Thursday, May 20, 2010
Early Christianity Online!
The inaugural issue of Early Christianity (Mohr) is available online. This is fantastic and I am really looking forward to reading John Barclay's article as it coheres well with my latest research. Also worth checking out is Francis Watson's review of Deliverance of God. Enjoy!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Forthcoming First Corinthians Commentary
I am excited about the forthcoming Pillar New Testament Commentary on First Corinthians co-authored by Brian S. Rosner and Roy Ciampa. These two are excellent Pauline scholars and are sure to provide a stellar contribution to what is probably my favorite letter in the New Testament.
The announced release date is in either August or December (I'll attempt to get confirmation)and the volume weighs in at a hefty 950 pages while retailing at $65.00.
My prediction: Fee and Thiselton will now have company in the pantheon of 1 Corinthians commentaries!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Milestone for New Testament Perspectives
I know this pales in comparison to most of the blogs out there, but it is milestone for me: I have had over 50,000 visits to this blog now. Being that this incarnation is only 1.5 years old, I think that causes for celebration!
I want to thank all of you who have continued to stop by to check out my drivels, odd musings, and once in awhile, possibly useful posts. Your visits and comments mean a lot to me, and very much keep this blog going.
Thanks again!
I want to thank all of you who have continued to stop by to check out my drivels, odd musings, and once in awhile, possibly useful posts. Your visits and comments mean a lot to me, and very much keep this blog going.
Thanks again!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Greek Accent Helps
I was wondering if any of you who have taught or studied Biblical Greek have any good resources on studying accents? All of the Greek grammars that I own pretty much gloss over this area at most or ignore it altogether.
Have any of you made a study sheet that summarize the rules of accenting?
Have any of you made a study sheet that summarize the rules of accenting?
Sunday, May 2, 2010
IVP SBL Releases
November always proves to be a big month for those interested in biblical studies. Publishers across the board plan their big academic releases to coincide with the big acaemic conferences (SBL, ETS, IBR, AAR, etc.)
On that note, IVP has some noteworthy selections due out this November.
Here are the titles:
1) The Drama of Ephesians: Participating in the Triumph of God
By Timothy G. Gombis
Expected Release: November 2010
Retail Price: $20.00
Length: 190 pages
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2720-6
About the Book
Ephesians has long been a favorite New Testament book among Christians. Its exalted language and soaring metaphors inspire devotion and worship. But too often the expositor's scrutiny has reduced this letter to a string of theological ideas and practical topics.
Timothy Gombis has rediscovered Ephesians as a deeply dramatic text that follows the narrative arc of the triumph of God in Christ. Here Paul invites the church to celebrate and participate in this divine victory over the powers of this present age. In Gombis's dramatic reading of Ephesians we are drawn into a theological and cultural engagement with this epochal story of redemption.
The Drama of Ephesians stands in the scantly occupied shelf space between commentaries and specialized studies in Ephesians, giving us a unified and dynamic perspective on this classic text. It is a book that will renew your excitement for studying, preaching and teaching this great letter of Paul.
2) Images of Salvation in the New Testament
By Brenda B. Colijn
Expected Release: November 2010
Retail Price: $20.00
Length: 204 pages
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3872-1
About the Book:
What does salvation in the New Testament look like?
"The New Testament does not develop a systematic doctrine of salvation," writes Brenda Colijn. "Instead, it presents us with a variety of pictures taken from different perspectives. From one angle, the human predicament is rebellion against God. Salvation looks like living under God's universal reign. From another angle, the human predicament is bondage to both internal and external forces. Salvation looks like freedom from those forces. From yet a third angle, the human predicament looks like alienation from God, from other people, from creation and even from one's own best self. Salvation looks like the restoration of those relationships."
Colijn, who holds degrees in English literature as well as theology, embraces a critical-realist methodology that incorporates New Testament theology, literary criticism and theological interpretation. She advocates listening to the individual authors of Scripture in their own social-cultural and historical settings, while looking for how the texts work both individually and collectively at a literary level.
Students of the New Testament and of theology will both find their vision broadened and their understanding deepened by this rich, informative study. As the author seeks to understand their implications for people of faith, she uncovers how New Testament images provide the building blocks of the master story of redemption.
3) The Resurrection of Jesus:A New Historiographical Approach4) Small Faith: Great God
By Michael R. Licona
Expected Release: November 2010
Product Details
Retail Price: $40.00
Length: 643 pages
Size: 6 x 9 inches
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2719-0
About the Book:
The question of the historicity of Jesus' resurrection has been repeatedly probed, investigated and debated. And the results have varied widely. Perhaps some now regard this issue as the burned-over district of New Testament scholarship. Could there be any new and promising approach to this problem?
Yes, answers Michael Licona. And he convincingly points us to a significant deficiency in approaching this question: our historiographical orientation and practice. So he opens this study with an extensive consideration of historiography and the particular problem of investigating claims of miracles. This alone is a valuable contribution.
But then Licona carefully applies his principles and methods to the question of Jesus' resurrection. In addition to determining and working from the most reliable sources and bedrock historical evidence, Licona critically weighs other prominent hypotheses. His own argument is a challenging and closely argued case for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Any future approaches to dealing with this "prize puzzle" of New Testament study will need to be routed through The Resurrection
4) Small Faith: Great God
By N. T. Wright
Expected Release: November 2010
Product Details:
Retail Price: $18.00
Length: 176 pages
Binding: hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3833-2
About the Book:
In the midst of life's challenges, so often our faith feels small and weak. In this book one of the world's premier Bible teachers, N. T. Wright, reminds us that what matters is not so much our faith itself as Who our faith is in.
Faith, says Wright, is like a window. The point is not for part of the wall to be made of glass. The point of a window is to allow us to see through it--and let light into the room! Faith allows us to see our situation and our own weakness in light of God who is powerful, holy and loving.
Wright also looks at the character of the faith God calls us to. He unfolds how dependence, humility and mystery all have a role to play. God beckons us to lean on him as we seek to be constructive citizens of the world, to speak truth in love without hypocrisy and to risk submitting to one another in love.
Wright doesn't ignore the messiness and difficulties of life, when hard times come and the unexpected knocks us down. He opens to us what faith means in times of trial and even in the face of death.
Through it all he reminds us, it's not great faith we need: it is faith in a great God.
On that note, IVP has some noteworthy selections due out this November.
Here are the titles:
1) The Drama of Ephesians: Participating in the Triumph of God
By Timothy G. Gombis
Expected Release: November 2010
Retail Price: $20.00
Length: 190 pages
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2720-6
About the Book
Ephesians has long been a favorite New Testament book among Christians. Its exalted language and soaring metaphors inspire devotion and worship. But too often the expositor's scrutiny has reduced this letter to a string of theological ideas and practical topics.
Timothy Gombis has rediscovered Ephesians as a deeply dramatic text that follows the narrative arc of the triumph of God in Christ. Here Paul invites the church to celebrate and participate in this divine victory over the powers of this present age. In Gombis's dramatic reading of Ephesians we are drawn into a theological and cultural engagement with this epochal story of redemption.
The Drama of Ephesians stands in the scantly occupied shelf space between commentaries and specialized studies in Ephesians, giving us a unified and dynamic perspective on this classic text. It is a book that will renew your excitement for studying, preaching and teaching this great letter of Paul.
2) Images of Salvation in the New Testament
By Brenda B. Colijn
Expected Release: November 2010
Retail Price: $20.00
Length: 204 pages
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3872-1
About the Book:
What does salvation in the New Testament look like?
"The New Testament does not develop a systematic doctrine of salvation," writes Brenda Colijn. "Instead, it presents us with a variety of pictures taken from different perspectives. From one angle, the human predicament is rebellion against God. Salvation looks like living under God's universal reign. From another angle, the human predicament is bondage to both internal and external forces. Salvation looks like freedom from those forces. From yet a third angle, the human predicament looks like alienation from God, from other people, from creation and even from one's own best self. Salvation looks like the restoration of those relationships."
Colijn, who holds degrees in English literature as well as theology, embraces a critical-realist methodology that incorporates New Testament theology, literary criticism and theological interpretation. She advocates listening to the individual authors of Scripture in their own social-cultural and historical settings, while looking for how the texts work both individually and collectively at a literary level.
Students of the New Testament and of theology will both find their vision broadened and their understanding deepened by this rich, informative study. As the author seeks to understand their implications for people of faith, she uncovers how New Testament images provide the building blocks of the master story of redemption.
3) The Resurrection of Jesus:A New Historiographical Approach4) Small Faith: Great God
By Michael R. Licona
Expected Release: November 2010
Product Details
Retail Price: $40.00
Length: 643 pages
Size: 6 x 9 inches
Binding: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2719-0
About the Book:
The question of the historicity of Jesus' resurrection has been repeatedly probed, investigated and debated. And the results have varied widely. Perhaps some now regard this issue as the burned-over district of New Testament scholarship. Could there be any new and promising approach to this problem?
Yes, answers Michael Licona. And he convincingly points us to a significant deficiency in approaching this question: our historiographical orientation and practice. So he opens this study with an extensive consideration of historiography and the particular problem of investigating claims of miracles. This alone is a valuable contribution.
But then Licona carefully applies his principles and methods to the question of Jesus' resurrection. In addition to determining and working from the most reliable sources and bedrock historical evidence, Licona critically weighs other prominent hypotheses. His own argument is a challenging and closely argued case for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Any future approaches to dealing with this "prize puzzle" of New Testament study will need to be routed through The Resurrection
4) Small Faith: Great God
By N. T. Wright
Expected Release: November 2010
Product Details:
Retail Price: $18.00
Length: 176 pages
Binding: hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3833-2
About the Book:
In the midst of life's challenges, so often our faith feels small and weak. In this book one of the world's premier Bible teachers, N. T. Wright, reminds us that what matters is not so much our faith itself as Who our faith is in.
Faith, says Wright, is like a window. The point is not for part of the wall to be made of glass. The point of a window is to allow us to see through it--and let light into the room! Faith allows us to see our situation and our own weakness in light of God who is powerful, holy and loving.
Wright also looks at the character of the faith God calls us to. He unfolds how dependence, humility and mystery all have a role to play. God beckons us to lean on him as we seek to be constructive citizens of the world, to speak truth in love without hypocrisy and to risk submitting to one another in love.
Wright doesn't ignore the messiness and difficulties of life, when hard times come and the unexpected knocks us down. He opens to us what faith means in times of trial and even in the face of death.
Through it all he reminds us, it's not great faith we need: it is faith in a great God.