Grateful for the invitation from Paul Trainor and John Anthony Dunne to speak at this event: Read more

Okay, time for my annual list of things to do at ETS/IBR/SBL! Most important of all, remember that this year I will celebrate my 40th birthday at ETS/SBL! I think the best way for everyone to show their affection for me on this significant occasion is either by a gift certificate from Baylor University Press or handing over a bottle of California red wine (but not Rose, I hate Rose like Boehner hates Pelosi). Though books from Brill, Mohr-Siebeck, Walter de Gruyter, Baker, Fortress, Eerdmans, Zondervan,... Read more

Anthony Le Donne has a post over at The Jesus Blog  where he notes my tacit endorsement of social memory as a hermeneutical framework for studying Jesus traditions. I have to confess that ever since I read the work of Anthony Le Donne and Chris Keith that I’ve had a side interest in the area. While I’ve never intended to apply for membership in the social memory mafia, working with my Ph.D student Ben Sutton, who is doing social memory in Luke-Acts,... Read more

So wish I knew of this quote before I wrote my chapters for the HGBJ book! Christ did not become god from human advancement – perish the thought … We preach not a human made into a god, but confess a god made human. Cited from M. David Litwa, Iesus Deus: The Early Christian Depiction of Jesus as a Mediterranean God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014), 2. Read more

Over at Books & Culture, Jason Hood has a hilarious review of Rob Bell’s new book The Zimzum of Love by compiling the script for an editorial board meeting of the publishers to discuss Rob Bell’s book. Here’s part of it: JP: “Rob, I’ve been worried. Normally these books take six weeks to write—a few lovely stories, basic relationship principles, etc.” RB: “I’ve got stories. But now I’ve got something else, that magic gimmick-hook thing. Tsimtsum.” ME: “Dimsum?” JP: “Sounds like a stretch,... Read more

Congrats to Mike Holmes who has been appointed as the executive director of the Greens Scholar Initiative. Assuming the role of executive director of the Green Scholars Initiative, Holmes will lead a team of researchers and student-scholars at more than 60 universities around the world advancing groundbreaking discoveries on artifacts from the Green Collection. Holmes holds a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he also taught New Testament, and continues in his role as University Professor of Biblical Studies and Early... Read more

I was interviewed over at Dunelm Road about my book The Gospel of the Lord. Thanks to  Jason Maston for the interesting questions! Read more

Bruce W. Longenecker & Todd D. Still Thinking Through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014. Available at Amazon.com There are a lot of good introductions to Paul out there (heck, I’ve even written one!). However, this one by Bruce Longenecker and Todd Still stands out. It is a genuine text book in that it is written, designed, and produced to be a great resource for teachers and their students. It is full... Read more

Well, it turns out, that the Pope wants to know what they think about marriage? The three have been invited to a Vatican Colloquium on marriage and family. Read the article over at CT. Very interesting! In other Catholic news, some wonder if there is going to be papal schism with Pope Francis proving too progressive for some conservatives. See Candida Moss’ piece in The Daily Beast. Read more

Okay peeps, as part of the Ridley Follies, I’ve re-written the lyrics to the Katy Perry song “I Kissed a Girl and I Liked it” to “I Read Karl Barth and I liked it.” Idea comes from Jessica Parkes, but execution is strictly my own. See the lyrics below. What I want to know is whether there are any Barth-loving ladies out there – maybe at Princeton or Duke or Houston – who could record the song and make a video. I... Read more