In the latest issue of JSNT, Denny Burk has a stimulating discussion of the “righteousness of God” in Romans. The abstract reads: This article proposes to narrow the range of possible meanings for the phrase dikaiosyne theou. Because dikaiosyne is the nominalization of an attribute, we have to rule out of bounds any notion of dikaiosyne theou as a subjective or objective genitive. Once these two options are eliminated, the remaining possibilities for understanding the genitive are significantly narrowed. The article also suggests that... Read more

Summertime is when you can catch up on all the reading you weren’t able to get to during the academic and ministry year – at least in theory. But lately I’ve been wondering whether or not I’m trying to read too much. Is it possible to read too much? I think so. So here’s a little questionnaire I’ve come up with. You are trying to read too much if . . . . . . the stack of books you’re... Read more

For Jim Barr at Bible Works. BibleWorks turned 20 this year! To celebrate, they’re giving away two full copies of BibleWorks 9 (one copy for each decade). To win, send them exactly 20 words telling them why you need a copy of BibleWorks. The winners will be selected based on humor, wit, and verve. Enter using their Facebook page. Read more

Over at Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight (who I believe just finished up his second visit to Australia!) responds to my earlier post on Is it bigotry to advocate Gay Marriage but oppose Polygamy? Scot writes: (more…) Read more

Geza Vermes, one of the senior statesman in Jewish Studies, pointedly expressed the importance of a thorough knowledge of the Jewish context of the New Testament for its proper interpretation in his book Jesus in His Jewish Context (Fortress Press 2003). While it is commonplace these days to assume the importance of the Jewish context for the New Testament, it is always good to hear a fresh challenge to “take seriously and walk sure-footedly in the languages and literature which... Read more

Over at CT, is a very interesting piece on an agreement reached by Egypt’s Protestant Church with the Muslim Brotherhood. Read more

Over at RBL is a fairly generous review of my Colossians/Philemon commentary in the NCCS. Read more

I’ve been immersing myself in the Synoptic Problem of late. Based on the limited studies I’ve done before, I’ve always gravitated towards the four source theory (Mark, Q, L, M). Although I have had my curiosity aroused by the Farrer-Goulder-Goodacre theory of Mark–>Matthew–>Luke (eliminating the need for Q). And I have to say that Mark Goodacre has, at least, sown seeds of doubt in my mind about Q. For those who think the Synoptic Problem is dull, they should read... Read more

Over at Sheffield Biblical Studies, James Crossley has a post on What percentage of ‘Jewishness’ did Jesus possess and was it like the alcoholic content of wine, which engages my (sadly neglected) article The Peril of Modernizing Jesus and the Crisis of Not Contemporizing the Christ’, EQ 78 (2006), pp. 291–312. Oh well, at least Crossley has taken to reading it! Crossley’s research interests these days pertain to mapping the ideological currents and presuppositions embedded in biblical scholarship. For a case in... Read more

J. Patout Burns (ed.) Romans: Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators The Church’s Bible, ed. Robert Louis Wilken Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. Reception history is the new pink. It is cool, funky, and every body is doing it! There is the ACC with IVP and the Blackwell Bible Commentaries from the Centre for the Reception History of the Bible at Oxford Uni. The series preface says that the volumes in The Church’s Bible are “designed to present the Holy Scriptures... Read more