As Childs points out, the earliest post-NT Christian commentator on Isaiah in any significant way is Justin Martyr (ca. 100-165 A.D.). He knows no Hebrew, so he is following some form of the LXX text. He cites Isaiah some seventy-six times, thirty nine of which have citation formulae such as ‘Isaiah says’ or ‘Isaiah cries’ or ‘the Holy Spirit cries through Isaiah’ in his three major works which have survived—his Dialogue with Trypho, and his two Apologies. His use of... Read more

Brevard Childs was one of the very great OT scholars of the late twentieth century and into this century, and his last major contribution to Biblical Studies is a book entitled The Struggle to Understand Isaiah as Christian Scripture (Eerdmans, 2004). What follows in the next series of blog posts is a detail synopsis of this important book with running commentary and critique. I would urge you to read the book for yourself and see what you think, as it... Read more

I’m working away on a book that deals with Isaiah in the OT and NT, not least because Isaiah is the most frequently cited book from the OT in the NT. In the process of doing this book, I’ve been doing a lot of reading of OT literature on Isaiah, including about the running feud that went on between Brevard Childs and the post-modernists, particularly Walter Brueggemann, particularly over the issue of Christian readings of the OT and whether indeed... Read more

The following is a re-post of something I wrote in 2009 for my Beliefnet blog. It seems even more relevant today what with all sorts of unethical behavior going on in the church, including in conservative Christian churches. A CENSUS OF THE CONSENUS: NT ETHICS—Preliminary Considerations Even drama is too static an understanding of theological ethics. Ethics cannot be simply about rehearsing and repeating the same script and story over and over again, albeit on a fresh stage with new... Read more

(https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dust-cast/id1073000684) Read more

“There’s nothing in the Bible that says ‘thou shalt not wrestle’ says the wife of pastor Chris as he is struggling with whether to go back to wrestling to pay his family and church’s mounting bills. And believe it or not, this movie is based on the true story of the life of Rev. Chris Whaley, a Baptist pastor, now in Florida, but the movie only covers the period when he first became a pastor in Michigan of a down... Read more

Here is a very interesting article which demonstrates the importance of archaeological work for the understanding of the historical Jesus and his ministry. See what you think—- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unearthing-world-jesus-180957515/ Read more

Tis the season for primaries, and since Evangelicals seem rather involved, I thought I would provide a voters guide, in regard to the kind of person one should vote for, based on the traits used to describe a follower of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount and in places like Rom. 12-13. I’m not interested in favoring one party or other, because the platform of neither is very Christian. 1) if the candidate regularly lies or deliberately exaggerates just... Read more

[This is a repost of one of blog posts from a decade ago. What I said then, I would still say today, perhaps even more emphatically. I’ve added a few new sprinkles to the post]. The chaplain ran to help the man lying on the beach of a South Pacific island, who had been hit by a shell. The young man was dying, and as the chaplain administered the morphine to him, the young many looked into the chaplain’s eyes... Read more

Here is an interview done with Shaun Tabbatt about my archaeological thrillers. Cut and paste this link into your browsers and listen—- http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/4/7/b/47b804fb505526a2/Author_Talks_With_Shaun_Tabatt_-_Episode_95_-_Ben_Witherington_-_Art_West_Adventure_Series.mp3?c_id=7127734&expiration=1452258006&hwt=86d96fd31024ad1a4f81394190852f39 Read more