Tavis BohlingerWhat makes a good biblical scholar? Well, many things, of course. But one thing I seek to embody in my own work and to impart to my students is fairness to others, especially when I disagree with them.
If you don’t know who Jacob Neusner is, it’s time to bone up. Apart from his exceptional prolific publishing output (and that’s an understatement; see point one below), he was known both for his highly acerbic nature to some and his deeply...
Didaktikosby Craig L. Blomberg When I was a college student, I attended several time-management seminars. Invariably, someone would start off with the solemn declaration, “We all have twenty-four hours in a day. The only difference is how we choose to use...
Although the image of the lone scholar is prominent, it is not really accurate. All of us need other scholars to sharpen our ideas and to gain new viewpoints on the texts. As a result, it is important for scholars to be humble regarding their ideas...
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...
By Douglas Estes Describing Ben Witherington III as prolific is like saying water is wet. Over the past thirty years, he has written commentaries on all twenty-seven New Testament books—plus dozens of other volumes. He is currently working on a...
A good biblical scholar or theologian thinks through their writing, page by page, from the perspectives of their various types of expected reader, from scholars, to students, to church ministers and, if appropriate, to church members. ~Peter Oakes...
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...
I’ll never forget the day when I was sitting among other recently admitted post-grads at the University of Aberdeen in the presence of the I. Howard Marshall. Make no mistake about it: although we remained in our chairs, we were sitting at Howard’s...
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...