I left behind something like 3000 books when Gayle and I moved to Spain… a good move as I am not a great reader and have a fairly low vocabulary. When I get into a subject I like to dig fairly deep but there are huge gaps in what I grasp. Since the days of living in the UK though resources have increased enormously on the internet.
I first studied theology some 50 years ago; back then so much of evangelical theology was defensive. I remember the lectures of Dr. Donald Guthrie on the New Testament. Each book had to be shown to ‘apostolic’ and I always thought there was quite a bit of manoeuvring going on to prove this. Behind it was something bigger going on – a doctrine of Scripture. (Same motivation with Wayne Grudem and his (loved by charismatics) the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles spoke the inspired words of God… falls down some when looking at clearly unfulfilled OT prophecies – but the motivation is a predetermined view of Scripture). I liked what FF Bruce said when asking the rhetorical question as to why we have to add more than the simple statements such as ‘truth’ or ‘authority’ of Scripture. For some my doctrine of Scripture might be a little shaky, but I seek to live under the authority of what I read.
Anyway enough of that. Coming under the authority of (the story) of Scripture does not mean we cannot question what is there. What do I make of the ‘God-ordained’ genocide commands? Firstly I wish they were not there or at least there was a footnote explaining them. But there they are… just glad that the 66 books I read don’t end there… and that the infallible word of God was incarnated in Jesus. Loads I don’t get.
So to resources.
The bible project is an amazing resource, and free. Tim Mackie and Jon Collins are the two main people behind this who work with a team. Tim has a (more than) genuine PhD and is well versed in scholarship. He communicates in an amazingly down to earth way. Animated videos are available on every book of the Bible (plus a whole lot more). A great introduction to a book before reading it.
Try this one on Amos: https://bibleproject.com/videos/amos.
Want something a little provocative? Peter Enns got booted from his former position for his book on the Bible where he used the incarnation (human and divine) as the model. He (with his mate, Jared) interview a wide variety of scholars (simple language is used). Try the regular podcast:
https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/podcast.
Greek… always be suspicious when the smart guy says but the Greek actually says… then they kinda go to the ‘root word’ or to Strong’s concordance. Might get something 1% of the time, but that is not how language works. The Greek text though is available and maybe the best resource is the Step Bible. The Greek text that can be accessed there is bang up to date. Maybe a bit of hard work but for example I give my preferred translation (NRSV updated edition) a bit of a slap for the translation of Rom. 9:6 in the latest ‘extended article’ on All Israel will be saved (did I mention that an Open Zoom is coming up on this?)
Here is the NRSVue:
It is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those descended from Israel are Israelites,
In the light of what I am pushing for in that article: the importance of Israel, Jew, Israelite not being confused and the ‘seed/ descendant’ word being very key I consider there are confusions set up in the translation that I use (other translations are better on this). Here is what I wrote:
In reality all those descended from Israel are ‘Israelites’ as he has already indicated. Ethnically they are Israelites. Paul actually writes not all those who are of Israel (ἐξ Ἰσραήλ) are Israel (Ἰσραήλ). Being ‘of / descended from Israel’ means they are Israelites (an ethnic definition), but does not mean they are of Israel (a faith / faithfulness definition).
Maybe you have to take my word for it… but check out other translations or even try out StepBible:
No mention of ‘Israelite’ in the verse (though verse 4 has this to make it plain that there Paul is talking ethnically) and no mention of ‘descendant’. In the right hand column of the StepBible program is a dictionary that helps you also find the other uses of the word – highlight it as I have above. This is important – words are not given meaning primarily by their root but by how they are used. (Hence the important distinction between ‘Jew’ and ‘Israel’.)
YouTube has so many good interviews and videocasts. If you find a ‘scholar’ there do a quick google on them. For example I had someone the other day say how much they appreciated James Tabor. Brilliant insights but Jesus’ extended family inaugurating a royal dynasty???? Probably affects how he reads parts of the New Testament methinks!
And there are a thousand more down to earth resources.Try the Nomad Podcasts. Try this one from my good mate Roger Mitchell: Pentecost for Progressives.
Gone are the days when we need to be defensive. Thank God. Truth is centred in one Person alone, and any resources need to be assessed that way, not by how clever anyone thinks they are.