bible? by Barry Cooper
• J.W. Wartick reviews:
  – The New Atheist Novel by Arthur Bradley and Andrew Tate
• Phil Long at Reading Acts reviews:
  – Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism edited by Hays and Ansberry
• Nick Peters at Deeper Waters has also been busy reading and reviewing books (here’s a sample):
  – Where the Conflict Really Lies by Alvin Plantiga
  – The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss
  – Crucifixion by Martin Hengel
  – The Civil War as a Theological Crisis by Mark Noll
• James Pate at James’ Ramblings presents a write-up on:
  – Why John Wrote a Gospel by Tom Thatcher
• Here at Cataclysmic, I review:
  – The Bible Tells Me So… by Peter Enns
• John Byron at The Biblical World also reviews:
  – The Bible Tells Me So… by Peter Enns
• Joshua Paul Smith reviews:
  – Before Nature: A Christian Spirituality by H. Paul Santmire
• Michael Bird reviews:
  – Born of a Virgin by Andrew Lincoln
  – Kingdom Conspiracy by Scot McKnight

The Wild Card Race (Miscellaneous Posts)

• Kris Lyle at Old School Script starts a series on Discourse Grammar:
  – Discourse Matters: Backgrounding background information (3 Macc 1:7)
  – Discourse Matters: Why front a topic? (James 2:10)
  – Discourse Matters: Focus elements that aren’t fronted (James 2:10)
• Bill Heroman produces a great seven-post series on Memory & Narrative:
  – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
• Daniel B. Wallace comments on the larger problem behind Joel Osteen and Christian Narcissism.
• Rod at Political Jesus writes on “Quitting the Progressive Christian Internet: Weeds Along the Moral High Ground”: Part 1 | Part 2.
• Eric Chabot offers the following posts:
  – “A Look at Six Christological Titles For Jesus”
  – “Three Things the Gospel Writers Would Have Never Invented”
  – “Jewish Objections: Jewish People Don’t Believe in a Suffering/Atoning Messiah”
• Tony Burke at Apocryphicity continues his series on Christian Apocrypha:
  – 8: The Qasr El-Wizz Codex
  – 9: The Legend of the Thirty Silver Pieces
  – 10: The Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist
  – 11: Acts of Titus
• Marg Mowczko at New Life explains “Why Masculine Pronouns Can Be Misleading in English Bibles and In The Church.”
• Anthony LeDonne at The Jesus Blog asks, “Is Memory Selectivity Bad?”
• Christopher Skinner (what a great last name, by the way) at Crux Sola continues his interesting series on Jesus in Contemporary Culture:
  – Part 1 – Jesus in Contemporary Culture
  – Part 2 – What Else Do You Expect From Those College Religion Professors?
  – Part 3 – The Passion of the Christ
  – Part 4 – Restraint and Masculinity
  – Part 5 – A Headache Jesus Can’t Shake
• Jim Lee at The Domain for Truth writes on “Missions: Distinguishing Between Relief and Transformational Development”
• Peter Leithart blogs about everyone’s favorite topic: Eschatological Ontology.
• Chris Skinner (still stunned by such an aesthetically-pleasing last name) also offers his thoughts on “Negative Reviews and Unintentional Slights: Some further tips on not being jerk in Academia”
• Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed offers a series on “Corporal Punishment”:
  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
• Larry Hurtado writes on “PhD Studies in the UK (and Edinburgh in particular).”
• Sarah Beth at Broken and Contrite Hearts reminds us that “Jesus is Not the Definition of Self-Righteous.” 
• Seumas Macdonald at Compliant Subversity gives three examples to illustrate the truth that when one begins to study “advanced Greek grammar” – Nothing Is As It Seems” while also finishing his six part series of interviews with Communicative Greek teachers.
• Josh Graves writes on “Reading the Bible and the Bible Reading You” at Jesus Creed.
• Claude Mariottini writes on the very serious topic of pastors who commit suicide: “When Pastors Kill Themselves.”
• Fred Butler at Hip and Thigh reviews Adam Tucker’s Presuppositional Apologetic Critique: Part 1 and Part 2.
• John Walton at BioLogos writes “On Being Right or Wrong.”
• Nijay Gupta at Crux Sola asks, “Is Blogging Bad For Your Academic Career?”
• Michael Bird comments on “When Conservatism Becomes an Idol.”
• Brian Renshaw on “The Liturgy of the iPhone” – especially convicting coming on the heels of the iPhone 6 release.

* * *  New Blog Alert  * * *
Michael Forth, a doctoral student at Aberdeen, has started a new blog: PonderForth. Check out his first blog post, “Is Christian Fundamentalism a Manifestation of Liberal Theology?”

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[1] Did I miss a great post from the month of September? Post a comment with the link so that we can all enjoy it!

[2] Next month’s Biblical Studies Blog Carnival (October 2014) will be hosted by Brian Renshaw on November 1. Be sure to stay tuned for another month of blogging greatness.

[3] Phil Long at Reading Acts is still looking for volunteers to host future Carnivals. This is my “emotional plea” for a few decent folks to step up and help continue this biblioblog tradition! If you’re interested and/or willing to be coerced, please contact Phil through his blog.