I recently listened to an interview of Pamela Eisenbaum, author of Paul Was Not a Christian, over at the Brew Theology Podcast. In it she discusses the apostle Paul and all the topics related to him: his so-called "conversion," his beliefs as a Pharisee, his apocalyptic outlook, and more. The interview is in two parts... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020), 177. Undoubtedly the most important passage for Paul's view of the future resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15. The chapter, in fact, is often called "the resurrection chapter." It is also one of the most misread passages in all of the... Continue Reading →
Mark D. Nanos, Reading Paul within Judaism: Collected Essays of Mark D. Nanos, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 24-25. There is no reason to believe that Paul opposed circumcision of children born to Jewish parents, and good reason to suppose that he did not. And there is no reason to suppose that he... Continue Reading →
Martinus C. de Boer, Paul, Theologian of God's Apocalypse: Essays on Paul and Apocalyptic (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020), 2-3. Paul's understanding of Christ and his saving work is permeated from beginning to end (from Christ's resurrection to his Parousia) by the categories and the perspectives of apocalyptic eschatology. Indeed, Paul goes further since he... Continue Reading →
Mark D. Nanos, Reading Paul within Judaism: Collected Essays of Mark D. Nanos, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 17. Is it not precisely within Judaism where Paul as well as of the other Jewish and Judean believers in Jesus Christ understood themselves to find him? Did not Paul persecute (i.e., seek to discipline)... Continue Reading →
It seems to me that when it comes to New Testament scholarship there is more attention given to the historical Jesus and Paul than there is to the prominent albeit enigmatic figure of Peter. A new volume from Brill helps right the ship and they are offering this book, The Early Reception and Appropriation of... Continue Reading →
The most recent episode of New Testament Review is a crossover with Mark Goodacre’s NT Pod and covers Percy Gardner Smith’s Saint John and the Synoptic Gospels. Readers of the canonical Gospels know that the fourth Gospel is an odd duck. Some have suggested that it was composed without any knowledge of the Synoptics and the presence of pericopes similar... Continue Reading →
There are many ways of reading the story of the Wayward Son (Luke 15:11-32). In the context of the other two parables Jesus offers, it is fundamentally a story about the joyous response to one who repents and turns to God: “[T]here is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner... Continue Reading →
Those who follow me on Twitter know how much I love Paula Fredriksen. She is not only insightful but writes in such a clear and compelling way that it makes her work a joy to read. Last year I completed two of her most recent books: Paul: The Pagans' Apostle (Yale University Press, 2018) and... Continue Reading →
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