I am sitting in my office (!) grading Greek exegesis papers on Philippians. One paper in particular was very impressive and I learedn something very useful from it for a book project I am working on (thanks to this student’s fine skills with Bibleworks). I thought to myself, “when I was a second-year seminary student, I dreamed of this day.” Here I am. Thanks be to God. Read more

I am a strong advocate of women in ministry leadership (WML). I also take the Bible seriously. To many evangelicals, even many evangelical scholars, this is a contradiction. When I began seminary, I was also in this category – to believe that women could be pastors is to play fast and loose with the Bible, to follow society instead of the Triune God, to be “liberal” (in a bad way!). I had a big change-of-mind in seminary where I came... Read more

I just noticed that Eerdmans has a Festschrift coming in January (eds. D.C. Harlow, M. Goff, K.M. Hogan, and J.S. Kaminsky) called The “Other” in Second Temple Judaism. Some of the contributors include: Susan Ackerman, Shane Berg, Sean Freyne, Martin Goodman, D.J. Harrington, Robert Kugler, Timothy Lim, Carol Newman, G.W.E. Nickelsburg, Susan Niditch, and James VanderKam (among a host of others). Wow! Impressive list of writers desiring to honor Collins! See HERE. Read more

Known primarily for Pauline theology and exegesis, Michael J. Gorman recently published a book on Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness, Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Wipf & Stock, 2010). At under 200 pages of regular text, this is an eminently readable book, meant to give direction to the many Christians who are bewildered by the message of John the Seer. I was so entranced myself when I began this book that I could not put it... Read more

I always enjoy reading new articles in the journal Horizons in Biblical Theology – always excellent scholarship with theological dimensions.  The latest issue has some good stuff; check out David Litwa’s exploration of John 19:5 and Adam echoes and Joshua Jipp’s long review of Doug Campbell’s Deliverance of God. I have a review in this issue as well. Read more

Not unlike Chris Tilling, I got a HEAP of books at SBL, both old and new. For the first time (ever!) I have a “personal development” fund coming from my employer! Woo-hoo! So, I saved up for SBL and went a tad crazy. Anyway, as others are sharing their “buys” so I would like to. I am splitting it into a few posts. In this post, I will offer my “classics” and “backlist” (old books) acquisitions. 1. The Word of... Read more

Having gone to a conservative conference recently for the first time, I was thinking about doctrine and Scripture a lot this past week. I am “evangelical” without hesitation or qualification, but sometimes I fear the wrath of a traditionalist scorned, so to speak. I was impressed, then, when I stumbled upon this quote from Kaesemann… If our parents rightly described the church of Christ as semper reformanda, as always in need of renewal, we must see to it that the... Read more

More vintage Kaesemann… “believing” quite simply and irreversibly means to rely on this word [of Christ’s lordly ownership of those disciples of faith and surrender in Baptism] when it comes to blows, to throw everything else to the winds that is offered to us as salvation or threatened as damnation (p. 158). …we must understand the first commandment [of the Decalogue] as the sum of Scripture. All other words, pages, and books in it form, as it were, a commentary... Read more

When I got back from SBL, I was pleased to find this gem in my mailbox. From Fortress Press, Documents and Images for the Study of Paul, edited by Mark Reasoner and Neil Elliott, is an excellent “backgrounds” and “sourcebook” for students of Paul. It was inspired by Cartlidge and Dungan’s Documents for the Study of the Gospels (a resource I just happen to have purchased at SBL!). It is made up of 6 chapters that focus on various aspects... Read more

Above all, sin is entrapment in a worldwide rebellion against God and consequently a worldwide brutality in our relations with our fellow humans. Biblically, sin is most profoundly taking one’s destiny into one’s own hands without awareness of one’s need. (p. 147) On Being a Disciple of the Crucified Nazarene (Eerdmans) Read more