Over at the OUP blog is a great piece by Karel and Iris Schrijver on What Makes Earth ‘Just Right’ for Life? There is nothing religious or theological about it, however, it looks like a great piece of evidence for intelligent design. The earth just happens to be the one place in the galaxy we know of where it is possible for life to exist. It appears that what was essential to life on Earth from the outset was the abundance... Read more

Richard Horsley The Prophet Jesus and the Renewal of Israel: Moving Beyond a Diversionary Debate Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. Available at Amazon.com An old nutty debate in historical Jesus studies was whether Jesus was a Cynic-like teacher of Jewish wisdom traditions with an anti-apocalyptic gloss (e.g. John Dominic Crossan) or more like an apocalyptic teacher who was preparing Israel for the end of a/the world (e.g. Dale Allison). In this book, Richard Horsley tries to split the horns of the... Read more

Vernon K. Robbins Who Do People Say I Am? Rewriting Gospel in Emerging Christianity Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013. Available at Amazon.com This is a helpful summary of the portraits of Jesus in Q, the canonical Gospels, and even in non-canonical writings including the Gospel of Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Infancy Gospel of James, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Judas, and Acts of John. Robbins’ thesis is that “as early Christians used Gospels, those Gospels used them” leading to... Read more

Here’s a nice video about the making of the NIV. Also, a new edition of the NIV Study Bible is out edited by D.A. Carson. Read more

Simon Gathercole has a great piece in CT on 5 Reasons why the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife is a Fake. Stephen Carlson also has a great follow-up on Red Flags of a Forgery. And who says biblical studies is boring? Its like Myth-Busters meets Indian Jones! Read more

Aaron Chalmers  Interpreting the Prophets: Reading, Understanding and Preaching from the Worlds of the Prophets  Downer’s Grove: IVP Academic, 2015. Available at Amazon.com By Jill Firth Aaron Chalmers is head of the School of Ministry, Theology and Culture at Tabor College in Adelaide, Australia. He has published articles based on his PhD (Flinders, 2006) on the formula ‘YHWH strikes and heals’ in the Old Testament, and is the author of Exploring the Religion of Ancient Israel: Prophet, Priest, Sage and... Read more

Therefore although Peter, Paul, and the other apostles were indeed children of God, righteous according to the Law, and, finally, even ministers of Christ, they were not declared righteous in the sight of God on this account. For if you bind all these together into one bundle – the law, its works and righteousness, circumcision, adoption, the covenants, the promises, the apostolate, etc. – still Christian righteousness does not come through these; for none of these is Christ.   A.... Read more

I’m now off on my first trip to the Holy Land, Corinth, Athens,and Rome to join Tom Wright to film a DVD about the New Testament and the early church for Zondervan. If you need me, I’ll be cruising the eastern Mediterranean, eating souvlaki, and drinking Tuscan wine! Yes, its a hard slog life! Read more

I’m sure many feel like this right now: To my American friends, instead of lamenting that Zion has fallen, or thinking about how to rebuild it, time to wise-up and realize that you’re living in Babylon, and she ain’t in a repenting mood. This ruling will have some slow but inevitable spin-offs. Religious freedom is going to be a problem for any religious institution that does business with the government (kiss accreditation good-bye) and in ten to fifteen years or so we’ll probably get... Read more

Michael Horton Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Available at Amazon.com Review by Kara Martin This morning my family went to church in a different suburb, a different state, to our usual church. We were inspired by the service. It was not the awesome worship: there were just three singers with a CD back-up track. It wasn’t the Bible reading: there was no specific passage chosen. It was not the powerful prayer: there was... Read more