ACTS and MORE—Steve Walton’s blog on New Testament Studies

31 October 2022

A cracking read: Luke Timothy Johnson’s autobiography as a scholar

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a ScholarGrand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022. ISBN 978-0-8028-8011-6. I read Luke Timothy Johnson’s book with great appreciation over the weekend. It’s clear, lucid, engaging, and very encouraging and stimulating. I’ve long been an admirer of his work: his published PhD dissertation, The Literary Function of Possessions in Luke-Acts (SBLDS 39;...

Books and articles/People/Reviews Comments: 0

15 October 2022

Slides for my talks on Matthew

I’ve had a fun day with lay ministers and clergy from Blackburn (Anglican) diocese today, organised by my friend Amy White. Here, here and here are the three sets of slides from my input to the day, covering (i) an introduction to Matthew and how he orgnises his Gospel; (ii) listening to Matthew using Tom Wright’s four ‘louspeakers’ from his...

Conferences/Speaking/Study/Tom Wright Comments: 2

14 October 2022

A new book on baptism

Pontien Ndagijimana Batibuka, Baptism as an Event of Taking Responsibility: A New Reading of Romans 5:12 to 6:23, Langham Monographs, Carlisle: Langham Publishing, 2022. ISBN 9781839732348. £24.99. Dr Pontien Batibuka has just published a revised version of his fine doctoral study of Romans 5:12–6:23, focusing on the meaning of baptism in that section of the letter. It’s well worth reading....

Books and articles/People/Research Comments: 0

8 October 2022

Church planting in Acts: my slides

I gave a talk about church planting in Acts for our church, Emmanuel Loughborough, today, and here are the slides for any who would like them. Above is one of the books I recommended. Thoughts and comments are most welcome!

Research/Speaking Comments: 0

4 October 2022

A live performance of Richard Burridge’s new translation of the Gospel of Mark

My friend the New Testament scholar Richard Burridge has worked on a new English translation of Mark’s Gospel, seeking to be as true as possible to the word order, verb tenses, word-plays and puns in Greek, and the like. I’ve read sections of this and it’s fascinating—at times it sounds rather Yoda-like in its word order, and that helps recognise...

People/Research/Speaking Comments: 0

27 September 2022

Giving sacrificially: Luke 20:45–21:4

I had the privilege of preaching at our church, Emmanuel, Loughborough, last Sunday morning (25 September) on ‘Giving sacrificially’, as part of a short series of three sermons on giving we’re presently having, and there are links below to the video and to the slides from my talk. Luke 20:45–21:4 was a fascinating passage to preach on, as it’s one...

Speaking Comments: 2