An International Journal for Students of Theo- logical and Religious Studies Volume 46 Issue 1 April 2021 EDITORIAL: The Neglected Virtue of 1 The Parting of the Way: A Survey of the 79 Contentment Relationship between Jews and Christians in Brian J. Tabb the First and Second Centuries CE Doosuk Kim STRANGE TIMES: Coming to Our Senses: The 5 Case for a Civil Elenctics and an Elenctic Civility The Nature and Task of Theology in John 99 Daniel Strange Owen’s Forgotten Work John Kegley Canonicity: A Theologian’s Observations 18 Henri A. G. Blocher Trinity, Creation, and Re-creation: A 112 Comparison of Karl Barth and Herman Brains, Bodies, and the Task of Discipleship: 37 Bavinck’s Trinitarian Doctrines of Creation Re-Aligning Anthropology and Ministry Jarred Jung Matthew C. Bingham Appeasement of a Monster God? A Historical 130 ‘I Call You Friends’: Jesus as Patron in John 15 55 and Biblical Analysis of Penal Substitutionary Daniel K. Eng Atonement Geoffrey Butler Spirit-Anointing and New Testament Church 70 Leadership: Are Our Church Leaders Uniquely Making Sense of Hell 145 “Anointed?” Robert D. Golding Scott MacDonald Book Reviews 163 DESCRIPTION Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition website in PDF and HTML, and may be purchased in digital format with Logos Bible Software and in print with Wipf and Stock. Themelios is copyrighted by The Gospel Coalition. Readers are free to use it and circulate it in digital form without further permission, but they must acknowledge the source and may not change the content. EDITORS BOOK REVIEW EDITORS General Editor: Brian Tabb Bethlehem Old Testament Peter Lau OMF Systematic Theology David Garner College & Seminary 720 13th Avenue International 18-20 Oxford St Epping, Westminster Theological Seminary 2960 South Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA NSW 1710, Australia peter.lau@ Church Road Glenside, PA 19038, USA [email protected] thegospelcoalition.org [email protected] Contributing Editor: D. A. Carson New Testament David Starling Morling Ethics and Pastoralia Rob Smith Trinity Evangelical Divinity School 2065 College 120 Herring Road Macquarie Sydney Missionary & Bible College Half Day Road Deerfield, IL 60015, Park, NSW 2113, Australia david. 43 Badminton Road Croydon, USA [email protected] [email protected] NSW 2132, Australia rob.smith@ thegospelcoalition.org Contributing Editor: Daniel Strange History and Historical Theology Oak Hill Theological College Chase Geoff Chang Midwestern Baptist Mission and Culture Jackson Wu Side, Southgate London, N14 4PS, UK Theological Seminary 5001 N Oak Mission ONE PO Box 5960 Scottsdale, [email protected] Trafficway Kansas City, MO 64118 AZ 85261, USA jackson.wu@ [email protected] thegospelcoalition.org Administrator: Andy Naselli Bethlehem College & Seminary 720 13th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA [email protected] EDITORIAL BOARD Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School; Hassell Bullock, Wheaton College; Benjamin Gladd, Reformed Theological Seminary; Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul; Paul House, Beeson Divinity School; Andreas Köstenberger, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Ken Magnuson, The Evangelical Theological Society; Gavin Ortlund, First Baptist Church, Ojai; Ken Stewart, Covenant College; Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College; Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College; Mary Willson, Second Presbyterian Church; Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship; Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary. ARTICLES Themeliostypically publishes articles that are 4,000 to 9,000 words (including footnotes). Prospective contributors should submit articles by email to the managing editor in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf). Submissions should not include the author’s name or institutional affiliation for blind peer-review. Articles should use clear, concise English and should consistently adopt either UK or USA spelling and punctuation conventions. Special characters (such as Greek and Hebrew) require a Unicode font. Abbreviations and bibliographic references should conform to The SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed.), supplemented by The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.). For examples of the the journal's style, consult the most recent issues and the contributor guidelines. REVIEWS The book review editors generally select individuals for book reviews, but potential reviewers may contact them about reviewing specific books. As part of arranging book reviews, the book review editors will supply book review guidelines to reviewers. Themelios 46.1 (2021): 1–4 EDITORIAL The Neglected Virtue of Contentment — Brian J. Tabb — Brian Tabb is academic dean and associate professor of biblical studies at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, an elder of Bethlehem Baptist Church, and general editor of Themelios. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Phil 4:11–13) ontentment is not a virtue prized in contemporary society. In fact, the numerous marketing im- ages that we see each day aim to make us discontent with our present situation and to increase our desire for material goods that hold out the promise of making us happy.1 The ongoing public Chealth crisis and deep political and social divisions of the past year have only compounded our fears, frustrations, and feelings of unhappiness. Months of mandated “social distancing,” online schooling, restaurant closures, and restrictions on travel and gatherings have accelerated what some have called a “loneliness pandemic.”2 Screen time has soared during the pandemic, as have anxiety, alcoholism, and suicide rates. Many are stuck at home streaming Netflix and scrolling Facebook while longing to share a meal with true friends and return to some semblance of “normal.” However, people were anxious and lonely long before the present crisis, and it’s likely that most will continue to be unhappy as COVID-19 infections wane and restrictions are relaxed in the coming months. In short, contentment remains in short supply. What is contentment? Dictionaries define contentment as “a state of happiness and satisfaction.”3 This definition offers a starting point but prompts various follow up questions: What does it mean to be happy or satisfied? How do we achieve such contentment? Is contentment even possible in troubled times like these? This brief article offers a summons to Christian contentment amid crisis and controversy. Let’s examine the nature and necessity of true contentment, with help from ancient philosophers, the apostle Paul, and an English Puritan. 1 Marsha L. Richins, “Social Comparison, Advertising, and Consumer Discontent,” American Behavioral Sci- entist 38 (1995): 593–607; Nicole Torres, “Advertising Makes Us Unhappy,” Harvard Business Review (January– February 2020): https://hbr.org/2020/01/advertising-makes-us-unhappy. 2 Jacob Sweet, “The Loneliness Pandemic,” Harvard Magazine, January–February 2021, https://harvardmaga- zine.com/2021/01/feature-the-loneliness-pandemic. 3 Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 163. 1 Themelios 1. What Is Contentment? Ancient philosophers frequently discussed contentment or self-sufficiency (αὐτάρκεια). Aristotle calls happiness “the most desirable of all good things,” since “happiness does not lack anything, but is self-sufficient [αὐτάρκης] .” 4 He explains, “No supremely happy man can ever become miserable,” since he “will always act in the noblest manner that the circumstances allow.”5 Epicurus writes that self-sufficiency or independence (αὐτάρκεια) is “a great good, not so as in all cases to use little, but so as to be contented with little if we have not much.”6 Of course, people prefer good health to sickness, riches to poverty, freedom from pain to excruciating torture, and feasting to fasting, but the Stoics stress that circumstances are fickle and unrelated to one’s true happiness and enduring contentment. Seneca reasons, “Each one of us is able to make his own happiness.”7 The truly happy person “is content [contentus] with his present lot, no matter what it is, and is reconciled to his circumstances.”8 Yet Seneca laments that human beings are “all untrustworthy, discontented, ambitious,”9 and he calls readers to be “content with virtue” rather than tethering one’s happiness to constantly changing circumstances.10 Contentment is a recurring theme in the NT. The book of Hebrews urges readers, “Be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb 13:5). Paul insists, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing,