2018-04-29T18:59:49-04:00

O.K. so what is all the shouting about in regard to this film? Is it really the epic harmonic convergence of all the themes along the way since Iron Man 1 hit the screen? Well, not so fast my friend. First of all, the cognoscenti are saying this is only part one of a two part blockbuster (spoiler alert for those who’ve not seen the film yet— DON’T READ THE REST OF THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH) and it better be, because... Read more

2018-04-12T13:54:19-04:00

Here’s another excellent post by friend and colleague Larry Hurtado. See what you think. BW3 —– The Kingdom of God is “Within your reach” by larryhurtado It’s amazing how slowly the work of papyrologists influences the work of other scholars. Here’s an example. In Luke 17:20-21, Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God will come, and Jesus responds exhorting that it doesn’t come “with observation” (a term used also for medical observation of symptoms) and by pointing “here or... Read more

2018-04-09T06:22:25-04:00

Here’s a helpful post by my friend and colleague Larry Hurtado. BW3 Women in the Jesus-Movement by larryhurtado Last night in the UK, Channel 4 aired a TV documentary on the evidence of women’s involvement in the ministry of Jesus and the earliest Jesus-movement, featuring Professor Helen Bond (New College, Edinburgh) and Professor Joan Taylor (Kings College London). On the whole, and for the popular TV audience for which it was prepared, the programme was interesting and informative. The main... Read more

2018-04-06T15:27:51-04:00

The following is a recent essay by Scott Kisker, and I entirely agree with him. Neither of the contemplated options the bishops are considering are Methodist, because either one in essence destroys our connectional system and thereby our unity. We can’t have a local church option on sexual ethics, marriage, and what counts as holiness and appropriate lifestyle when it comes to ordination and still be a Methodist Church. Neither Wesley nor Asbury would recognize such a ‘local option’ as... Read more

2018-04-04T15:55:04-04:00

Perhaps you are old enough to remember the original movie Tron (1982, starring Jeff Bridges), one of the first movies to really use CG in a convincing way. Or at least perhaps you’re old enough to remember the second Tron movie which did not show up until 2010. In either case the film was about someone trapped within a game, or as we would call it today a virtual reality. In various ways Steven Spielberg’s new film Ready Player One... Read more

2018-04-04T11:07:59-04:00

M.J. Krueger, Christianity at the Crossroads (IVP, 2018) 256pp. With the rise of increased Biblical illiteracy has also arisen increased church historical illiteracy. Both were on full display in the colossal reception the novel and movie the Da Vinci Code got at the turn of the 21rst century. Even among Christians who know their Bible’s rather well, there is still a widespread ignorance of where the Bible came from, including even a general ignorance about when and where the NT... Read more

2018-04-04T08:54:11-04:00

One of the great historians and NT scholars of my era is Richard Bauckham, now retired and happily living in Cambridge and writing away on more important projects. Baker has helpfully now published many of his seminal articles of various sorts (historical, literary, theological, exegetical, etc.) in one collection entitled The Christian World around the New Testament (Baker 2017; also published in Europe by Mohr Siebeck). Like his fellow Cambridge man J.B. Lightfoot, Richard is polymath, highly skilled in numerous... Read more

2018-04-04T08:41:31-04:00

Christianity, like Judaism, is an historical religion, by which I mean it is founded and grounded on historical events. This being the case, history is of paramount importance to understanding both the context and the content of the NT. In this post I am commending to you two very different sorts of resources for your libraries. The first of these deals with the issue of daily life and the social context of the Bible. I am on record as saying... Read more

2018-03-30T23:32:42-04:00

THE POET’S PLIGHT Aspiration Contemplation Inspiration Perspiration Publication Admiration Adulation Coronation…. Expiration! BW3 3/1/18 Read more

2018-04-04T07:47:22-04:00

Here is an excellent recent post by my friend and colleague Larry Hurtado. See what you think BW3 Fred Wisse on Early Textual Transmission by larryhurtado In a previous posting I asked if we need a revised/new paradigm for portraying the earliest transmission of NT writings (here). An earlier voice advocating a similar position is Frederik Wisse (Emeritus Professor, McGill University) in an essay published in 1989: “The Nature and Purpose of Redactional Changes in Early Christian Texts: The Canonical... Read more

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