I’m glad to have Cliff Kvidahl as a guest blogger today so find links below with his interview with Wayne Coppins about the Baylor Press and Mohr/Siebeck Verlag joint venture on translating key German monographs into English. Part 1 Part 2 Some interesting books are schedule to come out in that series! Read more

In the latest issue of the Australian Church Record (a Sydney Anglican on-line magazine, normally an informative and encouraging read) is one of the oddest articles I’ve ever read. It is by Matt Olliffe on “Has Protestantism Gone Catholic?” which you can read here (p. 6). Olliffe proceeds to tersely define what the Protestant doctrine of justification is really about, opine its denial by leading evangelical scholars, and then accuses them all of being closet Catholics. The support for this... Read more

Love this quote from D.W.B. Robinson: Paul cannot separate his own role from the operation of the gospel which he thus expounds to his Gentile readers in Rome. Romans is both an exposition of the gospel of hope and at the same time Paul’s apologia for his ‘priesthood’ in that gospel. D.W.B. Robinson, “The Priesthood of Paul in the Gospel of Hope,” in Reconciliation and Hope, ed. R.J. Banks (FS Leon Morris; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 232. Read more

Ben Witherington over at his blog Bible and Culture is reviewing the book edited by Scot McKnight and Joe Modica Jesus Is Lord, Caesar Is Not: Evaluating Empire in New Testament Studies. His fourth post  in the series is a review of my own contribution on Matthew’ Gospel. Read more

I’ve just finished writing up some comments and application on Romans 14 for a forthcoming commentary in the SGBC series. If I had to some up the exhortation that Paul makes, I’d put it as follows: – Learn to differentiate between areas of conviction and areas of command. – Don’t major on minor doctrines. – Withhold judgment where the gospel is not threatened. – Exercise your convictions to build-up others up, not to tear them down. – Do not exchange... Read more

There are three jobs going in NT studies at three very prestigious institutions. Wheaton College: Visiting Assistant Professor of Ancient Languages & New Testament Oxford University: Associate Professor of New Testament Studies Duke University: Associate Professor of New Testament Studies. Read more

For those involved in seminary education or administration, you might want to read these two pieces. First, The Rise and Fall of the American Seminary by Tom Ehrich. A provocative piece, esp. in light of the GTS labour dispute in New York, but probably truer for mainline seminaries. Does the Episcopal Church — or any mainline denomination — need all of its seminaries? Probably not. To judge by recent graduation rates, it probably needs only four. Two of the eleven... Read more

In light of the Left Behind movie, people might like to check out Ben Witherington’s narration of the origins and errors of Dispensationalism. Any thoughts from Dispensationalists?   Read more

The Barth “hits” keep coming . . . This one, however, maybe the most significant thing I’ve read about Jesus in a very long while. In a section on Romans 8:3-4 in an exposition of the clause “God sent his own son in the likeness of sin-controlled flesh” (notice Barth’s paraphrase) Barth speaks of God’s “impenetrable incognito” in Jesus. It is a movingly profound critique of the attempt to do a historical Jesus study, that is, one which can serve the... Read more

Not only is John Byron’s commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians now out, but you can read a sample from it here on 1 Thess 1:1-3! The SGBC has a great format for those doing sermon preparation with Listen to the Story, Explain the Story, and Live the Story. I’m in the final stages of finishing off my own Romans commentary in the series which has been riotous fun and jolly hard work to prepare. Read more