Recent books on the atonement and salvation being participatory

Michael J. Gorman, The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement

Idem, Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in paul's Narrative Soteriology

David S. Powers, Salvation through Participation An Examination of the Notion of the Believers' Corporate Unity with Christ in Early Christian Soteriology

Constantine R. Campbell, Paul and Union with Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study

"In Christ" In Paul: Explorations in Paul's Theology of Union and Participation, eds. Constantine R. Campbell et al.

A classical treatment of the work is that of

David Baillie, God was in Christ

Eusebius on Christ Deifying Humanity

Now it was actually the case that the whole Humanity was absorbed by the Divinity, and moreover the Word of God was God as He had previously been man, and He deified humanity with Himself, being the firstfruits of our hope, since He thought actual manhood worthy of eternal life with Him, and of fellowship in the blessed Godhead, and afforded to us all equally this mighty proof of an immortality and kingdom with him. (Eusebius, The Proof of the Gospel, Book IV chapter 14)

Baurch Levine on the Scapegoat

While the goat designated by lot for Azazel shall be left standing alive before the LORD, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel. (Lev 16:10 1985 JPS Tanakh)

To make expiation with it The idiom le-khapper ‘alav, translated “to make expiation with it,” is actually perplexing, as used in this verse. Almost without exception, kipper ‘al has to do with the use of sacrificial blood as a means of expiation, which is clearly not the case here. The scapegoat was not part of the expiation rites proper and was not slaughtered. It was merely stationed alongside the other goat and, like it, selected by lot.

Traditional commentaries express diverse views regarding this statement, which they recognize as representing exceptional usage. Targum Jonathan translates: “to atone for the sinfulness of the people, the House of Israel,” in which the preposition ‘alav, “upon it,” refers to the people, not the goat. Rashi notes that the verb kipper invokes confession, not only atonement, so that this verse could refer to the confession pronounced “over” the scapegoat, as prescribed in verse 21. Ibn Ezra emphasizes function: “That the goat takes on itself the expiation.” This is closer to what is being proposed here. The goat was an instrument of expiation—no rite of expiation involving blood was performed near it. (Baruch Levine, Leviticus [The JPS Torah Commentary; The Jewish Publication Society, 1989], 103)

Matthew Roper, Book of Job on premortal existence of "first man"

I am just calling attention to a very interesting article by Matthew Roper on the personal pre-existence of "first man" in the book of Job, "Book of Job on premortal existence of 'first man'" It is a very solid contribution to the biblical evidence for Latter-day Saint theology.

κηρυσσω in 1 Peter 3:19

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. (1 Pet 3:19)

Sometimes, critics of the Latter-day Saint interpretation of 1 Pet 3:19-21 will argue that the verb used in v. 19 (κηρυσσω) does not mean "to preach" but instead means "to proclaim," and that Peter is stating that Christ proclaimed a message of condemnation to those in the spirit world.

Firstly, many English translations render this verb as "preach" and not simply just "proclaim," such as the KJV; NJB; ASV; DR; ERV; Geneva; NLT; RSV; Tyndale.

Secondly, κηρυσσω is often used by the New Testament authors for the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom; it strains credulity to think that this was Christ and the Apostles merely proclaiming the gospel and the future Kingdom without a goal towards seeking converts thereto; note the following examples:

From that time Jesus began to preach (κηρυσσω), and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17)

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching (κηρυσσω) the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. (Matt 4:23)

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching (κηρυσσω) the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matt 9:35)

As you go, proclaim (κηρυσσω) the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' (Matt 10:7)

What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear that preach (κηρυσσω) ye upon the housetops. (Matt 10:27)

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach (κηρυσσω) in their cities. (Matt 11:1)

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached (κηρυσσω) in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matt 24:14)

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached (κηρυσσω) in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. (Matt 26:13)

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached (κηρυσσω) Christ unto them. (Acts 8:5)

Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth (κηρυσσω) (Acts 19:13)

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach (κηρυσσω). (Rom 10:8)

Preach (κηρυσσω) the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Tim 4:2)

Thirdly, scholarly lexicons support the view that κηρυσσω is more than just “to proclaim”; notice the following from (1) BDAG and (2) Louw-Nida as two representative examples:

 4232  κηρύσσω

• κηρύσσω impf. ἐκήρυσσον; fut. κηρύξω; 1 aor. ἐκήρυξα, inf. κηρύξαι (also κηρῦξαι, so Tdf.); on the accent s. B-D-F §13; PKatz-Walters, The Text of the Septuagint, Cambridge ’73, 97); pf. inf. κεκηρυχέναι (Just., D. 49, 2). Pass.: 1 fut. κηρυχθήσομαι; 1 aor. ἐκηρύχθην; pf. κεκήρυγμαι (Just.) (s. two prec. entries; Hom.+; ins, pap, LXX; PsSol 11:1; TestLevi 2:10; GrBar 16:4 [-ττ-]; Philo, Joseph.; loanw. in rabb.; apolog. exc. Ar.).

1. to make an official announcement, announce, make known, by an official herald or one who functions as such (Maximus Tyr. 1, 6c κηρύττομαι=I am being announced by the herald) MPol 12:1 of the pro-consul, who announced three times that Pol. had confessed to being a Christian.—Rv 5:2.

2. to make public declarations, proclaim aloud

a. gener. speak of, mention publicly w. acc. κ. πολλὰ τὸν λόγον spread the story widely Mk 1:45. The hospitality of the Cor. church 1 Cl 1:2. W. indir. discourse foll. Mk 5:20; Lk 8:39. Abs. Mk 7:36.—S. below 2bβ.

b. of proclamation that is divine in origin or relates to divinity (Epict. 3, 13, 12 of the peace of wise men, which does not originate w. the emperor, but is ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κεκηρυγμένη διὰ τ. λόγου. Of the [objectionable] myths of the Greeks ταῦτα … οἱ … συγγραφεῖς καὶ ποιηταὶ κ. Theoph. Ant. 1, 9 [p. 78, 13]).

α. of the proclamation or oracles of the older prophets (Jo 2:1; 4:9; Jon 1:2; 3:2; Jos., Ant. 10, 117; Just., A I, 54, 2) Ἰωνᾶς Νινευΐταις καταστροφὴν ἐκήρυξεν 1 Cl 7:7 (Jonah as Jos., Ant. 9, 214; Just., D. 107, 2f; Orig., C. Cels. 7, 57, 3); cp. vs. 6; 9:4 (Noah as SibOr 1, 128); 17:1 (Elijah and Elisha, also Ezekiel); B 6:13 (ὁ προφήτης). προφήτας [ἐξ]έπεμψεν κ. … χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν AcPl Ha 8, 17//Ox 1602, 19-21//BMM recto 21f. Ἰωνᾶς … [ἵνα] εἰς Νεινεύη μὴ κηρύξῃ AcPl Cor 2:29. οἵτινες τὴν ἀπλανῆ θεοσέβειαν ἐκήρυσσον who proclaimed the inerrant way of revering God 2:10.

β. of contemporary proclaimers (POxy 1381, 35; 144 [II AD]: of the great deeds of the gods; Herm. Wr. 1, 27; 4, 4.—Philo, Agr. 112 κήρυξον κήρυγμα τοιοῦτον. S. κῆρυξ 2.—Also of false prophets: Jos., Bell. 6, 285), of Mosaic tradition and its publication, the preaching of John the Baptist, and propagation of the Christian message in the widest sense: Μωϋσῆν preach (=advance the cause of) Moses i.e. the keeping of the law Ac 15:21. περιτομήν proclaim circumcision i.e. the necessity of it Gal 5:11 (here and 2a the mng. praise publicly is also prob.: X., Cyr. 8, 4, 4; Polyb. 30, 29, 6). κ. μὴ κλέπτειν inveigh against stealing (=preach: No stealing!) Ro 2:21.—κ. τι proclaim, someth. (ἕνα θεὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ ἕνα μονογενῆ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν κ. Iren. 1, 9, 2 [Harv. I 82, 5]; τὸν ἄγνωστον πατέρα 1, 26, 1 [Harv. I 211, 11]; Hippol., Ref. 1, Prol. 7; Did., Gen. 183, 6; 209, 13) Mt 10:27; pass. Lk 12:3. ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτόν 4:19 (cp. Is 61:1f). τὸν λόγον 2 Ti 4:2. τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως the message of faith Ro 10:8. τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ Lk 8:1; 9:2; cp. Ac 20:25; 28:31. τὸ εὐαγγέλιον Mk 16:15; Ac 1:2 D; Gal 2:2; B 5:9; GMary Ox 3525, 28; 32. τὸ εὐ. τ. βασιλείας Mt 4:23; 9:35 (cp. τὸν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ λόγον Orig., C. Cels. 3, 40, 20); τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ Hs 9, 16, 5. W. dat. of pers. (Hippol., Ref. 5, 26, 30) 1 Cor 9:27 (on the topic of dreaded failure s. APapathomas, NTS 43, ’97, 240); 1 Pt 3:19 (CCranfield, ET 69, ’57/58, 369-72; see lit. s.v. πνεῦμα 4c); GPt 10:41. εἰς τὰς συναγωγάς in the synagogues Mk 1:39; Lk 4:44. τινί τι someth. to someone (of Jesus κ. μετάνοιαν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ Orig., C. Cels. 7, 57, 4; τὸ κηρῦξαι αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον Did., Gen. 53, 13) 4:18; B 14:9 (both Is 61:1). τὶ εἴς τινα someth. to someone τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰς ὑμᾶς 1 Th 2:9. εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον Hs 9, 25, 2. Pass. εἰς τὰ ἔθνη Mk 13:10 (DBosch, Die Heidenmission in der Zukunftsschau Jesu ’59, 159-71); κ. τὸ εὐ. Mt 24:14; 26:13; Mk 14:9; Col 1:23.—βάπτισμα proclaim baptism i.e. the necessity of it Mk 1:4; Lk 3:3; Ac 10:37. ἐκηρύχθη ἡ σφραγὶς αὕτη H 9, 16, 4. κηρυχθῆναι … μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν repentance for the forgiveness of sins Lk 24:47. ἵνα μετανοῶσιν Mk 6:12. [ἀνδρῶν τῶν] κηρυσσόντων, ἵνα μετανοῆται (read: -ῆτε) AcPl Ha 1, 17.—τινά (τινι) someone (to someone) Χριστόν Ac 8:5; cp. 1 Cor 1:23; Phil 1:15. Ἰησοῦν Ac 19:13; 2 Cor 11:4. οὐχ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύσσομεν ἀλλὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν κύριον we do not publicize ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord 4:5. Pass. ὃς (Χριστός) … ἐκηρύχθη 1 Ti 3:16; cp. Hs 8, 3, 2; 9, 17, 1; Dg 11:3. διά τινος through someone (cp. Epict. 3, 13, 12) Χρ. ᾽Ι ὁ ἐν ὑμῖν δι᾽ ἡμῶν κηρυχθείς 2 Cor 1:19. W. an addition that indicates the content of the proclamation, introduced by ὅτι (cp. Epict. 4, 5, 24): κ. w. acc. and ὅτι foll. Mk 1:14 v.l.; Ac 9:20; pass. Χρ. κηρύσσεται ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερται Christ is proclaimed as having risen fr. the dead 1 Cor 15:12. κ. τινί, ὅτι Ac 10:42; οὕτως κ. 1 Cor 15:11. The content of the proclamation is introduced by λέγων Mt 3:1f; 10:7; Mk 1:7; cp. vs. 14; IPhld 7:2. Beside λέγειν w. direct discourse (Epict. 4, 6, 23) Mt 4:17. Abs. Mt 11:1; Mk 1:38; 3:14; 16:20; Ro 10:15; 1 Cl 42:4; B 5:8 (Jesus’ proclamation defined as teaching and the performance of wonders and signs); 8:3. κηρύσσων a proclaimer Ro 10:14.—S. lit. under κήρυγμα; also MGrumm, translating kerusso and Related Verbs: BT 21, ’70, 176-79.—B. 1478. DELG s.v. κῆρυξ. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.

33.207  κηρύσσω ; διαγγέλλω: to announce extensively and publicly - 'to proclaim, to tell.' κηρύσσω: ἤρξατο κηρύσσειν ἐν τῇ Δεκαπόλει ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς 'he began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him' Mk 5.20. διαγγέλλω: σὺ δὲ ἀπελθὼν διάγγελλε τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ 'you go and proclaim the kingdom of God' Lk 9.60.

Fourthly, there is a strong body of scholarship supporting the view that Christ preached, not simply proclaimed, to the spirits in 1 Pet 3:19-21. For two representative examples:

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyen, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective 

Jeffrey A. Trumbower, Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of non-Christians in Early Christianity

The LDS interpretation of this pericope is on sound footing; the critics harping about the meaning of κηρυσσω is question-begging as it can mean “to proclaim,” “to preach,” and even both per the context—critics will have to show us that κηρυσσω does not carry the connotation of “to preach” before making any dogmatic assertion.

Why the “split Shema” theory does not support the Trinity

It is common to hear from Trinitarian apologists these days that Paul “split” the Shema in 1 Cor 8:4-6 (a text that is actually strongly anti-Trinitarian). However, allowing for the sake of argument that Paul did split the Shema, such would not allow for the Trinity. If Bauckham et al., are correct, one would have to render the Shema as follows:

Listen, O Israel, Jesus is our Father, Jesus is One.

It is clearly unintelligible and smacks more of modalism than Trinitarianism. The split Shema idea could only work if one is a proponent of the Father and Son being the same person, which would be antithetical to 1 Cor 8:4-6 and a host of other passages when exegeted carefully.

James McGrath, author of The Only True God and John’s Apologetic Christology (both volumes I recommend to interested readers) wrote the following on Bauckham’s thesis:

One question we need to ask ourselves is whether Paul is likely to have made his most substantial points about the nature of Jesus by quoting or alluding to key texts that were slogans of Jewish monotheism, while at the same time supposedly making subtle but significant additions or insertions so as to (in the words of N. T. Wright) “split the Shema” or (in the terminology of Richard Bauckham) “include Jesus within the divine identity.”…Could someone have heard that Paul “split the Shema” in [1Cor 8.4-6]?

I’ve already noted that the widespread knowledge of the Shema in Paul’s time was a loud, unified voice, and that Paul would have needed to shout vociferously were he disagreeing with that dominant voice in some significant way. Yet he does not do so. It seems advisable therefore to assume that Paul’s earliest hearers would have heard him as joining in unison with those voices, perhaps adding a distinctive descant about the Anointed One, but not dissonantly singing a different note or even noticeably out of tune. Paul would have seemed to be building on that already-established foundation rather than challenging it…

In our time, many of us have heard the Shema far less frequently than the Nicene Creed. This cannot but be an influence, even on scholarly interpreters who make an effort to avoid reading our assumptions and contemporary influences into the texts we study…historical study seeks to hear Paul’s voice not as an expression of a Nicene orthodoxy that had not been defined as such in his time, but as a specific voice of his own time in an earlier period (Dunn, New Testament Theology: An Introduction). Paul’s journey may well have been on the same road that eventually led to Nicaea and Chalcedon, but the debates and conflicts of the intervening centuries suggest that the road from Paul to Nicaea was often uphill and frequently rocky, and by no means an instance of a casual linear stroll through flat, familiar terrain…

…it seems overwhelmingly probable that Paul echoes the Shema and other monotheistic passages so as to support his monotheism, rather than to redefine it or transform it into something radically new. (J.F. McGrath, “On Hearing [Rather Than Reading] Intertextual Echoes: Christology and Monotheistic Scriptures in an Oral Context”)

Resources on the Spaulding Theory of Book of Mormon Origins

The "Manuscript Story" of Reverend Solomon Spalding; or "Manuscript Found" The text itself

Lester E. Bush, The Spalding Theory: Now and Then

FairMormon Wiki Page on the Spalding Theory

Jeff Lindsay, Plagiarism in the Book of Mormon? Is it derived from Modern Writings?

Idem, That New Book of Mormon Wordprint Study: The Criddle Riddle--or Rigged for Rigdon?

Russell Anderson, The Spaulding Theory Debunked

Matthew B. Brown, Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon

Dean C. Jessee, 'Spalding Theory' Re-Examined

Lance D. Chase, "Spaulding Manuscript" (Encyclopedia of Mormonism)

L. Ara Norwood's review of Vernal Holley, Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look

Matthew Roper, “The Mythical "Manuscript Found" (review of Wayne L. Cowdery, Howard A. Davis, and Arthur Vanick, Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma)

Idem, Myth, Memory, and "Manuscript Found"

Matthew Roper, Paul J. Fields, and G. Bruce Schaalje, Stylometric Analyses of the Book of Mormon: A Short History

Matthew Roper and Paul J. Fields, The Historical Case against Sidnney Rigdon's Authorship of the Book of Mormon

It should also be noted that one can refute the various theories and “spins” on the Spalding theory using just non-LDS and anti-LDS sources. For instance:

John Hamer, "The Spaulding Fable" (a spoof-piece that also highlights the inanity of the "missing mauscript" theory)

Sandra Tanner, The Solomon Spalding Theory

Dan Vogel Discusses the Spalding/Rigdon Theory (here, Dan Vogel systematically destroys the purported evidences for the different "spins" on this theory)