A (prejudiced) Book Giveaway :)

Bitsy is giving away a copy of Don Carson’s Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5-10. Head over to the post to find out how you enter.

There is a catch, you have to live in the USA to win (maybe I could offer to pay for the postage). I don’t know if that is prejudice or racist against me. Of course I jest, and apart from her book giveaway, Bitsy’s blog is well worth adding to your RSS feed – She is very insightful and personable.

Now this is impressive…

I mentioned a few days ago that Jim’s criticism of the Best Commentaries website had caused quite a stir with Craig Blomberg. Well it seems Craig has risen to the challenge and suggested titles for the list that may not normally be considered by more conservative evangelical scholars.

Let me just say I am impressed with Blomberg’s willingness to engage with Jim on this matter. Although I myself would probably feel most comfortable with the commentaries already on the list, his willingness to add the other commentaries to the conversation even though they may not reflect his tradition is brilliant! In my mind it reflects what NT scholarship should look like. Of the titles Blomberg mentions (and there are a lot) I can speak to the Matthean additions of Luz’s tome in the Hermenia series and the two volume ICC by Davies and Alison (with the latter being my preference). Both are supurb works. So, well done to Jim and Craig!

N.T. Wright Project

A new blog, “N.T. Wright Project: A Collaborative Study on the Work of Tom Wright” has been established by a group of Princeton Seminary students. It is well worth a look and a must add to the RSS feed! As the blurb on their blog states:

“Rarely in the course of our seminary study do we have the opportunity to study theologians whose work is currently transforming the life of the church. Tom Wright is one such theologian, and a small group of us at Princeton Theological Seminary, together with one of our professors, Ross Wagner, have decided to spend this semester immersed in Wright’s work. We hope to carefully read some of his most foundational writings and to engage each other through this blog on the issues and ideas which emerge from this study. From time to time we will have guest authors from a wide spectrum contribute, and we also invite those of you in church, parachurch, or seminary communities to read and respond to our blog posts as a way of keeping this project closely grounded in the church today. Welcome and enjoy!”

Thanks to Brian LePort and Jim West for alerting me to such great news!

Why do we blog?

I mentioned in my post on Day 3 of the AACC conference that Ben Myers of Faith & Theology presented a paper on Blogging as theological discourse. He has posted a couple of excerpts that are well worth a read. Especially if you find yourself continually having to defend blogging as a theological discourse. Here is a brief taste of what he has to say:

An excerpt from PART 1 - “With technologies like blogs, Facebook and Twitter, my “private” thoughts are immediately manifest, immediately “publicly” available. The word is not carefully crafted into a fixed, perfected form; it is plastic, flexible, dialogical. Here, the word is uttered not simply within the context of other authorial words, but in the lived context of an ever-changing interactive community.”

An excerpt from PART 2 - “In the world of Web 2.0, the ideal of the solitary reader is waning fast. Blogging is a kind of reading-together. It is the formation of a new kind of community of reading. No longer is reading an activity reserved for the private study, that carefully crafted space where thought is cultivated under conditions of silence, leisure, economic privilege. To read a blog is to participate in a collective reading process: on any given day, we all read the same post, the same thread of comments and responses. Such reading is far removed from solitude: the reading is understood primarily as a stimulus to conversation, criticism, discussion. Here, reading is not so much an end in itself as the means to a particular form of community. The very act of reading thus becomes a collective project.

I wish I was smart enough to come up with answers like this when people take a swipe at Biblio/Theo Blogs such as mine (and no doubt yours). Thank God for Ben Myer’s mind at work on-line!

Blogs I Read…

I subscribe to quite a number of blogs however, I must admit there are only a few that I read regualry. While I was away I thought about the blogs I visit and enjoy. Blogging has opened up a number of friendships which I continue to enjoy (mainly via facebook).

1) Ben Witherington – I like the mix of personal and academic posts and he is a pastor through and through.

2) Chris Tilling – Funniest man in the Blogging world and a brilliant scholar. His mix of humour and NT studies keeps me laughing and thinking.

3) Jim West – One of the most generous people I know! I still remember wondering why this nut case of an old man changed his blog design daily however, over time Jim’s wit, sense of humour and regular jousts regarding Wright and Bultmann have kept me entertained. Jim has also been very kind to me over the past few months and is a good model of how one should go about the calling of pastor!

4) Brian Fulthorp – Was one of the first to recommend my blog and it is great to engage with another minister. Brian is a AG pastor who thinks and reflects. We may not agree on everything but Brian’s willingness to pastor in Grand Canyon is a testimony to his understanding of his vocational call to ministry.

5) Ben Myers – The smartest person I know (after my wife). This blog was the place I really began to discuss Barth within the context of community. Ben’s understanding of Barth and the respect shown to him by some of the worlds leading Barth scholars is amazing. I don’t think Ben realises how much his blog ministered to me in my student days when I had so many questions. His ability to think and reason through difficult and sometimes uncomfortable theological issues is to be commended.

There are a number of other blogs I also read regulary such as, Reflective Praxis, Near Emmaus, Koinonia, and Logos; however, this would be my top 5. It is interesting that Chris Tilling’s and Ben Myer’s blogs are the first two I found after typing “Karl Barth, Blogging” into Google. Theo/biblio-blogging is a form of community that encourages critical thinking and conversation. Theology should never be undertaken in isolation and for many of us who don’t have a theological community we are a part of where we live, Biblioblogs go some of the way to meeting that need.

Thanks to everyone whose blogs I read, and especially to those mentioned above. There is not enough time to respond to all the posts I read but please keep posting and leaving comments! So tell me, what are your ‘must read’ blogs?

Conference Day 3

Ben Myers would have to be the smartest Australian I know! The respected blogger and Barth scholar presented a paper tonight on Theology 2.0: Blogging as Theological Discourse. The title itself a play on Web 2.0. Ben presented one of the best defenses I have heard of blogging as theological askesis. Using humour and pointed quotes from 4th century writers about the dangers of “new technologies” Ben weaved a wonderful tapestry of how blogging develops the self asking, what kind of self is formed in blogging, and, what kind of theology is formed by blogging arguing that blogging is a “disciplined work upon one’s own self. One of the highlights of his talk was his explanation of blogging as ‘reading in community’ as opposed to much theological work that is ‘reading in solitude’. Overall Ben did a great job and no doubt made a number of academics rethink their own concerns about theo/biblio-blogging!

This morning Richard Bauckham presented his next lecture on, “A Closer Look at Mark’s Gospel: Mark and Peter”. This was a fascinating lecture for me personally because it taped into my growing interest in the gospels. He discussed ‘Authorship of Mark’ (which I know many think is a dead subject and yet he seemed to bring it to life once more) followed by ‘Mark’s literary presentation of Peters testimony’ and finally, ‘Mark’s portrait of Peter’.

I am not in a position to critique what Bauckham is saying; I sit more as a student and therefore Bauckham is shaping and forming my understanding of Gospel’s as ‘eyewitness testimony’ (I must confess he is doing a splendid job doing so). There is a sense in which Bauckham is arguing what I have always believed to be true about the Gospels however, he is providing me with an apologetic as to why what I believe might be true. Bauckham believes, against the opinion of Form Critics, that Mark in Rome is the author of the gospel (as opposed to John MArk or anonymous community transmission redacted much later) and secondly, that Peter is the primary source for his material. He has sufficient internal and external evidence for his thesis. Form more on this see chapter 7 of his book.

I know this will sound like I am bragging (and it is ); this afternoon I was fortunate to spend quite some time enjoying a coffee or two with Richard Bauckham (along with Stephen Spence head of Ministry/Theology at my Seminary). It was a wonderful time in which I could ask questions that have arisen from reading his book. It was a rare treat! I was also able to listen in as he talented with Stephen about much deeper matters relating to Luke and some of my own questions concerning the Gospel of Matthew etc! I suppose now Jim West will have more fodder for his jealousy!

Another book giveaway..

And, you know its good because Esteban mentions my name in the post! Esteban has recently moved from blogger to WordPress and you can visit his new look site at http://voxstefani.wordpress.com/.

As part of his “Covenant of Blessing” (Esteban has not been the same since he spent a month with Tilling at the “Bentley Ministry Training Centre”) he has announced a book giveaway – The Bible at Qumran: Text, Shape, and Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), the fifth volume in the series “Studies in the Dead Sea Scroll and Related Literature” edited by Flint, Martin Abegg, and Florentino García Martínez.

As part of the conditions of entry one must provide their theory regarding the identity of the Qumran community.

It has long been assumed, within the field of Biblical Studies concerning the historical West, that Jim West himself had no mother or father. Although many over the years have claimed to have discovered archaeological evidence that West was in fact born of human parents, the Guild of Biblical Minimalists have denied such claims as “dilettantish” and absurd.

Therefore, the GBM have proposed, and I concur, the Qumran community were not a group of radical Jews who sought life in the desert as a an alternative to Second Temple Judaism. NO! This group of people were chosen by God to help raise the young boy sent to earth by God to prepare the way for the Messiah. Yes, Jim West is in fact thousands of years old (many have suspected and I now break the news here). He was not, as is suggested of Jesus in the gospels. born of a virgin, rather he was sent from the planet Bentley and Qumran was the community established to raise the boy and teach him the ways of the Hebrew Scriptures. Unfortunately after his dual with Darth Vader on board the Millennium Falcon, West was banished to a region known as Petros TN and made to serve as their shepherd and overseer quietly awaiting his time of eschatological fulfillment.

That is my opinion and I am sticking to it!

Ben Witherington’s new Blog up and running

Ben Witheringtonhas made the switch to Beleifnet with his new blog, “Bible and Culture” (I had heard a rumour he wanted Scripture, Ministry and the People of God but it was taken ). More than a few people have been nervous about the move however, I am sure Ben will take care of his readers. As someone mentioned previously only the first few lines of the post is published in the RSS feed – Personally I find this annoying but it isn’t a deal breaker.

In Ben’s first official post (after his welcome post) he has listed his rules for commenting. I would like to think they are his rules, and I am sure most of them are, however, I can’t help but think that Beleifnet has added a few as well. Rules include; No anonymous posts, Try and be concise and clear, Normal discussions on a particular topic will run for 3-4 days, or possibly a week and one that I think is very important for Christian bloggers, “Before posting say this “may the words of my mouth (or fingers) and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord.” In other words, do this assuming God cares and is paying attention”.

One of the things I love about Ben’s blog posts is he has a good mix of personal and academic. He hasn’t been afraid to share his love of Rock’n'Roll and enjoy the occasional laugh at himself. He has also been very generous with his writing and responses (which a lot of bloggers could learn from) and has posted whole chapters of new books for his readers. So check it out and let me know what you think.

And the winner is…

ME! Simon from Reflective Praxis recently held a competition to find the best Luke/Acts commentaries for the coming liturgical year. I suggested Joel Green’s 1 Volume Commentary in the NICNT series. It is a brilliant work. And, because I suggested the book Simon eventually ordered I won a copy of Luke Timothy Johnson’s Commentary on the Gospel of Luke in the Sacra Pagina series. I look forward to receiving the book and will post a book review in due time. I would be interested in hearing if any one has used the Sacra Pagina series?

Justification: God’s Plan, Paul’s Vision book giveaway review

The winner of the Scripture, Ministry and the People of God book giveawayBrian Leport has commenced a series of reviews of N.T. Wright’s Justification: God’s Plan, Paul’s Vision and it is well worth the read (especially for those who are new to reading Wright). He begins with thePreface and follows it up with an analysis of chapter one.