Michael H Burer – författare

There are thousands of excellent resources in the field of New Testament studies. But which tools are best for sermon preparation, topical study, research, or classroom study? In Best Bible Books, the authors review and recommend hundreds of books, saving pastors, students, and scholars time, effort, and money. Glynn and Burer examine commentaries on every book of the New Testament, describing their approach, format, and usability; they then rank them on a scale of good, better, and best. Other chapters survey special studies for each New Testament book as well as books in related disciplines such as historical background, language resources, and hermeneutics. Also included are helpful chapters on building a must-have personal library, and identifying books that comprise the ultimate New Testament commentary collection. This is an indispensable resource for any serious student of the Bible.

With eight cryptic words by Jesus in John 5:17, an enigma surfaces regarding God’s activity in his ministry that is not easy for us to solve. Jesus, in defending his actions in healing the lame man at the pool of Bethzatha (Bethesda), makes a comparison that is simple enough on the surface: Jesus’ activity finds its basis in the Father’s current activity; thus, Jesus is not legally or spiritually culpable for breaking the Sabbath. What creates the enigma is the assumption that lies beneath the argument: the Father is working, and even more importantly, he is working on the Sabbath. Investigation of this assumption is the purpose of this book.Burer contributes to the discussion surrounding Jesus’ Sabbath activity by augmenting current research on Sabbath work, which focuses primarily on rabbinic rules and interpretation of Torah. Burer tests the hypothesis that Jesus’ actions on the Sabbath are best understood in light of the concept of divine Sabbath work and that in light of this concept Jesus’ actions imply a claim to deity or a close association with God’s divine plan and work. Burer does this by searching the Hebrew Scriptures, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, Philo, the Mishnah and Tosefta, the targums, the midrashim, the Palestinian Talmud, and the Babylonian Talmud in order to unearth a conceptual and cultural framework for divine Sabbath work. The results are then used in analyzing two prominent stories of Jesus’ work of healing on the Sabbath in the New Testament to prove, disprove, or modify his working hypothesis.New Testament students and scholars will find Divine Sabbath Work to be a thought-provoking, enticing, creative approach to old questions.