The news has been full of news about longstanding names and images being changed, their racist depictions and caricatures having at long last become unacceptable to a sufficient number of people. An American football team called the “Redskins” will change its name and logo from the current one, an ethnic slur aimed at indigenous people. A Dr. Seuss book that will no longer be printed had already been revised so that the Chinese character no longer had yellow skin. Teaching... Read more
I am long overdue to return to something that I began doing more than 7 years ago on this blog. Read the introductory post and earlier posts below for the project to get a sense of what I had been trying to do in this series. To put it briefly, it is an effort to retell Paul’s letter to the Roman church in a manner that might help Christian readers today feel the same impact readers in Paul’s time would... Read more
In an interesting convergence of timelines (to use an appropriate metaphor) I have another book that is now coming out. The topic couldn’t be more different from that of the other one I have been blogging about. This is my contribution to Obverse Books’ series The Black Archive which will eventually offer a single volume on each and every episode of Doctor Who to ever air on television. Mine, as blog readers know from my previous posts about it, is... Read more
Jonathan Foye asked me some questions with a view to writing an article about my book, What Jesus Learned from Women for the Australian periodical Insights. I thought I would share my full answers here. But first a link to the article, which you should definitely read. Now for that conversation in full: 1) For those who haven’t heard about it yet, how would you describe the book? My new book What Jesus Learned from Women is an effort to take the humanity... Read more
I have mentioned before that I want to return sometime to write a book that picks up again John A. T. Robinson’s case in his book The Priority of John that we can say things about the historical Jesus that some have insisted we cannot, and that the Gospel of John might prove surprisingly helpful in our attempt to do so. It occurred to me that my new book What Jesus Learned from Women connects with that quite directly. I have known... Read more
International Women’s Day is an important day dedicated to challenging global inequities, and I hope my book, even with its focus on ancient texts, contributes to that effort. I am honored that two fantastic scholars from whom I have learned much endorsed my book. That they are both women makes their positive words all the more meaningful and also I think appropriate. Michael Thomson mentioned and quoted one of those endorsements when he wrote something really nice himself about my... Read more
On March 22nd I will be a panelist that will discuss this year’s Freedman Lecture, which was delivered live in the context of the Enoch Seminar on John the Baptist in January. We’ll show the recording of that lecture, which in fact featured multiple scholarly panelists talking about their own interest in, quest for, and/or perspective on John the Baptist. Then we will follow with discussion that will interact with the presentation and also with one another. If you are... Read more
The people who are up in arms about alleged “canceling” of Dr. Seuss are the historic cancelers of those they disagree with. We could do with some really good children’s stories that address that issue. I will come back to that later. First I want to focus on the more pressing current matter, which is not that anyone’s children’s books will be confiscated. A publisher has decided not to continue publishing certain books, and many libraries are deciding to do... Read more
I was asked on Facebook whether in my book I tackle the question of how Jesus could be divine and yet also have learned. The short answer is that I don’t attempt to engage in the work of constructing a systematic theology around my conclusions. As is usually the case, as a New Testament scholar my focus is on the historical and literary evidence and approaches. I don’t tell theologians what to do with the results. But I do tackle... Read more
It didn’t seem appropriate to post about something else on a day when QAnon conspiracy theorists are claiming there will be (and thus helping to bring about) another attempt to overthrow American democracy. I am fairly certain that today will not make the downfall of the United States as we know it but will rather represent yet another failed prophecy of the QAnon movement. But it may be a day when there is turmoil and violence. Other things can wait... Read more
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