PhD after Seminary?

Tavis Bohlinger has some really helpful thoughts here. A PhD is not for everyone and it is wise to count the costs before you start. A PhD can be personally and vocationally rewarding but do go in with your eyes open.

SBL Seminar Papers

The Society of Biblical Literature recently made the following statement.

 

Each November from 1971 through 2003 the Society of Biblical Literature published a collection of papers that would be presented in the sessions (or seminars) at that year’s Annual Meeting: the SBL Seminar Papers. The contents of the collection were determined not by theme or topic but by which papers were submitted to SBL early enough to be assembled into a volume and printed for distribution at the Annual Meeting.

Over the thirty-three years of the Seminar Papers’ existence, SBL published forty-one physical volumes (two volumes each for 1971–1975, 1978–1979, and 1998) containing 1,126 papers that filled 19,849 pages. Although the Seminar Papers explicitly identified their contents as “working documents,” “experimental and initial work on a subject,” many continue to be cited in scholarly work today—that is, when one can locate a library that owns them.

Now, nearly twenty years after the last volume was published, SBL is happy to announce that all 1,126 papers have been digitized and are openly available for anyone to read online or download. All forty-one volumes can be accessed here as a part of the Pitts Theology Library Digital Collections.

We Still Need the Old Testament

Jennifer Holloran, chief operating officer of Wycliffe Bible Translators, tells us why here.

The Parable of the Unjust Steward

Ian Paul has a good discussion here of the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13). 

Seeking the Lord in Chronicles

1–2 Chronicles are often neglected and routinely left unread. But Ken Berding provides a helpful but surprising insight. He notes, "I recently stumbled upon a delightful biblical discovery while doing a word search on the word “seek.” I discovered that the most common place in the Bible where the word shows up in connection with God is 1 and 2 Chronicles." You can read the rest here.

New Photo Resource: Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and 1, 2, & 3 John

BiblePlaces has released their latest volumes in the "Photo Companion to the Bible" series. These resources contains nearly 5,000 photos related to Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and 1, 2, & 3 John. The BiblePlaces photo companions are excellent resources for teaching and preaching. The photos are carefully curated, painstakingly researched, attractively presented, helpfully organized, and currently on sale.

Hebrews - 1,950 photos; reg. $59; on sale: $39
James - 950 photos; reg. $49; on sale: $39
1 & 2 Peter, Jude - 1,400 photos; reg. $59; on sale: $39
1, 2, & 3 John - 650 photos; reg. $49; on sale: $29

Or you can purchase all four collections for the special sale price of $49. These companions are available as either a  DVD+download or as a download-only.

Check out these free downloads excerpted from the collection if you are still uncertain.

Hebrews 7 PowerPoint (145 slides).
James 3 PowerPoint (185 slides
1 Peter 2 PowerPoint (175 slides)
1 John 4 PowerPoint (90 slides)

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

David E. Aune and Reidar Hvalvik, eds., The Church and Its Mission in the New Testament and Early Christianity: Essays in Memory of Hans Kvalbein (Mohr Siebeck)
Alicia J. Batten

Paul Elbert, Essays in Biblical Studies: New and Penetrating Ideas on the Work of the Holy Spirit (The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship)
William Horst

Robert B. Foster, Renaming Abraham’s Children: Election, Ethnicity, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Romans 9 (Mohr Siebeck)
James C. Miller

John Goldingay, The Book of Jeremiah (Eerdmans)
Marvin A. Sweeney

Joel B. Green, Discovering Luke: Content, Interpretation, Reception (Eerdmans)
Julie Newberry

Catherine McDowell and Philip Towner, The Rewards of Learning Greek and Hebrew: Discovering the Richness of Bible in Its Original Languages (Hendrickson)
Rebecca W. Poe Hays

Iain Provan, Seeking What Is Right: The Old Testament and the Good Life (Baylor University Press)
Benjamin J. M. Johnson

Charles B. Puskas and C. Michael Robbins, The Conceptual Worlds of the Fourth Gospel: Intertextuality and Early Reception (Cascade)
Christopher Seglenieks

Preaching Geography-Heavy Texts

Bryan Murawski has four helpful tips here for preaching geographically heavy texts

Free Audio: The Confessions of St. Augustine

Christianaudio.com is offering the classic The Confessions of St. Augustine as a free download. To read more about this resource and to get your free audio download in either MP3 or M4B formats go here.

Memorization Techniques in the Middle Ages

This is a fascinating post on medieval memorization techniques which can be gleaned by examining ancient Psalm manuscripts.

HT: Drew Longacre

Free eBook: I Will Tell You the Mystery

Wipf and Stock is offering a free eBook copy of I Will Tell You the Mystery: A Commentary for Preaching from the Book of Revelation by Ronald J. Allen. I did not see an expiration date so you might want to act sooner rather than later. Here are the instructions to get your copy.

1. Click on this link.
2. Click "BUY" on the eBook option.
3. Click "Add Coupon" and use the code "FREEALLEN"
4. Upon checkout completion, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions of how to download your free eBook.

Archeological Evidence for Hezekiah’s Reforms

Sabine Kleiman has a good article on the topic here.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Andrew T. Abernathy, Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception (Eerdmans)
Marvin A. Sweeney

James W. Barker, Tatian’s Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception (Oxford University Press)
Ulrich B. Schmid

Sebastian P. Brock, The Bible in the Syriac Tradition (Gorgias)
David Kiger

Jione Havea and Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, eds., Bible Blindspots: Dispersion and Othering (Pickwick)
Angela N. Parker

William R. G. Loader, Sexuality and Gender: Collected Essays (Mohr Siebeck)
Laura Quick

Frank Matheus, A Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon (GlossaHouse)
Benjamin J. Noonan

Matthew V. Novenson, Paul, Then and Now (Eerdmans)
Paula Fredriksen

Jens Schröter, Soham Al-Suadi, and Konrad Schwarz, eds., Gleichnisse und Parabeln in der frühchristlichen Literatur: Methodische Konzepte, religionshistorische Kontexte, theologische Deutungen (Mohr Siebeck)
Lauri Thurén

Free Psalms Book

The Good Book Company is offering a free epub version Christopher Ash's Psalms For You by Christopher As in exchange for an email address here.

HT: Antony Billington

Free Logos Books for September

Logos is offering Ruth and The Letter to Philemon in the Anchor Bible series as their free books for September. You can also purchase other resources at significant discounts and enter to win the 65-volume International Critical Commentary series. These offers can be accessed here and here.

Is Sermon Preparation Spiritual?

Peter Mead asks and answers the question here.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 45:1

The latest articles from of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament are available now. Here is a list of the articles and links to abstracts. You can access the complete articles by McDonald, Fredriksen, and Breu for free.

FH Luke’s ‘Unpicking’: Some Observations on Francis Watson’s Recent Analysis (2018) and the Extent of the Phenomenon

Olegs Andrejevs

‘Ex-Pagan Pagans’? Paul, Philo, and Gentile Ethnic Reconfiguration

Denys N. McDonald

Paul, Pagans and Eschatological Ethnicities: A Response to Denys McDonald

Paula Fredriksen

Mark’s Miraculous Disciples: ἤθελεν παρελθεῖν αὐτούς (Mark 6.48) as Jesus’ Desire for the Disciples to Walk on Water

Bruce Henning

Female Seed as a Metaphor: Queer Kinship in Revelation 12, Ancient Medical and Literary Texts and the Septuagint

Clarissa Breu

The Alleged ‘Letter Allegedly from Us’: The Parallel Function of ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν in 2 Thessalonians 2.2

Timothy A. Brookins

The Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9-13)

Brian Rosner provides helpful insights here on how one can find their true identity in the Lord's Prayer.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

James P. Byrd, A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood: The Bible and the American Civil War (Oxford University Press)
Adele Reinhartz

Bart L. F. Kamphuis, New Testament Conjectural Emendation in the Nineteenth Century: Jan Hendrik Holwerda as a Pioneer of Method (Brill)
Chris S. Stevens

Joachim J. Krause and Kristin Weingart, eds., Exegetik des Alten Testaments: Bausteine für eine Theorie der Exegese (Mohr Siebeck)
Thomas Hieke

Bernd U. Schipper, Proverbs 1–15 (Fortress)
Richard J. Clifford

Joseph Too Shao and Rosa Ching Shao, Joel, Nahum, and Malachi: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary (Langham Global Library)

Mitchel Modine

Lieve M. Teugels, The Meshalim in the Mekhilot: An Annotated Edition and Translation of the Parables in Mekhilta de Rabbi Yishmael and Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Mohr Siebeck)
Joshua Schwartz

Mark Zhakevich, Follow Me: The Benefits of Discipleship in the Gospel of John (Lexington/Fortress Academic) Christopher Seglenieks