I know there is a lot going on on Friday of SBL, but the group of the Institute for Biblical Research that I co-chair has invited Dr. Ross Wagner (Duke) to speak on the topic of the Septuagint and the New Testament. Wagner is one of the leading experts in this area and his paper is entitled: “Sanctified by the Body of Christ: Greek Scriptures in the Christian Bible.” We have two excellent respondents lined up: Dr. Robert Wall and... Read more

It has proven to be a big fall for Pauline commentaries: Gordon Fee’s acclaimed NICNT volume on 1 Corinthians has been revised. If you don’t already own it, this is a great reason to get it. Mark Seifrid has written the Pillar volume of 2 Corinthians and it is out now. Ralph Martin’s 2 Corinthians WBC has also seen a new edition, released in late October. Hot off the press is Jeffrey Weima’s BEC commentary – this will be an... Read more

McGill University recently posted two videos from the annual Birks Lecture, given this fall by Dr. John J. Collins (Yale) on Second Temple Judaism. The first lecture is entitled “Torah and Jewish Identity in Second Temple Judaism” The second lecture: “Non-Mosaic Forms of Judaism in Second Temple Judaism” See below – enjoy!   Read more

N.T. Wright has said that if he had to take the works of only one Pauline interpreter to a deserted island – it would be Kaesemann. Not that Wright always agrees with Kaesemann, but he found him exegetically and theologically challenging and provocative in stimulating ways (see What Saint Paul Really Said, 11). I agree with this statement wholeheartedly and I want to share this quote from Kaesemann on the cross and discipleship (Perspectives on Paul) The church lives under the... Read more

Dr. Mark Strauss, professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary San Diego, recently published a commentary on the Gospel of Mark for the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series (Zondervan, 2014). He was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work in an interview with me. Check his book out. #1: Tell us about the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series and what this series has to offer? What attracted you to this project? ​ MS: The ZEC... Read more

The Fourth Gospel has always been one of my favorite NT texts and I have taught more exegesis courses on John than any other book. When it comes to studying Johannine theology, I have relied on the work of Moody Smith and Craig Koester. Paul Rainbow just released a study of all the Johannine literature: Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse (IVP, 2014). In ten chapters he covers these areas: introduction, revelation of God (the Father), the world,... Read more

I was very excited to get this in the mail today: From Crisis to Christ: A Contextual Introduction to the New Testament (Abingdon Press), by Paul N. Anderson, my New Testament colleague here at George Fox. I was able to read this work at various stages of its development and I really appreciated the strong grounding in historical situations, contexts, and “crises.” Too often, New Testament introductions introduce NT “texts” as if they were free-floating theological discourses. Once we put them... Read more

A few days ago, Stephen Carlson noted that his article on Matt 1:17 was recently published (congrats, Stephen!). Well, I am happy to note that I am apparently in the same issue 76 (2014) 704-719, though I have not seen the full issue. My essay is titled: ” ‘They Are Not Gods!’: Jewish and Christian Idol Polemic and Greco-Roman Use of Cult Statues” There is no abstract, but here is the gist of my argument: (1) Early Jews and Christians... Read more

Sometimes I get the impression from students, and also sometimes from certain scholars and publishers, that reference works are treated as especially trustworthy because they are “objective.” For example, students (and even scholars) will appeal to a Greek lexicon as if it is based purely on facts and figures and no human interpretive element is involved. The same could be said with dictionaries and grammars. Put another way, we might feel the need to defend why we are working from... Read more

This bibliography highlights the scholarship of women biblical interpreters. The focus is on textbooks, commentaries, introductions, and reference works on the Gospels and Acts. This is intended as a kind of wiki-page: place your recommendation in the comments and I will transfer them into the main text if they are relevant to this topic. Preference is given to confessional/orthodox works (though you will notice several important exceptions), since this list is especially meant to aid seminary students. General Resources/Background/Introductions IVP... Read more