The Bible and Culture

In 1881 Lightfoot presided over the twenty-first meeting--the coming of age--of the Church Congress at Newcastle-on-Tyne, The British Association had just kept its jubilee in the metropolis of the Northern Province. Here is the Bishop's happy and characteristically hopeful reference to the coincidence:--The President availed himself of the occasion to sum up the achievements of the half-century past--untrodden fields opened out, fresh sciences created, a whole world of fact and theory … [Read more...]

"Since it hath pleased Thee, O Lord, that I should be called to take my part in the teaching of this College, grant that I may not assume the same lightly, or without a due sense of the importance of my trust; but, considering it a stewardship, whereof I shall have to render an account hereafter, may faithfully fulfil the same to Thy honour and glory. Grant, O Lord, that neither by word nor deed I may do aught that may weaken the faith, or slacken the practice of those committed to my charge; … [Read more...]

In response to some of the outlandish and incorrect claims about the lack of historical substance in the speeches on Acts in recent publications on Acts, it is worth quoting someone who clearly knows the ancient Greek literature, (both ancient historical monographs and ancient biographies not to mention other classical, Hellenistic, and early Christian literature), far better than these contemporary scholars, namely J.B. Lightfoot----"Thus it is asserted that the diction is the same … [Read more...]

So me and the Tune Dude (aka, Jeff James ace bass player, and former head of Ichthus), and my sister Laura, and my doctoral student (see top picture) Jason Myers, went on a little jaunt up to O-HI-O (crank up Neil Young and the boys), to see a classic rock concert-- Dave Mason opening for TOTO! Now Toto rarely gets anywhere close to where I live, they don't tour much any more-- after all this is their 35th year, and they have lost some major parts along the way. God bless Jeff Porcaro, now … [Read more...]

(O.K. so the picture is small...... but it's worth squinting at. It provides the real reason it took 40 years to get into the promised land--- toll booths! :)(Many thanks to Wiley Miller, Mr.Mancuso and the other wonderful cartoonists who archive their work online, and keep us all thinking about Biblical themes). … [Read more...]

"[W]hat we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert – himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt – the Divine Reason. [Bi … [Read more...]

(THE FOLLOWING IS A POST BY MY FRIEND AND FELLOW N.T. SCHOLAR LARRY HURTADO,WITH WHICH I WHOLEHEARTEDLY CONCUR. THIS THEORY HAS BEEN REFUTED SO MANY TIMES IT DOES NOT DESERVE TO SHOW UP ON PRIME TIME TV (FOX ARE YOU LISTENING? THE APPEARANCE BY THE AUTHOR ON FOX APPARENTLY CATAPULTED THIS BOOK INTO THE TOP 5 ON AMAZON. SHAME ON YOU.).by larryhurtadoOne of the things variously amusing and annoying is the re-appearance of ideas and claims in my own area of expertise as if something … [Read more...]

Festschrift is the German word for 'celebratory writing', and usually refers to a collection of essays done in honor or memory of one's colleague or friend or Doctor Father who has made some noteworthy contribution to their particular academic discipline. Usually, such an honor happens at or after a person retires, and definitely after their body of work has been assessed and has had affect. Usually, as well this is a surprise honor pulled off by former doctoral students wanting to honor their … [Read more...]

Harper One is especially good at publishing books that can be called 'provocations' or 'pot-stirrers', or 'debunkers'. Candida Moss' recent volume with the deliberately provocative title 'The Myth of Persecution' is such a book. At heart, the root of her concern is exaggeration, hyperbole in the accounts of martyrdoms, and perhaps the possible 'persecution' complex of various of the earliest Christian writers. In response to this she has trotted out what has become a somewhat standard lament, … [Read more...]