We continue our reading of Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship and chapters 2. In chapter 2, “The Call to Discipleship,” Bonhoeffer emphasizes that Christianity must be about a bold and unswerving obedience to Jesus. He overstates a bit, but generally makes his point by saying that “The response of the disciples is an act of obedience, not a confession of faith in Jesus” (p 57). Bonhoeffer, in his own time, must have known of too many academic “theories” about how... Read more

RBL has now posted my review of C. Bennema’s Encountering Jesus. I really enjoyed reading this book. Bennema knows his Johannine literature, has devised a good methodology for character analysis, and the book blends academic scholarship and spiritual formation nicely. This short read is something I will continue to use in class and research. Read more

I am devouring Metaxas’ biography on Bonhoeffer. I know that many Bonhoeffer scholars have criticized Metaxas for overdrawing conclusions, making Bonhoeffer more like American Evangelicals than likely, and for not utilizing all the resources he could. If I were a Bonhoeffer scholar, I would feel the same way. However, all of the critics admit he is an amazingly gripping biographer and story-teller. I have tried, before, to read a biography on Bonhoeffer and it was so challenging I did not... Read more

This coming winter, I will be teaching a Christian Formation course that will have a special focus on the cross and Christian discipleship. Thus, I dug out my old copy of Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship which I have not read for many, many years and perhaps not even in full. I recently rediscovered Bonhoeffer as I assigned my students last year to read the Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians biography for this same course. This summer, I am reading Discipleship and Eric... Read more

Eerdmans, 2011. The NICNT has a number of truly excellent volumes already from Gordon Fee (1 Corinthians, Philippians, 1-2 Thessalonians), Douglas Moo (Romans), R.T. France (Matthew), F.F. Bruce (Colossians/Ephesians), and others. Scot McKnight’s (SM) contribution on the book of James will surely meet the same standard of excellence. Introductory Matters As one would naturally expect from SM, he supports a “story”-focused reading of Scripture, and so of James. He uses his Eikon model from his book A Community Called Atonement.... Read more

My book on PhD Studies, Prepare, Succeed, Advance, is now available for order (in print) on Amazon. It sells for retail, $19, and if you go directly to W & S you can get a discount: $15.20. I like Amazon because I get free two-day shipping (as an Amazon “Mom,” – they don’t have a Amazon “Dad” option…), but you might get it from W & S faster. Anyway, thanks for all who have given me words of encouragement. My... Read more

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While my book Prepare, Succeed, Advance does have a few very generous and much-appreciated endorsements by Mike Gorman, Chris Tilling, Mike Bird, and Dan Gurtner (thank you so much!), I reached out to other leaders and figureheads in the academic community for their support of this book. Here are a few more words: “This guidebook is a great idea—I wish I had such a resource all those years ago when I was first exploring life in the academic world! Many aspects... Read more

A few times, for example in Romans, Colossians, and Philemon, Paul mentions certain individuals as sharers in his imprisonment. I always assumed this to be rather benign, as in they were regional companions, visiting Paul (daily?) to offer company, provisions, and to learn from him. Another possible view, which I have tended to reject, is that some were actually in prison at the same time as Paul and in his vicinity. Actually, this seems more true of Andronicus and Junia... Read more

1. Socializing 2. Soaking in sun (remember, I live in Seattle) 3. Vacationing-ish (my family is coming too!) 4. Browsing books I cannot afford to buy! As far as papers are concerned, I will be “giving” two presentations. I was invited by my friend Craig Keener to be a respondent in an Institute for Biblical Research session on “Global Readings of Scripture.” I will respond to a paper given by another friend David deSilva on Sri Lankan readings of Galatians.... Read more