April 19, 2013Let's face it--most of us were never taught how to write well. Either we somehow absorbed good style from hours of reading for pleasure, or we managed to get by with a "shotgun" approach: If I throw enough words at the idea some of them will be close enough! For many purposes this really *is* good enough. But when we begin to reflect theologically on our world, and to communicate those reflections to other people, suddenly we realize that getting "close enough" doesn't cut... read more
November 30, 2012Here is my sermon from this past September on Job's frame story and suffering. It was given at my home parish, St. Paul's on the Hill Anglican in Pickering, Ontario. Yes, I realize that I was having a bad hair day. I hope it's not too distracting.
embed:http://www.youtube.com/embed/cA399xVCG4U?rel=0 read more
November 28, 2012Paul's instructions about how women should (and shouldn't) behave in some of his churches continue to drive real and often painful debates about women's roles in the contemporary church. I've gathered here a representative collection of books on the topic and on the broader issue of gender roles. Since I don't think that Paul's statements should restrict women's roles today, this list may be a bit slanted toward an "egalitarian" position, but I have deliberately included... read more
November 15, 2012### Biblical Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- Alexander, T. Desmond, and Brian S. Rosner, ed. ''New Dictionary of Biblical Theology''. Leicester/Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000.
- Davids, Peter H., and Ralph P. Martin, ed. ''Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments.'' Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1997.+
- Green, Joel B., I. H. Marshall, and Scot McKnight, ed. ''Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels'' Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity,... read more
November 12, 2012There are many, many academic commentaries on the New Testament books. So it's no surprise that students often feel bewildered looking at the library shelf and wonder where to start. Here is a working list (I'll update it periodically) of some of my favourite commentaries. I haven't always read the most current ones on every NT book, so this isn't meant to be the final word. Rather, these are commentaries that I've found particularly helpful and that would make a good place... read more
October 22, 2012Here is a rough list of commentary series that I recommend for academic interpretation. I am not endorsing the opinions in any particular volume, and I am also not minimizing the value of commentaries that are non-academic. Those are often excellent for personal devotional study and for some small-group studies in your local church. What makes a commentary "academic"?
- It **provides evidence-based arguments** to support the author's interpretations. She or he does not... read more
October 22, 2012Here is a list of good journals that I use and recommend for studying the New Testament. These journals fall roughly into two categories: academic and semi-popular. These categories should be taken as a very rough guideline, though, since the level of technicality vs. broad readability will vary a great deal from article to article. Several of these journals are available full-text through the ATLA religion database, and all should be available in print at the Tyndale... read more
September 20, 2012Welcome to my new home in the electronic aether. A server move at the end of August broke some parts of my old web site. I could have invested several hours into patching it up, but since I was already setting up my Paideia and Peergrades sites with a new framework I decided it was smarter to move my home page as well. It will take me quite a while to migrate all of my old posts and class resources over from the old site, but my hope is eventually to move it all.
As you... read more