It has been a while since I’ve been quizzed on my thoughts about the New Perspective on Paul. But at the Overthinking Christian, Paul Moldovan interviews me for my thoughts on the New Perspective on Paul and if the NPP is quite the satanic spawn of heretical evil that some make it out to be. Here is a sample of the interview: Many Christian leaders are publicly and loudly denouncing the New Perspective as heretical. Do you think the New... Read more

Todd Wilson (Editor), Gerald L. Hiestand (Editor) Becoming a Pastor Theologian: New Possibilities for Church Leadership Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2016. Available at Amazon.com By Chris Porter This volume is a follow up to Wilson and Hiestand’s previous work on Pastor Theologians: The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision. Whereas the previous book–along with the corollary volume from Kevin Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan–set forth to reclaim a vision of pastor theologians, this volume is aimed at shoring up the claims. Stemming from a... Read more

At the Brisbane School of Theology – where I formerly taught, great college, wonderful faculty, and students – there is a position for a lecturer in Christian Thought and History. Here’s the details: Brisbane School of Theology invites expressions of interest and applications for the position of a full-time lecturer in Christian Thought and History, to begin Semester 1, 2018. BST is a gospel-centred, evangelical and interdenominational Bible college, which has been training men and women for ministry and mission... Read more

Ben Witherington A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem  Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2017. Available at Amazon.com By Chris Porter In this brief work Witherington seeks to intertwine historical fiction with scholarly investigation as he provides twenty short vignettes focusing on the week after Titus’ sack of Jerusalem in 70CE. As a work of historical fiction Witherington takes liberties with the characters described–although many readers will find them familiar from the broader biblical narratives. Such as the figure of Matthew/Levi,... Read more

Edinburgh Uni’s Center for the Study of Christian Origins is doing a giveaway of Paul Foster’s excellent Colossian commentary (BNTC series). Go to their facebook page, share, enter, and have the chance to win. See an interview here with Paul Foster about his commentary. Read more

When did the Roman empire end? Well, at one level, the western empire ended in 476 AD when the Germanic general Odacer deposed Romulus Augustulus and had himself made king of Italy. But on another level, the eastern Roman empire continued right up until 1453 AD with the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. It is common to call the eastern Roman empire the Byzantine empire, however, this is an 18th-century scholarly invention. The Byzantines did not call themselves “Byzantines” but “Romans.”... Read more

The latest issue of the Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters has a great set of essays, built mostly around studies of the Incident at Antioch. Stanley E. Porter Editor’s Foreword: The Antioch Incident Samuel Auler More Than a Gift: Revisiting Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem and the Pilgrimage of the Gentiles Sean Christensen The Pursuit of Self-Control: Titus 2:1-14 and Accommodation to Christ Joel White Paul Completes the Servant’s Sufferings (Colossians 1:24) Mark D. Nanos How Could Paul... Read more

Dennis Edwards 1 Peter (SGBC) Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016. Available at Amazon.com Reviewed by Mark Simon Dennis Edwards’ 1 Peter commentary is an encouraging and pastorally astute treatment of the letter. In common with the other Story of God Bible Commentaries, the discussion of each passage is structured around three standard headings: Listen to the Story, Explain the Story, and Live the Story. In ‘Listen to the Story’, the NIV text is followed by a few cross-reference passages spanning... Read more

I’m glad to add my signature to a confessional statement put together by Kevin Vanhoozer (TEDS) and Jerry Walls (HBU) called Reforming Catholic Confession. I love the rationale for the confession: October 31, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Historians recognize this pivotal action as the symbolic beginning of the Protestant Reformation. There are hundreds of ways Christians around the world are remembering and... Read more

Over at RBL is my review of Kimberly Ambrose, Jew among Jews: Rehabilitating Paul (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2015). The final verdict is: This volume is a helpful entrée into some of the discussions in Pauline studies, and Ambrose does her best to challenge entrenched dogmas on Paul and Judaism. However, I did find this book disappointing in some respects. I was concerned and confused by the absence of Markus Barth and Pamela Eisenbaum from the discussion, since Barth was a... Read more