John W. Stewart Envisioning the Congregation, Practicing the Gospel: A Guide for Pastors and Lay Leaders Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015. Available at Amazon.com By Graham Stanton (Ridley College) Stewart is particularly addressing a commonly noted malaise in the mainstream Protestant churches in the USA as they are confronted by falling numbers, aging membership, an exodus of young people, deteriorating facilities, and leaders who are “wearied from the paralyses brought on by endless divisive conflicts” (p.10). Such malaise is not... Read more

Ridley College aspires to be a leader in Christian thought and for a medium sized college – by Aussie standards – it produces a huge output of publications. Consider these:   Lindsay Wilson, Job (THOTC; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017). In this commentary Lindsay Wilson shows the book of Job to be a coherent literary work that addresses this question: Is it possible for humans to have genuine faith in God regardless of their circumstances? Wilson argues that Job’s bold, sometimes... Read more

Coming out in Feb 2018, N.T. Wright’s biography on Paul, a readable narrative of Paul’s life and thought. In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology—transforming a faith and changing the world. For centuries, Paul, the apostle who “saw the light on the Road to Damascus” and made a miraculous conversion from... Read more

Josh Jipp (TEDS) gives a great TEDS-style talk on “Jesus the Economics Teacher” Read more

Three great new commentaries out in the New Covenant Commentary Series: Kim Huat Tan – Mark Believing that the needs of beleaguered Christian communities in turbulent times would be best met by resourcing the life of Jesus, Mark wrote a Gospel that was at once plain and subtle, fast-paced and yet profound. The essence of being a follower of Jesus was therefore clarified, so that such communities might differentiate the essential from the trivial and be fortified in their testimony... Read more

Dyson Heydon is a former Justice of the Australian High Court (= Aussie version SCOTUS) and he recently delivered the Inaugural PM Glynn Lecture on Religion, Law and Public Life at the Australian Catholic University. His lecture is available online and it is MUST READ. Here are some choice quotes: Modern elites consider that what one does not condemn one must be taken to accept. Modern elites have failed to understand that that places them in a difficult position. Some little time ago... Read more

For all you Jonathan Edwards fanboys and fangirls, you might want to read this volume on the global reception of Jonathan Edwards: Edited by Rhys Bezzant (Dean of Global Mission at Ridley College) The Global Edwards: Papers from the Jonathan Edward Congress Held in Melbourne, August 2015 In a globalized world, networks are key, whether they are networks of people, ideas, or interests. In this volume of essays on the texts and teachings of Jonathan Edwards, contributors from each continent ask... Read more

As part of a promotion for Brian Wright’s book, Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus, you can take a quiz about ancient literacy and book culture. How much do you know? FYI, it is dang hard!! See here. Read more

I woke up Saturday morning feeling like Christmas had come early for me. My email contained two very positive reviews of my most recent two books. First, over at RBL, Mark Harding (former CEO and Principal of the Australian College of Theology) reviewed my book An Anomalous Jew: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans. The review is very thorough and detailed, with a few points of contention, but ends with a very warm affirmation: In summary, I doubt whether there is a... Read more

Eerdmans does a great job interviewing Scot McKnight about his new Colossians and Philemon commentaries. Some very interesting comments on Paul and slavery: Paul did not realize how immoral slavery was! Read more