Review: Claire S. Smith, Pauline Communities as ‘Scholastic Communities’: A Study of the Vocabulary of ‘Teaching’ in 1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus

27 October 2014 by Steve Walton
No comments
    I commented on this stimulating and thoughtful study by Claire S. Smith some while ago on this blog, here, and sketched some of its implication. Now my review has been published by Review of Biblical Literature online, so you can read it here. There’s also a shorter, but helpful, summary-review by Andrew D. Clarke in Themelios online here.

A fun book! Peter Rodgers’ The Sign of the Dolphin

20 August 2014 by Steve Walton
No comments
Peter Rodgers kindly gave me free access to the Kindle version of his second novel about people involved in copying New Testament manuscripts in the second century AD. This is textual criticism made wonderfully accessible in narrative form, and a great read. Peter Rodgers is Vicar (Pastor) of St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Antelope, California, and teaches New Testament and Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary. He’s a delightful man, and has much to answer for in having taught me Greek during my theological studies in Cambridge many Continue reading →

Reading Tom Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God (4)

14 August 2014 by Steve Walton
No comments
Here the fourth of my series of posts as I read through Tom Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God. The earlier posts are here, here, and here. This post focuses on chapter 4, ‘A Cock for Asclepius: “Religion” and “Culture” in Paul’s World’. The chapter title echoes Socrates’ final words to his friend Crito after Socrates had taken hemlock to commit suicide—he instructed Crito to offer a cock to the god of healing, Asclepius, probably as a thanksgiving for the ease of his death. Wright’s point Continue reading →

Reading Tom Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God (3)

10 August 2014 by Steve Walton
No comments
Here’s the third of my series of posts as I read through Tom Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God (= PFG). The earlier posts are here and here. I am enjoying reading it, I must say: as always, Wright writes in an engaging and readable style which makes material accessible and clear. Chapter 3 is the second of four chapters looking at Paul’s context in the first century: chapter 2 looked at Judaism, this chapter focuses on Greek thought, and the next two focus (respectively) on religion Continue reading →

Reading Tom Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God (2)

7 August 2014 by Steve Walton
4 comments
This is my second post as I’m reading through N. T. Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God (= PFG). For introduction to the series, see here. After his preface and introductory chapter, where he engages with Philemon and lots of methodological stuff, Wright turns to a series of four chapters on the dominant worldviews of Paul’s day: Judaism, Greek thought, Graeco-Roman religion and culture, and the Roman imperial scene. Chapter 2, which this post focuses on, is about Judaism, especially Pharisaism. This is a very readable chapter Continue reading →