Digital Commons Network^™

Justification By Faith According To The Old Testament: In The Footsteps Of The Reformers, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

Martin Luther asserted that “if we lose the doctrine of justification, we lose simply everything.” Luther believed that justification is “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls.” In the preface to his Forty-Five Theses drawn up in 1537, Luther makes this impassioned plea: “The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all Church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness.” John Calvin considered the doctrine of …

Ministry Without Borders: Insights From The New Testament, Katelyn Campbell, Boubakar Sanou, Hyveth Williams

Faculty Publications

On the basis of the evidences surveyed above, although there is functional distinction among the laos of God, if we consider the body imagery given to the church and the variety of spiritual gifts (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12–14 and Ephesians 4), there should be no status, gender, class or hierarchical distinction, because all believers and ministries are equal before God (Acts 10:34; Galatians 3:26–28). While the clergy/ laity hierarchical distinction is embedded and assumed in religious circles, it cannot be found in the New Testament. Rather than being the activity of a spiritual aristocracy or the work of a …

The Book Of Revelation: Guidelines For Responsible And Meaningful Preaching, Ranko Stefanovic

Faculty Publications

"Cautious preachers will be aware that their exposition of Revelation has far-reaching effects on the listeners,whether for blessing or eternal loss.

Therefore, it is of primary importance for preachers to acquaint themselves with the principles of prophetic inter- pretation so that they may be sure that their exposition of Revelation’s messages matches the intention of the inspired author who wrote down and organized theologically what had been shown to him in vision. This article provides several prac- tical guidelines for responsible and meaningful preaching of Revelation. This is a product of my own pilgrimage and many years of personal experi- …

Searching For The Center Of Adventist Theology: What Can Sanctuary, Ritual, And Theology Add To This Search?, Gerald A. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

All Kindreds Shall Be Blessed: Nephite, Jewish, And Christian Interpretations Of The Abrahamic Covenant, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

A review of current and traditional scholarship regarding the covenant God made with Abraham combined with a thorough review of Book of Mormon references shows that the Nephite understanding varies in important ways from traditional Christian and Jewish interpretations. However, some of the insights of contemporary scholarship are more compatible with the Book of Mormon perspective.

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Scholars have long recognized that a number of ancient cultures shared a traditional doctrine of the Two Ways that could be used to instruct youth and others in the right way to live their lives. While the language of the Two Ways surfaces on occasion in both the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine is not developed or explained in any detail in the Bible. However, noncanonical texts of the Greco-Roman period display a highly developed and stylized form of the doctrine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The earliest known version of these stylized forms of the doctrine occurs …

Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Interpretation of God's covenant to Abrahamic and its promised fulfillment varies across scholarly and religious writings. The Book of Mormon emphasizes this covenant and the promise that through Abraham all the kindreds of the earth will be blessed. It also features a unique interpretation--that the covenant will be fulfilled as the Book of Mormon itself, a record of the seed of Joseph, is given first to the Gentiles, and then to house of Israel.

The Wedding At Cana (John 2:1-11): Reading The Text In The Cultural Context Of Ephesus, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Babylon And New Jerusalem In The Book Of Revelation: Imagery And Ethical Discernment., Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Image Of The Beast From The Land (Rev 13, 11-18): A Study In Incongruity, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Image Of The Beast From The Land (Rev 13, 11-18): A Study In Incongruity., Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Who Speaks For (Or Against) Rome? Acts In Relation To Empire, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Genre, Theology, And The God Of The Psalms, Rolf A. Jacobson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Old Testament And The Neighbor, Rolf A. Jacobson, Karl Jacobson

Faculty Publications

The dispute between Jesus and the legal expert in Luke over the question of “the neighbor” was certainly not a new conflict. It is possible to understand the Lucan exchange as a Midrash on sections from the Pentateuch and the Hebrew writings. Rolf and Karl Jacobson delve back into the Old Testament to find the roots of the Lucan dispute, and shed further light on this important biblical concept.

Marcion’S Gospel And The Resurrected Jesus Of Canonical Luke 24, Daniel A. Smith

Faculty Publications

From the publisher's website:

"New reconstructions of Marcion’s Gospel, which are considerably more sophisticated than past attempts, allow more certainty when comparing Marcion’s text with canonical Luke. This essay examines the presentations of the resurrected Jesus in canonical Luke and Marcion’s Gospel, with a particular focus on the text-critical problems in Luke 24 (especially the shorter Western readings) and on the distinctive ways the two texts theorize Jesus’ risen bodily presence (especially the terms φάντασμα and πνεῦμα, and σάρξ and ὀστέα). Parallel evidence from the letters of Ignatius indicates that the emphasis on touching Jesus, who has …

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Consistent with their preexilic Hebrew Bible predecessors, the Book of Mormon prophets taught a version of the Two Ways doctrine that featured (1) invitations to repentance defined as turning or returning to God’s way, (2) the context of the Abrahamic covenant, (3) the blessings and cursings that would come from obedience or disobedience, and (4) the contrast of the path of righteousness that leads to life with the path of evil that leads to death. But this analysis has also produced a number of expansions or refinements of the Two Ways doctrine that are not reflected in biblical treatments of …

The Latter-Day Saint Reimaging Of “The Breath Of Life” (Genesis 2:7), Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The creation and flood accounts in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) contain variations on a phrase commonly translated “the breath of life.” This phrase additionally occurs in some uniquely Latter-day Saint materials relating to creation. After overviewing and analyzing this phrase and its meaning in the Bible, this paper then examines the occurrences of the phrase “the breath of life” in important early Latter-day Saint texts.1 The purpose of this study is to illustrate and explain how and why many Latter-day Saints have come to often employ the phrase “the breath of life,” transforming its traditional …

Making Ritual Strange: The Temple Cult As The Foundation For Tannaitic Discourse On Idolatry, Avram R. Shannon

Faculty Publications

This article examines the Tannaitic conception of the worship of avodah zarah. The term is commonly translated as “idolatry,”but the definition of what constitutes worship of avodah zarah, in m. Sanh. 7:6, is based on a more nuanced notion than simply worship of foreign gods. For the Sages of the Mishnah, worship of avodah zarah involved misuse of objects and rituals associated with the Temple cult, which constituted a betrayal of covenantal loyalty. This means that although the rabbinic laws against the worship of avodah zarah were based on the biblical prohibitions against worshiping other gods, the actual …

Formed In And Called From The Womb, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Jeremiah’s call narrative or vocation report includes a clear example of pre-birth divine election:

(1:4) “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

(1:5a) ‘Before I formed you in the womb [babbetẹ n] I knew you,

(5b) and before you were born [came forth from the womb/mēreḥem] I consecrated you;

(5c) I appointed you a prophet to the nations’” (Jer. 1:4–5; NRSV).

However, there is ambiguity about the meaning of the phrase “from the womb” and there are persistent questions about the relationship between Jeremiah 1:5a—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”—and 1:5b+c, “before you …

God Of Sense And Traditions Of Non-Sense, Denis Fortin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sacrifice At Khirbet Qumran And In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Implications For Understanding The Wilderness Tradition And Penitential Prayers, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Neo-Subordinationism: The Alien Argumentation In The Gender Debate, Matthew L. Tinkham Jr.

Faculty Publications

Over the last forty years, the debate over gender roles in the home, church, and society has unprecedentedly escalated among Evangelical Christians—including Seventh-day Adventists—due to the introduction of an alien argumentation that grounds the permanent functional subordination of women to men ontologically in the being of God. This argument, which I have termed “neo-subordinationism,” states that women are ontologically equal but functionally subordinate to men because of a prescriptive hierarchical order that exists in the immanent Trinity and is recognizable through the economic Trinity. In this Trinitarian hierarchy the Son and the Holy Spirit are said to be ontologically equal …

The Nature And Work Of The Holy Spirit In The Pentateuch, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew word ruakh refers to the divine Spirit some sixteen times in fifteen verses of the five books of Moses, and the Holy Spirit is also prefigured in several Pentateuchal passages dealing with typological aspects of the sanctuary services. Each of these passages contains profound insights into the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. It is the thesis of this study that all of the major aspects of the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit are set forth, at least in nascent form, in the foundational divine revelation which comprises the Torah. We will examine each of these …

Power Or Person: Nature Of The Holy Spirit, Joann Davidson

Faculty Publications

Scripture is the primary source for any knowledge of the God of heaven—and when dealing with issues of divinity, it must be studied attentively and listened to carefully. Within its sacred pages God reveals Himself with a triune identity. The nature of the biblical God cannot be fully explained without God the Holy Spirit, along with Jesus and the Father. God’s personal plurality, seen throughout Scripture, presents One of the Three of the divine Godhead as the Holy Spirit. Because the Spirit has never been incarnated as Jesus was, He is more inscrutable, making, to a greater extent, potential misunderstandings …

Research Support Services For Religious Studies, Trevan Hatch, Ryan Lee, Gerrit Van Dyk

Faculty Publications

This project was part of a larger suite of similar studies being concurrently conducted at fifteen religious studies libraries in US higher education institutions in conjunction with Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting service that helps academic, cultural, and publishing communities. The information gathered in this study will not only be used to improve the research support services at Brigham Young University but also towards writing a larger report from the aggregated results written and publically disseminated by Ithaka S+R.

The Interplay Of Word And World: Biblical And Experiential Reflections, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

From his vantage as a New Testament scholar and seminary leader, Craig Koester reflects on the interchange between Word and World through the lens of biblical studies, especially through several examples. Koester is Vice President of Academic Affairs, Professor and Asher O. and Carrie Nasby Chair of New Testament at Luther Seminary.

The Number Of The Beast In Revelation 13 In Light Of Papyri, Graffiti, And Inscriptions, Craig R. Koester

Faculty Publications

Revelation’s portrayal of a tyrannical beast concludes with a riddle, which identifies the beast’s number as 666 (Rev. 13:18). Among the factors that complicate the interpretation of the riddle are: first, that there is a notable textual variant that reads 616 instead of 666; second, that there are differences over the appropriate method of interpretation; and third, that even those who agree about method may reach different conclusions. Many scholars find the most plausible interpretation to be that the number summarises the numerical value of ‘Nero Caesar’ written in Hebrew characters, while others find this proposal unconvincing. This article provides …

“My Heart Falters, Fear Makes Me Tremble” (Isaiah 21:4 Niv): Emotions And Prophetic Writings In The Bible, Gerald A. Klingbeil, Chantal J. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

"Emotions are an intricate part of what it means to be human. They are part of complex coping mechanisms installed by a Creator God whose own emotions are reflected in humanity’s creation in the imago Dei, the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27).¹ Joy, exuberance, anticipation, pleasure, delight, and happiness, must have all been part of God’s original make-up of humanity, for they characterize our existence today. We also experience, however, anger, sadness, sorrow, fear, depression, dejection, misery, and fury—emotions that became part of our emotive repertoire following the Fall in Genesis 3.²

Unfortunately, we have traditionally …

The Shepherd And The Exegetes: Hermeneutics Through The Lens Of Psalm 23., Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interview., Jiří Moskala, Ryan Nicholas Claude Brousson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.