Kirsopp Lake

Much of New Testament Textual Criticism is about minuscule manuscripts. So maybe it makes sense to talk about them in a minuscule book.

That's really just about all there is to say about this book: It's tiny. The print is small, but mostly it's thin and uses a small page size. There simply isn't room to say a lot in such a confined space. What it does say is perfectly good and useful -- although now very dated, since the book is old. But textual criticism is a very large field, and there just isn't room to give much of an introduction in a book this size. If you simply want to know what the field is about, this is more readable than some. If you want to actually study textual criticism, you'll need something much, much longer.… (mais)

Barnabas was a dear saint who loved God, but deeply misunderstood the gospel. While his letter is full of wise counsel and commands that set forth the path of loving your neighbor, he has not sufficiently disconnected works from Christ's righteousness as the means of travel to the "appointed place". For Barnabas, you are resurrected on account of your walking in the ordinances of the Lord. This is a sad and common mistake, contributing to a stream of darkness in the church that Augustine and a few others would overcome, but a stream that became dominant until Luther began to herald an alien righteousness.

On the bright side, Barnabas understands the eighth day new creation Sabbath, and advances the typological 1000 years/1 day reading of history that requires six day creation. He argues that the Lord's chosen fast is not soul humiliation, but rather fasting from sin. He also speaks biblically enough of election to allow for the broad meaning that preserves a meaningful doctrine of apostasy.

A mixed bag, and an instructive look at the positives and negatives of the early church's teaching.… (mais)