NTS 62.1 (2016) is here: Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr Jakobus und Paulus über das Innere des Menschen und den Ursprung seiner ethischen Entscheidungen  David Luckensmeyer and Bronwen Neil Reading First Thessalonians as a Consolatory Letter in Light of Seneca and Ancient Handbooks on Letter-Writing Jonathan Worthington Creatio ex Nihilo and Romans 4.17 in Context Timothy Wardle Mark, the Jerusalem Temple and Jewish Sectarianism: Why Geographical Proximity Matters in Determining the Provenance of Mark Warren Carter Aquatic Display: Navigating the Roman Imperial World in Acts 27... Read more

Don Little Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2015. Available at Amazon.com Review by C. Hine Don Little is a seasoned practitioner in walking with those who choose to follow Jesus from a Muslim heritage. His recently published book, Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices, gathers that learned wisdom, critically assesses it through research and study, and makes it available to a wider audience. That God is at work among followers of Islam,... Read more

If you want to know what the problem is at places like Mizzou, then watch the short film by Neel Kolhatkar called “Modern Educayshun.” It is a send-up of social justice political correctness gone cray cray. My favourite line: “Stop violating me with your different opinion.”   Read more

My PhD student Brian Wright has an article coming out in TrinJ about literacy in the ancient world. He questions the consensus (e.g., Harris and Hezser) and contends that literacy levels were probably far higher than often assumed. You can view it here. Read more

In my previous post on Things to do at ETS/IBR/SBL I said that people should ask the Eerdmans folks that on a scale between Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, what is it like to work with Mike Bird?  Over at the Eerdmans Blog, they’ve posted some photo-shopped pictures of me as the aforementioned characters and asked people to vote on which one is the best. So, I’ll leave it to you to decide: Here’s me as Wolverine Or as Maximus Decimus Meridius Read more

Guy Mason, Lead Pastor of the Melbourne Church, City on a Hill, gave a great talk at Ridley College’s annual dinner. It is about training leaders in a digital age. It is well worth listening to by anyone who is involved in theological education and academic leadership. Guy identifies 4 central pillars that should guide Christian leaders: – Leading with authenticity – Leading with love – Leading with discernment & wisdom – Leading with integrity   Read more

The Tasmanian anti-discrimination tribunal has asserted that Catholic Archbishop, Julian Porteous, does have a case to answer in regards to the complaint made by a LGBT activist for his Diocese distributing the booklet, Don’t Mess with Marriage. The booklet, disseminated to the parents with children at Catholic schools, is alleged to be deaming to LGBT people. This leaves me concerned and confused as to what this means for religious freedom in Australia if a Catholic bishop if hauled before the courts for teaching Catholic... Read more

On the occasion of my 41st birthday, I’m proud to announce the release of an illustrated biography of my boyhood years, written especially for children. It is based on interviews with myself and my siblings and utilizes several drawings that I made as a six year old. This book, compiled by historian/artist Tomie DePoala, is a tell all story of my origins and upbringing, a postmodern morality tale about the perils of dressing up like a bird in suburban Australia. Just... Read more

Time for my annual “to do list” for ETS/IBR/SBL. For a start, weep, mourn, and wail for me as I won’t be there. Sadly, I won’t be able to hear all the good papers, see the latest books, catch up with editors, hang out with all of my friends, and consume food with enough corn syrup to kill an elephant. At ETS, make sure you go to hear Myro Theocharous’s plenary paper. First female plenary at ETS for a long, long... Read more

Jesus without Borders: Christology in the Majority World Gene L. Green , Stephen T. Pardue, K. K. Yeo Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014. Available at Amazon.com By Chris Porter Since the work of Lesslie Newbigin the observation that cross-cultural theological insights can serve to sharpen our own theological understanding has become commonplace. Jesus Without Borders: Christology in the Majority World seeks to continue this sharpening process, and indeed is the first in a series on Majority World Theology that will... Read more