theLAB

The Logos Academic Blog

When Aristotle Reads Paul

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by Logan Williams

It is now a general consensus among New Testament scholars that, despite its deviations from Jewish traditions, early Christianity can nevertheless be understood as a Jewish phenomenon. Even so, we all recognize that the “Jewish world” of the first century was not just the “Jewish world”: a plethora of theological ideas and religious practices regularly circulated throughout the ancient Mediterranean and exerted constant influence across a variety of religious groups. [Read more…]

The Wright Stuff: “God and the Faithfulness of Paul” Editor Interview

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I recently had the privilege of sitting down (virtually) with the three editors of a large collection of essays by leading biblical scholars and theologians engaging with the highly esteemed and highly controversial N.T. Wright. That volume is God and the Faithfulness of Paul (GFP), edited by Christoph Heilig, J. Thomas Hewitt, and Michael F. Bird. [Read more…]

Interview with Jonathan T. Pennington: The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing

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We have the immense privilege of interviewing Jonathan T. Pennington here on theLAB concerning his recent book, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing, available now on the Logos digital library. This book was one of the highest-rated Christian books of 2017 by numerous reviewers, and for good reason: it is academically rigorous, eminently readable, and delightfully devotional. Jonathan includes a number of small but helpful schematics throughout the book that have stuck with me since, and some have found their way into my journal as reminders of how to think of Jesus’ most beloved and memorable teaching from the Gospels. Enjoy the interview, and be sure to get a copy of the book today. [Read more…]

Everyone (Who Cares about Early Christianity) Has a Dog in this Fight

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Mark Goodacre and Alan Garrow are due to meet at this year’s British New Testament Conference at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, 6‐8th September. The issues at the heart of the $1,000 Challenge will be debated in the Synoptic Gospels Seminar. Alan Garrow will present a paper, “Reflections on the $1,000 Challenge” (abstract) with Mark Goodacre offering a response. In anticipation of that meeting, Alan Garrow has written the following: [Read more…]

New Mohr Siebeck NT Bundle on the Horizon

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Ah yes . . . that demure grey cover, concealing a brilliant blue cloth cover embossed with distinctive gold lettering. The iconic design of a Mohr Siebeck volume leaves the impression of professionalism and integrity. But the innovative force of a Mohr Siebeck monograph is the text printed inside. [Read more…]

A Fresh Approach to New Testament Scribal Habits

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by Alan Taylor Farnes

In 2007, James R. Royse published his exceptional study on the scribal habits of six early New Testament papyri. In his work, Royse revolutionized text critics’ understanding of the text-critical canon lectio brevior potior or, “the shorter reading is preferred”1 by demonstrating that the scribes he studied tended to omit more than they added. In its place he coined a new canon which he called lectio longior potior or, “the longer reading is preferred.” [Read more…]

How to Read Paul with the Reformers: an Interview with Stephen Chester

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I had the great honor of interviewing Stephen Chester, Professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary, about his new book, Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New Perspectives (Eerdmans, 2017). In the interview, Stephen talks about his reasons for writing this game-changing monograph, the differences between various Reformed viewpoints, and where we go from here in Pauline studies.  [Read more…]

On Mastering Koine Greek: A Response to Bohlinger and Nguyen

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by Christoph Heilig*

Introduction

Two weeks ago, Tavis Bohlinger wrote a blogpost in which he encouraged students and scholars of the New Testament to focus on the “common dialect,” ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος of the Greek language—that is, the Greek spoken roughly between 300 BCE and 300 CE.  In the German-speaking sphere, from which I come, many students of theology still learn “Classical Greek” as it was used between 500 and 300 BCE (well, at least the Attic dialect of that time). [Read more…]

Dethroning Grammar for Mastering Greek: A Rejoinder

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by Vinh T. Nguyen

In his recent post Four Reasons to Master Koine (and to Leave Attic Alone), Tavis Bohlinger made a plea to specifically focus on Koine in order to master “this particular type of Greek as thoroughly as possible.” This post continues a collegial dialogue about studying Greek which includes an article from Shawn Wilhite on the importance of reading background texts of the New Testament. [Read more…]

Four Reasons to Master Koine (and to Leave Attic Alone)

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Learning to read Koine (or biblical) Greek is essential, if you are training for church ministry, an academically focused career in biblical studies, or simply as a means to reading the New Testament in its original language.

Even while I was in seminary, however, there was pressure to learn to read Attic, or Classical Greek. I was inspired to expand my narrow horizons beyond the NT, to begin reading Homer, Sophocles, and Plato. Indeed, even on this blog, we recently posted an article encouraging people to read widely throughout the corpus of Classical Greek literature. [Read more…]