A number of bloggers have responded to Marcus Borg’s article at the Huffington Post on reading the New Testament chronologically. Responses include Gaudete Theology, Bill Heroman, and Philip J. Long. I’d suggest reading those responses before reading my few comments. Here are some points that struck me: Borg contends that there is a trajectory of…
I’ve been following Ken Schenck’s review of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, and starting with the second post (Word of God), he is discussing material that I find fascinating. I am not trained as a theologian. Despite having an MA in Religion, I must note that my concentration was Biblical and Cognate Languages, and practically all…
Red Letter Christians has a post titled “Is This Any Way to Treat a Bible?” which tells how a high school teacher, on seeing a student’s heavily marked Bible, held it up to the class and asked that question. The article that follows is excellent. I would think a more relevant question would be “Is…
… at Bob Cornwall’s blog. Bruce Epperly is the author of Philippians: A Participatory Study Guide.
This is an introductory sermon to the current “Summer in the Psalms” series at my home church, First United Methodist Church of Pensacola. It was presented by Rev. Geoffrey Lentz last week, but I missed it. So many members of the congregation commented on it, I had to go back and listen to what I…
I haven’t blogged much, recently and I may go back and look at some earlier, lessons, but I wanted to quote something we’ll be looking at in class this morning. This comes from the forthcoming study guide to Philippians by Bruce Epperly. He has just described two groups, the first those identified in 1 Corinthians…
And some that aren’t … After much of what I heard about Paul in school, which was really rather a lot, I think one of the most important things to remember when reading Paul’s letters is that they are letters, and that Paul writes pastorally. He is not writing systematic theology. On the other hand,…
Jim West has brought back the Biblical Studies Carnival. (HT: TCOJC)
My primary training in biblical studies placed an overwhelming emphasis on historical study. The idea was to get at the original meaning of the text as it would have been understood by those who first heard or read it. I should note that amongst my professors there was some desire to look at reception, and…
Some time ago I wrote an essay titled A Fruitful Faith, in which I maintained that there is a pattern of grace before law that is consistent throughout scripture, both Old Testament and New. One can also express this idea as call before response, or, as I’ve been thinking today especially, faith before works. Frequently faith…
