Volume 30, Number 2 Fall 2019

Volume 30, Number 2 Fall 2019 Are the Canonical Gospels to Be Identified as a Genre of Greco-Roman Biography? The Early Church Fathers Say ‘No.’ F. DAVID FARNELL Job’s Eschatological Hope: The Implications of Job’s Redeemer for Social Justice JAMIE BISSMEYER And How Shall They Hear Without a Preacher? A Biblical Theology of Romans 9–11 GREGORY H. HARRIS A Dynamic Relationship: Christ, the Covenants, and Israel CORY M. MARSH Romans 7: An Old Covenant Struggle Seen through New Covenant Eyes JAY STREET The Reformation’s “Macedonian Call” to Africa—the Long Way Around DAVID BEAKLEY AND JOHANN ODENDAAL Implication and Application in Exposition, Part 2: Principles for Contemporary Application CARL A. HARGROVE TMS.edu Volume 30 Fall 2019 Number 2 The Master’s Seminary Journal CONTENTS Editorial ................................................................................................................. 181-83 Nathan Busenitz Are the Canonical Gospels to Be Identified as a Genre of Greco-Roman Biography? The Early Church Fathers Say ‘No.’ ............................................... 185-206 F.David Farnell Job’s Eschatological Hope: The Implications of Job’s Redeemer for Social Justice .......................................................................................................... 207-26 Jamie Bissmeyer And How Shall They Hear Without a Preacher? A Biblical Theology of Romans 9–11 .................................................................................................... 227-55 Gregory H. Harris A Dynamic Relationship: Christ, the Covenants, and Israel ............................... 257-75 Cory M. Marsh Romans 7: An Old Covenant Struggle Seen through New Covenant Eyes .................................................................................................... 277-302 Jay Street The Reformation’s “Macedonian Call” to Africa—the Long Way Around .......................................................................................................... 303-19 David Beakley and Johann Odendaal Implication and Application in Exposition, Part 2: Principles for Contemporary Application ................................................................................... 321-47 Carl A. Hargrove Reviews .................................................................................................................. 347-62 William D. Barrick Understanding Bible Translation: Bringing God’s Word into New Contexts ................................................................................................................. 347-48 Reviewed by Aaron M. Shryock Dirk Jongkind An Introduction to the Greek New Testament Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge ................................................................................................... 348-50 Reviewed by William C. Varner Todd L. Patterson The Plot-structure of Genesis: ‘Will the Righteous Seed Survive?’ in the Muthos-Logical Movement from Complication to Dénoument ................................. 350-52 Reviewed by Paul Twiss Petrus Van Mastricht Theoretical-Practical Theology: Prolegomena .......................................................... 353-57 Reviewed by Kevin D. Zuber Watkin, Christopher Michel Foucault ...................................................................................................... 358-59 Reviewed by Kevin D. Zuber Michael Kibbe From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research ........................................ 359-62 Reviewed by Cory M. Marsh MSJ 30/2 (Fall 2019) 181–83 EDITORIAL Nathan Busenitz Dean of Faculty The Master’s Seminary * * * * * Study the greatest revivals recorded in biblical or church history, and a common theme emerges. God draws sinners to Himself through the preaching and teaching of His Word. From Judah’s revival under King Josiah (2 Chr 34:14–21) to the dramatic growth of the early church (Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20), the supernatural power behind revival is always the same. Where God’s Word is absent, spiritual darkness abounds. But where His truth is faithfully proclaimed, through the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph 6:17), the light of the Word pierces the darkness and transforms lives (John 1:5– 13). A commitment to preaching and teaching the Word of God, then, lies at the heart of revival (Rom 10:14–15). The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation was one of the greatest revivals in church history. Given the current penchant for market-driven growth strategies, one might wonder: What caused the Reformation? Was it the creativity or cleverness of the Reformers? Or, more specifically, should the credit go to Martin Luther and his 95 Theses? If one were to ask Luther such questions, his answer would consist of a resound- ing “No.” He refused to credit himself or his writings. Instead, he gave all the credit to God and His Word. Near the end of his life, Luther declared: “All I have done is put forth, preach and write the Word of God, and apart from this I have done nothing…. It is the Word that has done great things…. I have done nothing; the Word has done and achieved everything.”1 Elsewhere, he exclaimed: “By the Word the earth has been subdued; by the Word the Church has been saved; and by the Word also it shall be reestablished.”2 Noting Scripture’s foundational place in his own heart, Lu- ther wrote: “No matter what happens, you should say: There is God’s Word. This is 1 Martin Luther, cited from Gerhard Ebeling, Luther: An Introduction to His Thought (Minneap- olis: Fortress, 1970), 66–67. 2 Martin Luther, cited in Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, 20 vols. Trans. H. White. (New York: Robert Carter & Bros., 1853), 2:89–90. 181 182 | Editorial my rock and anchor. On it I rely, and it remains. Where it remains, I, too, remain; where it goes, I, too, go.”3 Luther understood what truly caused the Reformation. He recognized it was the Word of God empowered by the Holy Spirit preached in the common languages of Europe, so that people could understand. When their ears were exposed to the truth of God’s Word, it pierced their hearts and they were transformed (2 Cor 5:17). That power is summarized in the familiar words of Hebrews 4:12: “The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” The book of Jeremiah viv- idly makes the same point, “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jer 23:29). During the late Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had imprisoned God’s Word in the Latin language, a language the common people of Europe did not speak. The Reformers unlocked the Scriptures by translating them. And once the people had the Word of God, the Reformation became inevitable. This commitment to the Scrip- tures is seen even in the centuries prior to Martin Luther, beginning with the Fore- runners to the Reformation: In the 12th century, the Waldensians translated the New Testament from the Latin Vulgate into regional dialects. According to tradition, the Waldensians were so committed to Scripture that they memorized large sections of the Bible. If Roman Catholic authorities confiscated their printed copies of Scripture, the Word of God remained hidden in their hearts and minds. In the 14th century, John Wycliffe and his associates at Oxford translated the Bible from Latin into English. Wycliffe’s followers, known as the Lollards, went throughout the countryside preaching and reading passages of Scripture in English. In the 15th century, Jan Huss preached in the language of the people, and not in Latin, making him the most popular preacher in Prague at the time. Yet, because Huss in- sisted that Christ alone was the head of the church, not the pope, the Roman Catholic Council of Constance condemned him for heresy and burned him at the stake in July 1415. In the 16th century, as the study of Greek and Hebrew was recovered, Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, with the New Testament being completed in 1522. In 1526, William Tyndale completed a translation of the Greek New Testa- ment into English. A few years later he also translated the Pentateuch from Hebrew. Shortly thereafter he was arrested and executed as a heretic—being strangled and then burned at the stake. According to Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Tyndale’s last words were “Lord, Open the King of England’s Eyes.” A couple years after his death King Henry VIII authorized the Great Bible in England—a Bible that was largely based on Tyndale’s translation work. The Great Bible laid the foundation for the later King James version of 1611. The common thread, from Reformer to Reformer, was an undying commitment to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. They were willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to get the Word of God into the hands and hearts of the people. Their commitment was fueled by a recognition that the power for reformation and revival was not in them, but in the gospel (cf. Rom 1:16–17). They used the Latin 3 Martin Luther, What Luther Says: An Anthology. 3 vols., ed. Ewald Plass. St. Louis: Concordia, 1959), 68. The Master’s Seminary Journal | 183 phrase sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”) to emphasize the truth that God’s Word was the true power and ultimate authority behind all they said and did. It was ignorance of Scripture that made the Reformation necessary. It was the recovery of the Scripture that made the Reformation possible. And it was the power of the Scripture that gave the Reformation its enduring impact, as the Holy Spirit brought the truth of His

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