Guest Authorby Matthew Tingblad
Probably the greatest need in Christian apologetics today is to help others understand that God is good. This can be a challenging prospect because God does many things in the Bible which do not appear to be good.
Didaktikos"Joshua is not intended to be used as a study of applied ethics." - John Walton
Faithlife StaffKarl Barth, who lived from 1886–1968, was perhaps the most influential theologian of the twentieth century. Church Dogmatics (CD), Barth’s monumental life’s work that consists of more than 6 million words, was written over the span of 35 years. In...
by Joel Thomas Prophetic practices in the Hebrew Bible find parallels in the ANE literature. These parallels are useful for the biblical interpreter, but before jumping into various texts one must ask the essential question: what is prophecy...
Tavis BohlingerIntroduction The Lautenschlaeger Award is a prestigious academic prize awarded to ten doctoral or first post-doctoral works in theology and biblical studies. Each winner is awarded $10,000 and the opportunity to propose an international colloquium...
by Dr. Geoff Chang | Assistant Professor of Church History and Historical Theology and the Curator of the Spurgeon Library. Since the early days of his pastorate, C.H. Spurgeon tutored and trained up gifted young men for the ministry. Over the first...
I asked this very question myself even before completing my PhD in 2019: what’s it all for? Considering the slumping academic job market, and fierce (read, ridiculous) competition for the few jobs in my discipline each year, I wondered what...
"Have a plan in place if you don’t get that tenure-track job."
I thought, “If a nonbeliever can study theology, certainly believers should be studying theology with folks of different theologies.”
"Bernard’s brilliance is not his use of so-called critical methods but in the fact that, as a monk, he had prayed, read and studied the Sacred Scriptures so intently that his vocabulary is literally a biblical vocabulary."
One of my warmest memories with Professor Hurtado occurred in 2014 at SBL in San Diego over a meal. We went to lunch at a French café and before we began eating, he paused and said: “Let’s pray over our meal.” He thanked God for the meal, closing...
What makes a good biblical scholar? Lots of things, many of which have to do with self-awareness. In no particular order:
"Good theologians are those who are able to think and speak truthfully about God, to communicate that well and to help others to understand God better through what they do."
Biblical scholarship "is a coram Deo matter that we engage in before God, involving not just our thoughts but our entire selves."
by Chris Porter Coming to biblical studies from prior research in the social sciences I am often asked what makes for good interdisciplinary research. While a valid question, I think the more interesting question is what makes a good...
A good biblical theologian pays attention to what God actually says, like the prophetess Huldah (and unlike Eve).
Honest and humble engagement with the entirety of Christian history.
What makes a good Biblical Scholar? Passion for the subject. If you are going to inspire from the lectern or the pulpit or with the pen, you have to love what you are talking about.
Source: fuller.edu Among those who read the Bible as Christian Scripture, the best biblical scholars genuinely love Scripture, and come to its pages ready to hear God’s address. They exhibit both a certain posture vis-à-vis the text and their own...
Although a tricky question for one primarily self-identifying as an ancient historian or historian of religion at best, my impression of what should qualify a biblical scholar or theologian as good should be what is applicable to what in general...
What makes a good scholar? One’s tendency in answering this question is to describe a scholar in her/his own image, with her/his own particular interests.
If I had to pick a word it would be “imagination.”
A good Biblical theologian is a faithful theologian. Whether or not you recognize it, everyone is a theologian of sorts. We all have thoughts about God whether a Christian, an atheist, a Buddhist, or a Muslim. Everyone speaks words about God. Our...
What makes a good scholar-theologian? Here are seven things:
A good biblical scholar is a sane biblical scholar. What I mean by that is, a good biblical scholar takes time for themselves and does not focus on their research every waking moment of the day; you have to have balance. If you don’t do this...
A good biblical scholar is one who approaches the text with a genuine openness to being corrected by it.
As a junior scholar, I don’t consider myself either a good Bible scholar or theologian (yet!) so I can only offer my own expectations based on my encounters with others. I’ve organized these into six key areas:
I have always appreciated reading and listening to those scholars who have both a command over the relevant, classical languages and a direct knowledge of the primary sources in their disciplines.
Although I am presently working as a local pastor, and not doing as much scholarly work right now, I learned a lot from my time at the University of Edinburgh during my PhD. As I reflect back on scholars and peers that I respect and consider what...
What makes a good biblical scholar or theologian? What advice would I give students—or have given myself 10 years ago—looking into advanced degrees? For those who are interested or who just compulsively read this blog, here are five suggestions amid...