Guest AuthorOver on the Huffington Post, filmmaker Robert Orlando has posted his most recent comments related to his film A Polite Bribe: An Apostle’s Final Bid. I posted my reflections of the documentary after the 2012 showing in Chicago here. In...
Ryan BurnsThere are many ways to continue to cultivate a godly and healthy marriage while in seminary. Just one of many ways to do so is to have intentional date night at least every other week (or once a week if possible)! It is true that seminary can be a...
Paul BurkhartMy last post on this site, years ago, was a fiery little piece called “Realizing Seminary’s Not For You”. At the time, God had powerfully and clearly led me to a place of realizing that seminary was not the place He had for me at...
Using the Christian Church Calendar can be an incredibly meaningful way of engaging God, and the tradition of the Community of Faith. It’s also a way of sharing one’s spirituality with the global church, both past and present. Here, I...
Logos StaffN. T. Wright, Fortress Press, 2013, 605 pp. In the first volume of his two-volume magnum opus on Paul, Wright lays the groundwork for his interpretation of the apostle’s writings. He begins by quoting from a letter of Pliny the Younger to one of his...
Book Review Bruce W. Longenecker and Todd D. Still, Zondervan, 2014, 408 pp. This volume is an attractive new addition to the literature devoted to the life and letters of the apostle Paul. It is designed mainly as a textbook for college-level...
Lauren VisserToday’s guest post is from Evan Duncan. He is pursuing his MDiv at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, and he currently serves as media and communications director at First Baptist Church in Temple, Texas. Originally from Slippery...
Missed the screenings? In just one more week Robert Orlando’s groundbreaking documentary on Paul will be widely available to the general public: The film is being distributed by VCI Entertainment through Cinedigm.The DVD will be released on...
Calvin Theological Seminary 3233 Burton Street SE Grand Rapids MI 49546 Tuesday October 15, 2013 This day-long conference will feature Dean Margaret Mitchell, Ph.D. as the keynote speaker. Dr. Mitchell is the Dean of the University of Chicago...
Book Review James D. Tabor, Simon & Schuster, 2012, 320 pp. Books that challenge conventional wisdom and provoke spirited dialogue can be much more valuable than books that simply reiterate popular opinion or buttress our own personal...
When I felt and answered God’s call on my life, I had no idea where he would place me. I simply acknowledged his calling, accepted it, and surrendered to him my willing spirit to walk through whatever doors he might choose to open for me. To date...
If somebody asked you to sum up your seminary experience, what would you say? Two years ago I left behind my successful career in IT to attend seminary. It was a great experience—but that’s not to say it was perfect. However, I learned a...
Planning on attending the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion? This is your chance to see an advance screening of A Polite Bribe, Robert Orlando’s documentary on Paul. It’s...
Elliot RitzemaBefore deciding to go to seminary, prospective pastors ask themselves a number of questions: Has God called me to go? Can I afford it? One question I would encourage you to ask yourself if you are considering seminary is, “Have you thought about...
Review by Jeffrey J. Bütz Earlier this year I was contacted by director Robert Orlando to be interviewed for a film called The Paul Story. Robert explained to me that he was doing final edits for his documentary and realized he needed more...
If God has called you to get a seminary education, here are some tips that might help you to go debt free or reduce your debt. 1. Get a ministry position, even if it is part-time, and serve for several years before going to seminary By doing so...
Book Review Arthur J. Dewey, Roy W. Hoover, Lane C. McGaughy, and Daryl D. Schmidt, Polebridge Press, 2010, 270 pp. Those who appreciated the fresh and edgy translation of the Scholars Version of the Gospels will be thrilled with the Westar...
Book Review Kent L. Yinger, Cascade Books, 2011, 120 pp. Kent L. Yinger’s The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction is as accessible as it is academically sound. In only 120 pages he outlines and illustrates nearly every aspect of the new...
Besides adjusting to the academics and general flow of your particular school, another challenge lies in meeting all of your fellow students. It can be dizzying trying to remember so many new names and faces. This too is God’s providence. You’re at...
Every seminarian remembers visiting their seminary for the first time. Everything on the walking tour is mesmerizing. You crane to take it all in as you revere current students that pass by (secretly wondering if that could ever be you) and hang on...
Many seminary students realize during their academic career just how starved they were for formal training. Even students who were reared in church all their lives have commented on how little they actually knew about the richness in God’s Word that...
As a volunteer leader attending seminary online, I sometimes feel out of place. I don’t have the experience or skills of many of my classmates. But as an ex-professor and someone with a PhD in Chemical Engineering, there is one thing I do...
So you’re in seminary. Your journey has included countless hours of study, late nights tucked away in seldom-visited corners of the library, and copious amounts of caffeine to keep you going. Ancient Greek draws you closer to insanity, and you feel...
Have you ever thought about going to seminary? Chances are your answer is ‘No.’ Maybe ‘No, I’m not looking to become a minister’ or ‘No, I want to do ministry, not just learn about it.’ If you had asked me two years ago if I was thinking about...
by Mark Reasoner, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN AAR/SBL Meeting, November 18, 2006, Washington, DC The gospel, which Paul celebrated and described in his letters, certainly has a political edge to it, since Paul describes this gospel’s effects...
A link to Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision by N.T. Wright as reviewed by V. George Shillington in the Review of Biblical Literature has been added to the category Around the Web: Book Reviews.
Traditionally, dikaioumai, ‘to be justified’, has been understood in general as ‘to be put in right relation with God’. Arndt-Gingrich defines it: ‘to be acquitted, be pronounced and treated as righteous, and thereby become dikaios (righteous)...
by Edward L. Hamilton Over the last three decades, a series of scholarly developments known as the “new perspective on Paul” has challenged traditional interpretations of the theology of the Pauline epistles, particularly Galatians and...
N.T. Wright is one of the prominent voices of what has been labeled the “New Perspective on Paul,” a currently debated subject in the Church today. The crux of the “New Perspective” is a redefining of Paul’s writings on justification/righteousness...
Book Review N.T. Wright, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992, 560 pp. This massive undertaking lays the epistemological, literary, and historical foundations for Wright’s projected five-volume series (now stretching into six)...