It’s seldom a good idea to swap horses midstream, right? Right. And it is, in my opinion, seldom a good idea to swap PhD programs midstream. But I did, and I want to reflect a bit on my decision in hope that this may help someone else facing a similar dilemma. In the Beginning I… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: NT
Software for Writing a PhD Thesis
There are four categories of software for thesis writing: (1) project organizing; (2) word-processing; (3) bibliographic organization; and (4) specialty software. Here are some of the best programs, along with those I find essential to my PhD thesis and scholarly writing workflow. [UPDATED 2 February 2019 – And I have successfully completed the PhD! Hooray!] Continue Reading
UK Bound
[excerpts from our letter] Dear friends and family: At the very end of August, my wife, Mel, and son, Zachary, and I will be moving to Edinburgh, UK (Scotland) so that I can complete a PhD in New Testament. Many of you may know that I was in a PhD program at Midwestern in Kansas… Continue Reading
"I Can Do All Things" and Bad Christian T-Shirts
I was recently reading Rodney Decker‘s “Evaluation” of the 2011 NIV in Themelios (available here). I recommend the article as a careful summary of the issues, strengths and weaknesses of the latest edition of the NIV. In this post, I only wish to highlight a small section on “Changes Due to the Need for Greater Clarity”:… Continue Reading
Hurtado on a Mistaken Premise in Jesus Research
Larry Hurtado has an intriguing post on the “Historical Jesus Debate.” What I find particularly interesting is his suggestion that there is in historical Jesus studies an oft-unidentified premise: If a serious difference can be shown between what Jesus himself taught (especially what he taught about himself) and what early Christians believed (especially what they… Continue Reading
W. C. van Unnik's Advice for Young Scholars
In short, don’t be a parrot! In an oft-referenced essay, “Luke-Acts, A Storm Center in Contemporary Scholarship,” W. C. van Unnik recalls advice he gave to a young scholar-to-be who inquired what issues he might study which would be in vogue: So I said to my young friend that the proper thing for him to… Continue Reading
Hurtado on Critical Study and Faith
Not many months ago I purged my blog subscription list keeping up with only a handful of blogs now (mostly for the sake of time). One blog I really do enjoy is Larry Hurtado‘s. Earlier this morning he addressed the issue of how one’s religious stance (including faith or lack thereof) affects his or her… Continue Reading
Review of SBL Greek New Testament
P. J. Williams at the ETC blog has reviewed the SBLGNT, concluding: The real significance of this text is the electronic release of its text with an enlightened End-User License Agreement. For this many users will be grateful. However, the hard copy of the SBLGNT is not significantly cheaper than NA27 and offers no advantages… Continue Reading
Hurtado on Camping's Predictions
Larry Hurtado recently reflected on the false rapture prediction of Harold Camping. He is troubled by three things: (1) that some believers can justify such predictions given the fact that the biblical text indicates Jesus himself does not know the time of his coming; (2) that the media gave so much attention to the issue;… Continue Reading
Hurtado Blogging
Welcome Larry Hurtado to the blogosphere… See his latest. From his ‘about’ page: This blog site is a space where I offer comments, analysis, and something of my own contributions to the study of earliest Christianity. I’ll interact with the treatment of early Christianity in the work of other scholars, and also in the popular… Continue Reading