Gordon Fee Lectures on the Kingdom of God ca.1983

One of my heroes of NT scholarship, Gordon Fee, has two three videos now available of him on the YWAM channel of YouTube from 1983, where he lectures on the Kingdom of God. Each video is roughly an hour, and took place in Lausanne, Switzerland according to the opening tag preceding the video.

These videos are a treasure as they show Fee at the age of 48/49 speaking with his characteristic passion.

Here is Part I: "The Nature of the Kingdom"



Here is Part II: "The Mystery of the Kingdom"




  Updated: 7/7/2015; HT: Craig Wyeth Beard

Here is Part III: "To Enter the Kingdom"




Here is Part IV: "The Ethics of the Kingdom"

N.T. Wright's Essay: "Messiahship in Galatians?"

This September, Baker Academic will release Galatians and Christian Theology, a book that contains a stellar list of contributors such as John Barclay, Beverly R. Gaventa, Richard Hays, Todd Still, and bright newcomers, Timothy Gombis, Matthew Novenson, and Mariam Kamell.

Leading off the new volume though, is the contribution of N.T. Wright, whose essay, "Messiahship in Galatians?" can be accessed here.

Raymond Brown Site's First Anniversary

A year ago, August 8th to be exact , I launched a website in honor of the fifteenth anniversary of Fr. Raymond E. Brown's untimely passing. It was Fr. Brown's Death of the Messiah that catapulted me into NT scholarship and I decided that I wanted to do something that would honor his impact on my life and no doubt, countless others. This site has been a joy to put together and will continue to expand its content as time and contributions allow.  Many thanks to everyone who has visited the site and even more so, those who have taken time out of their challengingly busy schedules to contribute to the site. Here's to many more years of honoring the enduring legacy of Fr. Raymond E. Brown.

Fr. Raymond  E. Brown, ca. 1980, from the private collection of Beverly R. Gaventa

David deSilva and Galatians

David A. deSilva

For some time now, I have been eagerly anticipating my friend and mentor, David deSilva's work on Galatians.

First, he has already published a commentary from a Sri Lankan perspective with Wipf & Stock, entitled Global Readings: A Sri Lankan Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians.

In some sense, this commentary is a precursor to deSilva's highly anticipated replacement of Ronald Y.K. Fung's The Epistle to the Galatians in the NICNT series. While this volume is a ways off, deSilva continues to build towards this large scale commentary with the Baylor Handbook Galatians, due out in November (just in time for SBL).

deSilva's work, whether dealing with the Apocrypha, Hebrews, Revelation, and now Galatians is always top-notch and worthy of attention and praise. On a personal note, I must also mention that he was the single biggest reason I began my seminary education, and consider it an honor and a tremendous blessing to call him a teacher, mentor, and friend.

Quote of the Day: Paul Anderson on the Legacy of Bultmann's John Commentary

Paul Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University, and editor of the new Johannine Monograph Series (Cascade), has written a superb foreword to the first release of the aforementioned series to Rudolf Bultmann's famous commentary, The Gospel of John. Anderson is masterful in elucidating the legacy Bultmann's John has had on Johannine studies past and present.

Paul Anderson

 Anderson's conclusion is worth quoting in full and thus makes my quote of the day.

If Johannine studies overall have largely emerged from the proverbial shade of the Bultmannian oak tree, the question remains as to the enduring value of Bultmann’s commentary. Is it simply a relic of the golden era of historical-critical methodologies, or does it still command exegetical purchase among interpreters of later generations? A telling note as to its abiding contribution is the claim by Ramsey Michaels, in his recent thoughtful-yet-traditional New International Commentary on John, that the most helpful single resource in writing his commentary was that of Rudolf Bultmann. While future interpreters might not follow particular aspects of Bultmann’s overall composition scheme, his theological insights, combined with exegetical sensitivity to detail and comparative-religions awareness, make this commentary an indispensable resource for synchronic and diachronic interpreters alike. As one might take different approaches to addressing the Johannine riddles, Bultmann’s commentary remains unsurpassed in its throwing them into sharp relief and propounding reasoned attempts to interpret them, with critical ingenuity and verve. Therefore, the enduring value of Bultmann’s approach to John lies not merely in the answers it poses but the questions it asks. For this contribution all readers of the Fourth Gospel are in his debt, and dialectically so (Foreword, xxiii-xxiv).

A Big Fall for the Corinthian Correspondence

A cluster of worthwhile commentaries on the Corinthian correspondence are due out this fall, headlined by Gordon Fee's revision of his classic 1 Corinthians commentary (NICNT).


Fee's preface to this updated edition can be read in its entirety here.

Also slated is the work of George Guthrie, known for his work in Hebrews primarily, as he tackles 2 Corinthians for the BECNT series. Guthrie's analysis will make a contribution on this most difficult of Paul's letters as he utilizes discourse analysis as a model from which to read the letter. Guthrie's commentary will not be due until the Spring of 2015.











Another volume to keep an eye out for is Mark Seifrid's contribution of Second Corinthians in the Pillar series.

Seifrid reads 2 Corinthians as a unified whole and believes that the main issue that Paul addresses in the letter is the

"'practical atheism' of the Corinthian church — the hidden heresy that assumes God's saving work in the world may be measured by outward standards of success and achievement."

Seifrid's volume is due out at the end of September. For all of those attending SBL Annual, it will be worth making room on your bookshelves for these volumes.

I would be remiss not to mention the excellent commentary by Raymond Collins (Paideia) that debuted early last summer. I am planning on an interview with him about this volume soon.