Here is a fine post by my friend Philip Jenkins on the original ending of Mark’s Gospel. I mostly agree with him, though I think in fact we can find the original ending of Mark in Mt. 28.9-10, and then the report of the appearance in Galilee at the end of Mt. 28. We don’t need to go as far afield as the Gospel of Peter, a later 2nd century document, to figure this out…. (see my Mark commentary). But... Read more

It seems that the movie makers have decided, perhaps in view of climate change, that we need to back summer up to April. And so it is that now the summer movies already start showing up in late April. The first real blockbuster however is Spiderman 2, which I saw in 3D on the first day it opened. In this case, it was worth the extra cash to be able to soar through NYC with good ole Spidie. Of all... Read more

Here is a recent post by colleague Jerry Pattengale….. How the ‘Jesus’ Wife’ Hoax Fell Apart By Jerry Pattengale May 1, 2014 7:17 p.m. ET In September 2012, Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King announced the discovery of a Coptic (ancient Egyptian) gospel text on a papyrus fragment that contained the phrase “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife . . .’ ” The world took notice. The possibility that Jesus was married would prompt a radical reconsideration of the New... Read more

We are in the midst of discussing the seven linked elements, with justification being the seventh that in Wright’s schema belong together. This post will deal with pp. 930-44 of that discussion. Here Tom is providing examples to support the theory that there were some precursors to Paul’s discussion of justification. He points especially to 4QMMT, which has figured so largely in the New Perspective talks trying to prove that ‘works of the Law’ refers to the boundary markers, or... Read more

It is well to remind ourselves where exactly we are in this lengthy discussion. We are in the midst of dealing with Tom’s views about how Paul reworked the concept of election around Messiah and Spirit. It is in that context that he wants to place the discussion about justification and being in Christ. He is not happy with a simply equating of justification with salvation. For Tom, salvation in the Pauline thought world falls under the category of the... Read more

Anyone who has also read Tom’s Pauline Perspectives volume will discover that he hasn’t much changed his mind in any major ways over the 40 plus years of his pondering and writing about Paul. It is thus all the more significant in the section we are analyzing today from Paul and the Faithfulness that we find some change of views on a couple of things. We will be examining closely pp. 900-911 in this post. On p. 900 Tom broaches... Read more

The exposition of Rom. 7.1-8.11 is of a piece with what we have heard before. Tom thinks two stories are running simultaneously just beneath the surface of the text, the story of Adam (see Rom. 5.12-21) and of Israel. The attempt to see both stories for instance in Rom. 7.7-13 however is problematic in various ways, as we shall see. And I would remind the reader of this blog one more time— all the evidence we have suggests that the... Read more