What I’ll Be Up to at the TGC National Conference

Next week, Sept 25-27 th , I’ll be headed to Indianapolis to participate in The Gospel Coalition National Conference entitled, “Hope in the Wilderness.”
The conference this year is unique because TGC is partnering with other organizations to offer “micro events.” These are sort of like smaller conferences within the larger conference. So, while TGC has invited plenary speakers, and even sponsored some of their own breakout sessions, each of these organizations have invited their own speakers.
On that note, Reformed Theological Seminary has a micro event with a number of speakers including myself, James Anderson, Greg Beale, Scott Swain, Leigh Swanson, Nancy Guthrie, Melissa Kruger, and Ligon Duncan.
In … Continue reading...
How Were the Books of the Bible “Chosen”?

“Who chose the books of the New Testament canon?”
Among the countless questions I have heard over the years about the origins of the canon, this may be the most common. And that’s totally understandable. The Bible didn’t drop from heaven on golden tablets, perfectly complete and intact. It was delivered through normal historical channels, and people want to know the details of how that happened.
The problem, however, is that the wording of the question already presumes the answer (or at least part of it). Most people don’t realize this, of course. They are just honestly asking a question, probably using words that come most natural to them (or … Continue reading...
How Were the Books of the Bible Chosen?

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Even More Books on the Origins of the New Testament Canon

As I noted in a previous blog post, it seems that the issue of the origins of the biblical canon continues to garner quite a bit of scholarly attention. And this is good news. There’s always more issues to be explored and debated.
Let me mention four new volumes sitting on my desk, the first two of which I was able to endorse.
Tomas Bokedal, Christ the Center: How the Rule of Faith, the Nomina Sacra, and Numerical Patterns Shape the Canon (Lexham, 2023).
While I always appreciate new books on the canon, sometimes it seems that we are rehashing the same topics over and over. Not … Continue reading...
How Did We Get the Bible?

I recently did a weekend conference for Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta, GA, on the topic of where the Bible came from, and why we can trust it. Here’s a video of my lecture, followed by a video of an interview I did with Jason Dees, the senior pastor of Christ Covenant. Enjoy!
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