Walker to Speak at ETS 2012

On November 14-16 the Evangelical Theological Society will be gathering in Milwaukee, WI for their annual meeting. Our own Josh Walker will be delivering a paper, "Δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ, The New Perspective, and Romans 1:16-17: A Linguistic Approach."

Below is an abstract for the paper that he will be delivering:

Within the current Evangelical discussion of the New Perspective on Paul, the two leading voices, N. T. Wright and John Piper, have many areas of disagreement. One fundamental disagreement in this debate relates to the way the Greek phrase δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ is understood in the Pauline corpus. Wright argues that this phrase refers to God’s faithfulness to his covenantal promises, while Piper interprets this construction as describing God’s commitment to his own glory. By defining δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in these ways, both scholars commit the exegetical fallacy known as illegitimate totality transfer by forcing their particular definitions into every instance of δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in the Pauline texts. One important example where both of their definitions do not fit is Rom 1:16 –17. It is argued that in this passage, δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ refers to “a righteousness from God” and not a characteristic of God, as both Wright and Piper contend. The primary reason for understanding δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in Rom 1:16–17 this way stems from the fact that Paul cites Hab 2:4 to explain this Greek phrase. When the Habakkuk text is understood as referring to a person who is righteous, and not to a characteristic of God, it then becomes evident that Paul employs δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in Rom 1:17 to mean a righteousness from God.

He will be delivering it at the Frontier Airlines Center room 202 C on November 15th from 3:00 to 3:40pm. For more information check out the program schedule. Once he is done, it might not be a bad idea to stick around and listen to Frank Thielman present.

62nd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society

A few days ago I received an email from Dr. Clinton E. Arnold, the ETS President-Elect & Program Chair, about this year's annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, which is meeting in Atlanta on November 17th-19th.

The theme for the annual meeting this year is “Justification by Faith.” The plenary speakers will be Pastor John Piper (Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis), the Bishop N. T. Wright (Bishop of Durham), and Dr. Frank Thielman (Presbyterian Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School). In addition to the usual plenary sessions, this year’s meeting features a two-hour panel discussion with the presenters on Friday morning.

I am looking forward to attending ETS this year. I do not have plans, at this time, to present a paper, but I am very excited about the theme and the panel discussion by Wright, Piper and Thielman on justification. I hope to see you there.

A Tribute to Josh Walker

Mr. Walker, our distinguished and erudite blogger, is going to be turning 85 on Tuesday. Born in 1924 to immigrant parents, Josh traveled the world, eventually discovering the fountain of youth after studying the handwritten journals of Francisco DeAntonia (which he stole from a safety deposit box in Zurich). After his adventures in South America, Josh settled into the common life of an elderly man who appears to be only in his late twenties. Having lived through the Great Depression, World War II (where he fought as a fighter pilot), the Vietnam War, and the Death of God movement in the '60s, Josh says he is no longer afraid of anything except sock puppets, crab bisque, preachers in cardigans, and those who deny penal substitutionary atonement. When asked what he still wants to accomplish in life, Josh just sips his warm milk, looks out the window fondly and smiling says, "I just want to write a book where I destroy all heresy."

Josh's 85th birthday is also a great opportunity for me to plug his Amazon wishlist. Ironically, most of our readers are probably poor ministers/students, but it's worth a shot! If anyone buys Josh a copy of A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, I will send you a free T-shirt, straight out of my own closet as a thank you gift. You will receive a lower quality gift as thanks for the higher quality gift.

And if you plan on being at ETS, you can even present your gift to him when he delivers his paper on the authorship of Hebrews on Thursday. I hate to be the kind to spoil Josh's conclusion, but a little bird told me that in his paper Josh concludes that Hebrews was written by Brian Setzer. Stop listening to Stray Cats while working on your paper, Josh!

Authorship of Hebrews and Psalm 2:7

I have been M.I.A. from Bring the Books because I have been working on my paper that I will be delivering at ETS on November 19th at 11 am. I have probably spent about 100 hours this year on this single paper. I am pleased with the research and conclusion of the paper but I need to work on the syntax and wording a bit more. One of the pieces of evidence I have found in my study that is pretty compelling to me is how Psalm 2:7 is used in the New Testament to prove a high Christology. Below in a section from my paper on this high Christology.

Hebrews and Paul both seem to have a high Christology. Hebrews 1:1-14 sets forth a Christ that is above the angelic beings. Likewise, Paul argues for an exalted view of Christ in Philippians 2:9-10 and Colossians 1:14-19. In relation to a high Christology, Hebrews 1:1-14 quotes five passages from the Psalter to make its point. The first of these is Psalm 2:7, which is alluded to by Paul in Romans 1:4 to make a strikingly similar point (i.e. high Christology). Further, this same passage from the Psalter is quoted by Paul, as recorded by Luke, in Acts 13:33. In this passage, as with the others, the point that is being made is a high Christology. The Romans and Acts passages link Psalm 2 with the resurrection, while the Hebrews passage links Psalm 2 with the ascension.

2009 ETS Annual Meeting Schedule

The schedule of the papers being given at ETS this year can be seen here. Our very own blogger extraordinaire, Josh Walker, can be found on the left-hand side of page 14. He will be delivering a paper entitled, "Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews: A Pauline/Lukan Perspective." Congrats again to Josh Walker! If you are attending, be sure to come by and say hello!

New Orleans Here I Come

Back in February I posted a blog about a paper proposal I submitted to the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). I received an email this evening from Eugene H. Merrill, Program Chair of ETS, with the 2009 annual meeting schedule. I opened the schedule and found out that my paper proposal was accepted. I am very excited and nervous about this. I am excited about the great opportunity that God has give me, while at the same time I am nervous because I know the view I will be arguing for in my paper is in the minority, very small minority (as in three other guys and myself). I would like to thank my good friend Andrew Pitts who first gave me the idea for this paper. Thanks Andrew, you have always been a good friend. Well, now I need to stop blogging and start to work on this paper. I have less than 6 months to get it done and ready to present. Here is the papers abstract.

In this paper I will argue that the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally a sermon (or sermons) that was preached by the Apostle Paul and that Luke subsequently transcribed or collated. Since, as Acts informs us, Paul traveled with Luke for many years, there was ample time and opportunity for Luke to hear and transcribe or collate Paul’s preaching. This hypothesis would best explain such early manuscript evidence as P46, which includes Hebrews within the Pauline corpus and such early church fathers as Clement, who holds to Pauline authorship of Hebrews. In addition, this hypothesis would explain the Epistle’s difference in style and vocabulary from the rest of the Pauline corpus. Since Luke’s Greek style is sophisticated, he is a prime candidate for the person who penned Hebrews, whose Greek style is also sophisticated. Further, the fact that Hebrews was originally a sermon would explain the notable absence of any salutation, which is customary for Paul’s other letters. The method for proving this position will be to examine the sermonic material recorded by Luke in Acts and comparing it to Hebrews. Further, the unique Greek style and vocabulary that is found in Hebrews will be compared with Luke’s other material, Luke/Acts.

Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews: a Pauline/Lukan Perspective

I just submitted the following paper proposal titled "Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews: a Pauline/Lukan Perspective" to the Evangelical Theological Society. I will keep our readers posted if I will be able to present this paper at this years annual ETS meeting in New Orleans, LA. Let me know what you think about my thesis. I would greatly appreciate any comments/criticisms to help make the paper as good as possible.

In this paper I will argue that the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally a sermon (or sermons) that was preached by the Apostle Paul and that Luke subsequently transcribed or collated. Since, as Acts informs us, Paul traveled with Luke for many years, there was ample time and opportunity for Luke to hear and transcribe or collate Paul’s preaching. This hypothesis would best explain such early manuscript evidence as P46, which includes Hebrews within the Pauline corpus and such early church fathers as Clement, who holds to Pauline authorship of Hebrews. In addition, this hypothesis would explain the Epistle’s difference in style and vocabulary from the rest of the Pauline corpus. Since Luke’s Greek style is sophisticated, he is a prime candidate for the person who penned Hebrews, whose Greek style is also sophisticated. Further, the fact that Hebrews was originally a sermon would explain the notable absence of any salutation, which is customary for Paul’s other letters. The method for proving this position will be to examine the sermonic material recorded by Luke in Acts and comparing it to Hebrews. Further, the unique Greek style and vocabulary that is found in Hebrews will be compared with Luke’s other material, Luke/Acts.

Lookout Providence!

Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. I will be heading with a fellow RTS student, Jonathan Kiel, and one of my professors, Dr. Miles Van Pelt, to Providence, Rhode Island to attend this year's annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. I am looking forward to this meeting. It will be great to see some good friends I have not seen for awhile. I also have a few important meetings with prospective Ph.D. advisers (scary and exciting). There are a few key papers I am looking forward to hearing. One is Dr. Van Pelt's paper on the days of creation. And another is Andrew Pitts' paper on word order in biblical Greek.

It is also worth noting that there is a movement that is trying to expand the doctrinal bias of ETS. There are many helpful links about this issue on the Founders Blog which can be found here. I am not a voting member of ETS so I cannot vote on this issue, but I would encourage all voters to look into this issue and give it serious consideration. As it stands right now, a person can be a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and have a horrible view about the evangel (the gospel). This seems very odd to me. Anyway, I will try to blog about the conference while I am there, but I do not know how busy I will be, so I cannot make any promises.