I mentioned the Lectio resource I have written through SPU and the first guided reading has “launched” today. Check it out. Read more

At Seattle Pacific University we have a Center for Biblical and Theological Education that began, last year, a campus and world-wide four-year plan of studying Scripture together. Each quarter of the year, a faculty member of SPU serves as a guide through a 10-week study of a book (or book set) from Scripture (see here). This is called Lectio and we are beginning the second year. In the fall, we study the Old Testament, and I volunteered to guide the school... Read more

I understand why kids tweet. I understand why college students tweet. I understand why celebrities tweet. I don’t understand why pastors tweet. I recently read some “tweets” by pastors making snarky and judgmental statements regarding the recent news that Rob Bell is leaving pastoral ministry. [Disclaimer: I don’t support Bell’s Love Wins; I don’t wish here to clap and cheer for Rob. I want to make a point about tweeting. I don’t have the slightest clue what Bell is going... Read more

Simon Gathercole, who happened to be my external examiner for my PhD defense, will be giving two lectures on Thursday, Nov 17 (just before SBL) at Tyndale University College. Lecture 1: “In Defense of Substitution” Lecture 2: “Who are the Gnostics?” Each lecture is about 30-45 minutes (with time after for questions) and is free for all. If in the area, do check it out. I hope it makes it to itunes U! For more information, here. Read more

I am currently reviewing (for print) John Goldingay’s Key Questions about Christian Faith: Old Testament Answers (Baker). I make it no secret that I am a big fan of Goldingay’s work, even though I frequently disagree with him (as I am sure he would with me)! However, he demonstrates, in this book, deep wisdom drawn from close readings of the OT and a mature Christian perspective. He never satisfies for static, cookie-cutter answers. Most of the time his “answer” is “both-and”... Read more

I recently read about a theologian who lived during the horrific period of Nazi power in Europe. It was not Bonhoeffer. It was not Barth or Kaesemann. It was J. Christiaan Beker of Princeton Theological Seminary. He is Dutch and was taken from his home to serve as a labor slave in Berlin for the Nazis. He got very ill (like deathbed sick) and through the compassion of a few people was clandestinely able to return to Holland. He had... Read more

It has been 3-4 months since my book, Prepare, Succeed, Advance (Wipf & Stock) hit shelves and I have appreciated the positive feedback from scholars and students. Below I want to present a few words from respected scholars, again not to “toot my own horn,” but to help a book by a nobody (me!) to gain some traction. Please do check the book out if you are considering doing a PhD in Bible/theology. I wrote this book precisely because I needed... Read more

While it is not a new book, recently I read John R. Franke’s The Character of Theology in view of writing a print review. (What am I, a NT researcher, doing reading a “theology” book? I’m trying…) It is a fascinatingly bold call for a new (hence “postconservative”) approach to theology, one that seems to fit rather well into the “theological interpretation of Scripture” movement. What Franke argues against is a static view of theology that sees it essentially as a... Read more

Do you know about Bible Study Magazine? There are a lot of Christian magazines out there (some better than others), but I have always hoped for a good one that deals with the study of Scripture. I used to enjoy Bible Review, which was discontinued some time ago. While BSM is not aiming at offering Biblical scholarship like BR did, what it is trying to do is desperately needed in the Church today. So, I support it and I encourage you... Read more

Who Should Be King in Israel: A Study on Roman Imperial Politics, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Fourth Gospel (Peter Lang, 2010). By Travis D. Trost.   There has been a rather longstanding presumption that, while the Synoptic Gospels clearly portray Jesus as overtly a Davidic Messiah, the Fourth Gospel either takes no interest in this angle, or directly denies or suppresses it. A few months ago, I served on a review panel for my friend Paul N. Anderson’s... Read more