•  — Edited

    Welcome to my Faithlife group! I hope this will be a group that engages topics and issues that emerge from our interpretation of the New Testament. Various issues are fair game, as long as they are rooted in the biblical documents. I am particularly interested in interpreting the NT correctly and what that means—which opens potential discussions to many directions. Pauline topics interest me as well. I’ve made a special effort to tackle the issues of God’s election—coming to the view that we ought to see election to salvation primarily in corporate terms. You may want to engage that issue. I’ll stop here. Let me know what questions you have.

  • the definition of "it".
    I'm mindful of the hang up that folks have with this passage. It's because they read the "Kingdom of God" and confuse that as "going to heaven after one expires." And that's the mistake. Jesus is announcing the presence of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Those present are Israel, yet they fail to see their calling. "It" is wisdom, and wisdom comes from God quite naturally. If wisdom permeates the culture around you (as with the people of God and his presence with them), yet one don't perceive "it", then how can "it" be given more to the one that fails to take up on it?
    Quote Image
    Matthew 13:11The Lexham English Bible
    And he answered and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those people it has not been granted.
    Continue reading »

    1. I understand the "kingdom of God" to be God's rule or reign. To enter the kingdom is to submit to Jesus as Lord (to believe and trust in him) which the leads to a life of obedience to him as one's Lord. That is the "already" part of entrance into the Kingdom--a life serving Christ in this world. The "not yet" part is what occurs at the end of the age--when kingdom subjects enter into the joy of their Lord in the eternal state.

  • Good evening, Prof. Klein, I speak on behalf of Canon Publishing House, here in Brazil. I am one of the owners. We acquired the rights to your work together with Wipf & Stock. "The New Chosen People"  We're finishing the translation. You can reply to me in the email below, I need some of your data to put in the work. josimarrd27@gmail.com

    1. Welcome to all who have joined the group in the last several weeks. I'm been preoccupied with preparing and then delivering lectures that were videoed at the HarperCollins/Zondervan headquarters in Grand Rapids. These will comprise a DVD and an online course to complement our textbook, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (3rd edition). At Denver Seminary this semester I'm teaching a course on the Greek exegesis of the letter of James. Great to get into the Greek text in a serious way and to discover how relevant this short letter is to life and ministry today.

      1. Great we thank God

    2. Brother Klein, I have just read your book on election that you posted. Thank You! I grew up Southern Baptist and therefore Calvinist. Later I experienced the Holy Spirit from Acts 2 and became Armenian. I have been walking down a path for over 20 years understanding both sides and finding both not complete. In Bible College again I challenged mindsets within myself through Scripture and prayer. I have never seen election described and spelled out so competently melding two parts into a middle road. I have a long way to go in finding the God of the Bible but I am glad I do not walk the road alone.

      1. I'm delighted to read your post and am so glad that we agree.  Of course, I'm also glad that my book helped you in your understanding of this important issue. Blessings.

    3. A new semester is upon us at Denver Seminary. Besides teaching my courses, I'm putting some finishing touches (along with colleagues Craig Blomberg and Robert Hubbard, Jr.) on the third edition of INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION (Zondervan), which will likely appear early in 2017. We've updated many of the discussions in light of current issues, but still retain our basic commitment to understanding the task of biblical interpretation as discovering the intention of the author (or editor) at the time the book appeared. We appeal much to speech act theory to help in that process. Because the 2nd edition of IBI appears on Logos, I'm hoping Logos will also acquire the rights to the upcoming 3rd edition. I will keep you posted.

      1. This has been out for a while, but now my Logos course on interpreting the genres of the New Testament is available. Check it out: https://www.logos.com/product/54997/mobile-ed-bi260-interpreting-new-testament-genres.
        Mobile Ed: BI260 Interpreting New Testament Genres
        Develop a new level of competency in interpreting the New Testament with Dr. William Klein’s guidance and insight on New Testament genres. Learn how to interpret the different genres found in the New Testament epistles. Distinguish which events in Acts are meant to be descriptive, describing what happened, and which are meant to be prescriptive, instructing on how to live. Discover how the book of Revelation combines three genres, and how this affects its interpretation.
        www.logos.com

        1. Dr. Klein, I have a couple of your books on biblical interpretation and I wanted to say thank you because I never would have received my Master's until I came across them. I first heard your lectures on biblicaltraining.org about eight years ago and got you Intro to Biblical Interpretation. It was overwhelming but informative. Now it seems kind of introductory eight years later. But as I have grown, one thing that has developed is my hermeneutic. I know you are familiar with Walt Kaiser and his hermeneutic, along with the idea that he rejects a "literary" hermeneutic because as he asks, if there is a contradiction between grammar and syntax vs. a literary genre, then grammar and syntax prevail. However, he is an evolutionary creationist, but can only do so if a literary device (such as parallelism), trumps the plain, grammatical and syntactical reading of Gen.1 (in particular, Gen. 1:1-2:4). Can you tell me your hermeneutic, if literary is part of your hermeneutic, and what you make of the Genesis account? Thanks!
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          Free online Bible classes and Seminary classes to study the Bible
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          1. Sorry. I know this is an OT question, but I tried to keep it within your scope of knowledge.

          2. A apologize for my tardiness in replying to your question, Stephen. Thanks for your kind words. I think Kaiser's apparent dichotomy between the results of a literary reading and a grammatical reading is a false one. A metaphor is a literary device. To interpret the grammar and words literally is to recognize that they have a literary function within the domain of how metaphors function. When an OT writer affirms that the "trees clap their hands," the literary reading become the grid for understanding how the specific words and grammar of that affirmation are functioning. That said, and with your caveat about my realm of expertise, I think Gen 1 is not intended to give a blow-by-blow historical narrative of how God created. I think we must see it as some kind of poetic attribution of the origin of all of our glorious creation and creatures. They all derive from God creative genius, but not as portrayed in those 7 literal 24-hour days. Grammar contributes to how we understand literature; they are not in conflict.

        2. Professor Klein, do you have any work that helps clarify Matthew 5:17-20 concerning Jesus' words on the law?

          2. @mr Klein The diificulty with that view is that the New Covenant in Jer 31:31ff is referring to Israel when they come to full faith as an entire nation.  It technically hasn't fully happened yet.  Yes, the Torah always spoke to the heart - love, mercy, faith etc.  Yeshua was putting the commands of God back to where they were meant to be.  In fact, this is the exact issue in Mark 7 and Matt 15:16ff.  The issue was the traditions of men (washing hands prior to eating).  This wasn't a mosaic Torah command for the people.  Yeshua is essentially saying "what ultimately defiles a person is not contaminated food but a contaminated heart". The food is dealt with by the process of the body - mouth, stomach, latrine.  The most vile things come from within and need to be the focus first.  Seems to be the same message as 'clean the inside of the cup first'.  I personally disagree with the hotly debated translation that says (thus he declared all foods clean).  The more unbiased reading of the Greek indicates that all foods were cleansed (or purged perhaps as per KJV) in the process of going to the toilet and not that Yeshua says all foods were now clean.  In any event, this is clearly dealing with the tradition of unwashed hands, not the food itself as the Matt passage emphasizes as the end.  It also makes sense as to why Peter still doesn't eat unclean animals in Acts 10 in his vision (it is Peter who asks Yeshua the question in the Matt 15 version).   This is another reason why I personally consider the dietary laws something to be kept today.

          3. Marcus, I would agree with the Muslims on this point.  In truth, our history is a pick and choose version of the law since we accept the part that says love your neighbour, but when it says Sabbath we say....not for today.   I personally don't think Christ taught this, hence my remarks above re Matt 5:17-20.

          4. To add further credence to the KJV 'purge' here, note the same participle katahrizon is used in Mal 3:3 in LXX and KJV again translates the Hebrew there as purge.  The context in Mal 3:3 is essentially refining silver and gold.  So refining and purge make the most sense in Mark 7:19 I think.  In other words, the body has a process of dealing with and getting rid of defilement from unwashed hands and one can enter into a state of ritual purity afterwards....but what is the solution to the ever present defilements that are coming out from within you (how will you deal with that you unclean and hypocritical Pharisees!)  Once again our master Jesus shows his brilliance!  I'm convinced this passage is not saying "thus he declared all foods clean". This is not what the Greek says and doesn't make any sense in the context nor what Matthew emphasizes in his version.

        3. In the 'Documents' tab I have posted an excerpt from my book mentioned in an earlier post entitled The New Chosen People. A Corporate View of Election. Although the section consists only of the first 25 pages and covers part of the Jewish backgrounds to the issues of election, I think you will get a sense of what I'm trying to accomplish. The section is Used by Permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers: www.wipfandstock.com. You can order copies of the book from orders@wipfandstock.com or, of course, from Amazon. Direct requests for review, examination or desk copies to Toni Erebor, Marketing Assistant, at toni@wipfandstock.com. Let me know if you have any questions.
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          1. Hi Bill.  I've been meaning to join here since you first invited me, but I'm glad to finally make it here.  I'm interested in hearing what you're thinking is on some of the issues that have been swirling around of late, since we haven't had a chance to talk theology in quite a while. Since you have looked at the meaning of being "in Christ" as part of the discussion on election, I'm curious as to how you see that aspect of our salvation play out in sanctification.  I've found that many of my students have little clue as to what it means to be in Christ and how that changes everything.  How would you understand our identity in Christ? And perhaps you could remind me what you think of Romans 7 and the transition to Romans 8:1.  Kathy is working in mental health as a psych nurse practitioner and I see lots of students whose needs go beyond the academic.  How do you see New Testament scholarship making an impact on the emotional health of believers in regards to all this?  (Not that this is too big of a question, but I'd like to at least hear some initial thoughts on it).

            1. Hello to you, Alan. Good to hear that you and Kathy are doing well. You don't raise easy questions, do you? How about I take a quick stab at the first one, the question of being "in Christ." I have become very convinced that the construct of "corporate solidarity" (not corporate personality) is very prevalent among the peoples of the ancient world (and some cultures today). I think the being in Christ reality is based on that reality. Ephesians and Colossians (and other NT letters) teem with references to what it means, and what we possess because of our participation in Christ. You cite Rom 8:1; it's a case in point, for those 'in Christ,' there is no condemnation. Because of our participation in Christ in the events of Easter weekend (the early verses of Rom 6) we now in Christ live a new kind of life. There, I think, may lie the connection to sanctification--in Christ we have the capacity to live lives that please God. But we must "become what we are" (the title of my book on the Sermon on the Mount) in Christ. We must exert our Spirit-enlivened wills to put  into practice the good works that God has enabled us to do. Apart from our being in Christ, there's no hope to be holy. I'll stop there.

            2. Bill I agree with your assessment that  we live in Christ but John 4:23-24  and Hebrews 11:6 puts a slight twist on the spiritual movement of our enlivened will for to please God we must understand who God is  that being said 1 John 4:15 answers the question nicely

            3. Larry: I'm not sure I grasp the point you are making here with your citation of these 3 texts--none of which are from Paul, which is the context in which Alan asked his question. Do you want to clarify what you're saying?