In the spring (quarter system), I am looking forward to teaching a grad course on Paul’s Prison letters. It is an “English exegesis” course, which I think I will find refreshing b/c when I taught Greek exegesis courses in the past, we sometimes didn’t get to dig into theological questions too deep b/c we were focusing on syntax and translation issues (which are very important, but hard to get everything done in a quarter).

I just decided yesterday on the books for the course:

Tim Gombis, The Drama of Ephesians – I think Tim does an excellent job making a case for the importance of studying Ephesians and the Christian worldview and imagination.

Lynn Cohick, Ephesians (New Covenant Commentary) – I wanted a good, theological + historical commentary on Ephesians. I like how the series is easy on the eyes and Lynn is a first-rate scholar.

M. Bockmuehl, Epistle to the Philippians (BNTC). Pick up any recent commentary on Philippians and everyone treats Bockmuehl’s work with deep respect and admiration – rightly so! For its relatively small size, it packs an exegetical punch. There are so many good commentaries (Fee, O’Brien, Hooker, Fowl, Flemming, etc…), but for a course where we look at Philippians for only three weeks, this is perfect.

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters – a no-brainer. It is getting a bit old, but still chocked full of outstanding evangelical scholarship. I love to see students just poke around and discover all sorts of gems.

Finally, students will read the unedited draft of my Colossians commentary. I will not have it completed  by the time the course starts, but I hope to be through 3:17, perhaps even 4:1 by the time we get to Colossians. I know – they will have to be subjected to both my lectures and my writings! But it will be a great benefit to me, as they will catch many of my errors before it is sent off to the editors!