Anyone have a physical copy of Bound for the Promised Land by Oren Martin (NSBT)

I'm wondering if anyone has a physical copy of Oren Martin's "Bound for the Promised Land: The Land Promise in God’s Redemptive Plan" and would be willing to check what I sure hope is a typo on Logos' end.

On page 32 the text says, "Crucial to understanding why the canon ends with an Eden-like picture of the eschaton is that Eden is depicted as the prototypical place on earth where God dwells with his people. In short, God’s original creation is the archetype of a final—and better—creation to come. That is, God’s original creation reaches its eschatological fulfilment in the new heaven and new earth. Put another way, ‘Eschatology is like proctology.’"

The quote is from Levenson, Jon D. (1984), ‘The Temple and the World’, JR 64.3: 275–298. JR Journal of Religion. In looking at original article, the word "proctology" does not exist (duh!). The entire discussion by Levinson, as well as the lead up to this quote in Martin has to do with what is prototypical.

Someone has clearly gotten it wrong. So, I'm wondering if this is in the original text and the error belongs to IVP/Apollos or if it's Logos. Once confirmed from the original physical edition I'll follow up reporting the typo to the correct source.

So, thanks in advance for any assistance. There may be some who would agree with the sentiment as stated above with regard to eschatology, but I doubt Dr. Martin does! 😄

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John Crupper

@Bradley Grainger (Logos)
Thanks for the page image. That certainly indicates that it is original to IPV/Apollos. I've written to Dr. Martin. SBTS is my alma mater though much before his time.

The fact that this statement is in quotes and is cited to Levinson's Journal of Religion article and given the fact that Levinson is only discussing the idea of prototype and does not mention "proctology" says to me that something is off. Both the quotes and the citation would indicate that this is tied to Levinson. But, he said nothing of the sort.

If there were no citation, then I'd consider it might be an uncouth, throw-away line. But given that this work is published from Martin's PhD dissertation if it did appear in the dissertation that I'd want to chastise his supervisor and readers for allowing something like this through were it might be conceived as coming from Jon Levinson.

The Google AI response @Ronald Quick posted would seem to indicate that this "witticism" originates with Jon Levinson, but I would still argue that this citation is not acceptable. If it does originate with him then that is all well and good, but a simple note to that effect would be reasonable. Citing a source by him where it does not isn't.

And as @Justin Gatlin notes, the correct quote is "eschatology is like protology."

Thank you to everyone weighing in on this. I will be interested to see what Dr. Martin has to offer.

Alright everyone, as I typed that last sentence I thought to myself, I need to check Dr. Martin's dissertation. My next thought was I don't want to pay to see it. I only live an hour from SBTS so wondered whether it would be worth the drive, but low and behold it's actually on the internet.

Here's the actual quote: "Put another way, “Eschatology is like protology;”8 the end is like the beginning. [8Jon D. Levenson, “The Temple and the World,” JR 64, no. 3 (1984): 298. ]

So it looks like IVP/Apollos has egg on their face. Attached is the dissertation in case you are interested.

Martin_sbts_0207D_10148.pdf

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Bradley Grainger (Logos)

Not a physical copy, but here's a screenshot of the PDF reference material that was provided to us:

Ronald Quick

Not sure if this is helpful, but here are the AI results from Google:

Search only for Eschatology is like proctology

AI OverviewThe comparison "eschatology is like proctology" is a witticism often used in theological circles, sometimes attributed to scholar Jon Levenson, to highlight that in biblical studies, the end (eschatology) corresponds to the beginning (protology). Theological Connection

Connecting Beginning and End: Just as a full medical exam might cover both ends of a system, theology connects the beginning of the story (Creation/Eden) to the end of the story (New Heaven and Earth/Revelation).
"Last Things First": This approach argues that to understand the end times (eschatology), one must understand the original creation (protology).
Escalation: The end is not merely a return to the beginning, but a culmination where the initial creation is perfected.

Contextual Clarifications

Proctology vs. Protology: While often quoted as "proctology" for comedic effect, the term in this context is often a play on "protology" (the study of first things or origins).
Scatological Alternative: Some jokesters point out that if, instead of protology, one considers proctology (the study of the rectum), it might be better termed scatological.

The analogy is fundamentally about how the themes of the Garden of Eden are mirrored and fulfilled in the book of Revelation.

Justin Gatlin

The quote in the journal article is "eschatology is like protology," which is, of course, the same word used earlier in the chapter of Bound for the Promised Land. It is the penultimate sentence of the article. I don't have a print copy either, but the typo is also present in the Proquest ebook.

John Crupper

So it looks like IVP/Apollos has egg on their face. Attached is the dissertation in case you are interested.

Martin_sbts_0207D_10148.pdf

Justin Gatlin

I think the "witticism" idea is a great example of how AI can be amazingly, confidently wrong. Copy-editors certainly do miss things. In my OT survey book, I read it, other people read it, multiple rounds of Tyndale editors read it, I looked over it again, and I still discovered a typo standing in front of a class reading a section aloud. Whoops.

John Crupper

@Justin Gatlin

For sure. Here's a personal story in the category of "there are typos and then there are typos".

Back in 2006 I was working for Awana Clubs International in their Adult Education Institute. Our director had written a study guide for our first seminar aimed at parenting.

He had written a line that was obviously in error "Parents are will advised to spend quality time with their children."
Someone in editing caught the fact that "will" made no sense, but did not ask about the correct text. They change the word to "ill."

So when we got the several hundred printed copies, the line read, "Parents are ill advised to spend quality time with their children." Oops! The exact opposite of what our point was.