Paul and the Resurrection-Body of Jesus

I have just been informed that there is an interesting debate going on on the website ‘infidels.org’ regarding Paul and the nature of the resurrection-body of Jesus.  The debate is described as follows: ‘Historian Richard Carrier and theology scholar Jake O’Connell debate whether Paul believed that Jesus rose from the dead in the same body [...]

New JSNT December issue – and my first major article!

The new JSNT issue (December 2008) has been posted electronically on the Sage website (http://jnt.sagepub.com/current.dtl). I am happy to say that therein you will find my first article in a major journal (which explores a series of allusions to Ps 78 in 2 Thessalonians 3).
I am experiencing some fear and trembling as my article [...]

Is Q Still a Hypothesis? Francis Watson Asks the Question…

In our weekly New Testament seminar, it was a pleasure to have our own Francis Watson presenting on the Gospels (as he now is working on a large project involve, especially, non-Canonical gospels).  He chose a very interesting topic with the title: ‘Is Q Still a Hypothesis?’.
The Synoptic Problem is neither an area I am [...]

Douglas Moo on the authorship of Colossians

I am excited that I just received my copy of DJ Moo’s new Pillar commentary on Colossians and Philemon (Eerdmans, 2008). Having just begun it, I was appreciative of his careful discussion of authorship.
He explains that the broadest issues involve language (vocabulary and style) and theology. Some rely on the problem of hapax [...]

More Greek games!

Today we had another ‘games’ day in Greek class and I chose another game that I thought would be interesting, fun, and review the right material.  It is called kindunos – JEOPARDY!  I designed the game in ways similar to JEOPARDY (J), with categories such as ‘nouns’, ‘verbs’, ‘translations’, ‘vocab’, ‘word jumble’, and ‘wildcard’.  For [...]

Notes on PhD Thesis Writing

I have made it a practice to write book reviews (for journals) on as many NT PhD-thesis published monographs as I am able to because it teaches me how to think and write on that level.  Some that I have read are very good and well-worth being published.  Others, sadly, are not up to par.  [...]

Peter Kreeft, Evil, and the Lord of the Rings

A commenter on an earlier post drew my attention to the Maclaurin Institute which is a ‘learning context’ for all sorts of theological interests.  They hold lectureships and have speakers from various disciplines come to present a piece of research.  These lectures are downloadable (in audio) and one particular speaker caught my attention: Peter Kreeft.
April [...]

Richard Hays – “Turning the World Upside-Down…”

I had previously announced that Richard B Hays (Duke) will be giving the first annual CK BARRETT Lecture at the University of Durham on November 5.  Indeed, Barrett, who is now 91, is expected to be in attendance.  The title has now been announced: “Turning the World Upside-Down: Israel’s Scripture in Luke-Acts.”  Also, Hays will [...]

Teaching Tools: Making Greek More Interesting…

Let’s face it- language learning is both exhausting and, dare I say it, boring sometimes. I am currently teaching masters level basic Greek and in the curriculum here students take Greek as an elective (meaning I have to make it interesting and useful or they will drop the class!).
I have built into the course [...]

Learning about Philippians from Coldplay…?

No, the new Coldplay album does not actually mention Paul’s epistle to the Philippians (though some imaginative discussions have linked the new Viva la Vida songs to biblical themes of war, revolt, and power).  But, I was struck when I heard the lyrics to the song called ‘LOST’.  The first line is: ‘Just because I’m [...]