To celebrate the internet’s 40th birthday, here are some fairly recent links to helpful posts for New Testament grad students: Dr. Rodney Decker provides quite a list of Dissertation Research Sites. Dr. Mark Goodacre let’s us know where to find some NT audio on the web. Dr. Jim West informs us of opportunities to write for… Continue Reading
Research | Writing | Digital Humanities | Biblical Studies
The Price of Books and Biblical Scholarship
I was recently looking to purchase a book for my Advanced Greek Grammar seminar this semester: Evan’s Verbal Syntax in the Greek Pentateuch. After finding it for $310! on Amazon, I checked around a bit. Eisenbrauns listed it for around $85, so I purchased immediately (as if I had found a bargain…what?!). Prior to shipping,… Continue Reading
Lazy Bible Study: Pastors and the Tool Shed
A couple of friends of mine told the following story from an experience on the mission field in Mexico: As Samuel was preparing to set up a plastic table for the youth lunch we were hosting, I mentioned to him that the table’s “piernitas” (little legs) were in the next room. He smiled, and I… Continue Reading
What's a Prisoner to Do? …Ask the Apostle Paul
Another Tuesday Time Travel… (This post piggy-backs on the previous one.) The Apostle Paul was imprisoned on multiple occasions. During his Caesarean and Roman imprisonments, the New Testament suggests he had plenty of time to do… well… whatever he wanted. Time to kill… Recall that a prison often served as a holding place for those… Continue Reading
Red, White, and Blue Hermeneutics
On the political left and right in the U.S., there is a decent amount of ‘colored’ biblical interpretation going on. In a recent article by Cynthia Boaz, she ponders what domestic and foreign policy of the United States might look like if the nation applied Jesus’ teaching to such issues. Perhaps the most provocative statement… Continue Reading
Roman Imprisonment: The Humility of Chains
Another Tuesday Time Travel to the Roman Empire… Though conditions of imprisonment may vary from one location to another (or one time period to another), a general picture of Roman imprisonment can be painted from primary source material. I will attempt only to give a general picture and offer a couple of secondary sources below… Continue Reading
Civil Submission in 1 Peter and the Contemporary Context
Recent posts regarding the command for civil submission in 1 Peter has provoked a bit of discussion about the contemporary application of the command. In this post, I would like to (1) reflect generally on civil submission in the contemporary context and (2) reflect on the American context of civil submission, especially as it relates… Continue Reading
11 Best Friends in 11 Weeks
Blass, F. and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by Robert W. Funk. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1961. Bock, Darrell and Buist Fanning, eds. Interpreting the New Testament Text. Wheaton, IL:… Continue Reading
Tuesday Time Travel: Emperors and Governors in the Roman Empire
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him…” 1 Peter 2:13-14 Human Institutions, i.e., Governing Authorities Peter commands his readers to submit to πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει (quite roughly: “every human creation”). The word often translated ‘creation’ (κτίσις)… Continue Reading
Killer George Sodini: From Sound Teaching to Ear Itching
(Thanks to Jim West who drew my attention to this story.) I can’t help but reflecting on a few things here… Apparently the PA shooter who killed 3 and wounded 9 claimed his pastor (Rev. Knapp) had convinced him that a man could commit mass-murder and still go to heaven (source). It appears that the Tetelestai… Continue Reading