Divinity United

This past semester I taught a course on the New Testament and Jewish apocalypses. For the required texts, along with reading the Jewish apocalypses themselves, I required John Collins' The Apocalyptic Imagination and the recent award-winning and posthumously published Apocalypticism in the Bible and Its World  by Frederick Murphy. I have a book review of Murphy coming out in next Trinity Journal , but I wanted to make some comments here that I was not able to include in the more traditional book review. My students found Murphy more readable and accessible than Collins. I suspect that this is because Murphy has written in a style that an undergraduate can more easily grasp, and I think the fact that Murphy summarizes more familiar (biblical) material than Collins (Jewish apocalypses) also made Murphy seem more friendly. One challenge with using a book like Murphy is that it is a long textbook that summarizes a lot of primary material, while highlighting specific themes through...

For those interested in what some biblical scholars are saying about Reza Aslan's book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. A selection of reviews and blog comments are located below. I highly recommend Robert Gundry's razor-sharp review, but you can't go wrong with Le Donne, Hurtado, Evans, and Carey either. Reviews:  Robert Gundry's review of Zealot  in Books and Culture "Jesus as a Jewish Jihadist":  http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2013/novdec/jesus-as-jewish-jihadist.html Anthony Le Donne at Jesus Blog:  http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.ca/2013/07/a-usually-happy-fellow-reviews-aslans.html#more Larry Hurtado:  http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/zombie-claims-and-jesus-the-zealot/ Craig Evans at Christianity Today:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/august-web-only/zealot-reza-aslan-tells-same-old-story-about-jesus.html Greg Carey at the Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-care...

My colleague Daniel Driver's book Brevard Childs, Biblical Theologian: For the Church's One Bible was reviewed in RBL last week. The reviewer made some great comments. Here is the conclusion: "This is a thick book, probably not one would read for sheer enjoyment. Driver has succeeded, however, in presenting a complex process of conceptual development and growth in the mind of an outstanding scholar and thinker to the reader in the form of a story. This must be the most definitive and authoritative source on Brevard Springs Childs. As time progresses, the academic world will be better equipped  to value the contribution of Childs. It is fortunate that we have this book, which was written almost entirely when Childs was still alive."

Karina Hogan has reviewed Jonathan Moo's Creation, Nature and Hope in 4 Ezra (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011) in RBL . She gives a positive review of Moo's look at 4 Ezra's  portrayal of the created order, while also criticizing what she sees as hair-splitting on some occasions. Regardless, Moo's work is worth reading for those interested in Jewish apocalyptic and Jewish understandings of nature and creation at the end of the first-century.

During the week of Oct 3-7, 2011, a number of NT scholars, pastors, and students will be posting blog entries on Bruce Fisk's, A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus . This will be a great opportunity to find out other opinions about the book from a variety of perspectives. Here is the link: http://hitchhikersblogtour.wordpress.com/ . Check out the list of bloggers and blog who will be reviewing. I am looking forward to reading what everyone has to say.

Rafael Rodriguez has written two posts reviewing my book T he Apocalyptic Son of Man in the Gospel of John (WUNT II/249) on his blog Verily Verily . He is writing a review for BBR.