In a post I wrote earlier today, I linked a couple of video lectures I watched by Luke Timothy Johnson. In the first video, Johnson makes the case that Paul’s anger in Galatians is “rhetorical” – we are not reading his hot-headed personality, we are reading his rhetorical argumentation (i.e., the “anger” is not unchecked emotion, but communicative strategy). Many other scholars think quite differently, that Paul was hastily sending off a letter soaked in his “real” indignation. I think there... Read more

I was pleased to come across these video lectures of Luke Timothy Johnson teaching on St. Paul (at a church?). While they comprise more basic lectures on Paul, Johnson is a gifted communicator. He is funny, poignant, and speaks in a very accessible manner.   Read more

Could there be anyone more knowledgeable on Luke-Acts than Steve Walton? I enjoyed watching this video today. High recommended, especially as resources to pass along to students. These Nottingham timeline videos are great for having undergrad students watch something outside of class to familiarize themselves with Scripture and academic debates. Also, I posted below the new upload from Nottingham Timeline that shows Paula Gooder teaching on Philippians. Enjoy!     Read more

Two confessions (this is not an April Fool’s Joke!) #1: I have never, ever read the work of Bart Ehrman before. #2: I am excited to read How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (HarperOne, 2014). [It just arrived on my desk – thank you to HarperOne!] Why am I excited? Not because I think Ehrman is the most brilliant thing ever to happen to NT studies. But because, unlike several other of his popular-level books,... Read more

Keener on John’s theology of mission. Read more

Check it out!   Read more

As a graduate of the University of Durham, you might suspect that I have a soft spot in my theological heart for Jimmy Dunn and N.T. Wright – and I do. Generally speaking, I think folks like Dunn, Wright, and Hays have done far more good than damage in their work on Paul in the last few decades. But I am no blanket endorser of the “New Perspective” and I think there are folks who have tried to see some... Read more

I am happy to be participating in the blog tour for Craig Blomberg’s new book Can We Still Believe the Bible? (Brazos, 2014). I signed up to discuss the fifth chapter. Here is my response: From creation to camels, the topic of the historical reliability of the Bible has been pretty hot news lately. So, it makes all the sense in the world for Craig Blomberg to address the question: “Aren’t Several Narrative Genres of the Bible Unhistorical?” (Chapter 5) in his... Read more

Check out at Missio Alliance my response to President White (Cedarville University) regarding his recent chapel message on biblical gender roles.  Read more

The April 2014 issue of Interpretation is on the theme of “Aging.” A little bonus – my buddy Chris Skinner has written a couple of the reviews in this issue. Check it out if you have online access. Read more