With all the talk of “eyewitnesses” and the “living voice,” I found this story from Cicero quite curious: But observe a coincidence. I had just made my way from Antium on to the via Appia at Three Taverns, on the very day of the Cerealia, when my friend Curio meets me on his way from Rome. At the same place and the same moment comes a slave from you with letters. The former asked whether I hadn’t heard the news?... Read more

No doubt everyone has heard the news that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has said that he will resign at the end of the year to take up a position as Master of Magdalene College in Cambridge. To mark the occasion, I just purchased Benjamin Myer’s book Christ the Stranger: The Theology of Rowan Williams on Kindle, which I’ll get into tonight, looks terrific, see Rachel Marszalek’s review here. I should point out that Ben also has an article on... Read more

Today’s world is cynical of all things not least of faith. Even the most sympathetic to the Christian faith struggle with the sense of certainty. In a world as pluralistic as ours, it is difficult to feel any real sense of certainty about what we personally believe. We are often plagued by the questions of social conditioning and historical context. “What if I believe what I believe simply because I grew up in the Bible Belt”, for example? Or “Have... Read more

Sadly most scholars are accustomed to explaining the complexities of the Synoptic Gospels purely in terms of literary relationships, while they account for the intricacy of the Jesus tradition exclusively with regard to oral transmission. But if the lines between orality and textuality were fluid –and they were– with oral material written down and written materials delivered orally; and if the Jesus tradition was carried in a mix of oral and textual media beginning in Jesus’ own life-time all the... Read more

Dr. Sigurd Grindheim (see his webpage) is visiting professor at Fjellhaug International University College, Oslo, Norway, having taught previously at the Ethiopia Graduate School of Theology, pastored a Norwegian congregation in Chicagoland, and has a Ph.D from TEDS. He has two new books out, both on the Christology of the Gospels (one academic, the other popular), they are: God’s Equal: What Can We Know About Jesus’ Self-Understanding? Library of New Testament Studies 446 (London: T & T Clark, 2011). Christology in... Read more

Recently I came across a hymn by James Montgomery (4 November 1771 – 30 April 1854). Montgomery was a British editor, hymnwriter and poet. He was particularly associated with humanitarian causes such as the campaigns to abolish slavery and to end the exploitation of child chimney sweeps. He wrote an amazing hymn of praise to Jesus the Lord’s Anointed (Messiah). It’s rich with Davidic eschatological themes. Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son! Hail in the time appointed,... Read more

More from Cicero, this time how much he grieved the death of his slave, Sosthenes! I am in considerable distress: for a delightful youth, my reader Sosthenes, has just died, and his death has affected me more than that of a slave should, I think, do. Pray write often. If you have no news, write just what comes upper most.   Read more

My favourite NT Greek guru, Dr.Stanley E. Porter, Professor of New Testament, Academic Dean, and President of MacMaster Divinity College in Canada, is now blogging. Will be one to watch in the future. Read more

In my pre-bed time reading, I’m working through the letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Came across this interesting statement about letter carriers: In these letters, indeed, I am urgently pressed by you to send answers, but what renders me rather dilatory in this respect the difficulty of finding a trustworthy carrier. How few of these gentry are able to convey a letter rather weightier than usual without lightening it by skimming its contents! (Letter XVIII). This would suggest that some... Read more

What’s  your take on the clique “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin”? Here’s mine. One of the readings from the Lectionary for this third Lent Sunday is Romans 5:1-11. As I reflected on this passage this morning I was reminded of its power and the way it subverts the oft quoted bumper-sticker cliche “God Loves the Sinner but Hates the Sin”. This slogan is one of the most unbiblical ideas I’ve ever heard that get’s touted as if... Read more