Q.  So this matter becomes the more and more complex, the more ways you look at it? A. I don’t see any easy way of solving this set of problems. When I want to be precise, I use “non-Jewish nations” (or ethnic people groups) and “members of non-Jewish nations” (or ethnic people groups) for the two different Jewish uses of ethnē. But these are cumbersome phrases, awkward enough in academic prose and unthinkable in full translations of ancient sources. For... Read more

Q. The term ethne, sometimes translated nations, sometimes translated Gentiles, has caused a good deal of confusion in various ways about the Greco-Roman world. Strictly speaking, there were no nation states in the modern sense of the term (as you note on p. 250). There were kingdoms, empires, tribes and various ethnic groups, and of course the English word ‘ethnic’ comes from this Greek collective noun ethne. In your discussion on p. 204 one begins to get the sense that... Read more

Q. Obviously, there are limitations to any methodology. It has been said that methodology is not an indifferent net. It catches what it intends to catch. One of the limitations of social identity theory is it focuses on socialization in various forms focusing on terms used by converts and others as self-descriptors even in its analysis of what can be called conversion. There doesn’t seem to be much if any discussion of the role conversion experiences play in the process... Read more

Q. Let’s talk methodology for a moment. Obviously, how one arranges the chronology of sources you use affects the trajectory of change or difference you find in the way key terms like ethne are used. Let’s take one example. Suppose the earlier work of Stephen Wilson on the Pastorals is correct and they seem to have been written by a co-worker of Paul, namely Luke. There are some 42 words or phrases in the Pastorals found nowhere else in the... Read more

Q. This book reflects an enormous amount of good research and reflection on both primary and secondary sources, though this subject has been treated in part by you in previous monographs. How long did it take you to put this detailed work together, especially considering the substantial discussion of the period beyond the NT era up to Constantine? A. Thanks for the question, Ben, and for this opportunity to engage in some extended conversation about my book. While I have... Read more

Terry Donaldson is a top drawer scholar who for some time has worked in the social side of the discipline of NT studies, and in this case the social scientific theory of social identity, which is used to study the development of self-understanding in earliest Christianity.  In particular this is an examination primarily of the evolving uses of the Greek term ethne. This book is a detailed, carefully researched important study of more than 550 pages complete with copious notes and... Read more

  https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/book-review/priscilla-life-early-christian Read more

    A Seussian Ode to Coffee   Sometimes I get asked How I wrote so many books I tell them ‘it’s the coffee’ And then I get strange looks.   To write a great book You must use your ole bean I took that advice quite literally And bought a good machine.   I follow great examples From the hoary past Coffee is apostolic That’s why it’s meant to last.   I’m thinking ole St. Paul Drank coffee for... Read more

Without much debate, Ian Rankin is rightly ranked as the leading writer of detective fiction in Europe, and in particular in the United Kingdom.  He has created two characters Detectives John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke who rival Sherlock Holmes in their abilities to get to the bottom of things.  This latest 325 page thriller is so fast-paced that it makes Grisham novels look like they are dawdling.  The latest novel A Song for the Dark Times was written before the pandemic... Read more

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