Above is a painting of what the Temple Mount would have looked like in Jesus’ day. The IAA, or Israeli Antiquities Authority, has in its possession (and also on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, thousands upon thousands of antiquities from the Biblical period. This exhibit is temporary, but nonetheless well worth seeing up on the sixth floor of the Museum of the Bible. For example, for my money getting to see the small horned altar from Lachish was... Read more

Without question, one of the most spectacular new museums not merely in the U.S. but in the world is the new museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. which Ann and I got to go spend time in early last month. This museum has a basement plus six floors, or 430,000 square feet. It is huge, and easily the largest Bible museum anywhere. What you see above is the ceiling in the entrance way which constantly changes picture, in this... Read more

The real strength of this biography, not surprisingly, is one of Tom’s great strengths— the theological analysis of the content of Paul’s letters, coupled with a good grasp of the kind of person Paul was, and what motivated and drove him to do all the amazing things he did. There are stretches in this biography which are both eloquent and moving, as one feels likely finally one is actually getting close to the fire, close to understanding the riddle wrapped... Read more

One of the real pluses of this biography is that it doesn’t start, as some lives of Paul do, with a truncated corpus of material. By this I mean, if you’ve read the recent large tome by E.P. Sanders a goodly number of Paul’s letters are eliminated from consideration as Pauline from the outset, and then one arranges the rest of the letters in one’s own way, and then one paints a portrait of Paul. Tom deals with the whole... Read more

In what is billed as Daniel-Day Lewis’last movie before retirement, Phantom Thread is a lavish Gothic style British romance about an artiste named Reynolds Woodcock who designs gowns, and becomes besotted with a serving girl he meets in a restaurant one day. The film is set in the 1950s and is filmed entirely in England in various places. At 2 hours and 10 minutes it will seem a bit long to action junkies who get fidgety when a plot unfolds... Read more

(Harper 480 pages, to be released end of Febr. 2018) Having gotten an advance copy of the proofs of Tom’s new book, I am writing a review now, which will help the reader to know whether to purchase the book or not, and I’m saying— this is a good book, one of Tom’s best. Now that that’s out of the way, the review—- It’s been a long time since we have had a good proper ‘life of Paul’ book. Indeed,... Read more

Q. In reading your biography one gets a strong sense not only of the contingency of things in Paul’s life and ministry, but also just how much his letters were indeed occasional in nature, largely words on target meant to deal with specific situations, ideas, problems. Yet somehow, these very occasional letters have continued to speak to every generation of Christians, and often speak to those who lack what might be called hermeneutical skills in transferring things from that horizon... Read more

Q. Another of the emphases in this work is the sheer energy of Paul. People just couldn’t keep up with him and may have been prone to ask— ‘Do you ever sleep’ (something I’m sure you, as I have been asked in view of our writing output!)? Perhaps some of this is just Paul’s robust makeup, but I sense that actually it mainly has to do with just how sold out he is to the Gospel, and how much he... Read more

Q. Suppose you were to have been able to interview Peter in writing this biography of Paul. What do you think Peter’s overall assessment would have been of Paul and his life and ministry? Do you think perhaps Peter’s speech in Acts 15 and 1 Peter may give us some clues? Was 1 Peter mainly written to Diaspora Jewish converts, resident aliens in what we call Turkey, or was he addressing the Gentiles that he should have been leaving to... Read more

Q. To what extent is it fair to say Paul was a deliberate agent provocateur at points in ministry, and this got him into trouble, sometimes unnecessary trouble? A. I think Paul knew perfectly well that he was often treading on the toes of the authorities. His refusal to go quietly away from Philippi in Acts 16, and his teasing of the Pharisees and Sadducees in Acts 23 (not to mention his riposte to the High Priest), shows him as... Read more