As I prepare to attend the Greer-Heard Forum at NOBTS on The Bible and Sex, I’ve been thinking a lot about Queer hermeneutics and Queer theology. I don’t agree, but I understand, how Queer theorists see “neither gay nor straight” as a logical consequent of Paul’s remarks in Gal 3:28. Daniel Kirk has come out and said that this is the best place to build a theology of gay inclusion in his book Jesus Have I Loved, But Paul? (Though Kirk... Read more

Response to Simon Roberts’ review of Hearing Her Voice: a Case for Women Giving Sermons by John Dickson Simon Roberts’ critique of Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons is perhaps the most on-topic of all the reviews I have read so far. On the whole it is written in a spirit of collegiality and respect, and it is clear the topic means a great deal to him—the review is a third the length of my book. I... Read more

Over at Crux Sola, Nijay has a helpful chapter by chapter review of Con Campbell’s book Paul and Union with Christ. Read more

Over at The Jesus Blog, Chris Keith responds to Paul Foster’s JSHJ article about three dead ends in historical Jesus research. He writes: Foster’s essay is important, and as an indication of this importance, just think about the fact that I’ve here addressed only the first third [issue].  He has perceptively noted, and demonstrated, some of the illegitimate uses of social memory theory in New Testament scholarship.  My criticism, however, is that the situation is a bit—okay, a lot—more complex... Read more

Over at TGC, Sam Emadi has a very positive review of my Jesus is the Christ: The Messianic Testimony of the Gospels. Now published by IVP in the USA. Can’t help but love any review that says in the opening paragraph: “Bird’s exploration of the messianic Christology of the four Gospels, is a tour de force.” Looks like for TGC reviews this week I’m sitting at 1 win and 1 loss. Unless I pick up my percentages, I’ll probably get traded to... Read more

A Fesponse to The Gospel Coalition review of Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons by John Dickson  The most awkward rejoinders are those you write to your friends and theological kin; doubly so when you feel you have to point out to them that they have not correctly described the argument of your book or, where they have, how they seem to have overlooked the parts that anticipate and answer the criticisms they raise. John Starke, editor... Read more

My good friend Dr. Paul Foster (Edinburgh Uni) has chuzpah! He’s just thrown down the gauntlet to a lot of historical Jesus scholarship with an article so provocative that it is like, metaphorically speaking, slapping someone in the face with a velvet glove and in the glove are several ball bearings! In the latest issue of Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 10.3 (2012), Paul Foster’s piece is: “Memory, Orality, and the Fourth Gospel: Three Dead-Ends in Historical Jesus Research,”... Read more

Craig Keener’s fine Romans commentary in the New Covenant Commentary Series gets a positive review over at RBL. Read more

Week after next I’m off to the good old USA to get my fix of Chik-Fil-A and Bible geek fellowship. I’m especially honoured to have been invited to deliver the 2013 David Jones Lectures at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. It’ll be great to get my Presbyterian back on after my recent Anglicanization. I’ll be delivering three lectures about the importance of the Gospels for the Reformed Faith. I have no idea if these are public lectures open to all and... Read more

Over at Read the Spirit, is a great interview with N.T. Wright about his book How God Became King, where he makes a number of points about the polarization of American politics and chimes in on the healthcare debate. I really, really liked this remark: In your country, for example, there seem to be Christian political voices saying that you shouldn’t have a national healthcare system. To us, in Britain, this is virtually unthinkable. Every other developed country from Norway to... Read more