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Can You Trust Your New Testament as a Legitimate Text?

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John Samson has a wonderful article walking through, in non-technical language, the history of how we got the New Testament text we have today. In so doing, he addresses the foolish and cartoonish claim that reading the Bible is like a cosmic “telephone game” through history.

Samson explains:

The telephone game is fun exactly because it was designed to distort the message. It is one slim chain, one whisper at a time, and you cannot check the whisper you heard against anything else, not even the whisper before the one you heard. By the end of the line, you have no way to test anything that occurred along the way. Distortion is basically guaranteed.

The New Testament is the exact opposite to this.

Samson goes on to admit that we don’t have the original manuscripts, and there are many variants, but none of that is reason for concern.

If you’d like to know the truth behind how the text of your Bible landed in your hands, and why we have such an embarrassment of riches as evidence for its legitimacy, Samson’s article will not let you down.

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What it Means to “Apply” the Bible

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Chen Xie has a fascinating article about what it means to “apply” the Bible. He explores not only how to apply the Bible but also why it works the way it does. He explores different models for application that various biblical scholars have proposed. In so doing, Xie shows how they don’t contradict but fit together, tending to highlight one aspect or another of a larger framework.

In the end, Xie suggests that we can identify “right” application according to three criteria:

  1. Faithful use: We apply (use) the text as a norm in a way that is faithful to the canonical text and to the history of its orthodox reception in Christian tradition.
  2. Fitting relevance: We apply (relate) it to our present situations and make judgments that are fitting to new cultural contexts.
  3. Fervent devotion: We apply (devote) ourselves fervently to participate in the text’s world—God’s kingdom—and let it transform our whole person.

Xie also supports the robustness of the head/heart/hands model we promote on this blog. If you’re interested in understanding why we do what we do in application, Xie’s article is well worth your time.

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OT Quotes in NT: Excel Version Available

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Years back, I posted a spreadsheet listing every instance where the New Testament directly quotes the Old Testament. I included only direct quotes of OT texts, not allusions or echos of OT language, nor references to OT characters or events.

You can find my analysis of the information here, along with a series of posts highlighting the most quoted books, verses, etc.

This document has always lived as a Google Sheet, available to anyone who finds it on our Resources page. One such person, the keen and studious Matt Kauffenstein, wasn’t happy with Google Sheets. So he took matters into his own hands to convert it into an Excel spreadsheet, which you can now find here.

In addition, Matt improved the sheet with a search feature, so instead of scrolling or using Ctrl-F (Cmd-F on a Mac) to find a particular passage, you can now simply enter the text you want into the search box, and the sheet shows you all the matching results. You can search in this way for an OT text or a NT text.

You can find that improved document here. Both documents will settle down and build themselves a nice little cabin on our Resources page with all the other goodies there.

Thank you very much, Matt, for creating this for us and making it available to our readers!

Don’t Be Embarrassed by the Cursing Psalms

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Have you ever come across those poems of cursing in the book of Psalms? Scholars call them “imprecatory psalms,” which just means that they contain requests for judgment on evil. And not a general judgment on a vague sense of evil, but a concrete and specific sort.

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! (Psalm 109:9)

Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. (Psalm 3:7)

Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them! (Psalm 35:6)

It is quite common to find psalmists asking God to judge their enemies in such ways. Many have struggled with these psalms, such as C.S. Lewis, who believed them full of “vindictive hatred” (Reflections on the Psalms).

Here’s the question: Are such psalms opposed to Jesus’ instructions to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors? Do such prayers of cursing represent an older way of selfish thinking that has been reversed by the coming of the new covenant? And what should Bible teachers or Bible study leaders do when we come to such psalms in our study or teaching?

Daniel R. Hyde addresses these questions and more in this thorough piece on the imprecatory psalms. Hyde writes particularly to preachers, but his insights apply easily to any teacher or small group leader as well. According to Hyde:

Imprecations in the Psalms are not an embarrassment to be managed. They are part of the Scriptures that “bear witness” to “the things concerning” Jesus (John 5:39; Luke 24:27; 24:44). If these prayers make us uncomfortable, that discomfort is no reason to avoid or edit them—it’s a reason to learn how to preach them. As Elizabeth Achtemeier said, “If we have some problem with a passage in the Old Testament, it is not the Bible’s problem. It is ours.” The question is not whether Christians may pray for God’s justice, but how.

Hyde shows us that the imprecatory psalms enable us to hand justice over to God so we’re not tempted to execute it ourselves. He gives three reasons why God gave us the cursing psalms.

  1. They hand vengeance to God
  2. They teach the church to long for the kingdom
  3. They form the whole person before God

He goes on to explain to go about teaching these psalms in a Christian context. In the face of great evil, do not deprive yourself of the one weapon (prayer) God has given you to directly resist it. Hyde’s counsel is well worth your time.

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How to Derail a Bible Study

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Bobby Miller III recognizes four easy ways to derail a small group Bible study. Maybe you’ll recognize one or more of them. I sure do.

  1. Sideline the Bible to talk about other sources.
  2. Focus on personal issues rather than Bible interpretation.
  3. Look for ways others should change rather than applying the text to ourselves.
  4. Over-comfort and adopt a fix-it attitude rather than trusting God’s Spirit to bring change.

Here’s a taste of his advice on the first danger:

If you want to use other Christian material, do so wisely by having your group read the Scripture passages the sources are based on as well. Don’t assume every group member is already familiar enough with the Bible passage you’re studying. Instead, take the time to revisit each section in its context. You may be surprised by how much you discover.

This is good, practical counsel. Check it out!

It’s Not Too Late to Seek the Lord

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According to Joel 1, the day of disaster may already be upon you, picturing the day of the Lord to come. May this drive you to a day of prayer and repentance in hope of finding mercy instead of judgment.

Paul House walks through the argument of Joel 1, modeling how to trace themes, follow the train of thought, and make concrete and specific applications.

How should we think about such events [natural disasters]? Should we simply consider them a bit of bad luck? Should we think they punish bad people? Should we think God is not in control of such events? Should we just put such terrible events out of our minds? How can we think Biblically about what seem to be freakish acts of nature? I do not have all the answers to these questions.

House’s sample Bible study is well worth your time. Check it out!

Finding Motivation for Bible Reading

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Reagan Rose tells a compelling story of his transformation with respect to Bible reading, from feeling guilty to finding delight in the Scripture. He found the conviction that the Bible can be understood. He realized he didn’t have to read it, but he gets to read it. And he began seeing specific changes in his life as a result of reading it. He writes:

I write this in the hopes that it might be helpful to some other believer who, like myself, eagerly desires to read the Word with consistency but finds themselves discouraged by their lack of consistency.

Perhaps his testimony can encourage you as well.

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How Bible Study Changed One Life

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I’m grateful for Glenna Marshall’s delightful testimony that “Bible Study Changed My Life, and It Can Change Yours.” She reflects on the day she began taking Bible seriously, and how she’s never looked back.

For nearly fifteen years, I have filled up spiral notebooks with what God has taught me about his character from his word. I’ve added questions along the way, and I’ve learned to outline chapters and books and to dig into context and the historical landscape. I’ve learned to read Scripture through a gospel lens, holding the redemptive story arc in view as I study. I’ve learned to ask questions, to note themes and repeated words and timelines. I’ve learned to always look at cross-references, to let the New Testament writers teach me how to interpret the Old Testament. I’ve gotten better at paying attention to genre and style. I’ve learned that sometimes I won’t understand what I’m reading until I’ve spent a good long time sitting in the text. I’ve learned that the frustration I feel when I don’t understand is actually really good for my soul. I’ve learned that no matter how tired I am, how busy my day might be, or how much I hurt in body or soul, I will never, ever, ever regret time spent in God’s Word.

The rest of her report is well worth your consideraiton.

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4 Gospels, 4 Messages

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Mark Strauss has a very helpful piece on the different theological messages of each of the four gospels. He comments on the ancient practice of harmonizing the gospels into a single narrative of Christ’s life, which serves basic educational and apologetic purposes. However, he argues that the books ought to be taught separately so the theological themes of each one can be highlighted.

He covers the four ways they portray who Jesus is, the four ways they introduce Jesus’ life, the four ways they select what material to include, and their four distinct perspectives on the crucifixion. Here is a taste:

While a “harmony” of the Gospels may be useful for historical and apologetic purposes (for example, to resolve apparent contradictions), it is not the best way to preach and teach the Gospels. This is true whether you are preaching a series of messages through one Gospel or whether you are preaching a single passage found in a particular Gospel. As you read through each Gospel, listen for its narrative theology, the theological truths the Spirit-inspired author is seeking to convey.

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God’s Majesty on Earth in Psalm 8

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I think you’ll find much benefit in this brief study of Psalm 8 by Daniel Stevens. Stevens models many great OIA principles, such as:

Here is a taste:

What I want us to pay attention to as we look at this passage is first the framing of it, how we begin and end with the same words, “Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” This is ultimately, first and foremost, a psalm of praise for the majesty of God. Within that, however, we’re going to find sets of contrasts and possibly even a story that moves along. When we look at the first stanza, and indeed the second and the third, what we’re going to want to see is the ways in which contrasts are used to show God’s glory and his kindness to us. In the first we find the high and the low, the great and the small. His glory is above the heavens. We are brought into the realm of all of the cosmos, the stars in the sky, and his strength is in the mouth of babies and infants. The grand stars of the heavens and the smallest infant, both together show the glory of God.

Check it out!