By Everett Berry, Editor
From time to time, CTR provides academic forums that are not devoted to one theme. The reason for this is so contributors can provide specialized essays on a broad spectrum of topics. This Fall 2016 edition serves as such a volume. Herein, readers can engage two articles pertaining to Old Testament (OT) studies and two related to issues in the New Testament (NT) as well as an individual essay devoted to some of the complexities of theological hermeneutics and another concerning archaeological endeavors at Qumran.
Our lead article is by co-written by Nicholas G. Piotrowski, who serves as Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, IN, and David S. Schrock, who is a teaching pastor at Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, VA. They challenge trends in NT scholarship that reject readings of the gospels portraying Jesus as a priest. Their counter is that Matthew’s gospel clearly presents Jesus as one who restores people from ceremonial uncleanness because it is a precursor to his eschatological role as the priestly Messiah who will bring cleansing from sin for his people. Continue reading