Understanding the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job) is a difficult task at times. On the one hand, the messages are frequently simple to understand and clearly applicable to anyone at any stage of life. On the other hand, connecting this literature to Jesus in the New Testament is complex. O’Donnell’s book engages the reader to think differently about the Wisdom Literature and see Christ in ways that perhaps he or she has never considered before.

The main body of the book contains seven chapters, six of which are written sermons on the first and last chapters of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The seventh chapter covers homiletics itself, in other words, how the Wisdom Literature ought to be preached. The seven main chapters total about 150 pages. The book also includes a brief introduction as well as appendices on Hebrew poetry and further study suggestions.

I found the sermons/chapters on Proverbs to be the strongest sections of the book. Recall that Proverbs 1 begins by telling us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But what exactly does the "fear" entail? O’Donnell’s study gives us perhaps the best definition of "fearing God" that I have seen in print, and it is worth quoting here from page 37:

"According to the book of Proverbs, ‘the fear of the Lord’ is a continual (Pr. 23:17), humble, and faithful submission to Yahweh, which compels one to hate evil (8:13) and turn away from it (16:6) and brings with it rewards better than all earthly treasures (15:16) – the rewards of a love for and a knowledge of God (1:29; 2:5; 9:10; 15:33), and long life (10:27; 14:27a; 19:23a), confidence (14:26), satisfaction, and protection (19:23)."

Now that is a thorough definition!

You rarely hear a sermon focused on Proverbs 31, which primarily talks about the virtuous wife. The lessons in the chapter, though, are very striking. This chapter reminded me of how blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife myself.

I did not enjoy O’Donnell’s sermons on Ecclesiastes as much as the rest of the book. To me, he seemed somewhat to tow what I might call the standard "Evangelical line," which tends to emphasize the relative superiority of ministerial "church" work to everything else. Perhaps I am not interpreting O’Donnell’s work well, though. To his credit, though, Ecclesiastes is a very difficult book to read and O’Donnell’s contribution to understanding God’s word here is still valuable.

The sermons on Job, I felt, were not particularly novel but still quite encouraging. As is frequently done, he focused on the redemptive aspects of suffering and emphasized the importance of trusting in Jesus Christ for providential care through trouble. Again, the attention given to linking Jesus to the text is worthy of note.

Overall, I found this book enlightening and encouraging in a number of ways. The sermon format, rather than the typical theological book, reads quite well and I found it consistently engaging. While not perfect, it is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of the Christian interested in going deeper into the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.

Interested in learning more? Check out the book at Amazon.com.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

My wife and I will be attending the Austrian Scholars Conference this week at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. I’m really excited that one of my best buddies, Daniel Krawisz of the Libertarian Longhorns, will be presenting this year in a panel with Hans Herman Hoppe, M. Garrett Roth, Bernardita Escobar, and chaired by Thomas DiLorenzo. His talk is called “Praxeology of the Knowledge Problem of Socialism,” and he will be discussing the often-missed details of Hayek’s knowledge problem in the context of, you guessed it, Misesian praxeology (which is the logic of human action). If you want to tune in, you should be able to listen live on Mises.org sometime between 1:00 and 2:30pm CST on Saturday.

I’ll have some articles prepped to post late this week, and I’ll try to do a little summary post each day at some point. If any of you LCC readers are attending, let me know right now in the comments below. I really would love to meet you.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Austrian Scholars Conference 2010

Why Might This Page Not Exist?

• Baptist explanation: There must be sin in your life, Everyone else opened it fine.
• Presbyterian explanation: It’s not Gods will for you to open this link.
• Word of Faith explanation: You lack the faith to open this link. Your negative words have prevented you from realizing this link’s fulfillment.
• Charismatic explanation: Thou art loosed! Be commanded to OPEN!
• Unitarian explanation: All links are equal, so if this link doesn’t work for you, feel free to experiment with other links that might bring you Joy and fulfillment.
• Buddhist explanation: ……………………………………………..
• Episcopalian explanation: Are you saying you have something against homosexuals?
• Christian science explanation: There really is no link.
• Atheist explanation: The only reason you think this link exists is because you needed to invent it.
• Church counselor’s explanation: And what did you feel when the link would not open?

I can’t remember where I picked this up, but I thought it was pretty hilarious. Here’s to hoping you never have to experience the dreaded 404 page for real…

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

New 404 Page (Monday Silliness)

RefTagger sees Bible verse references in your posts and automatically converts them to hyperlinks to bible.logos.com, and if you hover over the link with your mouse a tooltip window will appear with the full text quote.

Here’s an example: John 3:16

How cool is that?

See more examples in Josephus on the Origin of the State.

Now, existing hyperlinked Scriptures will not be re-linked, so some of my earlier articles (like my New Testament Theology of the State series) will still keep their links to SearchGodsWord.com. But that’s ok. RefTagger will make life a lot easier.

Other bloggers who read LCC: You can use RefTagger on a variety of platforms, including Blogspot, Movable Type, and different types of forums. Check out their website for more details.

All in all, I think I can recommend the RefTagger software very highly. Well done, Logos!

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

RefTagger

Amazon Link: Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 30-Minutes (White): $70 until February 28

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Flip Cam Ultra = Future VIDEO POSTS!