The latest issue of Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 11 (2013) is out and has a focus on ideological criticism of Historical Jesus scholarship with James Crossley leading the charge: A ‘Very Jewish’ Jesus: Perpetuating the Myth of Superiority Author: James G. Crossley Jesus in Discourses of Dichotomies: Alternative Paradigms for the Historical Jesus Author: Halvor Moxnes Hear Then No More Parables: The Case against ‘Parable’ Author: Shawn Kelley Why is John the Baptist Used as a Foil for Jesus? Leaps... Read more

The Pew Research Center has a great pop quizz about the world’s global Christian population. Test your knowledge, only ten questions, take the test here! Read more

Here is what I’m currently reading over to get my christological juices flowing. These are four very different books, I’d love to know the best hash tag someone could give to each one! Here’s my go: Putting Jesus in his Place – #Jesusreigns Constructing Jesus – #memorablemessiah From Jewish Prophet to Gentile God – #Niceaisforninnies Jewish Gospels – #KosherGospels Read more

James D. Bratt Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013. Available from Amazon.com Abraham Kuyper  (1837-1920) was an amazing chap. He was a pastor, theologian, educator, journalist, and statesman in the Netherlands. During the course of his career he founded a leading newspaper, a political party, a university, and  a denomination. This biography by James Bratt gives a great account of Kuyper’s life and achievements in the context of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth... Read more

William Lane Craig is the guru, swami, jedi master, ninja, seal team six, commando of apologetics. His work on philosophy and cosmology, God and time, the historicity of the resurrection, God’s middle knowledge, and worldviews are fantastic. His book Reasonable Faith is a classic. His website reasonablefaith.org is a great resource especially for folks with questions or want some on-line apologetics resource. Bill Craig has debated just about every atheist and sceptic there is from Anthony Flew to Bart Ehrman. Richard Dawkins... Read more

The audio from my 2013 ETS talk on “Why Inerrancy is Not Necessary Outside of America” is now on-line and available for purchase for only $1.00. See here.   Read more

My good buddy Preston Sprinkle of Eternity Bible College is teaching a course about “Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church” January through to May in California. He’s got a good video promoting what he’s gonna be covering: At the same time, I heard a great interview today on a Melbourne radio show about a guy from The Marin Foundation in Chicago who spends his time trying to build bridges between churches and the LGBT communities. I’m not sure what to... Read more

After mentioning Watson’s book new book Gospel Writing: A Canonical PerspectiveI couldn’t wait to break it open jump in. Simon Gathercole says of Watson’s book in the blurb: A wonderfully wide-ranging book, full of learning and insight. One of the most significant books on the gospels in the last hundred years, this work will undoubtedly shake up the current study of the gospels. High praise indeed! When “pigeon holing” the book, I found this passage that quite well captures my... Read more

In my response to Al Mohler in Biblical Inerrancy: Five Views, I claimed that: To give an analogy, if Mohler was to state something like “Churches cannot maintain a credible evangelical witness without an ESV study Bible,” and if you just happened to visit some wonderful Christ-believing churches in Lebanon or Liberia who don’t have ESV Study Bibles, then you would have to infer that Mohler was wrong and that you do not really need an ESV Study Bible to be... Read more

In the New York Times is an interesting piece by Mark Oppenheimer about Evangelicals Find Themselves in a Calvinist Revival and he gives a basic overview of the Young Restless & Reformed movement. Evangelicalism is in the midst of a Calvinist revival. Increasing numbers of preachers and professors teach the views of the 16th-century French reformer. Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Tim Keller — megachurch preachers and important evangelical authors — are all Calvinist. Attendance at Calvin-influenced worship conferences and churches... Read more