Jamie P. Davies Paul Among the Apocalypses? An Evaluation of the ‘Apocalyptic Paul’ in the Context of Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Literature LNTS  562; London: T&T Clark/Bloomsbury, 2016. Available at Amazon.com I am naturally interested in the debate about the “Apocalyptic Paul” versus any concerns related to “salvation history.” In my soon-to-be-published book An Anomalous Jew I argue that: My contention is that the dichotomy between salvation history and apocalyptic is needless. On the one hand, there can be no muting of the... Read more

I’m slowly but surely working on an NT Intro, now into the Pauline letters, currently working on Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians. Anyway, here are some things I’m scribbling for those inclined to read. —— I urge you to imagine Paul, sitting in an Ephesian prison, probably malnourished and suffering horrific illness, alone in the dark and damp, with the smell of rot and perhaps even excrement and death around him.[1] Picture him either scribbling away on a small sheet of... Read more

Over at TGC, Thomas Schreiner offers a nice review of Neil Bach’s biography of Leon Morris. Leon Lamb Morris (1914–2006) stood out in his generation as one of the great evangelical scholars. He wrote 50 books and traveled extensively, speaking all around the world. His book The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, which has sold more than 50,000 copies, was his signature achievement. He wrote often about the cross, and his more popular treatments were also well-received. Morris stubbornly attended to the... Read more

I’m happy to be able to interview my good friend Paul Foster (Edinburgh Uni) about his recently released Colossians commentary in the BNTC series. On authorship, you note there are different ways in which Paul could have had an influence on the letter’s content. In the end, you opt for the position that ‘Written sometime after Paul’s death, by a follower of Paul, to co-opt his apostolic authority in responding to a perceived misleading teaching in Colossae.’ What led you... Read more

I’m grateful for a very positive review of What Christians Ought To Believe over at Exegeticaltools.com called Using Creeds to Teach Theology: Why You Should and How to Do It. What Christians Ought to Believe is useful, creative, and teaches systematic theology, church history, and historical theology all at the same time. Kudos! I may personally use this work in my church and perhaps in teaching as well. It would make an excellent textbook for Christian colleges, an engaging resource for laypeople, and a downright fun... Read more

Over at Housewife Theologian, Aimee Byrd laments why only egalitarians seem to write about Phoebe in Rom 16.1-2. She provides a good list of sources and citations about Phoebe including my own comments in Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts. Aimee exhorts fellow complementarian readers with these wise words: “These are not women that we should feel uncomfortable talking about. There’s a lot to learn here. I would love for more complementarians to be writing about this.” Read more

My thanks to Trevin Wax for creating this meme from What Christians Ought To Believe. Read more

Came across this interesting and elegant thought in Schnelle (Apostle Paul [2005], 202-3): The Corinthians integrated the revealed divine wisdom into the creaturely abilities of human beings in order to make them more powerful. As they understood the matter, divine wisdom and knowledge worked as movens (mover, inciter, inspirer) of human intellectual power. Thereby the real basis of divine wisdom, the event of the cross, fell into the background while human intellectual powers stepped into the foreground … The Corinthians do... Read more

Thanks to First Things, there is a great interview between Mark Bauerlein (senior editor at First Things magazine) with Mark Movsesian, who is a legal expert specializing in religious freedom. In the interview, Movsesian addresses what will be the likely challenges to religious freedom in the US in the foreseeable future. In Australia, in the State of Victoria, the Government has proposed legislation that would remove the exemptions enjoyed by religious charities, schools, and even places of worship. According to The Age the... Read more

Over at On Script with Matthew Bates and Matthew Lynch there is a great interview with Chris Tilling on divine Christology. Do listen to it! Read more