From Bib Arch, by Noah Wiener, about the find of Mauro Perani: Italian scholar Mauro Perani recently discovered what he believes to be the oldest complete Torah scroll. The recently-dated Sefer Torah—a handwritten Torah scroll containing the full texts of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—was written between 1155 and 1225 C.E. The monumental value of the sheepskin document went unnoticed for over a century; in 1889, it was mistakenly cataloged in the University of Bologna Library as a 17th-century... Read more

From Laura Ortberg Turner: Women make up only 10 percent of senior pastors and are paid less than their male counterparts, according to a 2009 Barna study. The figures are even lower among evangelical churches. At a time when women are making great strides in other areas—advancing in higher education, heading up a record number of Fortune 500 companies, and gaining influence in government—why is the church lagging so far behind? And what are the obstacles that restrict women from understanding... Read more

The theologian who has perhaps most shaped political theology in the world most, or at least European and North American political theology, is Germany’s Jürgen Moltmann. I have recently been reading biographies of theologians and scholars, including that of Charles Hodge, Rudolf Bultmann, and Karl Barth. Moltmann, however, tells his own story (A Broad Place: An Autobiography) and in so doing the reader gains entry to the “real” (quite optimistic — he was friends with Robert Schuller eventually) person more... Read more

What comes to mind when you hear the word “leader”? [Go ahead, speak up and write up your response. Add to the list in the Comments if you think it helpful for us.] I suspect what doesn’t come to mind is “Myrtle,” and now I’m being sneaky because Myrtle isn’t a name you know about leadership. But perhaps you need to. I’m reading Brian Harris’ really fine book called The Tortoise Usually Wins: Biblical Reflections on Quiet Leadership for Reluctant Leaders.... Read more

Ever sharp David Koyzis: As a Reformed Christian who is in some fashion heir to Calvin’s legacy, I find myself puzzled when I see a title such as this: “Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention.” What does it mean to be a Calvinist in a Baptist denomination? It cannot imply an acceptance of Calvin’s view of the sacraments, which take up considerable space in his Institutes of the Christian Religion and are more than incidental to his theology as a whole. It does... Read more

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From Derek Leman: There are several reasons why the Pharisees are misunderstood: Josephus, who was a Pharisee, exaggerated their power and influence The later rabbis (third through sixth centuries), whose origins were in the Pharisee movement, exaggerated their power and influence when writing about the first century The other parties (Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians) all ceased to exist after 70 CE Yeshua clashed with the Pharisees on some matters of Torah Un-careful reading of the Gospels leads people not to notice... Read more