SBL just posted a job teaching religion at the University of Hawaii!  I would apply, but it involves teaching world religions – not really my thing.  But if it is yours – it sounds pretty nice… Check it out ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION, Position number 0082340, Department of Religion, University of Hawaii at Manoa, full-time tenure track, to begin August 2010, pending position clearance and availability of funds. Duties: Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in religion, including Christianity and World... Read more

I am about half way through reading Gordon Fee’s The First and Second Letter to the Thessalonians for the NICNT (Eerdmans).  It is a hefty volume, at 350 pages.  Fee, here, is replacing the older volume in the series by Leon Morris.  Morris’ commentary was never really anyone’s go-to commentary for 1-2 Thessalonians, so it is understandable that Fee took this one on. In some ways, Fee’s work is very impressive, as he is a very careful and attentive reader.... Read more

If you have noticed, I haven’t been doing much here for a few weeks.  I just got over the H1N1 -a nasty bug.  I promise lots of more reviews and thoughts on SBL and what-not in the near future. Also, this week is an important week because I hope to hear back from several schools about whether or not I have SBL interviews.  If you are a prayin’ kind of person, please pray for a good week for me! I... Read more

This is my third year presenting at SBL in a row.  I have enjoyed my experience very much.  Here are a few pointers for those who are new to this: – Keep your paper to the time (some moderators are rigid and will not hesitate to cut you off at the time mark, so plan wisely).  My paper is 25 minutes and I planned about 3000 words. – Always try to have something for the audience – usually a handout... Read more

What are the top three German commentaries on Philippians (for depth, excellence, insight, authority, etc…)? I am doing some research and I will need to Inter-library-loan some German commentaries and I need help narrowing it down to the best three.  Thanks! Read more

One of my favorite book series is the McMaster New Testament Studies series published by Eerdmans.  They have done books (all based on conferences, I think) on prayer in the NT, Christology, discipleship, intertextuality, resurrection, etc…  They always collect the best scholars in NT, often evangelicals, but a few others as well (which is always a good thing!). This time around the topic is: Translating the New Testament Text, Translation, Theology.  Too often, translation and textual criticism is seen as... Read more

In recent weeks I have reading the excellent Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology book by Zondervan and highlighting the views of each model-contributor – this time around it is Kevin Vanhoozer (following Walt Kaiser and Dan Doriani). Vanhoozer, unlike the other authors in the first part of this book, is first-and-foremost trained as a theologian- and a darn good one at that, as I can see.  The others are primarily Biblical scholars.  So, his approach is different.  He takes... Read more

The November issue of Expository Times is up.  Usually, the articles do not tend to be that engaging for NT studies, though you might be fortunate once in a while.  This issue, there appear to be lots of goodies.  I copied and pasted from the SAGE website – I can’t vouch for the links and buttons to work – I was just being lazy.   Charles H. Talbert Matthew and Character Formation The Expository Times 2009 121: 53-59. [Abstract] [PDF] [Request... Read more

I am a pretty glass-is-half-full kind of guy, so I usually am able to spin a new book in a positive direction.  With this new commentary (WJK, 2009), I am having trouble coming up with reasons (or even a reason) why someone would buy it. The first thing you will notice when picking it up is how thin it is – a slender 106 pages of text.  This is strange for a new commentary and a world that demands large... Read more

….8000 hits.  It is, of course, my most popular post (totalling about 35 pages or so).  For a couple I years I have toyed with the idea of expanding it into a book.  Now, I am quite close to closing the deal on getting it into print. But – why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?  Well, I expect that the book will have three main parts – (1) getting into a phd program, (2)... Read more