Putting Faces with Names

Sometimes it is nice to see the faces of the scholars that have such a big impact on biblical studies. Without connecting a face with a name we often tend to keep some abstract image and conception of the scholars in our minds which can sometimes be overblown or distorted, so it's nice sometimes to know that they are "men (and women) who are just like us" (James 5:17). That makes them more relatable and tangible instead of untouchable and aloof.

I have also been delighted to discover that communicating with such famous scholars is not all together impossible for the common lay person. Even if you never get the chance to communicate with them in person most are quite willing to correspond with you via email, if you can find their email address (most of them are professors at universities - so the university faculty roster will often include their emails on their website). I have actually seen both of the scholars below in person. I was able to interact briefly, via asking a Q&A question on a microphone, with Ben Witherington after listening to an excellent lecture on the oral, inspired text of the Bible that he gave. I also had the privilege of having lunch with James Hoffmeier and learned that he is a down-to-earth, candid, and intelligent guy overall.

Without further ado:

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Name: Ben Witherington III



Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies.

Publications:

The Living Word of God: Rethinking the Theology of the Bible.
2008. Baylor University Press.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans, A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. With Darlene Hyatt.
2004. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

The Brother of Jesus. The Dramatic Story and Meaning of the First Archaeological Link
to Jesus & His Family. With Hershel Shanks. 2003. Updated and expanded edition. San Francisco: Harper Publishing Company.

See full bibliography here.

Read more about Ben Witherington on his website here.

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Name: James Hoffmeier



James K. Hoffmeier is Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity International University, Divinity School (Deerfield, IL). Since 1994, Dr. Hoffmeier has directed the North Sinai Archaeological Project that is devoted to researching and studying Egypt’s frontier during the New Kingdom and how this area may relate to the Israelite exodus from Egypt.

Publications:

Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (1999)

Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition (2005)

The Archaeology of the Bible (2008) - Now I have a signed copy of this book!

Read more about Hoffmeier here and here.

The great 18th century English evangelist and open-air preacher George Whitefield made a tremendous impact on the American colonies before the Revolutionary War and in a way united the colonies for the first time, overcoming parochial boundaries (the very reason the English clergy in Britain shunned him), by his extensive itinerant preaching style and his convicting and booming voice which (to Benjamin Franklin's amazement) could carry clearly to the ears of up to 30,000 people in open-air. This man performed the charitable work of starting an orphanage in Bethesda, Georgia and would customarily end his sermons with a call for a collection to be made for the orphanage. Though they eventually took different paths Whitefield was close friends with the Wesley brothers and he was part of their 'Holy Club' at Oxford. He was deeply impressed by their ministry and in turn later prepared the way for John Wesley to preach in England during his absence when in America.

This man touched the hearts of many on both sides of the Atlantic and preached from England, to Wales, to Ireland, to America. On one occasion he even convicted the oft hard-hearted Benjamin Franklin, by his own admission no less, to give an offering to the Georgia Orphanage after he has resolutely sworn he would not. The Spirit of God rested on this amazing man and his ministry touched many lives and has left a heart-touching and amazing legacy for those who came after, and also for those contemporary, to emulate. This man assuredly deserves the designation "Father of the Great Awakening". Read about his life further here in a paper I wrote exploring this amazing man's life and ministry:

"The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold" - Lord Byron

Thus began the famous poem by Lord Byron poeticizing the infamous destruction of Sennacherib's army. This account of Sennacherib's clash with Hezekiah and the God of Israel has from the beginning inspired awe and wonder and become a story of great fascination to many. And interestingly enough there have been several accounts and artifacts of historical value which have been found that give details about this period in time during Sennacherib's rule which corroborate the Biblical story. One such artifact is the Taylor Prism.

The artifact known as Sennacherib's Prism, or the Taylor Prism, is a 38cm tall, hexagonal prism containing a personal account of Sennacherib written in cuneiform, in which he boasts of his exploits against his enemies. Sennacherib was an Assyrian king who laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 B.C. and executed a military campaign in Palestine to put down insurrections against Assyrian rule and attempts to break off vassalship to Assyria. At the time Judah was under the rule of Hezekiah who was a rather strong King among the neighboring nations, and possibly provoked Sennacherib's wrath when the Philistines overthrew their own King Padi (King of Ekron - appointed by Assyria) and had him imprisoned in Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign. This could have been viewed as an attempt to throw off Assyrian vassalage and defer preference to the king of Judah, as a military ally against Assyria. This account though of Assyria's invasion into Palestine is one of the most well documented events in history and has many avenues of corroboration and has spurred many discussions about the details of the amazing sequence of events as recorded in the Bible.

Let's first look at the Bible's account of the event that the Taylor Prism also records:

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The Taylor Prism:



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Now observe Sennacherib's account on the prism:

Notice how there are three main correlations between those accounts: Hezekiah did not surrender to Sennacherib or "submit to [his] yoke" (he heeded the words of Isaiah), Sennacherib besieged Judah and seized 46 of its cities (except for Jerusalem), and Hezekiah tried to appease Sennacherib by paying him a lot of tribute, though still refusing to submit to him and surrender Jerusalem. Also there is a small correlation between the tribute amounts, though Sennacherib records the extra tribute that he exacted from Hezekiah in silver along with (as both record) exactly thirty talents of gold. But also note that Sennacherib never says that he took Jerusalem, though he boasts about the "terrifying splendor of [his] majesty". This is because a catastrophe struck the Assyrian's camp, which was surrounding Jerusalem.

There are three main extra-biblical explanations given for this catastrophe, two being historical accounts (from Herododus and Berosus, both quoted by Josephus) and one the product of modern speculation:

1. Herodotus, from the perspective of an Egyptian legend, recorded that mice gnawed through the soldiers quivers, bowstrings, and shield-straps, making them vulnerable to their enemies (Antiquities 10.1.4).

2. Josephus also quoted Berosus who recorded: "Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshakeh his general in danger [by a plague], for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand, with their captains and generals, were destroyed." (Antiquities 10.1.5).

3. The third, more modern, speculation is that a meteor struck the Assyrian camp, but is unlikely, and contradicts the Biblical and historical accounts.

But it is clear that in history something devastating happened to the Assyrian army that caused Sennacherib's campaigns around the Mediterranean to cease and cause him to return to his own land.

The Bible was even correct on how Sennacherib died. A clay tablet that now resides in the British Museum records: 'On the twentieth day of the month Tebet Sennacherib king of Assyria his son slew him in rebellion... Esarhaddon his son sat on the throne of Assyria.' Josephus, once again, comes through on this topic and also records: "Being in great fear for his whole army, he fled with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom, and to his city Nineveh; and when he had abode there a little while, he was treacherously assaulted, and died by the hands of his elder sons, Adrammelech and Seraser, and was slain in his own temple, which was called Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away on account of the murder of their father by the citizens, and went into Armenia, while Assarachoddas took the kingdom of Sennacherib." And this proved to be the conclusion of this Assyrian expedition against the people of Jerusalem. (Antiquities 10.1.5). There is amazing correlation between these multiple historical accounts and the Bible. Thus we can see that the story of Sennacherib in 2 Kings is soundly set in historical fact.

The Scriptures have a powerful way of performing on all of its readers and hearers a spiritual diagnostic that reveals the state of men's hearts and souls. Thus the reactions and approaches of men to Scripture are driven by the state of their soul. Below are some quotations of great Christian men of the past whose astute observations about this truth are quite insightful and to the point on this matter. It may also help us to see that when men have occasional issues with accepting the words of the Scriptures (the Bible) that it cannot be something that is solely intellectually borne but is also something spiritually wrought. So we must also realize that no one can come to a deeper or even a 'sagacious' (scholarly) understanding of God's word unless they first plainly listen to Scripture and stop trying to out-maneuver the forcefullness of its message and working upon the spirit and soul.

“The only real argument against the Bible is an unholy life. When a man argues against the Word of God, follow him home, and see if you cannot discover the reason of his enmity to the Word of the Lord. It lies in some form of sin. He, whom God sends, cares nothing at all about human wisdom, so as to fawn upon it and flatter it; for he knows that ‘the world by wisdom knew not God,’ and that human wisdom is only another name for human folly.”
– Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), Pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, England

“I believe one main cause of objections to the Bible lies in its power over man’s conscience. The Book will speak for God, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. But all critics are not so open as the poor East-end lecturer, who, when asked by one of his hearers, ‘Why is all your criticism turned against the Bible instead of against Shakespeare or Homer? Why don’t you let the Bible alone?’ replied with English outspokenness, ‘Why don’t I let the Bible alone? Because the Bible will not let me alone.’ It ever has been a witness for God, and still will be, while men need a light in a dark place.”
– Andrew J. Jukes (1815-1901), Pastor of St. John’s Church, Hull, England (The Names of God, pgs. 225-226) 

“Defend the Bible? I would as soon defend a lion! Unchain it and it will defend itself!”
– Charles H. Spurgeon

"Many read the Bible the way a mouse tries to remove the cheese from a trap without getting caught."
– Søren Kierkegaard

"Either the Bible will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you away from the Bible."
– C. S. Lewis

"St. John Chrysostom says that it is a great blessing from God that some parts of the Scriptures are clear while others are not. By means of the first we acquire faith and ardour and do not fall into disbelief and laziness because of our utter inability to grasp what is said. By means of the second we are roused to enquiry and effort, thus both strengthening our understanding and learning humility from the fact that everything is not intelligible to us."
- Peter of Damascus (The Philokia, Volume 3)

To the observations of Andrew Jukes and Charles Spurgeon (both contemporary English preachers) as well as C.S. Lewis above I would add my own quotation:

“Those who do not believe the Bible claim that those who do are ignorant of the supposed ‘facts’ of science and history, to which I reply in turn that those who do not believe the Bible are ignorant of the state of their soul.” - Me

The latter reply, granted, is not exactly a direct answer to the former claim, but it is rather a counteraction of its accusation of 'ignorance' and the impetus from which such claims arise. Jesus in the Gospels on several occasions would answer someone according to what they needed to hear, not exactly according to what they had asked. So first we would be wise, overall, to examine ourselves first and see if anything is keeping us from God and from hearing His word rightly. We should not rather be trying to snatch only the pleasing parts from God's Word without applying the necessary self-judgement and repentance (snatching the cheese from the mousetrap) because - God forbid! - conviction of the truth would be a deadly trap to our fleshly ways. It is repulsive to the worldy minded that to be a follower of Jesus is to be, blessed paradox that it is, a living martyr (a witness/testimony - Greek marturia) who signs their death warrant the day they believe in Christ, dying daily to themselves and living through Chirst. The Gospel then, as the Word of God which tells us how we should follow Jesus, is a stumbling block for our flesh. The analogy of the mouse and the cheese in the mousetrap is not perfect, as to portraying the method in which the Gospel calls to us, but it serves its purpose as pertains to those who approach the Gospel carnally.

Also then, if once we have examined ourselves and still yet find that we have questions about the Scriptures we would do well to realize that "some parts of the Scriptures are clear while others are not" and some things require additional "enquiry and effort". That additional enquiry to gain understanding cannot be apart however from the illumination of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and especially "humility", because of, indeed it is true, "the fact that everything is not intelligible to us." The one who instead comes to the Bible, apart from God and saving belief, and pontificates theories and hypotheses about the Word of God confidently within their academically clever frameworks - apart from any examination of self or their own receptiveness to what Scriptures say - balks at the idea that not all things are intelligible about God's truths to their carnal mind, and that such truths are in fact hidden from those who profess to be wise (Romans 1:22). About such people the words of Spurgeon ring true: "that human wisdom is only another name for human folly". Nevertheless, to those who are humble enough to approach the Scripture with no pretense, it is yet still also true that a great portion of Scripture is abundantly clear to all men that those who hear may believe and "acquire faith" to "grasp what is said" and benefit in their understanding and practice of godliness. This abundant clearness also leaves men without excuse for neglecting to properly respond.

And most of all we must remember that the Word of God is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Yes, doubting man; yes, mature believer; yes, you who are now hearing God's word; it can judge your thoughts, desires, intentions, and also subconscious motivations, even penetrating to your very soul and spirit - and with great effectiveness it will expose what is therein. For those who have sin in their heart the Word of God is like salt in a wound and is like the stench of death (1 Corinthians 2:16). To such "sin will keep you away from the Bible". Nonetheless, God's word will not return void and His calling and persistent pressing by His Spirit to present the word of truth to all people will not "let you alone" or permit you to remain untouched. Though you may rail against it the Word of God still stands, as voidless and full of authority as when it went forth from God. However for those who feel that sting of death, and the agitation of the flesh to God's spiritual ways (for the two are perpetually contrary to one another), and the true "power over man's conscience" that the Scriptures wield, and repent of that sin and believe in Jesus for salvation from sin and death: to them God's Word is "a light in a dark place" and they come to realize that it "ever has been a witness for God". And yes, to them it is even a "fragrance of life" (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Neither God's Spirit nor His Word will "let you alone" because His Spirit has come to "convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8), and only by receiving the Word in faith can anyone be saved from sin and judgement, hence, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). Do not resist the working of the Word on you, because it can save your soul from eternal death. As the Scripture wisely admonishes, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled" (Hebrews 3:15). Do not approach the Word with your intellect because you will ultimately be confounded and frustrated in your efforts to carnally apprehend the spiritual truths of Scripture. That approach can quickly lead some to disgust and tossing out the Scriptures, or even hostile opposition to Scripture and attempting to bring it down to the level that they themselves are at, in order to interpret it according to their own desires and inclinations. For by God's wisdom and design the wisdom of man cannot attain to true spiritual understanding, and we are to rather realize that "not everything is intelligible to us". Yet in the confines of faith honest inquiry, examination, study, and searching for truth can indeed yield understanding and may even benefit the intellect. However in that case it would benefit one whose intellect and mind is possessed by Christ and is apprised of spiritual things through the Holy Spirit, by which one may know the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:11).

So surely we must hear the Word of God, confront it (for surely it confronts us - even as an unchained lion as Spurgeon says), believe in it, and then also seek to be as the Bereans who examined Scripture carefully to test if the things that they heard were true. And we must never forget to "Test everything, and hold on to the good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

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See also: Quotes about the Scriptures