Faithlife StaffAdded a link to Spectres of Paul: An Interview with with Neil Elliott under the Articles section of Paul and Empire.
Ryan BurnsWhen my hubby said, “I think I should go to seminary,” I laughed (should my name be Sarah?) “Sure, if God provides,” I replied, fully expecting to still be barren financially, but God provided the tuition. We sold our house, almost all our...
Paul BurkhartIn my first year of seminary, I was in a New Testament class with an eccentric and somewhat unorthodox professor who enjoyed challenging various long-held theological assumptions and beliefs with the goal of helping us freshly think through these...
Was Abraham called to kill Isaac? Yes. He went forward with that plan until God “called” otherwise. Would he have been disobedient to continue with the original “calling” of killing Isaac after God said “stop”? In the church today we have a very...
It’s May, which for most schools is graduation season. Men and women who have invested countless hours in classrooms and libraries are now preparing for the ceremony that will mark the end of a sometimes long and often very difficult journey...
When I was interviewing for my first associate pastor role, the senior pastor said something to my wife and me that I would soon learn was almost a mantra: “If you come to Cold Springs Church, you will experience spiritual warfare.”...
Though this title may sound a bit cheesy, any seminary student will tell you that one of the best parts of seminary is the lifelong friendships that you form. Think about it, it is most likely the one time in your life that you will be surrounded by...
So, you think God called you to seminary so you can better serve God in the world? Awesome. Your seminary time will be sure to teach you many things about God and his Word. In order to exit seminary as passionate as you are about ministry now, you...
Book Review Matthew S. Harmon and Jay E. Smith, editors, Zondervan, 2014, 320 pp. This Festschrift for Doug Moo, after a biographical appreciation of the honoree, is divided into three major segments: “Exegeting Paul,” “Paul’s Use of Scripture and...
It won’t take you long upon your arrival at seminary how much things may have changed from previous generations of seminary educations. One of the biggest differences is just how digital everything is. Most seminaries have some sort of online class...
In any school, especially graduate school—including seminary—one of its greatest costs is to one’s sleep. At least, I know that’s the case for me. I spent most of my adult schooling years with an average nightly sleep duration of 4 to 6 hours. And...
“What scares the New Atheists” | The Guardian // For the first time in history, there exist societies in which the default worldview and assumption is secular. In these places, people walk out there doors and the existence of a god is...
Benjamin B. Warfield’s famous lecture The Religious Life of Theological Students delivered at Princeton Theological Seminary on October 4, 1911 is still very fresh and relevant to theological students in our time. Warfield’s instructions and...
This week is Holy Week. And though we are in the final days before the highest annual joy of the Christian Calendar–Easter–these days are meant to be marked by the deepest and most difficult times of meditation on suffering and death...
By Mikel Del Rosario. Have you ever felt like the more you study the Biblical Languages, the more Greek and Hebrew you seem to forget? I felt that way, too, when I was first starting out. Today, I’ve completed my fourth semester of Greek and I’m...
Added a link to Paul’s Ethnic Discourse on “Faith”: Christʼs Faithfulness and Gentile Access to the Judean God in Romans 3:21–5:1 by Stephen L. Young to the Articles page under the category of Paul Within Judaism.
In your first year at seminary, you will inevitably be on either the giving or receiving end of what is probably the oldest seminary joke in existence, perhaps dating back to the time of Jesus himself. “Why do we have to buy all these textbooks? You...
Over on the Huffington Post, filmmaker Robert Orlando has posted his most recent comments related to his film A Polite Bribe: An Apostle’s Final Bid. I posted my reflections of the documentary after the 2012 showing in Chicago here. In...
There are many ways to continue to cultivate a godly and healthy marriage while in seminary. Just one of many ways to do so is to have intentional date night at least every other week (or once a week if possible)! It is true that seminary can be a...
Added a link to John M.G. Barclay’s review of Paul and the Faithfulness of God by N.T. Wright in the Scottish Journal of Theology to the Book Reviews section under The New Perspective on Paul: Around the Web and updated the link to Douglas...
My last post on this site, years ago, was a fiery little piece called “Realizing Seminary’s Not For You“. At the time, God had powerfully and clearly led me to a place of realizing that seminary was not the place He had for me at...
Added the Festschrift to Douglas J. Moo edited by Matthew Harmon and Jay E. Smith, Studies in the Pauline Epistles: Essays in Honor of Douglas J. Moo, to the Bibliography under The New Perspective on Paul and Robert Orlando’s book Apostle...
Using the Christian Church Calendar can be an incredibly meaningful way of engaging God, and the tradition of the Community of Faith. It’s also a way of sharing one’s spirituality with the global church, both past and present. Here, I...
Added a link to Paul’s Non-Jews Do Not Become “Jews,” But Do They Become “Jewish”?: Reading Romans 2:25-29 Within Judaism, Alongside Josephus by Mark D. Nanos under the category Articles under Paul Within Judaism.
Added a link to Judaizing the Nations: The Ritual Demands of Paul’s Gospel by Paula Fredriksen under the category Articles under Paul Within Judaism.
Added a link to Paul’s Relationship to Torah in Light of His Strategy “to Become Everything to Everyone” (1 Corinthians 9:19-22) by Mark D. Nanos under the category Articles under Paul Within Judaism.
Added a link to the Horizons in Biblical Theology article “Spheres of Influence” in the Epistle to the Galatians by A. Chadwick Thornhill under the category Around the Web: From the New Perspective.
Added Paul Within Judaism: Restoring the First-Century Context to the Apostle, ed. by Mark D. Nanos and Magnus Zetterholm, to the Bibliography of Paul Within Judaism.
Added a link From the New Perspective to N.T. Wright: Panel Discussion on Pauline Theology with Faculty, a YouTube video of a Duke Divinity School panel discussion with N.T. Wright, Douglas Campbell, Susan Eastman, and J. Ross Wagner. Thanks to...
N. T. Wright, Fortress Press, 2013, 605 pp. In the first volume of his two-volume magnum opus on Paul, Wright lays the groundwork for his interpretation of the apostle’s writings. He begins by quoting from a letter of Pliny the Younger to one of his...