Tag: Charts

Charting Paul’s Life and Ministry: a book review

This is the second book in the Kregel Charts of the Bible series I have reviewed for my blog.  The previous volume focused on a particular book (Hebrews).  Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul explores what we know of Paul in Acts and his Epistles and delves into his theology. Because this book doesn’t focus on one New Testament book, it does not have the focus that Bateman’s Hebrews charts did; however Lars Kierspel does a great job of providing an overview of Paul. In 111 charts, Kierspel organizes and presents information about Paul’s Greco-Roman context, information about his life and ministry, the purpose and content of various letters, and the theological themes developed throughout the Pauline corpus.

The charts are organized under four headings. “Paul’s Background and Context” discusses Paul’s first century context (charts 1-9). In this section, Kierspel summarizes pertinent information about Roman political and social life, Greco-Roman religion, and first century Judaism and how these contexts inform Paul’s life. In Part 2, “Paul’s Life & Ministry,” Kierspel looks at Paul’s life, his various missionary journeys, the cities he visited and the men and women he interacted with (charts 1-34).  Included in this section are charts illustrating Paul’s miracles, prayers and speeches, as well as comparisons between the portrait of Paul in Acts versus the Epistles.  Part three (charts 35-77), “Paul’s Letters,” examines the epistles and records information on Pauline authorship, his literary sources and structure, OT and intertestamental allusions, Pauline vocabulary, and provides ‘snapshots’ of each letter. The final section, “Paul’s Theological Concepts,” traces various themes through Paul’s teaching (78-111).  These include theological concepts (i.e. Christology, Pneumatology, Soteriology, etc.) as well as Paul’s teaching on ethics, virtue and vice, men and women, and slavery. The final two charts summarize modern Jewish views of Paul and compare and contrast old and “new perspectives” on Paul.

I like the concept of these chart books for several reasons. Most of the information in these books can be found in good commentaries, but charts make the information available at a quick glance. They are a good pedagogical-aid for teachers and a good study-tool for the rest of us. When I am studying a book of the Bible, I find charts and tables useful tools for organizing information and tracing concepts through a book.  These charts will be useful to anyone who wants to get a deeper grasp of Pauline theology.  Of course there are limitations to this format  Not everything about Paul is charted and I thought there could be more exploration of contemporary theology than Kierspel does here, but these are charts and so are by necessity brief. Mostly this volume is just great at parsing historical and exegetical data, meaning regardless of  your theological perspective, whether it be old or new, wrong or Wright, you will find this book a helpful resource.

Some of my personal favorite charts include:

  • Parallels between Acts and the Pauline Corpus (11)
  • Differences between Acts and the Pauline Corpus (12)
  • All Women Mentioned By and Around Paul (22)
  • Paul’s Prayers (27)
  • Hapa Legomena in Paul’s Letters (43)
  • Key Words in Romans (54)
  • Metaphors of Salvation (86)
  • Participation with Christ (87)
  • Virtues in Paul’s Letters (100)

 

I give this book four stars and commend it to you as a helpful resource for understanding Paul’s theology.

 

Thank you to Kregel Academic for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

The Book of Hebrews is Not Uncharted Territory: a book review

No one knows who wrote the book of Hebrews (though everybody has a theory). It is tucked into the New Testament behind Paul’s epistles but it is unclear what its relationship to Paul is.  Hebrews is a complicated book full of theological insights. In its pages, the author expounds a high Christology which pictures Jesus as: above the Angels, the great high priest in the order of Melchizedek, our mediator and our sacrifice. He also issues warnings and exhorts his recipients to remain faithful. Hebrews describes in vivid detail how Jesus Christ fulfills Israel’s hopes and expectations. This is an important book; yet outside the ‘hall of faith’ chapter (Heb. 11), many find the book’s message difficult to understand and grapple with. In part, this is due to a widespread ignorance of the Old Testament (which Hebrews’ quotes through out), but there is also just a lot to grapple with in the text.

Charts on the Book of Hebrews by Herbert W. Bateman IV

Herbert W Bateman IV has done the church and academy a service in summarizing the contents of Hebrews and the scholarly conversation on its contents. Charts on the Book of Hebrews provides a comprehensive outlook on Hebrews. One-hundred-and-four charts (or tables) provide windows for understanding the text.  In four sections, Bateman maps out the scholarly debate on authorship, reception, genre and structure of Hebrews (part 1), the Old Testament and Second Temple allusions (part 2), the theology of Hebrews (i.e. God, Christology, and important themes) (part 3), and exegetical issues (part 4). These tables give an overview of  the book and some of the interpretive issues various commentators have faced.

While Bateman is theologically conservative (as am I) and a dispensationalist (which I’m not), the main value of this book is descriptive.  Bateman’s charts survey the literature on Hebrews and describe the various scholarly and historic opinions on its interpretation. They also parse exegetical data (i.e. repeated motifs, important words, Old Testament and Second Temple Era allusions, etc.). Regardless of your theological persuasion, you are bound to find these charts helpful in illuminating the text.

I plan to make good use of this book the next time I’m preaching and teaching on Hebrews. Most of the information in this book, I would expect to find in a good critical commentary, but the fact that Bateman collects and presents through this text (rather than exegeting and interpreting) means that the value of this book is way it aids the reader in their own exegesis and understanding of the text.  Information about structure, genre, authorship, the theological content, Old Testament allusions, textual issues, etc., are labeled and organized. This makes this book a great reference for digging into the text (as opposed to being spoon-fed one commentator’s informed opinion).  Certainly I will be checking commentaries too, but these charts will provide a good first step. This is a tool worth using.

I especially appreciated Bateman’s summary of  historic approaches to authorship, destination and the structure of Hebrews (part 1), and the vivid way his charts illustrate the portrait of Christ that emerges in Hebrews (part 3).  I have no idea if this book on Hebrews is indicative of the quality of the rest of the Kregel Charts of the Bible series.  If it is, then I commend the whole series. I happily give this book 5 stars and think it will be a useful resource for understanding and exegeting Hebrews. I recommend it to anyone planning to preach and teach from the text and to those who just want a deeper understanding of this important book. ★★★★★

Thank you to Kregel Academic for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.