becoming

「我就沒有與屬血氣的人商量，也沒有上耶路撒冷去見那些比我先作使徒的，惟獨往亞拉伯去，後又回到大馬色。」（加1:16b-17）

保羅到亞拉伯作甚麼？

留意當保羅在加拉太書4:25 再提「阿拉伯」時，保羅所指的是當地的「西乃山」。如此是否保羅踏著昔日先知以利亞的腳蹤，進「何烈山」（=「西乃山」）重組對這嶄新差遣使命的了解？(比較 王上 19.1-18)。

保羅與以利亞確實有許多相似的地方。在羅 11:1-6保羅也曾將自己的工作和以利亞作比較。如以利亞相似，保羅也是為神「大發熱心」（比較 王上19:10, 14），他昔日殘害教會，有如以利亞殺死眾多巴力先知。這和保羅在加1:14-15 對自己過去的描述相當接近。

另外，在回程時，保羅亦提到他回「大馬色」。這點和以利亞一樣接受上主的任務相同（王上 19:15）。

用以利亞作類比了解遇到復活主前的保羅/掃羅，你會對他加深了怎樣的了解？

〔延伸閱讀：N.T. Wright, PAUL, ARABIA, AND ELIJAH (GALATIANS 1:17)〕

What did God do in Christ that we could not do for ourselves? NT Wright’s “2 minute summary of the bible.”

Carolyn Custis James’ new book Half the Church:

Carolyn Custis James presents an inspiring vision of God’s plan for women that avoids assuming for them a particular social location or family situation. She reveals the surprising way God crafts a new identity for women who respond to the call of his kingdom—regardless of age, life stage, social location, and point on the globe.

Christopher J. H. Wright praised Half the Church, saying:

Carolyn Custis James combines passion for the suffering women of our world with rigorous biblical observation and exegesis. The result is a prophetic word that challenges both our apathy and ignorance in the face of terrifying facts, and our theological shallowness in the face of abundant biblical teaching. The title and subtitle only tell half the story. For this is a book for the whole church and urges us to see God’s global vision for men and women. Half the church badly needs to think again about the message of this book. So does the other half. Otherwise both halves are the tragic losers.

I love her earlier book Lost Women of the Bible: The Women We Thought We Knew. It contains great insights from a Christian woman, on many of the women in the Bible.

早前在Chris Wright講座想到的一個問題，其實也是我一直問的：到底Kingdom of God的信息跟十字架的關係是甚麼？我留意的現象是，近年越是著重Kingdom 信息的信徒和教會，對耶穌在十字架上所成就的到底是甚麼，就越見含糊。不是說我們是新以色列嗎？不是說天國已經近了，在我們中間嗎？那耶穌為什麼還要走上十字架？

誰不知，這不只是我的問題，喜見TGC 的Justin Taylor有一篇短文，提到Greg Gilbert的新書和他在T4G的錄音。

另外，Scot McKnight在CT關於耶穌和保羅的文章，其實也是問同樣的問題。（Michael Bird在IBR對N.T. Wright的回應也是一例）

The “so what?” to his major work “The Mission of God”.

In The Mission of God’s People, part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, author Chris Wright offers a sweeping biblical survey of the holistic mission of the church, providing practical insight for today’s church leaders. Wright gives special emphasis to theological trajectories of the Old Testament that not only illuminate God’s mission but also suggest priorities for Christians engaged in God’s world-changing work.

[link: Zondervan]

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Update: Chris Wright’s article on Lausanne 3, Cape Town 2010 entitled, Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World.

I just realized that Goldingay has been writing the For Everyone commentary series with Westminster John Knox, on the OT. The series is of course made famous by NT Wright with his conversational style and use-to-access format.

[link: CBD]

Now that SBL New Orleans is over, my friend Anson has sent me the audio link (Andy Rowell) to the review session on Douglas Campbell‘s important book, The Deliverance of God. Responses by Michael Gorman, Douglas Moo and Alan Torrance, and with short audience participation from Richard Hays, N.T. Wright and Barry Matlock.

In the midst of all the packing and moving to the new house, blogging will be sparse for the next little while.

Wishing you a wonderful thanksgiving with your family and friends. Hopefully my next post will be from the new place!!

Let me leave you with a thanksgiving quote from the good bishop:

We are called to thanksgiving, where we stand at last in the truly human relationship to the creator and the world; and we are called to thanksliving, where we behave as the free subjects of the true king, and owe the powers nothing at all. There is now only one Power we are to follow, and that Power has a human face, a face once crowned with thorns.

N.T. Wright, Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship, p.21