Herman J. Selderhuis (ed) Psalms 73–150. Old Testament Volume 8, Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, IVP Academic, 2018. Available at IVP. By Jill Firth In the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, we are invited to read the Scriptures with the Reformers, joining scholars in appreciating pre-critical exegesis within the context of patristic and medieval scholarship. The goals and perspectives of the series are introduced by Timothy George, the General Editor of the series, who also provides a historical context and... Read more

There is a brilliant article in WSJ by Eugene F. Rivers III, a Pentecostal minister and director of the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies. A lot of it comes down to Pamela Harris’s and Diane Feinstein’s bigoted attacks against Catholic nominees to government positions, esp. about one who was involved in the Knights of Columbus, which is basically a Catholic version of Rotary if you know about it. Rivers writes this: As a leader of black Christians, I feel particularly... Read more

Matthew J. Thomas Paul’s “Works of the Law” in the Perspective of Second Century Reception WUNT 2.468; Tubingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 2018. Available at Mohr-Siebeck. Matthew Thomas has written a great book on “works of the law” (erga nomou) in Christian writings of the second century. Paul maintains that believers are justified by faith apart from ‘works of the law’, a disputed designation that represents a fault line between tradition Pauline perspectives and the New Perspective on Paul. In sum, does “works... Read more

David Baggett and Marybeth Baggett The Morals of the Story: Good News about a Good God Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2018. Available at Amazon.com By reverend Andrew Esnouf On a recent interstate holiday, my wife and I had dinner with an old friend and her partner. The food was lovely, the location was beautiful, and all was going along well until a disagreement emerged over God and morality. My wife and our old friend both become tense, fearing that our... Read more

Brian J. Arnold Justification in the Second Century. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2018. Available at Baylor Uni Press. For some reason, at ETS and SBL, random people sometimes just give me books, usually their book. To be honest, I might browse them or flick through them, but I don’t always read them. At SBL I bumped into Brian Arnold (Phoenix Seminary) who gave me a copy of his published PhD thesis on justification in the second century. I’m very glad... Read more

Coming in November 2019 is the long-awaited (and long worked on) New Testament introductory textbook: N.T. Wright and Michael Bird volume The New Testament in its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians (with SPCK and Zondervan). This book is distinct in several ways: – Introduces students to the New Testament as history, literature, and theology with special attention given to hermeneutics. – Situates Jesus and the early church amidst the history, culture, and religion of second... Read more

Brenda Salter McNeil Roadmap to Reconciliation: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness, and Justice Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015. Available on Amazon.com Review by Graham Stanton “Reconciliation” is a feel-good word. Who wouldn’t want to say yes to restored friendship, to resolving conflict, to reunions and harmony and peace? Yet, the experience of much of our lives suggests that the ideal is more attractive than the reality. Reconciliation is often a good idea that we’d be glad to enjoy, but a... Read more