Here’s another forthcoming work form Zondervan that looks good:

The Bible among Other Myths
Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature?
John N. Oswalt

Sixty years ago, biblical scholars typically maintained that Israel’s religion was unique, that it stood in marked contrast to the faiths of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. But nowadays it is widely affirmed that Israelite religion mirrors that of other West Semitic societies. What accounts for this radical change, and what are its implications for our understanding of the Old Testament?

Dr. John N. Oswalt says theological and philosophical convictions account for this new attitude among scholars, rather than a revision to the data itself. Its roots lie in the Western world’s increasing hostility to the idea of revelation. Revelation, which presupposes a reality that transcends the world of the senses, is objectionable to people because it assumes the existence of a realm over which they have no control.

Oswalt makes a detailed comparison of the Old Testament and the other ancient Near Eastern religions. While not advocating a “the Bible says it, and I believe it, and that settles it” point of view, he asserts convincingly that the Bible’s historical claims cannot be disassociated from its theological claims.

This thought provoking book supplies a necessary corrective to rejecting the Old Testament’s testimony about a transcendent God who breaks into time and space and reveals himself in and through human activity. Instructors will find it to be an ideal supplemental textbook for courses covering the Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern backgrounds.

[see 2008 catalog, p. 16]

Zondervan announced today the availability of their Fall Academic Catalog.

Once of the more interesting features the description of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [see p. 6-7 of the catalog].

“This generation has been blessed with an abundance of excellent
commentaries. The key question to ask is, what are you looking for in
a commentary? This commentary series might be for you if
• you have taken Greek and would like a commentary that would
help you apply what you have learned without assuming you are
a well-trained scholar;
• you would find it useful to see a concise, one- or two- sentence
statement of what the commentator thinks the main point of
each passage is;
• you would like help interpreting the words of Scripture without
getting bogged down in scholarly issues that seem irrelevant to
the life of the church;
• you would like to see a visual representation (a graphical display)
of the flow of thought in each passage;
• you would like expert guidance from solid Evangelical scholars
who set out to explain the meaning of the original text in the
clearest way possible and to help you navigate through the main
interpretive issues;
• you want to benefit from the results of the latest and best scholarly
studies and historical information that helps to illuminate
the meaning of the text;
• you would find it useful to see a brief summary of the key theological
insights that can be gleaned from each passage and some
discussion of the relevance of these for Christians today.”

Key Features and Distinctives
• A graphical display of each passage enables the reader to grasp quickly and accurately the main idea of the
text, its development, and supporting ideas.
• “Theology in Application” section follows the commentary proper and reflects on the overall theological
message of the passage and its function in the biblical book and biblical theology as a whole. Further, discussion
of how the passage should be understood and applied in the church today is also included.
• Identification and discussion of the main idea of each passage occurs in the graphical display, the introduction
to the passage, and the “Theology in Application” section. Few commentaries do this consistently.
• Responsible interaction with the Greek text ensures that the commentary remains understandable to pastors,
teachers, and students.
• Scholarly, yet accessible. Though certainly familiar with the best scholarly literature on their book, contributors
only present the most important findings when appropriate for their church-serving readers.

List of ZECNT Volumes
Matthew—Grant R. Osborne
Mark—Mark L. Strauss
Luke—David E. Garland
John—I . Howard Marshall
Acts—Eckhard J. Schnabel
Romans—Frank Thielman
1 Corinthians—Paul Gardner
2 Corinthians—Bruce W. Winter
Galatians—Thomas R. Schreiner
Ephesians—Clinton E. Arnold
Philippians—George H. Guthrie
Colossians & Philemon—David W. Pao
1 & 2 Thessalonians—Gary S. Shogren
1 &2 Timothy and Titus—Gregory K. Beale
Hebrews—Douglas J. Moo
James—Craig L. Blomberg & Mariam J. Kamell
1 Peter—Michael J. Wilkins
2 Peter & Jude—Robert W. Yarbrough
1–3 John—Karen H. Jobes
Revelation—Buist M. Fanning II

Based on the author several of these look to be worth getting. Schreiner on Galatians (along with proposed commentaries by Carson [PNTC] and Moo [BECNT]) should be good. I’ve liked most everything I’ve read by Theilman so far. Moo on Hebews is also exciting. And Fanning on Revelation means a new dispensationalist treatment of that book (does anyone know if he is Traditional or Progressive?).

Today I received my Readers Hebrew Bible. As I was looking through it I was struck that my home contains not only multiple Bibles (I have a Bible I use for church, a Bible I use for devotions, Bibles I use at work, and a Bible I use for chapel), and not only multiple translations of God’s Word, but also multiple copies of Scripture in the original languages.

Surely many Christians in the western world have contemplated this blessing many times. It is a blessing worth thinking about, and blessing worth thanking the Lord for.

BJU Press announced today the release of two new books from professors at BJU’s seminary.

Upright Downtime: Making Wise Choices About Entertainment
by Brian Hand
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 978-1-59166-856-5
Publisher: BJU Press, 2008
Length: 116 pp.
Format: softbound

See the table of contents and first chapter here.

Christian and Drinking, The: A Biblical Perspective
by Randy Jaeggli
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 978-1-59166-919-7
Publisher: BJU Press, 2008
Length: 80 pp.
Format: softbound

See the table of contents and first chapter here.

So our life with God is in the deepest sense an enjoyment of him…. In the end, one cannot glorify God without enjoying him. The goal expressed by WSC, 1, is, in the most profound sense, not twofold, but one. God desires to share his glory with his people, his image, his sons and daughters, his bride. He is not like Molech (Lev. 18:21), the false god who demanded human sacrifice. Rather, our God delights in the fulfillment of human potential.

Grudging obedience is not what he desires of us. It may be better than no obedience at all, but it is seriously defective. We should seek, not only to obey him, but also to delight in obedience. That delight comes from prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, through immersion in the words of Scripture and the hearts of the great saints of redemptive history, and through fellowship of the church in Word and sacrament.

John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, 306.

Scripture does condemn selfishness and preoccupation with our own comfort and pleasure (Matt. 6:24-34; 1 Cor. 6:13; Phil. 3:19; 1 Tim. 5:6; James 5:5). It demands self-sacrifice, even enduring hardship (Matt. 24:13; Mark 10:29-30; 2 Tim 2:3; 4:5; Heb. 12:7; James 1:12; 1 Peter 2:19), and persecution (Matt. 5:10-12, 44; 10
:23; 13:21; John 15:20; Rom. 8:35; 12:14; 1 Cor. 4:12; 2 Cor. 12:10; 2 Thess. 1:4; 2 Tim. 3:12). But some of the passages that describe most graphically the rigors and difficulties of the Christians life also emphasize its rewards. [Frame notes Matthew 5:10-12; James 1:12; Mark 10:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:10.] Evidently, then, the biblical principle is that the pleasures of serving God are not primarily short-term, but long term, though of course God gives us many short-term blessings as well. Note the ‘little while’ by which Peter describes the length of our hardship: [here Frame cites 1 Peter 3:1-9]. Compare with this Paul’s reference to his ‘slight momentary affliction’ that is ‘preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’ (2 Cor. 4:17; cf. Rom. 8:18-25, 35-39). Although our suffering in the present may seem sometimes to outweigh the blessing of God, in eternity those troubles will seem tiny. And through God’s Word we are able to view the present time in the light of eternity, recognizing the true proportions of things. In that light, those like Paul are able to say, even in the midst of terrible suffering [see 2 Cor. 11:24-33], that it is light and momentary.

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 306.

I don’t get the common evangelical impulse to find whatever good can be salvaged from the wrecks of popular culture. The most recent example I’ve stumbled across is in the September issue of CT [print edition, p. 93].

Craig Finn, lead singer and songwriter for Brooklyn’s the Hold Steady, writes about drug addiction, casual sex, and Jesus. There’s lots of debauchery as well as religious iconography in most of these songs. . . . Stay Positive is a gritty, supremely uncomfortable masterpiece, a Christ-haunted work that finds glimmers of glory even in the gutter.

Of course good can be found in many depraved people and activities. The doctrine of total depravity does not teach that all men are as bad as possible. Thus it seems as though asking "is there anything good that can be found in this?" is the wrong question to ask of popular culture. If that is the question, the answer will always be yes.

Even God’s law, which we often regard as a stern taskmaster, is a delight to the redeemed heart (Pss. 1:2; 119:97; Rom. 7:22), a gift of God’s grace (Ps. 119:29). It is our way of life, not in the sense that it brings us eternal life apart from grace, but in the sense that it brings fullness of  blessing to those who are saved by grace and walk in God’s ways (Lev. 18:5; Deut. 5:33; 8:3; 11:13-15; 28:1-4; 30:11-20). God has given the law for our good (Deut. 10:12-13; 4:40; 12:28).

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 304.

The second prescriptive [of the WSC, viz. to enjoy God forever] is entirely scriptural. To redeemed human beings, glorifying God is a delight. In chapter 16, I showed how often Scripture mentions the rewards that God has promised to those who love him. Those rewards are delightful beyond our imagining, and they are a powerful motivation to obedience. In that chapter, I emphasized, that the Christian ethic is far removed from Kantian deontology, in which we do our duty for duty’s sake, with no thought of reward. Rather, in the Christian life, we seek to do God’s will for God’s rewards.

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 304.

Here are Frame’s comments from Chapter 16:

God promises rewards to his people, and they receive those rewards when Jesus returns. That promise serves as an additional motivation (Ps. 19:11; Matt. 5:12, 46; 6:1-6; 10:41-42; Rom 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:8-15; 9:17-25; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eph. 6:7-8; Col. 3:23-25; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4; James 1:12; 2 John 8; Rev. 11:18).

I confess that I was surprised by the number of times Scripture uses rewards to motivate obedience. Like many of us, I tend toward the Kantian notion that we should simply do our duty for duty’s sake and never think about reward. But that notion is quite unbiblical. If God takes the trouble (this many times!) to urge our obedience by a promise of reward, we should embrace that promise with thanks, not despise it. That is, we should not only do good works, but we should do them for this reason.

 

This teaching, of course, is not salvation by works or merit. Although the word reward is used in these passages, there is no suggestion that we have earned the reward in the sense that we have paid God what the reward is worth. Jesus says that even when we have done everything commanded of us (and not one of us has done that), we have none no more than our duty (Luke 17:7-10). Indeed, in that case we are ‘unworthy’ servants. Elsewhere, Scripture represents the reward as something out of all proportion to the service rendered (Matt. 19:29; 20:1-16; 24:45-47; 25:21-30; Luke 7:36-50; 12:37).

 

Nevertheless, there is some sort of gradation in the rewards given to individuals. . . . The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30; cf. Luke 19:11-27) provides the best argument for proportionate rewards. One cannot argue, however, that the degree of investment success ascribed to the first two servants entitles them, as a strict payment, to the master’s rewards. Rather, the master acts generously, out of the goodness of his heart. This is to say that here, as with every transaction we have with God, we deal with him as a person, not with an impersonal principle of cause and effect.

 

Essentially, the reward is the kingdom itself (Matt. 5:3, 10; 25:34), which comes by electing grace (Matt. 25:34; Luke 12:31-32). Good works follow, rather than precede, this gift (Luke 12:33-48). TO put it differently, the Lord himself is the inheritance of his people (Pss. 16:5; 73:24-26; Lam. 3:24). He is the inheritance of every believer. If there are differences of degree, they are differences of intimacy with the Lord himself. If some glorified saints lie closer than others to God’s heart, no one else will be jealous or angry, for the eternal kingdom excludes such emotions. Rather, the lesser members of that kingdom will rejoice t the greater blessings given to others, and those who are greatest will serve the lesser—beginning with the Lord himself [Luke 12:37] . . . . Who would not want as much intimacy as possible with such a wonderful Lord? Here is a reward that profoundly motivates holiness of heart and life.

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 283-85.

But the Catechism adds a second phrase to its formulation of our chief end: ‘to enjoy him forever.’ At first it is difficult to see how these two phrases fit together. The first is theocentric, but the second appears to be anthropocentric. The first is distinctly biblical, but the second sounds rather like the goal of pleasure in secular teleological ethics.

 

It helps to notice, however, that even the second phrase is centered on God. We are not to enjoy ourselves, but to enjoy him. So the second phrase calls us to find our chief enjoyment in God, not in the world. To embrace the enjoyment of God as the goal of life is to sing with Asaph:

 

Whom have I in heaven but you?

   And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

   but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

  you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me it is good to be near God;

   I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,

   that I may tell of all your works. (Ps. 73:25-28)

 

Although Asaph uses forms of the first person pronoun ten times in this passage, and thirty-three times in the whole psalm, these verses are profoundly theocentric. So when the Catechism moves from the first phrase to the second, it is not moving form God-centeredness to man-centeredness. Rather, it is looking at God-centeredness from two perspectives.

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 303f.