Josephus and Bellies Full of Gold
Possible Roman Bust of Josephus Josephus is an interesting man because, on one hand, the history of the Jewish wars  is written as a Roman apologetic to aver that God was on the side of Vespasian and Titus (especially in the way he paints them in the best possible light). On the other hand, Josephus writes as a Jewish historian with special concern for his people. Josephus makes it clear that he is disgusted with the Jewish rebels who brought misery upon the people, city, and land. Their misguided nationalism not only sparked this war with R

Thinking about the Life of Paul
While I have been working on an article on Election in the Apocalypse, I have also been digging into Pauline studies as I prepare to teach a course on the Life and Letters of Paul this coming Spring. There are few things as stimulating as a fresh look at the apostle Paul. In the course of my readings, I have decided to jot down questions regarding key issues in Pauline Studies that I hope to focus on during my lectures. My course will be structured as (1) The Life of Paul; (2) The letters of Paul; and (3) the Theology of Paul. The first part,

Excellent Videos Posted by St. John’s Nottingham
I apologize for the paucity of posts lately, but remember that life happens between the blog posts. Anyway, I came across an incredible resource that offers a number of scholarly introductions to current issues in NT Studies. These videos are part of a larger project undertaken by the fine folks at St. John’s Theological College in Nottingham UK. I strongly encourage you to take some time to view all of them, but I wanted to post some of my favorite ones.

Save Biblical Studies at Sheffield University
Firth Court (University of Sheffield) For those who have not yet heard, there has been some recent buzz in the blogosphere regarding the possible disbanding of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of  Sheffield. Dr. Jim West has posted about this here and has posted an update from a faculty member

Mathewson on Verbal Aspect and Revelation 5
Occasionally, I come across journal articles that trigger a pavlovian response of salivation in excitement as what I read ignites the flames of a new perspective that alters my previously held views.  A recent article by David Mathewson, “Verbal Aspect in the Apocalypse of John: An Analysis of Revelation 5″ (