Todd Scacewater

Todd (PhD, Hermeneutics) serves with Wycliffe Bible Translators as a professor of international studies at Dallas International University.

Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism, eds. Hays and Ansberry

June 9, 2015

Todd Scacewater

You should buy this book and read it. I don’t suggest that because I agree with the basic premise of each chapter, but because I disagree with it. This book takes various historical-critical conclusions and determines whether they can be squared with Evangelical (or even orthodox) dogma. The tension between Evangelicalism and historical criticism tension is perhaps felt more in Old Testament studies, with dating conclusions in constant flux….

Winner of Giveaway of His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

June 7, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Congratulations to Luther Herche, winner of our book giveaway of His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Crossway generously offered to provide one free copy (plus free shipping) to the winner of our giveaway, which we held in conjunction with our review of the new book. If you haven’t seen the book, it’s an excellent set of sermons focused on the person of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel that were preached at the 2013 TGC conference. You can find our review and links to buy the book here.

Weekly Roundup June 5, 2015

June 5, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Blogs

Has Preaching Changed since the Early Church? by Peter Sanlon at 9Marks

Baker Academic is giving away three copies of Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology. Enter here to win.

Nancy Guthrie’s Help Me Teach the Bible podcast hosted Mark Futato to talk about the psalms….

Announcing Jennifer Guo as Our Newest Contributor

June 4, 2015

Todd Scacewater

This week we welcome and are very excited to have Jennifer Guo join our team of contributors. Jennifer has worked as a full-time accountant and grow up a staunch atheist, until she had what she describes as a Damascus Road type experience during her undergrad. Since then, she has fallen in love with theology and biblical studies – so much so that she has given up her career as an accountant to pursue a research MDiv at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She has been running her own blog for quite a while and has amassed a pretty loyal and impressive audience. This Spring she broke into the top 40 biblioblogs. I’ll let her do the rest of the introduction….

IVP Bible Background Commentaries: Old and New Testaments

June 3, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Craig Keener’s Bible Background Commentary has sold over half a million copies. It was first published in 1993 and has been of great assistance to students and pastors for a quick reference to the background issues at stake in a certain passage. What’s the deal with head coverings? Baptism for the dead? Who are the Epicureans? What was Ephesus like, and what is the Temple of Artemis? These are questions that you could certainly Wikipedia in a jam, but why not allow a seasoned scholar who focuses on NT background explain it for you? And he does it in one not-so-large volume!

Three New Titles from SBL Press

June 2, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Three new titles were released by SBL Press this week, and they all look tantalizing.

The Didache: A Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Early Christianity (Early Christianity and Its Literature), ed. Draper and Jefford (SBL)

This is an edited volume with essays discussing liturgical and ritual constructions in the Didache, background studies, and the document’s relation to the Gospel of Matthew….

Introduction to the Grammar of Jewish-Babylonian Aramaic, by Elitzur A. Bar-Asher Siegal

June 1, 2015

Todd Scacewater

I took Aramaic last year and really enjoyed it. In addition to the biblical texts, we translated some older Aramaic inscriptions and I got to see a bit of the diachronic development of the language. But I was quite a bit removed from Jewish-Babylonian Aramaic, the language of the Babylonian Talmud.

Grammar Jewish-BabylonianSiegal’s grammar, Introduction to the Grammar of Jewish-Babylonian Aramaic, seeks to introduce the student to this period of Late Aramaic. He divides Aramaic (following Fitzmyer) into the following periods in his introduction….

Weekly Roundup 5/23-5/29

May 29, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Blogs

John Piper walks (draws) you through part 3 of his Rom 9:1-5 series at Look at the Book.

How to Choose a Seminary: Ten Things to Investigate as You Seek God’s Will, by David McAlpin

Warren Campbell reviewed the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology – our most popular post yet.

Don’t forget we’re still giving away one free copy of His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, ed. Carson/Nielson. Click here to enter….

Weekly Roundup 5/16-22

May 22, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Blogs 10 Unforgettable Lessons on Fatherhood. Ray Ortland bears witness to his father Ray Ortland Sr., pastor of Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena for twenty years, who led a life devoted to his family and to God. We reviewed a great Greek resource by Murray Harris, an exegetical guide to Colossians and Philemon. If you want to improve your Greek, this is one of the best resources available. We also reviewed His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, ed. Carson, which has a…

Greek Reading: Colossians 1:1-4

May 21, 2015

Todd Scacewater

The first video in a series walking through the Greek text of Colossians to focus on translation, basic grammar and syntax, vocabulary, and morphology.