The Amazing Summer of Bird Books

Last year was a quiet year on the publishing front, but this year I’ve had a flurry of books come out. Some of which were five years in the making, others that were put together in a few short months. So this (American) summer has seen the following books arrive:

The Apostle Paul: Four Views. This is a sassy book because it has an excellent cohort of Pauline scholars showing how they understand various elements of Paul’s thought. It’s like a four way Wrestlemania in the ring of Pauline studies. Epic debates. Glad I was the editor and not a contributor!!!

1 Esdras. This is my offering for the Septuagint Commentary Series. The volume was hard work, I began it in 2008, but I learned heaps about the LXX and OT textual criticism. I’m a bit nervous about reviews of this one since I’m not an Ezra-Nehemiah specialist. But the folks I showed it to think I got a fair job done. I believe that the strength of the book is its thorough literary examination of 1 Esdras.

Sexegesis. Edited with Gordon Preece and attempts to offer some biblical, theological, and pastoral thoughts about homosexuality in light of debates in the worldwide Anglican communion. My own contribution on Romans 1 is co-authored with Sarah Harris.

Jesus is the Christ. This a sequel to my earlier book Are You the One Who is to Come? In this volume, I look at the significance of Jesus as “Messiah” at the horizons of the Gospels. I argue that messianism is the primary category in which the Evangelists explicate Jesus’ identity.