Is It a Waste of Time for Seminary Students (and Pastors) to Learn the Biblical Languages?
Note: I post the article below every year as seminary students arrive. I hope it will prove helpful for a new group of readers (or maybe even prior ones!)
A few weeks ago, a new crop of seminary students began the grueling month-long experience of Summer Greek. And, like all seminary students before them, they will begin to ask the question of why studying these ancient languages even matters. After all, a few years after graduation all will be forgotten. In the midst of a busy pastoral life, who could possibly maintain proficiency in the languages?
As a result of these questions, some students decide (very early on) that the … Continue reading...
All 42 Episodes of My Romans Bible Study (in HD) Are Now Available On Youtube
As many of you know, this past Spring I finished two years of teaching through the book of Romans in a community Bible study held here on the RTS Charlotte campus.
The Romans study was held every Wednesday morning for women in the Charlotte community. I had the idea for this study a few years ago as I was looking for an opportunity to connect with the people in the city of Charlotte outside the formal classroom setting. A lot of people are too intimidated to take one of the standard seminary classes, but I thought they may be willing to come on campus an participate in “normal” Bible Study.… Continue reading...
An Essential Key to Understanding the Development of the NT Canon
How and when the early church recognized the 27 books in our New Testament has always been a fascinating topic for people. There is innate curiosity within us about why these books were regarded as Scripture and not others.
Unfortunately, the high level of interest in the New Testament canon is often combined with a high number of misconceptions about the canon. For anyone willing to search for it, the internet is packed with myths, mistakes, and misunderstandings about how the whole process really worked.
While there is no quick cure for such misconceptions, there is one essential key that really helps clear away the cobwebs. And that key is … Continue reading...
Destroyer of the Gods: New Book on Early Christianity by Larry Hurtado
This coming September, Larry Hurtado, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at the University of Edinburgh (and my Doktorvater), releases his latest volume, Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Baylor, 2016).
Larry allowed me to see a pre-published version of the book and I can tell you that it is (not surprisingly) an excellent piece of work and a fascinating look at the way early Christians fit (and didn’t fit) into their Greco-Roman context.
Although most modern Western individuals see Christianity as typical of all religions around the world (usually with the “all religions are the same” line added in for good measure), this volume … Continue reading...
Next Week I am Teaching an Elective on the NT Canon @RTSCharlotte
Next week, Aug 1-5, I will teach an elective at RTS Charlotte entitled, “The Origin and Authority of the New Testament Canon.”
In this class, we will be covering not just the history and development of the canon, but also its theological meaning, and its epistemological foundation. In other words, we will not only discuss when these books were recognized, but we will explore how we know which books belong and which do not.
So, the class will cover the various canonical models present in theological circles today, as well as responding to modern historical-critical scholars who attack its integrity.
One other interesting part of the course is … Continue reading...