BibleScholar

 The Christology of Jesus Ben Witherington is one of the most important New Testament scholars of our time. He is well on his way (or perhaps already completed) his goal of writing "socio-rhetorical" commentaries on all the books of the NT. Perhaps because his word processor is so productive, some of his more recent books have a rather unfinished feel. Witherington's approach is moderately conservative. He embraces many of the assumptions of centrist NT scholars, but reaches more conservative conclusions. What just did Jesus think of himself and his mission? As against the trend to make Jesus a cynic or a prophet, Witherington shows that Jesus' opinion of himself was considerably higher. Time and again the Gospels show Jesus saying and doing things that are inconsistent with being merely a prophet or religious reformer. With great skill Witherington demonstrates that much of this material likely goes back to Jesus himself.

 Context of Galatians While we know that the region of Galatia was located in north-central Asia Minor, its expansiveness and Paul’s lack of specificity means we cannot identity precisely where within Galatia his letter was sent. The occasion, however, of the letter, written in the late 40s or early 50s CE, is altogether clear. The book of Galatians is a Pauline Epistle. It was written by the Apostle Paul about 49 A.D. prior to the Jerusalem Council which had taken place in 50 A.D. This quite possibly could have been Paul’s first letter. The key personalities of this book are the Apostle Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Abraham, Titus, and false teachers. Galatians is not written to one church or an individual but to a group of Churches in the Roman province of Galatia. Galatia was a region in Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey. It was written before the council in Jerusalem spoken of in Acts 15. Galatians is sometimes called Little Romans because of the similarity of its message with the book ...

 The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels Editor Stegemann is to be commended for assembling a diverse and highly specialized field of writings into a survey which is about as cohesive as it can be given the few facts we have about Jesus and the vast body of Christian apologetics. This book is a compilation of essays by contemporary academic writers each of whom take a very rigorous and detailed look at a different aspect of "the historical Jesus" and the origins of "the Jesus Movement". Bring your dictionary- this is not a casual read. And while the language sometimes seems almost showy in its complexity, a majority of the contributors present their ideas in an orderly fashion, and all have important conclusions. What the editor sets out to do is ambitious: help the serious lay reader strip away the 21st century baggage we unwittingly bring to our reading of Jesus and his teachings. There are few conclusions here, and no proofs, but there are some wonderful insi...

The Quest of the Historical Jesus: The First Complete Edition This is a serious, scholarly work. As such it was difficult to understand in some sections and endlessly pedantic in others. It is not a light read. For those not wishing to plumb the depths of 19th Century Higher Criticism I would suggest the biblical works of Asimov or Ehrman as a more readable alternative.  The Quest of the Historical Jesus is really historiography; that is, it reviews and provides insight into the histories of Jesus written up to the date of publication. Well, the date of publication was 1910, so most of the histories of Jesus were nineteenth century German histories. If you are into that kind of writing, it is a pretty good book. It's a "heavy" read. I saw a quote from Albert Schweitzer's first edition and thought "That can't be the Schweitzer I know." It was not. The quote was taken out of context. Schweitzer explores and evaluates the major writers that have written abo...

 The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and a Commentary The book of Job has commanded an exceptionally large space in the field of biblical scholarship and in the imagination of followers of the Abrahamic faiths. Vicchio's masterful book summarizes both the most significant textual and exegetical research and the diverse theological and philosophical interpretations of the book of Job. 

 Approaching Job By Andrew Zack Lewis The book offers much more detail than I needed on the background, languages, etc. However, it is an excellent work for exploring the lessons or us through the suffering of Job. A strong recommendation on this book. Job is proof-texted a lot and otherwise didn't seem to make much difference in my Christian walk, so I needed to see how Walton dissects the content of Job and applies it to today. He asks good questions, does a great review of the original setting, challenged me in my own faith and what I expect from the Lord, and basically helped me find good ground upon which to continue being faithful within my broken world

Who Is God?: Key Moments of Biblical Revelation Richard Bauckham is one of the foremost living NT scholars. Although retired, he continues to research and write and is a senior scholar at Ridley Hall in Cambridge, and a visiting professor at St Mellitus College in London. The author of more than 40 volumes (including approximately 30 monographs and essay collections, plus 12 others he has co-written or co-edited), he has also published more than 200 articles in journals, books, and reference works. In his very latest release, Who Is God? Key Moments of Biblical Revelation (Baker, 2020), Bauckham’s deep reservoir of biblical knowledge everywhere serves the reader but is never intrusive. On the contrary, this short work of just 120 pages (including bibliographic notes, appendices, tables and index) is a model of economy and accessibility. For the trained Bible reader keen to engage more of Bauckham’s learning, this work of honed scholarship is a masterclass in attentive, believing, inter...