Stanley Hauerwas The Work of Theology Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015. Available at Amazon.com By Elizabeth Culhane* The latest offering from retired Duke professor Stanley Hauerwas, The Work of Theology, perhaps unintentionally verifies his conviction that “the work of theology is never done” (p. 265). With his characteristic mélange of Aristotelianism, Wittgensteinianism, and (Alasdair) MacIntyreism, this is an apologia of Hauerwas’ life’s work, further expounding his thought while also responding to misunderstandings of it. The opening chapter’s thesis, paradigmatic for... Read more

Less than a week after police thwarted a plot by jihadists to attack St. Paul’s Cathedral and Federation square, we read Fairfax propaganda that the barbarians are again at the gate, preparing to destroy our civilization and our way of life. The ironic thing is that in this narrative the barbarians are Christians. The Age’s Chris Johnston complains with the horror of a housewife discovering a rat in the pantry, that not only are the eastern suburbs infested with Christians,... Read more

An old but classic article by Peter Leithart from First Things, on How N.T. Wright Stole Christmas. Wright made me see the fairly radical difference in tone and content between Advent and Christmas hymns. Advent hymns, as you’d expect, are full of longing, and the language of the prophets. Advent hymns are about Israel’s desperations and hope, and specifically hope that the Christ would come in order to keep Yahweh’s promise to restore His people, and through them to restore the... Read more

First, a whole bunch of Eerdmans authors talk about their favourite Christmas Carol, with me trying to sing one! Second, here’s an old reflection from N.T. Wright on Christmas: Christmas is not about the living God coming to tell us everything’s all right. John’s Gospel isn’t about Jesus speaking the truth and everyone saying “Of course! Why didn’t we realize it before?” It is about God shining his clear, bright torch into the darkness of our world, our lives, our... Read more

Only two days left to enter the competition sponsored by Eerdmans to win a free copy of my book An Anomalous Jew: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans. You gotta be in it to win it and entry is free! See here. Read more

Coming out in July 2017 from Eerdmans is: Adoptionism—the idea that Jesus is portrayed in the Bible as a human figure who was adopted as God’s son at his baptism or resurrection—has been commonly accepted in much recent scholarship as the earliest explanation of Jesus’s divine status. In this book, Michael Bird draws that view into question with a thorough examination of pre-Pauline materials, the Gospel of Mark, and patristic sources. Engaging critically with Bart Ehrman, James Dunn, and other scholars, Bird demonstrates that a full-fledged adoptionist Christology did... Read more

Derek Cooper Introduction to World Christian History Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2016. Available at Amazon.com Reviewed by Felicity Clift It is difficult to think of Christianity aside from that which is set immediately before us historically, culturally, socially and personally, and it is into this circumscribe spiritual mentality that Derek Cooper’s book, Introduction to World Christian History (InterVarsity Press, 2016), brings a wind that stirs what is settled in refreshing and stretching ways. Following the suit of Philip Jenkins,... Read more

Ridley College is committed to growing leaders in Christian thought by mentoring emerging scholars in doctoral research and in teaching theology. Ridley College is pleased to announce three PhD scholarships with an annual $10,000 grant, which can be taken either as a stipend or as credit towards course fees (which covers 100% of fees for Aussie students and about 70% of fees for overseas students). Successful applicants are expected to be full-time, satisfy entry requirements for a PhD degree,  be... Read more

I am currently reading up on the Pastorals and Pseudepigraphy, I find Armin Baum’s works very helpful here, in particular, Baum notes one interesting story that involves a transparent and non-deceptive fiction when it comes to authorship: In the fifth century, the presbyter Salvian of Marseille published one of his works under the title The Four Books of Timothy to the Church (Timothei ad ecclesiam libri IV). When Salonius, the bishop of geneva, took him to task for this, Salvian... Read more

Hermann Bavinck translated by Bert Hielema The Riddle of Life Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016. Available at Amazon.com By Felicity Clift One hundred and two pages hardly seem adequate to explain all of life’s mysteries, and yet this is exactly what J. H. Bavinck has attempted to do in The Riddle of Life. In this easy-to-read translation by Bert Hielema, Bavinck’s insights on the mystery of life are set out in a logical and concise manner. It is particularly interesting... Read more