In this episode we talk about the presentations we gave at the 2024 SBL & AAR conferences in San Diego and reflect on some of our highlights. We also took the mic around the book stalls for short interviews with various people, including: Prof. Steve Walton, Dr. Andy Judd, Dr. Holly Beers, Dr. Joshua Mobley, Dr. Jonathan Lett, Hakeem Bradley, Dr. Melissa Tan, Victoria Nay, Michael Thompson, and Dr. Christoph Heilig. Team members on the...
In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Matthew Novenson, who is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Edinburgh, to talk about his new book, which is a collection of essays on Paul’s writings, entitled, Paul, Then and Now (published by Eerdmans). Dr. Novenson explains that this collection is meant to be more meta, considering the way we approach Paul hermeneutically. As part of this project, he is concerned to defamiliarize Paul for...
Joining us for a conversation on Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of John, we are joined by Professor Adele Reinhartz, who is Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. She is also the general editor of the journal of biblical literature, the president of the Society of Biblical Literature, and the author of a number of studies on the representation of Jesus in film and the Gospel of John,...
In the second installment of our Christian Anti-Judaism series we discuss the Pharisees with Prof. Amy-Jill Levine, who is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies at Hartford Seminary, as well as University Professor of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies Emerita, Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, and Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Prof. Levine is also the co-editor of the volume,...
In the Old Testament the activity of evil spirits is described a few times, and most of the times the biblical author makes sure to highlight their subordination to God. Though spirits are subordinates of God, they also exercise their influence with humans. I want to draw your attention to a few texts, both Biblical and non-Biblical in order to illustrate the influence demonic spirits have on a personal level. King Saul and David The...
One week ago I had the privilege of presenting Prof. N. T. Wright with a Festschrift (German for ‘celebration writing’), which is a sub-genre of scholarly books comprised of essays from former students, colleagues, and long-time friends. This kind of book celebrates the contributions of a particular scholar, typically on the occasion of a major birthday or retirement. Festschriften are usually intentionally broad, containing a hodgepodge of essays that contributors choose to submit in honor of a particular scholar...
Question of Origins What are the origins of Christian baptism? A quick perusal of the biblical texts might leave one perplexed as to the sudden appearance of baptism in the New Testament.1 Immediately and without explanation one is confronted with the appearance of John “the Baptist” and the practice of baptizing in water (Matt 3:1ff). Everyone except the reader (i.e., the author of the text itself, the people in the accounts, and perhaps even the...
Adam Kolman Marshak. The Many Faces of Herod the Great. Eerdmans, 2015. 400 pgs. $35 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-8028-6605-9. In The Many Faces of Herod the Great, Adam Kolman Marshak offers a fresh and compelling historiographical account of one of the more misunderstood figures in antiquity. While he agrees that Herod does, at times, play the part of ruthless tyrant and political opportunist, Marshak contends that the monarch’s tactics of oppression and repression “cannot account for...
Matthew W. Bates. The Birth of the Trinity: Jesus, God, and Spirit in New Testament & Early Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament. Oxford University Press, 2015. 234 pgs. ₤55 (Hardback). ISBN 978-0-19-872956-3. In his recent monograph, The Birth of the Trinity: Jesus, God, and Spirit in New Testament & Early Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament, Matthew W. Bates provides an alternative account of the origins of trinitarian doctrine. His thesis is that, “in...
Anathea E. Portier-Young. Apocalypse against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism. Eerdmans, 2014. 462 pgs. $35 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-8028-7083-4. Anathea E. Portier-Young’s Apocalypse against Empire (originally release in 2011) comprises, to quote John Collins from the book’s foreword, “an important contribution to the study of Judea under Seleucid rule and to the social context of apocalyptic literature” (xiii). Winner of the 2013 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise, and now rereleased in a more...
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