Prof. James D.G. Dunn (Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, University of Durham) is undoubtedly my favorite New Testament theologian – brilliant, gracious, creative, and a wonderful friend and mentor to his students. It is an understatement to say that he is prolific – I am especially fond of his commentaries on Romans (WBC), Colossians (NIGTC), and Galatians (BNTC), but he has written many stimulating monographs including Christology in the Making, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament, Theology of Paul the Apostle, and... Read more

My buddy Tim Gombis gives his take on building your pastoral library for Pauline commentaries – Romans-Ephesians. This is a good list. I echo nearly all his recommendations – I would just add Stephen Fowl’s Ephesians commentary (NTL), and also he does not mention Ben Witherington and I particularly appreciate Witherington’s works on 1-2 Corinthians and Ephesians. In Witherington’s body of work, I believe his commentaries are my favorite contributions he has made to scholarship. Also, I concur with Gombis that David... Read more

Today I discovered that Dr. John Goldingay has a blog! It is not “brand new,” but it is new enough to bring it to your attention. He has lots of little essays available there, and a handful of posts by himself or his wife Kathleen. I was enjoying reading today about their thoughts on prayer and praying from the Book of Common Prayer together. Enjoy! Read more

Read Prof. Hurtado’s Thoughts on NT Wright’s “YHWH’s Return to Zion” Theological Motif. I recall Dr. Richard Hays has questioned this as well. Read more

  We are continuing with our series: “How I Do Research.” Our goal is to learn from respected, prolific scholars who have spent many years doing research and writing. Today I am honored to offer my interview with Dr. Michael J. Gorman, author of many books including several outstanding textbooks such as Elements of Biblical Exegesis and Apostle of the Crucified Lord (expect a new edition in the not-too-distant-future!). He also penned an important monograph that inspired me to pursue biblical studies, Cruciformity. Check out... Read more

  A couple of days ago, a colleague asked me, “Nijay, don’t you have a book coming out this week?” I replied – “no…I don’t think so.” Actually, he was right; it had slipped my mind that the Festschrift I co-edited (with Kristian Bendoraitis) was officially released yesterday! I think I lost track of the publication date because I had already received my editor copy, so I assumed it was already out. Well, now it’s official! I have talked about this... Read more

Well, it’s been hard to keep this quiet, but I didn’t want to announce it until the plans were made final: E.P. Sanders has agreed to present at a new Institute for Biblical Research study group on Pauline Theology (the Friday when SBL begins, Nov 18, 4PM-6PM, 2016). The new Pauline Theology research group is co-chaired by myself (Nijay Gupta) and John Goodrich. John and I were students together at Durham, we often room together at SBL, and very excited... Read more

I am starting a new series on Crux Sola called “How I Do Research.” Basically, I am asking prolific scholars how they have learned the art of doing research. Up first is my buddy Michael F. Bird, author of many excellent books including Evangelical Theology, The Saving Righteousness of God, and a new commentary on Romans coming out very soon!   Question #1: How do you approach research as a whole? Do you have a big-picture strategy? Do your research all at once, and then... Read more

My official “wheelhouse” is Paul (I have a commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians in the editing process, and I am working on commentaries on Philippians, Galatians, and 2 Timothy over the next few years) -but I “dabble” in the Gospels when I get a chance. I am making progress on a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer. So, excited to have been plunging into some really interesting recent books about the Gospels and Jesus. Kim Huat Tan, Mark (New Covenant series; Wipf &... Read more

  Today I want to discuss chapters 3 and 4 of Fleming Rutledge’s book Crucifixion. (I am skipping over the excursive chapter in between on Anselm because I don’t have much to add to her discussion; see the last post here) Chapter 3 is about “The Question of Justice” – why did Jesus have to die? Rutledge rightfully emphasizes the focus on justice in the OT. She goes further than this to talk about how forgiveness and restitution is really achieved. Forgiveness... Read more