Nijay GuptaImage: © Tavis Bohlinger
One of the most important set of resources in which students of the Bible and pastors can invest is New Testament backgrounds and context. We will divide up our discussion into four categories.
Students and pastors should have a few really good introductions to the New Testament in their personal library. The good news is that there are lots to choose from. But with such a wide selection comes questions about preferred academic level...
Rochester Bible, Walters W18. Source: Wikipedia
Nijay Gupta shares his final post in this helpful series on best commentaries by listing two essential works on Philemon.
"The Pastoral Epistles have long been regarded wise instruction for the benefit of the church. But in the last two centuries these texts have often been sidelined in the academy..."
Several excellent commentaries on the Thessalonian letters have been produced over the years, but the last decade has seen a notable surge of strong scholarship on these texts.
Colossians is an underappreciated jewel in the Pauline corpus, often sidelined from academic conversations because of its debated authorship. It is a beautifully-crafted meditation on the cosmic-and-crucified Christ.
Manuscript leaf with the opening of the epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians. Image source: Wikipedia commons. Ephesians is widely considered one of the most beautifully composed texts of the New Testament. And yet, because some scholars argue...
Image source: Wikipedia commons Like Romans, Galatians has been at the center of theological debate concerning Paul’s theology. At the heart of the issue is Paul’s view of the Law. Thankfully, several excellent commentaries are available, a few...
One scholar has referred to 2 Corinthians as the “sleeping giant” of Paul’s letters—often under-appreciated but packing explosive theological power.
Image source: Proclaim Software Scholars have long been fascinated by the window that 1 Corinthians provides into life of the early Christians. In this letter we also have creedal information, gender relationship teachings, and—what’s up with...
Image source: Faithlife Proclaim Nijay K. Gupta, associate professor of New Testament at Portland Seminary (PhD, University of Durham) is beginning a blog series at theLAB on biblical commentaries on the Pauline epistles. Dr. Gupta has written three...
Pastors of different types and in different contexts have varying amounts of time for “sermon prep.” We all know 5 hours is not enough, but most do not have the luxury of 20+ hours.
Dare I try to talk about the art of preaching when I am not a full-time preacher? I wondered about this before deciding to start a blog series on preaching. Perhaps it does seem a bit audacious. But what else are blogs for? My hope is simply to...