J. Louis Martyn in his magisterial Galatians commentary gives a good Reformed/Barthian account of faith: “Christ’s faith is not only prior to ours but also causative of it. The point is put beyond doubt when Paul says that the proclamation of Christ’s faithful death is what has the power to elicit our trusting faith (3:2). All of these passages, in a word, reflect Pal’s keen interest in the issue of the genesis of human faith. Those who believe in Christ are not... Read more

O God, who by the leading of the star did manifest your only-begotten Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may behold your glory face to face; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your... Read more

Epiphany’s Focus: Epiphany is about Christ manifest in us, and Christ manifest to the world through us. Epiphany’s Practice: Prayer and hospitality & outreach Thoughts about the Feast of Epiphany took a very long hiatus for me between that first introduction in my high school days at Tarpon Springs High School and my second introduction more recently. It is safe to say, that the Feast of Epiphany has played absolutely no role in my spiritual life in my adulthood. I’m... Read more

I’m reading through Richard Hays’s Galatians commentary in the NIB series and he refers to a story that I’ve heard before in oral tradition, but finally written down and sourced: [T]he history of the church provides numerous impressive testimonies of the power of the gospel to break down the wall of separation between different races and cultures. One of the most remarkable stories of this kind from recent history emerged from the bloody conflict in Rwanda, where in 1994 members of the... Read more

See this press release for a new app called Bible 360. MARK BURNETT & ROMA DOWNEY, GLO BIBLE, AND ZONDERVAN COME TOGETHER TO LAUNCH SOCIALLY INTEGRATED BIBLE APP: BIBLE360 The Greatest Book of All Time Enhanced Through Video, Interactive Technology & Social Media NEW YORK, January 4, 2012 –  Renowned producer Mark Burnett and his wife Touched By An Angel star, Roma Downey; digital Bible maker, Glo Bible; and Christian publisher, Zondervan — today announced that they are coming together... Read more

Tomorrow the Church celebrates the Feast of Epiphany (it’s called “Theophany” in Eastern Church). I’ve had two introductions to Epiphany. One over 25 years ago, the other this year. The first one. The first time I ever heard the word Epiphany was in High School. But it wasn’t in a church. It was in my High School. Perhaps the word was spoken in some service or some occasion of worship in my low-church fundamentalist Baptist church in my subsequent 15... Read more

I’ve done a good bit of thinking about Matthew and Paul and only a little about the relationship between Paul and other Apostolic writers. By the way, you can read my essay on Matthew and Paul and essays on Paul and the other Gospels in the book Paul and the Gospels (T & T Clark 2011) edited by Michael Bird and myself. See the book in our sidebar. Recently I read an interesting description of the relationship between Paul and... Read more

Shaye Cohen claims that in the pre-exilic period circumcision, while of unusual importance, was not an essential mark of Jewish identity. The status of circumcision as the essential mark of Jewish identity did not emerge until the Maccabean period. Cohen in From the Maccabees to the Mishnah writes: The central ritual of conversion was circumcision. This practice, quite common in the ancient Orient (Jer 9:24-25), figures prominently in only a few sections of the Bible . . . All these... Read more

Australian Senator Barnaby Joyce has a polemical and hilarious critique of the new atheists over at the Canberra Times called The Sneaky Sect! I reproduce it in full below: Barnaby Joyce declares war against that religion called atheist extremism and “pseudo-intellectual Gucci fleas”. (more…) Read more

Here are some of my thoughts on Gal 1:4. Paul declares that Jesus’ death will bring deliverance from the cosmic powers when he writes that Jesus “gave himself for our sins in order to set us free from the present evil age” (Gal 1:4). Jesus’ “giving of himself” (δόντος ἑαυτὸν) for us/our sins is a recurring theme in the Pauline corpus.[1] The formulation indicates that Paul conceives of Jesus’ death in sacrificial terms.[2] However, contra Martyn, it is not the case... Read more