Here’s an excellent critique of a review of John Barton’s recent History of the Bible volume. I entirely agree with Philip about that weird sentence. I also think Bauckham’s book is excellent. BW3 When Reviews Go Strange JULY 13, 2019 BY PHILIP JENKINS When I read the excellent reviews offered by the Wall Street Journal, I always enjoy pieces by the versatile, well-informed, and wide-ranging Barton Swaim. I say that before disagreeing with him in a major way on his... Read more

Vermeer’s Christ in the House of Mary and Martha. A recent article in a Duke publication relates the story of the scholarly work of Elizabeth Schrader at Duke on a medieval codex of the Fourth Gospel, which reflects name changes in places where Mary and Martha are mentioned together. Here is the article link—- https://today.duke.edu/2019/06/mary-or-martha-duke-scholars-research-finds-mary-magdalene-downplayed-new-testament-scribes I have no problems at all with the thesis that there was anti-feminist bias on the part of some scribes when it comes to the... Read more

Staudt on”Monotheistic” Expressions by larryhurtado In reading a colleague’s draft essay I was reminded of a book that I found particularly helpful, but has received a disappointing level of notice, even, it appears, in scholarly circles. I reviewed the book several years ago in the German journal, Theologische Literaturzeitung, but can’t find other reviews. This is unfortunate, because I think the book deserves better publicity. So, I provide below a lightly edited version of my TLZ review. Darina Staudt, Der... Read more

Irenaeus of Lyons: A KeyFigure by larryhurtado Today (28 June) in the church year marks the martyrdom of Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 130-200? CE). Likely born in Smyrna (in the Greek-speaking eastern area of the Roman Empire), at some point he moved to Roman Gaul, to Ludunum (Lyons). He became prominent in the church there, and after the martyrdom of its elderly bishop (among the martyrs of Lyons) Ireneaus was elected bishop of the church. (The site of the martrydom... Read more

“Honoring the Son”: An Entree Work by larryhurtado As I’m often asked for a short introduction to the line that I take in discussing earliest Jesus-devotion (some finding the 600+ pp. Lord Jesus Christ a bit too much to take in), I think that now I would recommend my little volume that appeared last year: Honoring the Son: Jesus in Earliest Christian Devotional Practice (Lexham Press, 2018). Here are the main points that I lay out in the small book:... Read more

More on the Texts in Oxyrhynchus Papyri Vol 83 by larryhurtado In addition to the fragment of an early copy of the Gospel of Mark, the same volume of Oxyrhynchus Papyri includes a number of other texts that provide data worth noting. The other identifiably Christian texts include a leaf of a LXX codex of the Psalms (P.Oxy. 5344, Ralfs 2228), dated by the editors to the sixth century AD, preserving Psalm 2:1-8. The nomina sacra and the codex bookform... Read more

The next few posts are reposts from Larry Hurtado’s blog, who has now stopped blogging due to his ill health. Larry has been a front rank NT scholar for many decades and we all owe him a big debt BW3 Keener’s Commentary on Galatians by larryhurtado Craig Keener’s massive commentary on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians has recently appeared: Galatians: A Commentary (Baker Academic, 2019). At xlvii + 848 pages, it is likely the largest commentary on this epistle. But... Read more

Especially during the summers, the family mostly stayed inside. We know that the eldest son went off to Davidson College, a good Presbyterian school back then, and Mrs. Bellamy was a staunch Presbyterian. But there were children in the home in the 1860s, and the home was confiscated by the Union General Alfred Terry, who used it as his headquarters for some months. It must be remembered that Wilmington was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union, and... Read more

The Bellamy mansion was built with tin roofs, which was rather standard for that period… but also noisy when there was hail or a hard rain, never mind a hurricane. The climate in the late Spring through the early Fall was steamy, hot and humid, and so like in Charleston and Savannah you have trees with Spanish moss, as well as lots of crepe myrtles….. Needless to say, in that climate, there was a need for lots of bathing….here’s the... Read more

Much of the work in building the Bellamy mansion (which did lack one thing—- a wine cellar, as Dr. Bellamy was an ardent Methodist teetotaler– which of course means they totally drank tea all the time), was done by African American artisans, who were good at creating crown molding and fancy ceiling work of all sorts, inside and on the porches. Some of them were free blacks who lived in Wilmington, some of them were slaves. Here is the tool... Read more