Nicholas Perrin Jesus the Priest Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2019. Available at Baker Academic. Nicholas Perrin (Wheaton College) has completed the second volume of his trilogy of books about Jesus. The tirst one was Jesus the Temple and the next one will be Jesus the Sacrifice. In Jesus the Priest, Perrin offers a new paradigm for understanding the historical Jesus as a self-consciously priestly figure. Perrin challenges the standard anti-cultic and anti-clerical reading of classic texts (e.g. the Lord’s Prayer, Parable of the Sower, the... Read more

Okay folks, one of the top theology books for 2019, a major publishing event for sure, is this one: Timoteo D Gener and Stephen T Pardue (eds), Asian Christian Theology: Evangelical Perspectives (London: Langham, 2019). TIMOTEO D. GENER (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary, California, USA) is Chancellor and Professor of Theology at Asian Theological Seminary, Quezon City, Philippines. He is Moderator of the Theological Commission of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches and a member of the World Evangelical Alliance Task Force on Ecumenical Affairs. An Asian theologian and pastor-teacher,... Read more

Arthur C. Brooks (US social scientist) has a book out called  Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt which looks like a scintillating read. Here’s the blurb: America has developed a “culture of contempt.” We increasingly view people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided, but as worthless. This is warping political discourse, tearing us apart as people, and even wrecking our health. But we can fight back. Drawing on ancient wisdom,... Read more

More from Douglas Moo’s second edition of Romans, this time on Rom 1:18-32. Every person is ‘without excuse’ because every person – whether a first-century pagan or a twenty-first-century materialist – has been given a knowledge of God and has spurned that knowledge in favor of idolatry, in all its varied manifestation. All therefore stand under the awful reality of the wrath of God, and all are in desperate need of the justifying power of the gospel of Christ. We... Read more

Great quote from M. Sydney Park about submission in the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2: “Submission, as portrayed in Philippians, is not the consequence of oppression or coercion. Rather, it is offered freely, and reflects the self-giving character of God in the salvation events (2.6-11). Moreover, as the recipients of that grace, believers are exhorted to demonstrate a similar self-kenotic behaviour/mindset in their mutual relations. Regardless of the context of social order, gender and status, each believer is called to... Read more

Great quote from Morna D. Hooker: “The Gentile woman [Syro-Phoenician] requests a cure outside the context of Jesus’ call to Israel; she seems to be asking for a cure which is detached from the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom, merely taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the presence of a miracle worker. This is perhaps the reason for Jesus’ stern answer; his healings are part of something greater and cannot be torn out of that context. Mark does not interpret... Read more

I’m teaching Romans again this semester, so I’m going to gradually read through the second edition of Douglas Moo’s The Letter to the Romans, second edition (2018) every Monday as preparation. So far I can say that this is a great update to an already terrific volume! What emerges as especially significant from this sketch of Paul’s own situation is that he writes his letter to the Romans at an important transition point in his missionary career. For almost twenty-five years,... Read more

Brian J. Wright The Rhythm of the Christian Life: Recapturing the Joy of Life Together Abilene: Leafwood Publishers, 2019. Available at Amazon.com. This book by my former PhD student Dr. Brian Wright resources Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together for a pattern of modern discipleship. The foreword is by Timothy George! Blurb: Most of us think that if we could simply balance our lives better, we would be happier. But what we actually need is to rediscover the rhythm. As Christians, our whole life... Read more