Category: Biblical Studies
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My Book, Esther and Her Elusive God, is Out!
Read more: My Book, Esther and Her Elusive God, is Out!I am pleased to say that my book, Esther and Her Elusive God: How A Secular Story Functions As Scripture, is finally available for purchase. The book was endorsed by N. T. Wright (St Andrews) and Chris Miller (Cedarville), and Dr. Ronald W. Pierce (Biola) wrote the Foreword. The book can be purchased from the publisher’s website,…
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Ancient Readers & Their Scriptures: Early Bird Registration Ends Soon!
Read more: Ancient Readers & Their Scriptures: Early Bird Registration Ends Soon!My colleague Garrick Allen and I are organizing a symposium at the University of St Andrews on 2–3 June, 2014. We’re currently still accepting abstracts until 1 February, which is also the last day for our early bird registration (more details below), so do sign up and come join us! The title for our symposium…
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The Great Divide
Read more: The Great DivideI wrote this blog a little while back when I was going through seminary. The divide gets even greater at the PhD level where one is pushed to specialize even further into a certain niche topic within their chosen half of the Bible. I’d love to hear other people’s experience. Enjoy! In my study toward…
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Advent: The Good News of Barrenness
Read more: Advent: The Good News of BarrennessHow preposterous a thought it is that in the often barren, frigid, and life-drained months of winter that we celebrate the birth of new life of Jesus, the God-Man. The church’s celebration of the resurrection seems to get it right- the rising from death to the glory of new life remembered on Resurrection Sunday seems…
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The Writing Process
Read more: The Writing ProcessThe writing process for working on a PhD Thesis is pretty frustrating. I have spent the greater part of my first year here in Aberdeen just trying to nail down a system that works for me. I thought I would share this insane/frustrating/possibly helpful system in my blog this week. I originally wrote this post…
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Responding to “Covert Messiah”
Read more: Responding to “Covert Messiah”“Covert Messiah” is the latest theory delving into alternatives to the New Testament understanding of the origins of Christianity. Joseph Atwill explains that Christianity was originally an elaborate hoax created by the Roman government as a means of pacifying the usually tumultuous land of 1st century Judea. He writes, “Jesus Christ is a fabricated cover story…
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Dining with the Divine
Read more: Dining with the DivineA knock at the door. A pitiful figure stands, wrapped in a tired cloth and trembling in the cold. At your welcoming hand the figure reclines at your table, where you both dine and subsequently share stories of times past. As the newly-befriended guest prepares to leave, the beggar’s cloth is cast aside and the…
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The Bullying Consensus
Read more: The Bullying ConsensusIn a democratic society there is no greater or more powerful argument for a position than that it is the majority view. Majority positions are not just descriptive of a particular group, but go even further by implementing that position in a concrete way. In this way, we might say that the majority has the…
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My JSNT Article on Gal. 3.4 is Out
Read more: My JSNT Article on Gal. 3.4 is OutThe September 2013 issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament is now available online and will be in print shortly. My article on the meaning of the Greek word ΠΑΣΧΩ in Galatians 3.4 is included in the volume (“Suffering In Vain: A Study on the Interpretation of ΠΑΣΧΩ in Galatians 3.4,” JSNT 36.1…
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The Great Banquet
Read more: The Great BanquetMy local church set aside this past week for a time of focused ministry in our own community here in Durham. A wide variety of service projects were engaged, from activities for children of all ages, serving coffee at the train station for the many commuters, cleaning up and doing repairs around the city, and…