Other
Outside of my major research areas, I have studied a variety of areas related to the Old Testament. Here are various profitable rabbit trails I have journeyed down!
Judges and Ruth
Since I taught a class on Joshua, Judges, and Ruth for many years, I have research some topics related to these books. One of the more interesting topics was about the Samson and Gaza story, in which he carried the gate of Gaza all the way to Hebron. The gate in the picture is from an Assyrian city (now it is in the British Museum) and hence probably larger than Gaza’s gate, but it still gives a good impression for what Samson carried. And not only was Hebron forty miles away from Gaza, but it is also almost a mile in elevation gain. My argument was that Samson was inviting the Judeans to rebel against the Philistine oppressors, providing the gate of Gaza as evidence that they could be defeated. However, the silence on the part of the Judeans is evidence that all Israel, not just Samson, was not interested in following YHWH.
“Samson and the Gate of Gaza” (2014 SBL Annual Meeting)
I worked with my friend Uche Anizor, a theologian, to study how commentators have found Jesus in the books of Judges and Ruth. A summary of part of this paper focusing on various approaches to finding Jesus in Judges and Ruth is found at the following link.
“Where is Jesus in Judges and Ruth?” (Good Book Blog)
“Christ in Judges and Ruth? A Survey of Recent Studies on Finding Jesus in the Old Testament” (2016 ETS Annual Meeting, with Uche Anizor)
The order of books in the Old Testament appears to most Christians to be set, but early manuscripts have many different orders. In this blog post I addressed the the different positions of Ruth in the canon and looked at how the three different positions for the book of Ruth influence how we read the book.
Where is Ruth? (Good Book Blog)
Spiritual Formation
My teaching load at the beginning of my time at Biola included teaching a class on Biblical Interpretation and Spiritual Formation. I wrote a series of blog posts about spiritual formation assignments that I gave to students in my classes. Some of these assignments were standard in all sections of this class, while others were unique to my sections (number 5 is not lost: I miscounted when I wrote assignment number 6).
Church Discipline: Spiritual Formation Assignment 7 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
Honor Your Parents: Spiritual Formation Assignment 6 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
Church Report: Spiritual Formation Assignment 4 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
Identity with Christ: Spiritual Formation Assignment 3 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
Stewardship: Spiritual Formation Assignment 2 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
Giving Thanks: Spiritual Formation Assignment 1 (Talbot Good Book Blog)
I also received a Lilly Grant Writing Stipend for an essay on stewardship and spiritual formation in 2015. The context for this document was an assignment that I gave my class that instructed them to track their time for two weeks and their financial expenditures for two months. The point was to help them see trends in their life in those two areas and encourage them to think about how their faith plays a role.
Lament
Lament is a particularly important part of the Christian life that is often ignored in American churches. I spoke in Biola’s chapel about this, as well as at Redemption Hill Church.
Praying When You Are Frustrated with God (Biola Afterdark Chapel)
Living at Peace Essentials: Part 6 (Redemption Hill Sermon)
Daniel Block
My PhD mentor at Wheaton College, Dan Block, played a major formative role in my development as a scholar (especially as a Christian scholar), and I was honored to compose the bibliography of his publications for his festschrift.
“The Publications of Daniel I. Block: Overview and Bibliography,” in For Our Good Always: Studies on the Message and Influence of Deuteronomy in Honor of Daniel I. Block (eds. Jason S. DeRouchie, Jason Gile, and Kenneth J. Turner; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013), xxi–xxxii
Earliest Conference Presentations
My two earliest conference papers were written while I was working on my MDiv at Northwest Baptist Seminary. One paper addressed the topic of whether we have the exact words of Jesus based on Old Testament evidence, while the other sought to use discourse analysis to help understand Amos 1-2.
“Do We Have the Exact Words of Jesus?” (2006 ETS Northwest Regional)
“A Textlinguistic Analysis of Amos 1-2” (2003 ETS Northwest Regional)
Dictionary Entries
I have also written entries for two recent dictionaries. I’ve included the entry on Jabesh-Gilead as a sample.
Thirty-five entries in Baker Expository Dictionary (eds. Tremper Longman and Mark Strauss; Grand Rapids: Baker, forthcoming).
“Zarethan,” “Jabesh-Gilead,” and “Mizpah” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary (eds. J. D. Barry and L. Wentz; Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2014).