William Wrede famously said that “anyone who accepts without question the idea of the canon places himself under the authority of the bishops and theologians of those centuries.”[1] If Protestants question the ancient catholic church’s judgements and authority, a consistent Protestant will also contest their limitations of the extent of the canon. Thus, for Wrede, NTT is really about plotting the debates, developments, and diversities in early Christians literature, including but looking well beyond the New Testament, into the age... Read more

Now out, the Planet Theology Podcast, with myself, Scott Harrower, and Chris Porter, plus lots of guests. A podcast where we keep you plugged into all things about theology, biblical studies, psychology, and church history. We’ve had so much fun filming episodes so far, lots of great conversations, debates, reviews, and some guests. FB Page here. A trailer is now up, so subscribe, like, review, and share! Read more

One of the problems with coming up with a New Testament Theology is the many diversities within the New Testament, this poses a genuine problem for interpreters who are trying to identify a theological core in the New Testament, but the problem is not insurmountable. To restate the problem, the differences across the New Testament collection are well rehearsed: Paul versus the Jerusalem church, the Synoptics versus John, the Lucan Paul and versus the Paul of the epistles, John the... Read more

I wrote an article for Logos on Teaching New Testament Intro in the Information Age. It is partly an informercial for New Testament in its World on Logos, but it also points out how the information age is or should be changing the way that we teach biblical studies in the classroom. In the article I give my own ideas of how we can better use technology like apps. you.tube, Logos, etc. in on-campus and on-line teaching, and how to... Read more

Edited by Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2018. Available at Baker and Koorong. By Andrew Judd We ask a lot of students of the Old Testament: not only do we expect them to dive headlong into the tight web of stories and motifs within the text, we also want them to keep an eye on the literary and historical... Read more

Anthony C. Thiselton  Approaching the Study of Theology: An Introduction to Key Thinkers, Concepts, Methods and Debates. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2018. Availabe at Koorong and IVP By Suzanne Day Approaching the Study of Theology introduces the reader to the complex nature of studying theology, providing an excellent introduction to key people and ideas. This book was designed for students of theology, and is an excellent resource for learning. It is well-structured and provides a springboard for future reading and... Read more

Paul Borgman and Kelly James Clark Written to be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels Grand Rapids MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2019. Available at Eerdmans and Koorong By Laura Thierry Written to be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels is written in view of the premise that ‘The gospels — Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts, and John — … were never intended to be read’ (3). Paul Borgman and Kelly James Clark join forces to perform an aural ‘literary reading’... Read more

Ben Witherington III Priscilla: The Life of an Early Christian Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Available at IVP and Koorong By Laura Thierry A particularly joy-inducing trend in biblical scholarship at present is that of the biblical scholar turned novelist. In response to the reality that we are narrative animals wired for story, this inclination to teach through historical novels seems a delightfully fitting and humane move that promotes rich Scripture-vibed imaginations. It is from within this growing movement that... Read more