Tag Archives: Bible

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

31 October 2022 by Steve Walton
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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; Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1977) was a pioneering ‘narrative’ reading of Luke-Acts which I found very helpful in my own PhD work a few years later, Continue reading →

A new book on baptism

14 October 2022 by Steve Walton
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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. He is a professor of New Testament studies and the Library Director at Shalom University of Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo. He co-founded the NGO, Continue reading →

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

4 October 2022 by Steve Walton
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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 the strangeness of Mark’s writing in our English-orientated world. Richard is giving a live performance of his translation with Justin Butcher reading the narrator, Andy Continue reading →

Giving sacrificially: Luke 20:45–21:4

27 September 2022 by Steve Walton
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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 of those places where the chapter division divides two sections which (IMHO) belong together. Comments most welcome! Here’s the link to the pdf file of Continue reading →

My commentary on Acts 2:42-47

31 August 2022 by Steve Walton
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As many of my readers will know, I’m working on the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) on Acts. My friend Andrew Roberts recently asked me to contribute to his Holy Habits blog on Acts 2:42-47, and I gave him the ‘Explanation’ section of my commentary on that passage—that’s the part of the WBC which focuses on pulling the threads of a passage together to give an overall interpretation of it. Here’s a link to that blog—you’ll find lots of other good stuff there too! Comments and Continue reading →