Interview with Jonathan Pennington about Jesus the Philosopher

Last updated on: October 4, 2020 at 6:22 pm By Michael F. Bird

I recently interviewed Jonathan Pennington about his new book Jesus the Great Philosopher (Baker Academic 2020). Here’s a short video from Pennington about the book: Here’s what he had to say: Jesus the philosopher? Seriously? I thought we were trying to teach people that Jesus is more than a philosopher, guru, or teacher! Why Jesus the philosopher? Ha! Well, yes, Jesus is definitely more than a philosopher or guru or life coach. But he’s not less than these things! I think for most Christians today... Read more

Hebrew for Life

Last updated on: July 4, 2020 at 5:58 am By Michael F. Bird

Adam J. Howell, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Robert L. Plummer Hebrew for Life: Strategies for Learning, Retaining and Reviving Biblical Hebrew Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020. Available at Baker Review by Jill Firth At last, this eagerly awaited “one-stop shop” for gaining and retaining Biblical Hebrew! 75% of the Christian Bible is in Hebrew, as Miles Van Pelt reminds us in the “Foreword.” Yet, sadly, many are cautious about beginning to study because they fear Hebrew will be too difficult... Read more

Chinese Communist Party Re-Writes Bible in New Textbook

Last updated on: October 6, 2020 at 7:17 am By Michael F. Bird

News reports indicate that a Chinese ethics textbook has changed the story of the women caught in adultery so that Jesus stoned the woman to death and himself is named a “sinner.” According to the Epoch Times: The textbook in question is entitled “Professional Ethics and the Law” and is used in vocational training schools across China. … The textbook instead subverts the ending [of the story of the women caught in adultery] to read: “When everyone left, Jesus stoned the... Read more

The End of the Psalter

Last updated on: June 28, 2020 at 10:17 pm By Michael F. Bird

Alma Brodersen The End of the Psalter: Psalms 146–150 in the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint. Baylor University Press reprint of 2017 Walter de Gruyter edition Berlin/Boston. 321 pages. Review by Dr. Jill Firth Alma Brodersen completed her D.Phil. in Theology at the University of Oxford, under Professor John Barton. She has been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Munich, and is currently Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer in Theology (Old Testament) at the Faculty of... Read more

Endorsements for Second Edition of Evangelical Theology

Last updated on: July 2, 2020 at 3:41 am By Michael F. Bird

The second edition of Evangelical Theology is available on 20 October 2020! Here’s some of the endorsements for the second edition. “I warmly welcome this second edition of Mike Bird’s Evangelical Theology. The gospel both generates and governs Christian faith, but systematic theologies sometimes smother it under the weight of conceptual schemes, confessional traditions, or social agendas. Not on Bird’s watch. The gospel is front and center in all eight parts of this thoroughly revised, wiser, wider, and wittier work. With its... Read more

The Psalms as Christian Praise

Last updated on: June 28, 2020 at 10:11 pm By Michael F. Bird

Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston The Psalms as Christian Praise: A Historical Commentary Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019. Reviewed by Dr. Jill Firth “The Psalms are part of the hymnbook of the Lord Jesus Christ,” states the Preface, and Jesus’ use of “I AM” statements makes him “the object of praise in the Psalms” for Christians. The Psalms as Christian Praise focuses on psalms in Book IV of the Psalter (Psalms 90–106), treating Psalms 90–93, 95–100, and 103–104, and... Read more

Matthew and Paul Agreements # 3 – The Torah?

Last updated on: September 27, 2020 at 6:02 pm By Michael F. Bird

It is no exaggeration to say that Matthew and Paul vis-à-vis the Torah is something of the main event in a comparison of these two figures. Commentators are quick to find in the Matthean Jesus’s words a denunciation of Paul’s so-called liberal or antinomian approach to the Torah: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth... Read more

Matthew and Paul Agreements # 2 – The Jewish Way of Life in Christ

Last updated on: June 23, 2020 at 3:30 am By Michael F. Bird

The dichotomy between an ostensibly “Jewish” Matthew and Matthean community and a seemingly “Gentile” Paul with Gentile communities is patently false. First, Paul’s self-identification, symbolic universe, religious habits, sacred texts, and antagonism towards Hellenism remain indelibly Jewish. Paul affirms Israel’s God, Israel’s Torah, Israel’s Messiah, and Israel’s hopes. Even Paul’s argument that Gentiles do not have to convert to Judaism via the rite of circumcision in order to be Christ-followers was not entirely unique since other Jews argued over the... Read more

Matthew and Paul Agreements # 1- Mission to the Gentiles

Last updated on: June 23, 2020 at 3:29 am By Michael F. Bird

One aspect where Matthew and Paul obviously agree is the necessity of a mission to the Gentiles. Paul was a key protagonist in that mission – but not its only participant it should be remembered – and Matthew writes at a time when the writing is on the wall and the church is definitely heading in the direction of a Gentile majority in the foreseeable future. Paul described his own “conversion” to Christ as co-terminus with a call to be... Read more

God Promises Blessings Not Prosperity

Last updated on: June 23, 2020 at 3:27 am By Michael F. Bird

A friend of mine was once doing a short internship at an African-American church in the United States. During the Sunday morning service, when the offering was taken up, the congregation would sing a song about sowing in generosity and reaping a blessing. My friend would always shake his head at this, feeling somewhere between bemused and alarmed at this flagrant display of prosperity theology. He felt no small dose of shame when it finally dawned on him one day... Read more