Biblical Commentaries, about half a century ago, came in two basic types: either the stale, crusty, “criticism”-this-and-“criticism”-that type (with no theological interest or nearly none), or the popular “non-academic” devotional commentary to warm the heart and teach Christian-y platitudes. Well…times have changed. There are now well over 100 commentary series – and each series has numerous volumes. Some have balked at the production of each new commentary series. Sometimes I have wondered myself. However, the best kinds that are being... Read more

This academic year has seen some  movement in Biblical studies at Princeton. Beverly Gaventa and Ross Wagner both switched institutions – the former to Baylor, the latter to Duke. That left some folks wondering –what will come of NT Studies at PTS? Well, with folks Black and Parsenios there, it was still expected to be quite strong in any case. However, the news just became official that Dale Allison will join their ranks in the fall – not a bad... Read more

See here. “Sleeping with the Enemy: Recent Scholarship on Sexuality in the Book of Judges” (Serge Frolov) “Summaries of Israel’s Story: Reviewing a Compositional” (Jason B. Hood and Matthew Y. Emerson) “Peter and Paul in Acts and the Construction of Early Christian Identity: A Review of Historical and Literary Approaches” (Coleman A. Baker) “Alternative Perspectives beyond the Perspectives: A Summary of Pauline Studies that has Nothing to Do with Piper or Wright” (Bruce Worthington) “Recent Study of Greek Religion in... Read more

Here is a word of extraordinarily high praise from Sam Well regarding Tom Wright’s soon-coming Paul and the Faithfulness of God:   “With magisterial vision, energetic scholarship, and lucid illustration, N. T. Wright unveils the mysteries of Paul’s theological imagination. This compellingly argued and absorbing study takes us beyond the bifurcation of salvation and participation that has long pervaded Pauline studies. Combining the passion of Augustine with the ambition of Barth, Wright’s Christian Origins series has inscribed itself into the canon... Read more

Here is a word of extraordinarily high praise from Sam Well regarding Tom Wright’s soon-coming Paul and the Faithfulness of God:   “With magisterial vision, energetic scholarship, and lucid illustration, N. T. Wright unveils the mysteries of Paul’s theological imagination. This compellingly argued and absorbing study takes us beyond the bifurcation of salvation and participation that has long pervaded Pauline studies. Combining the passion of Augustine with the ambition of Barth, Wright’s Christian Origins series has inscribed itself into the canon... Read more

J. Ross Wagner, formerly at Princeton Theological Seminary, has been recently appointed associate professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. Ross did his PhD at Duke, so he definitely knows his way around those halls. This is a huge loss for Princeton as many PTS students have told me how much they appreciated him. You can read the Duke announcement here. Read more

I have been admiring, as of late, the scholarly work of David Scholer. Today I found particularly interesting his comment, made in a 1988 article, on how times had changed for how he taught NT courses to seminary students. As a bit of background to this article, before getting to a key quote, Scholer was reflecting on his journey of defending women in ministry as a legitimate Christian perspective. Scholer came to understand, over several decades of Biblical interpretation, that... Read more

This fall I am excited to be teaching an exegesis course on the Gospel of Matthew (my first time on this book!). I have been beefing up my Synoptics literature and getting acquainted with the best commentaries (just bought ICC and Talbert’s Paideia). But I was particularly excited to see that the Story of God Bible Commentary series (Zondervan) will release its first two volumes this fall – the Sermon on the Mount (Scot McKnight) and Philippians (Lynn Cohick). Editors... Read more

This fall I am excited to be teaching an exegesis course on the Gospel of Matthew (my first time on this book!). I have been beefing up my Synoptics literature and getting acquainted with the best commentaries (just bought ICC and Talbert’s Paideia). But I was particularly excited to see that the Story of God Bible Commentary series (Zondervan) will release its first two volumes this fall – the Sermon on the Mount (Scot McKnight) and Philippians (Lynn Cohick). Editors... Read more

Perhaps this has been available for a while, but I just came across three words of high praise for Tom Wright’s soon coming Paul and the Faithfulness of God, endorsement statements from highly respected scholars. “N. T. Wright’s long-awaited full-length study of St. Paul will not in any way disappoint. From the very first sentence, it holds the attention, arguing a strong, persuasive, coherent, and fresh case supported by immense scholarship and comprehensive theological intelligence. It is a worthy successor to... Read more