Peter Thonemann, “The Hellenistic Age”

In order to understand the Bible, one needs to know something of the time and culture in which it was written, and so to understand the New Testament in particular, one needs to know something of the Hellenistic age.  That’s why, after reading a favorable review of this book in the Wall Street Journal — … [Read more…]

Paul W. Barnett, “Jesus and the Logic of History”

The author, an Australian, is an Anglican bishop.  I sought his book out because it was listed among the “[g]ood defenses of the historical reliability of the Gospels” for further reading by Richard Bauckham in Jesus:  A Very Short Introduction, and I had been impressed by Bauckham (Barnett, in turn, has a brief citation of … [Read more…]

How Unified Is the Bible Text?

How unified is the Bible text? At one extreme, you could argue that, since the whole text is inspired by God and since He knew from the beginning what text He would inspire and how it would and should be arranged, then the whole Bible — including every book, Old and New Testament alike — … [Read more…]