One of the major important contentions of Tom Wright is that Israel lived out of, or better said, lived as actors in, the grand story of God and his people, involving both their judgment and their restoration. Tom’s understanding of this fundamental narrative that he believes early Jews not merely resonated with but lived out of has not changed much from twenty years ago until now, to judge from the retelling of the story in Chapter Two, pp. 108ff. Tom... Read more

Not many scholars or lay persons have swallowed the ouevre of Tom Wright whole. By this I do not mean that not many have bought his arguments, but rather that not many have read even all the seminal scholarly books he has written. I have read all the big ones (all the way back to the Climax of the Covenant and even before) and many of the littler more popular level books as well. Here I have to warn you... Read more

One of the things about being a global thinker is that you realize the merits of a spectrum of viewpoints, and even realize that it is not often wise to pick sides in the history vs. theology debate, not least because the Gospel involves both. Christianity is after all an historical religion, and as I am prone to stress nothing can be theologically true that is historically false, if we are talking about the places where theology and history intersect.... Read more

One of the things I most appreciate about Tom Wright’s work, including these new volumes is that Tom, like Paul himself, is a global thinker. And when I say a global thinker, I’m not just referring to the whole field of theology, but rather to the fact that Tom is interested in get right the whole mindset of Paul not just in regard to his theological ideas, but in regard to his praxis, and his symbols, and his stories. He... Read more

As has once been said in jest, there is an appalling amount of Paul in the NT (13 of 27 books are attributed to Paul), and when it comes to Evangelical treatments of Paul, there is also a plethora of those available as well. Indeed one cannot read all the treatments are out there, as they number like the sands on the seashore. But if you are going to read some thorough treatments of St. Paul, then one of those... Read more

(The cartoon above is by one of my favorites cartoonists political and otherwise, the good Mr. Marlette who I enjoyed reading for years in the Charlotte Observer and then he moved on to Atlanta). (I’m not certain where this came from as it was floated my way, but its too good not to re-post. I can claim no credit for its creation). Recently Larry Hurtado republished his rules for commenting on his blog. Amongst the more useful ones are the... Read more

No that’s not Mr. Depp’s father, that’s Capt. Thomas Webb, a fire-brand Methodist preacher, known for his apocalyptic flourish. He is one of the many colorful characters whose memorabilia is to be found in the Methodist museum in Baltimore in Lovely Lane Chapel. Here we have Robert Strawbridge’s portable pulpit. He was one of the more famous, and independent minded Methodist preachers in Asbury’s day, who kept serving communion without Asbury’s permission or ordination. That didn’t go down so well... Read more

After the Civil War it would be hard to describe the devastation in the South. For one thing, a whole generation of young men were killed. For another, when Lincoln was assassinated Reconstruction took ugly turns under the hands of U.S. Grant, a drunkard. Alcoholism and despair were two major outcomes of that whole period of American history, and in response to it, women like Mrs. Smucker from Orrville Ohio, and Frances Willard. Here is a bust of her found... Read more