Scott R. Swain The God of the Gospel: Robert Jenson’s Trinitarian Theology Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2013. Available at Amazon.com The legacy of Karl Barth’s is how to correlate God’s immanent being within-himself with God’s action as narrated in the event of the gospel. Or, as Scott Swain asks, what is “the relationship between God’s being and God’s self-determination, between Trinity and election, between God’s unfolding character and Gods’ unfolding covenant that reaches its climax in the gospel of Jesus... Read more

What will the top books for 2014 be? Here’s a few suggestions, guesses, and self-promotions. Michael F. Bird (ed.). Secret project that I can’t talk about until Monday, but will be more awesome than a kung fu panda. You will want this!!! Michael F. Bird, The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus. Craig A. Evans, From Jesus to the Church. Loveday and Philip Alexander, Hebrews (ICC) – fingers crossed that it comes out!... Read more

Why has the God-fearing state of Colorado simultaneously passed laws legalizing both gay marriage and the use of cannabis? I think the answer is too much biblical literalism. Consider the following verse: Lev 20:13 says: “If a man lies with another man they should be stoned.” Just saying … HT: VirtueOnline Read more

Okay, in keeping with fashion, I thought I’d post my top five books for 2013. 1. N.T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. No surprises here. This book is to theology what Star Wars is to sci-fi. We’ve been waiting for this since 1991 and it has not disappointed. Bigger than Ben Hur, denser than a line backer, and quite simply vintage Wright. 2. Elias Chacour, Blood Brothers. Great biography about a Palestinian growing up in the Galilee. Well worth the read!... Read more

The Australian Greens could easily be the preferred party of Christian voters, so why aren’t they? Christian voters – I think here of Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Catholics – represent about 2-5% of the population depending how you define it. They are highly sympathetic to the Greens on taking a compassionate approach to asylum seekers (Jesus was a refugee after all), belief in responsible eco-care is simply an extension of biblical eco-theology (read evangelical theologians like Richard Bauckham and Jonathan Moo!),... Read more

I’ve been reading some Dale Allison lately, re-reading in fact, always good to re-read his stuff. One thing I find frustrating and yet utterly arresting bout Allison’s style is how he’ll write about something and lay out a rigorous case for scepticism and uncertainty, be entirely sympathetic, and then turn around and say words to the effect, “But actually, it can’t be that way, because …” For case in point, in his book Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History, Allison... Read more

The latest issue of Presbyterion 39 (2013), published by Covenant Theological Seminary, includes my article: Michael F. Bird, “Not By Paul Alone: The Importance of the Gospels for Reformed Theology and Discipleship.” One day I hope to post a PDF at my academia.edu homepage. Also in the same issue are: David B.Calhoun, “Bob Childress (1890-1956): “The Man Who Moved a Mountain.” Michael D. Williams, “The Imago Dei and the Order of Creation – Part II.” Read more

Marc Cortez (Wheaton College) continues his review of Evangelical Theology with a good mix of affirmations and criticisms. Cortez concludes: Bird’s Evangelical Theology is one of the more unique, readable, and engaging systematic theology textbooks that I’ve come across. It is ideally suited for use in an introductory theology class where the teacher can supplement it with other resources, which is true of most one-volume theology textbooks. And it really shines as a resource for helping students do systematic theology in a... Read more

On FB I just learned about a documentary movie about the reliability of the Gospels. It is called “The Jesus of Testimony.” I think it should have the subtitle: Richard Bauckham on the Big Screen. See the website here and the promo clip is below: Read more

This month only, my ebook Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, & Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry is only 99 cents from Zondervan! Crazy bargain price. I do not guarantee that you’ll like the book or that you’ll agree with it, but I think I can guarantee that you’ll get something out of it, even if it is only an appreciation for the different sides of the debate, the complexities at hand, and what you have to do to... Read more