Over at MRB, is a great review by T.J. Lang on Benjamin White’s book Remembering Paul. An approach to Paul which is attuned to social memory would attend more seriously to the broad impressions of Paul that are reflected in ancient Pauline traditions — whether authentic or inauthentic, whether by Paul or about Paul — rather than continue to whittle his letters down to the securest but still speculative core. As Marc Bloch once remarked on Aeschylus’s Oresteia, “There is more certainty... Read more

Over at CT is a great article (mostly behind pay-well) about Kevin Vanhoozer, his career, and theological significance. As I tell my students, I like my theology KJV-Only, Kevin James Vanhoozer!   Read more

Below, Prof. Amy-Jill Levine gives a lecture on Jesus from a Jewish and pluralistic perspective. It makes for an interesting listen as Levine is an eloquent speaker and she makes some points that will prove thought-provoking for all. Read more

I was surprised to get twitter and facebook notices that Daniel Boyarin had used me as a negative foil in his lecture on “Two Pharisees: Flavius Josephus and Paul the Apostle” recently given in Rome. See it here: He quotes a review (at 16:08) I wrote of Adam H. Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed (editors) The Ways that Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages which included some critical remarks about Boyarin’s essay : Yet I remain unconvinced... Read more

Rhys Bezzant Standing on Their Shoulders: Heroes of the Faith for Today Melbourne: Acorn, 2015. Available at Amazon.com or Acorn Press. By Chris Porter We live in an age where many people in the church will know more about the heroes from Marvel or DC, than the historical heroes of the Christian faith. This small book from Rhys Bezzant seeks to redress at least some of this lack of knowledge. Standing on Their Shoulders consists of brief vignettes of Christians... Read more

I have to say that it personally irks me when a Christian speaker addresses a mixed congregation and addresses them as “brothers.” It makes the women there, even if they are a minority, appear invisible, irrelevant, and unwanted. If you don’t believe me, try asking them! So remember: “Brothers, we are not all brothers.” Now, I can understand the reasoning for androcentric forms of address. If you start acknowledging that women exist, then they might start filling their heads with... Read more

“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” (Gal 4:9) For those in Melbourne, or nearby, there will be a joint conference between Ridley and Gordon-Conwell on 29-30 May 2015. The theme is “Known by God” (see the above quote from Gal 4:9). Ridley and Gordon-Conwell share the work and ethos of Stuart Barton Babbage (4thPrincipal of Ridley and founding Vice-President... Read more

Scot makes some great points about the gospel in this interview for the regeneration project: I still think King Jesus Gospel is Scot’s most important book today! Read more

I came across this exhortation by Cyprian that he wrote during an early stage of the Decian persecution, but it has obvious relevance for the churches of North Africa and the Middle East today! What we must do is beg the Lord with united and undivided hearts, without pause in our entreaty, with confidence that we shall receive, seeking to appease him with cries and tears as befits those who find themselves amidst the lamentations of the fallen and the trembling... Read more

A great N.T. Wright quote on the Eucharist: When we celebrate Jesus’ meal we aren’t just whistling in the dark. Bread and wine are taken up in the Eucharist into God’s future purposes, and become to us vehicles through which we can taste the fact that there is a new world, there is new hope, there is a new way to live and we are part of it. And our brokenness and tiredness, our crassness about the fish we haven’t... Read more