happy birthday, adalynn!

A happy first birthday to our happy, smiley little Adalynn! You are a special gift of joy to us...
(You'll notice the "e" on the end of her name: the "dispute" continues...)

"justification is the heart of the gospel"?

Do we really want to say this? It sounds so evangelical, so Protestant, even so orthodox. But do we really want to say this?

Do we really want to say this, when Paul's "justification" language and themes are almost entirely found in two letters (Gal and Rom) while his "gospel" language is spread more evenly throughout several? Do we really want to say this, when Paul himself summarizes the "gospel" variously, and frequently in ways which do not employ "justification" language or concepts? Do we really want to say this, when Paul himself outlines the essence of the unified apostolic gospel as the death and resurrection of Christ - with nary a "justification" to be found (1 Cor 15:1-11)?

Do we really want to say this, when Mark sketches out his account of "the gospel of Jesus Christ" by narrating the public career, death, and resurrection of Jesus - without even mentioning "justification" let alone outlining a doctrine of justification? Do we really want to say this, when the Synoptic Gospels characterize Jesus' public teaching as "the gospel" - a teaching emphasizing the kingdom of God and the son of man but with little or no mention of "justification" motifs? Do we really want to say this, when John develops as rich a soteriology as one can find in the New Testament - without ever employing the language of "justification"?

Paul outside Galatians and Romans certainly seems at times to be attempting to get at "the heart of the gospel," but perhaps he's missed the point in these other letters, or I'm missing the point in them. Mark, John, and others in the New Testament - even Jesus himself, as portrayed by the Evangelists - certainly seem at times to be attempting to present "the heart of the gospel," but maybe they're just mistaken, or I'm mistaken in hearing them this way. I certainly don't think so.

It seems to me that the only way one could say this - that "justification is the heart of the gospel" - is if one either: a) puts on blinders to the soteriological and "gospel" diversity within the New Testament (or within Paul's letters, for that matter); or b) defines "justification" so broadly or "gospel" so narrowly that the terms become synonymous by definition and not by exegesis. Yes, Paul's doctrine of justification is a crucial explanation of "what is going on" in the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. But it is neither the sum total of the gospel, nor is it the heart of the gospel to the exclusion of other apostolic explanations.

See also my follow-up post: so what is "the heart of the gospel"?

latest expository times

The latest issue of the Expository Times is now online for subscribers with abstracts for all: September 2007, Volume 118, No. 12. Items include "The Protevangelium of James" by Paul Foster and "Textual Criticism and Theology" by my doctoral supervisor, David Parker.

latest review of biblical literature

The latest reviews in RBL include the following New Testament-related items of interest:

Jörg Frey, Jan G. van der Watt, and Ruben Zimmerman, eds. Imagery in the Gospel of John: Terms, Forms, Themes, and Theology of Johannine Figurative Language.
Reviewed by Dorothy Lee

Jon D. Levenson. Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life.
Reviewed by Stephen L. Cook

C. Kavin Rowe. Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke.
Reviewed by Joel B. Green

Gregory Tatum. New Chapters in the Life of Paul: The Relative Chronology of His Career.
Reviewed by Eve-Marie Becker

gearing up for the new academic year

While many (most?) schools south of the border seem to have begun the school year already, our classes, as usual, begin after the Labor Day weekend. This means I have one week to get my courses ready to go.

Suddenly the summer seems too short.

But I am looking forward to the new academic year. I'm trying some new things in my courses, most notably a course study guide for each which includes assigned readings and related questions for personal reflection and class discussion. I spent some time today revising my teaching web pages, including a home page, the course pages, a basic research links page, and so on.

I'm also looking forward to the school year because this will be the first year since 2001-2002 in which I have not been working part-time on doctoral work while teaching full-time. Sure, I still have to prepare for and complete my viva (and then the inevitable final revisions), but I won't have the constant pressure to fit doctoral research into an overcrowded schedule.

And another reason I'm looking forward to this academic year: a new colleague in Old Testament studies. T.C. Ham comes to Prairie with a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary, having recently completed a dissertation entitled "Relational Metaphors and Divine Omniscience in the Hebrew Bible." He also has a Th.M. from Dallas, and he did his undergraduate work at Boston University. He has a love of the Hebrew language and the Hebrew Bible, and he is passionate about engaging students with both academic rigor and dynamic faith. I have gotten to know him a bit over the last few weeks (house painting and mountain hiking are great "ice breakers"...) and I am excited to be working with him as we teach our biblical studies students this year.

canmore hike

Yesterday a couple friends and I went to the Canmore area to do some hiking. Nothing too serious this time, just sticking to a couple well-worn trails near the town site: Grotto Canyon and Grassi Lakes. It was a great time of getting away from some recent pressures and getting to know a couple of faculty friends a little better. Our conversation wandered from Kierkegaard to Bultmann and from Jesus to James, while our feet wandered through some of the most beautiful scenery in God's creation. Here are some pics of that scenery - never adequately captured in a photo...

latest review of biblical literature

There are many interesting items in the latest RBL, including the following:

Jouette M. Bassler. Navigating Paul: An Introduction to Key Theological Concepts.
Reviewed by William S. Campbell, Robert A. Bryant, and David J. Downs

Charles B. Cousar. An Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God's New Work.
Reviewed by Greg Carey

James R. Davila. The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other?
Reviewed by Johann Cook

David Instone-Brewer. Traditions of the Rabbis from the Era of the New Testament: Volume 1: Prayer and Agriculture.
Reviewed by Carol Bakhos

Lee Martin MacDonald. The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority.
Reviewed by David Chapman

Sigurd Grindheim. The Crux of Election: Paul's Critique of the Jewish Confidence in the Election of Israel.
Reviewed by Justin K. Hardin

Dieter Sänger and Ulrich Mell, eds. Paulus und Johannes: Exegetische Studien zur paulinischen und johanneischen Theologie und Literatur.
Reviewed by John Paul Heil

blogging update

My blogging has been fairly light over the past few weeks. The demands of the upcoming academic year are creeping up on me, with syllabi needing to be finalized and other materials needing to be prepared for classes to start in two weeks. Meetings of various kinds have begun popping up with greater regularity. We've also been working on some home renovations, and there have been various and sundry other unforeseen demands on my time. But also I must confess to a mild case of burnout in my research and writing. After submitting my dissertation, it's been tough to feel motivated to get at some of my other projects.

Nevertheless, other projects are in the works, if stalled a little at the moment. I have a blog series on earliest Christian prophecy sitting half-baked in my writing oven. And I've got some other writing projects in various stages of development.

However, at the present it's back to meetings and course prep. That planned hike in the Rockies at the end of the week is looking pretty good right now...

latest review of biblical literature

The latest New Testament-related items in the RBL include:

François Bovon. Luke the Theologian: Fifty-Five Years of Research (1950-2005).
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Trevor J. Burke. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor.
Reviewed by Mary L. Coloe

Monika Christoph. Pneuma und das neue Sein der Glaubenden: Studien zur Semantik und Pragmatik der Rede von Pneuma in Röm 8.
Reviewed by Volker Rabens

Timothy J. M. Ling. The Judaean Poor and the Fourth Gospel.
Reviewed by Bruce J. Malina

Ben Witherington III. Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: Volume 1: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John.
Reviewed by Raymond F. Collins

latest expository times

The latest issue of the Expository Times is now online for subscribers with abstracts for all: August 2007, Volume 118, No. 11. Items include "Jewish-Christian Gospels" by Andrew Gregory.

interview with peter williams

Justin Taylor has just done a terrific interview with Peter Williams, the new Warden at Tyndale House in Cambridge: An Interview with Peter Williams. I've noted Williams' appointment before (here and here), and this interview makes me even more want to spend some time at Tyndale House. Maybe my next sabbatical...?

latest zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche wissenschaft

The latest issue of ZNW is out and online: Volume 98, Issue 2 Part 2, July 2007. Items include Hermut Löhr on "Paulus und der Wille zur Tat," Jan Dochhorn on "Paulus und die polyglotte Schriftgelehrsamkeit seiner Zeit. Eine Studie zu den exegetischen Hintergründen von Röm 16,20a," and Peter Nagel on "Das Evangelium des Judas."

(not the) latest expository times

I noticed a few months ago that the Expository Times skipped an issue. Well, that missing issue has now been posted: May 2007, Volume 118, No. 8. Among other items it includes an entry in the ongoing Christian Apocrypha series: Christopher Tuckett on the Gospel of Mary.

latest novum testamentum

The latest issue of Novum Testamentum is now online for subscribers, with abstracts available for all: Volume 49, Number 3, 2007. Articles include "Matt. 18:10 In Early Christology and Pneumatology: A Contribution to the Study of Matthean Wirkungsgeschichte" by Bogdan G. Bucur, "Death, Covenants, and the Proof of Resurrection in Mark 12:18-27" by Bradley R. Trick, and "The Christian Life in a Dialectical Tension? Romans 7:7-25 Reconsidered" by Hae-Kyung Chang.

review of williams' two gospels from one

My published review of Matthew Williams' Two Gospels from One is now available online:

Review of Matthew C. Williams, Two Gospels from One: A Comprehensive Text-Critical Analysis of the Synoptic Gospels. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50, no. 2 (2007): 392-394.

latest biblical studies carnival

Claude Mariottini has done a very nice job of hosting the latest edition of the Carnival: Biblical Studies Carnival XX. Be sure to check it out to see the best of biblioblogging in the past month.

april deconick biblioblogger of the month

April DeConick, author of The Forbidden Gospels Blog, is interviewed this month over at Biblioblogs.com: Blogger of the Month for August 2007.

latest harvard theological review

The latest issue of the Harvard Theological Review is now online for those with subscription access, abstracts available for all: Volume 100 - Issue 03 - July 2007. It includes a couple of New Testament-related articles of note: "It's All about Variants: A Variant-Conscious Approach to New Testament Textual Criticism" by Eldon Jay Epp, and "Barabbas, the Scapegoat Ritual, and the Development of the Passion Narrative" by Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean.

latest review of biblical literature

The latest in the RBL contains the following New Testament-related items of interest:

Stephen Barton, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Gospels.
Reviewed by Paul Foster

John A. Bertone. The Law of the Spirit: Experience of the Spirit and Displacement of the Law in Romans 8:1-16.
Reviewed by Volker Rabens

Thomas L. Brodie, Dennis MacDonald, and Stanley E. Porter, eds. The Intertextuality of the Epistles: Explorations of Theory and Practice.
Reviewed by Korinna Zamfir

Trevor J. Burke and J. Keith Elliott, eds. Paul and the Corinthians: Studies on a Community in Conflict. Essays in Honour of Margaret Thrall.
Reviewed by Joubert Stephan

Mikeal Parsons. Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist.
Reviewed by Robert C. Tannehill

latest journal for the study of the new testament

The latest issue of JSNT is online for subscribers, abstracts available for all: 1 September 2007, Volume 30, No. 1. This issue focuses on African engagement with the New Testament and includes several items of interest, such as Richard K. Baawobr on "Opening a Narrative Programme: Luke 4.16-30 and the Black Bagr Narrative," J. Ayodeji Adewuya on "Revisiting 1 Corinthians 11.27-34: Paul's Discussion of the Lord's Supper and African Meals," and Gosnell L. Yorke on "Hearing the Politics of Peace in Ephesians: A Proposal from an African Postcolonial Perspective."

back from holidays

Our family holidays are done for another year. We had a great time over the past three weeks or so, spending a few days doing various things in Calgary and then just over a week at the family holiday spot at beautiful Kalamalka Lake in B.C. Here are a few pics from the past few days: