Content - Biblical Studies Category

A Conversation with the Editors of "The New Testament in Color"

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

A Conversation with the Editors of "The New Testament in Color"

A Conversation on Old Testament Prophecy with John H. Walton

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 16:08:00 GMT

A Conversation on Old Testament Prophecy with John H. Walton

A Conversation on Oral Culture & Scripture with D. Brent Sandy

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 16:08:00 GMT

A Conversation on Oral Culture & Scripture with D. Brent Sandy

Fall Conferences Roundup: Noteworthy Titles from IVP Academic

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:48:00 GMT

Fall Conferences Roundup: Noteworthy Titles from IVP Academic

A Conversation on Luke-Acts with Michael F. Bird

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 15:08:00 GMT

A Conversation on Luke-Acts with Michael F. Bird

A Conversation on Evolutionary Science and Scripture with Dru Johnson

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 15:08:00 GMT

A Conversation on Evolutionary Science and Scripture with Dru Johnson

5 Ways Seminary Deepened My Appreciation of Different Theological Perspectives

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:39:00 GMT

5 Ways Seminary Deepened My Appreciation of Different Theological Perspectives

A Conversation on Greco-Roman Mythology and New Testament Studies with Sandra Glahn

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 15:08:00 GMT

A Conversation on Greco-Roman Mythology and New Testament Studies with Sandra Glahn

A Conversation with the Editors of Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, 2nd Edition

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 15:08:00 GMT

A Conversation with the Editors of Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, 2nd Edition

A Conversation on Early-Church Women in Ministry with Nijay Gupta

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 14:53:00 GMT

Nijay Gupta is a passionate ally of women in the church and academy, and he has harnessed that passion into researching the lives and situations of women named as leaders and ministers in the Bible. His book Tell Her Story harvests those insights from the early church—with real implications for today.

How did your vision for this book arise?

Nijay Gupta: Several years ago, I did a blog series called "Why I Believe in Women in Ministry." I had been on a journey of study on the subject for about twenty years, and I had come to a place of strongly supporting women in ministry, so I thought I would write up some of my reasons. The series got a lot of engagement right away, and I ended up doing over twenty posts in the series. Tell Her Story grew out of that experience, knowing that people are eager to better understand the women who participated in and led the early churches.

What are some of your favorite, underappreciated facts from the life of one of the early-church women?

Gupta: Junia, a female Christian leader in Rome, spent time in prison! That's a fact that often missed and is a pretty big deal. We know prison was very rough for men (torture, disease, malnutrition, suffocation), and all the more for women who very rarely were imprisoned. For Junia to endure prison and then go back into ministry is astonishing. She was also older in the faith than Paul, and probably older in age as well. She represents an earlier generation of Christianity than Paul, imagine that! I tell my students that Paul might well have called Junia "Auntie" and undoubtedly admired her greatly.

If you could sit down with one of the women in the book, who would it be?

Gupta: I mean, how can you pass up a chance to talk to Mary, the mother of Jesus? I would love to hear her talk about that fateful angelic visitation, her difficult pregnancy and the neighbors looking at her with suspicion. Learning over time just how special this Jesus kid is. Raising him, disciplining him! But then following him, seeing him suffer and die. And importantly—helping to lead the early churches. Talk about a Lifetime Achievement Award!

What changes do you see these days in how your peers engage with questions of gender in biblical studies and the church?

Gupta: When I was young, it was often considered natural to prohibit women from ministry and to use stereotypes as justification for that: "women are too emotional, they can't preach, they are more gullible," etc. Fortunately I rarely ever hear anyone use those explanations anymore. More commonly, I hear some scholars just say, "Women are meant to focus on the home" or "women aren't called to pastor," and "that's just the way it is," or "that's what the Bible says." Tell Her Story is really meant to paint a picture of the early Christians in the Roman world where women were everywhere, and they were able to do just about anything.

After they read your book, what do you recommend next for a reader who's gotten excited about the topic?

Gupta: I recommend Beth Allison Barr's The Making of Biblical Womanhood, which covers many eras of Christian history, from early Christianity through medieval Christianity and into the modern era. Also, Discovering Biblical Equality, now in its third edition, is a massive resource that's kind of a mini-encyclopedia on women, the Bible, church history, and theology. Then, Holly Beers's excellent A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman. Her historical fiction helps readers walk in the shoes of a woman in the first century.

Anything you're working on that we should look forward to?

Gupta: Currently I am writing a book called Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling. I compare early Christianity to state and popular religions in the Greco-Roman world. It is amazing how deviant those Christians were. Today, in America, I feel like Christians either just blend into the background and offer nothing refreshing or attractive, or they stand out for being mean, condescending, and judgmental. The early Christians went all-in for this weirdo named Jesus. So, my motto is #KeepChristianityWeird! (I live in Portland, Oregon, let the reader understand.)

Terry Wildman on the Making of the "First Nations Version," a New Indigenous Bible Translation

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:34:00 GMT

Years ago, Terry Wildman encountered a version of the New Testament in Hopi, but he could not find anyone who could read it. For so many Natives, understanding their own languages is a skill that has been lost because of colonization, yet reading the Bible in modern-day translations still leaves something to be desired. That experience planted a seed in Terry that eventually became the First Nations Version of the New Testament that reflects the oral storytelling of Native cultures. In this interview, you’ll learn about the collaboration between representatives from multiple Native tribes and better understand why certain words resonate more strongly for Native readers (or can even potentially cause trauma and need to be avoided).

Can you tell us the origin story of how you came to translate the First Nations Version?

Terry Wildman: As I began to learn about my Native heritage and visit places where Native people were, Creator called me out into the Arizona-New Mexico area, and I connected with a ministry up on the Apache Reservation. I was so surprised that there seemed to be extraordinarily little of the culture in the Native churches on the reservation. It was like the only thing Native about them seemed to be that some of them spoke their language. Then we got an invitation to pastor an American Baptist church, on the Hopi Indian Reservation, at a mission that was over 100 years old. It had been founded about 100 years earlier. I found myself living more closely among very traditional people, and I felt I had a lot to learn. But one thing I learned as the pastor was that we had a storage room in the fellowship hall. And in the storage room, I opened a box. I got curious, snoopy; you know? “What's in here?” Because we were reading the NIV (New International Version) Bibles in our churches. And we used to joke about it: NIV, "New Indian Version." Because so many of the Native churches were using the NIV Bible. But what happened was, I found a box of New Testaments translated into the Hopi language. And I was so excited. I thought, "Oh, man, I wonder how this translation works. I'll get somebody to read it for me."

I found a box of New Testaments translated into the Hopi language. And I was so excited. I thought, "Oh, man, I wonder how this translation works. I'll get somebody to read it for me." And that was an awakening right there. Because I discovered that no one could read it.

And that was an awakening right there. Because I discovered that no one could read it. No one in our church could read it. No one in other churches could read, I couldn't find anyone. And I discovered later the reason was that in the boarding schools, they never taught us, Hopi, they taught us English. They didn't teach us how to read these translated Bibles. Later, we found out that across Turtle Island, which we call North America, this was true. Most of our Native people cannot don't speak their language, let alone read their language. I talked to a traditional or, a friend who's a Native Navajo. And he told me that 1-2%, maybe 1%, could read the Bible in Navajo. That was the beginning of, wow, you know, this is eye-opening. And so, the seeds of an idea that we needed a translation in English began to germinate you know, be planted, I should say. They weren't germinating yet, but it was planted.

Can you give us a little insight into what it was like for you to work with a translation council to produce this version?

Wildman: So, what happened was the President and CEO at OneBrook Wayne Johnson, contacted us, and we agreed to work together. We began a partnership with this Canadian organization, which is a member of the Wycliffe Global Alliance of translators. They suggested that we put together a council. So, we decided on twelve Native people, and because Darlene and I had been traveling for years and years on the road, making relationships across this Turtle Island, North America, I knew a lot of people.

When we got the council involved, I had to submit all my work to the council. We had to work together and figure out how we were going to word things. And because there are so many different tribes and so many different tribal cultures, we had to figure out commonalities between all our tribal people and use some of the more common ways of speaking more traditionally, as the elders might speak. We went through over 100, almost 200, key terms, and we decided together, here's how we're going to say those in English. Here's how we're going to translate "kingdom." Here's how we're going to translate "sin." Here's how we're going to translate "priest,". It’s still in English, but here are the word choices we're going to use that relate to our Native people.

Can you give an example of some of that?

Wildman: Absolutely. One of the things that's happened because of the boarding school experiences and the church involvement in those boarding schools there are some words that trigger a defensiveness for Native people. And those words have to do with, for example, "church." So, we said, okay, we don't want to use the word "church." And besides, does anybody know what the word "church" means? Where did that word come from anyway, even in English? Does anybody know "c-h-u-r-c-h" it only has meaning because we grew up as believers knowing, that it wasn't the building, it's a gathering of people. People don't know that, and the word "church" has colonial baggage attached to that. So, instead, we decided on a relational term for this ecclesia, this gathering we're the called-out ones, we're being called out of the world into a family. So, we call the church the "sacred family," Creator's sacred family. And in the back of the translation, we have a glossary of why we translated a lot of these especially important words.

The reality of Christian publishing, and publishing more broadly, is that Native voices are still so underrepresented. Can you give us your thoughts on how the writing and publishing journey might be different for Native authors?

Wildman: You know, that's an amazing question. And I don't even know if I have the answer for you for that. I do know that a lot of Native people have a lot to share. And that our sharing has been undervalued within the body of Christ. And our culture has been undervalued. And so, I think what it will take to work with Native people, and Native authors is humility. It requires the dominant culture to say, "We don't know who you are; we are depending on you to tell us who you are. And we're not going to tell you how to do that. We're going to let you do it in the way that's most meaningful to you." And that's one thing I appreciated when InterVarsity Press decided to publish this. They assured me that they would not be trying to reword it for us, they would let us do the wording. They would only look at sentence structure, for any errors. And if they found anything, they would just ask questions, and let us make the decision. And that's exactly what happened.

John 3:16 Is God's Mission Statement—Here's Why

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 17:43:00 GMT

By Paul Borthwick, author of Mission 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." —John 3:16 NIV

John 3:16 does not appear in isolation. In that respect, it really isn't an elevator speech but rather an amazing summary of the good news of God's love that flows through John's Gospel and the Bible.

We Jesus followers are called uniquely and specifically to fulfill our part in God's global mission. But to understand our roles, we first need to understand the mission of God into which we are summoned as disciples of Jesus.

I'm suggesting that John 3:16 clearly and succinctly describes that mission. In it, we are introduced to the missionary heart of God: the God who seeks after lost people, sacrifices to pay the penalty that we deserve, and sends us out to carry out his mission in the world.

Let's review the eight phrases of the Bible passage:

1. "For God"

"For God": God is the great initiator of mission. He is the starting point, the pursuer of Adam and Eve in the garden. In the person of Jesus, he comes "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

2. "So Loved"

"So Loved": Love is the motivation for mission. God's first message is not condemnation or accusation but love. Unlike most deities of other world religions who provoke fear or demand submission, the pursuing God of Christian faith reaches out to us in love.

3. "The World"

"The World": Our entire human population—and even creation—is God's concern. The whole world, all peoples and nations and tribes and languages, is loved by the God who wants everyone to know and respond to that love. The word used for world, kosmos, is replaced as "nations" (ethnē) in Matthew 28:18-20 and Luke 24:47, but Mark 16:15 refers to "all creatures" or "all creation" (ktisei), going past the idea of the human world to all of the living creatures and creation. Tradition indicates that Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," was the trigger for Francis of Assisi's love of creatures and creation.

4. "That He Gave"

"That He Gave": Sacrifice is the foundation of God's mission. For salvation to come, God had to give his son as the sacrifice for our sins. And if the good news of salvation and the kingdom of God is going to be spread all over the world, then we, the people of God, will need to make sacrifices—personally, socially, financially, and physically.

5. "His One and Only Son"

"His One and Only Son": Jesus is the pivot around which God's mission revolves. Salvation is found in no one else. Jesus is the mediator, the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to God but through him (John 14:6 and 1 Timothy 2:5). In our pluralistic world, we want Jesus to be one among many options. But the Bible affirms that Jesus alone is the savior sent by God.

6. "That Whoever Believes in Him"

"That Whoever Believes in Him": The mission of God offers an invitation and calls for a response. We understand God's love, receive his forgiveness, and choose to follow.

7. "Shall Not Perish"

"Shall Not Perish": God's love blends with his judgment, and as a result, condemnation is the consequence of disbelief or rejection of Jesus (John 3:17, 36). God's mission is not just a happy invitation to a relationship with God followed by eternal bliss. It also includes a warning to flee the wrath that is to come—judgment, condemnation, and hell.

8. "But Have Eternal Life"

"But Have Eternal Life": God's mission is eternally significant for us all. His love, initiative, and sacrifice call us into a relationship with him that will last forever.

In exploring each of these eight components of God's mission we discover where we fit in it.

A Conversation on Defiant Faith with Bill and Will Kynes

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 16:32:00 GMT

How can we as Christians practice defiant faith in the face of suffering? In their book Wrestling with Job, Bill Kynes, a lifelong pastor, and his son Will Kynes, a Job scholar, guide readers on a journey through the book of Job. In this interview, they discuss their writing process, their personal connections to the book, and Job's powerful lessons on perseverance.

As a father and son, how did you decide to write a book together? What was your writing process like?

Bill Kynes: After thirty-one years of preaching in one church, I finally summoned the courage to preach a series of sermons on the book of Job. I was fortunate, however, to have a partner in this project: my son Will. Will had done his Cambridge PhD research on Job, and our weekly conversations provided insight and ideas that became an integral part of my preaching. This book attempts to share that process of integrating academic biblical scholarship with pastoral reflection that we enjoyed in those conversations.

Will Kynes: We haven't written anything formally together before, but conversations like those frequently contribute to the writing each of us does separately. More than that, there's hardly anything that I have written, going all the way back to my first feeble attempts at essays written on wide-ruled paper, that hasn't profited from my father's careful editorial eye. Writing this book was an enjoyable opportunity for me to return the favor. We started with my father's sermons and our recollections of the insights from biblical scholarship that we had discussed. We then agreed on further points of biblical scholarship that are important for a fuller understanding of Job, which I then wrote up. Then, we each had the opportunity to edit the other's work.

What is it about Job that makes the story so compelling to you?

Will: I have long had a passion for the book of Job going back to an experience I had with debilitating illness when I was living in Kenya after college. I read through the book then and was struck by how it was asking precisely the questions that I was struggling with, but the answers it offered were nothing like I expected them to be. That led to now nearly two decades of researching, writing, teaching, and speaking about the book.

Bill: As a pastor, I have seen people struggle with the conflict between what they believe about God's goodness and love and the hard things they sometimes have to endure. Job takes us into that struggle. As I preached through the book, I hoped that my exposition would help my listeners see that the Bible is realistic about life and its challenges and that Job provides a model of faith in the midst of suffering that we can all learn from.

I'm struck by your phrase "defiant faith" as it relates to Job. What does that mean? How might Job serve as a model to readers for their own defiant faith?

Will: We've noticed that readers of the Bible, both in the academy and the church, tend to separate faith in God from arguing with, complaining to, or even accusing God. Faith, it is often assumed, has to be submissive, and challenging God must be evidence of a lack of faith, of doubt or even skepticism. The book of Job demonstrates that this is a false dichotomy. Job holds together faith and defiance; more than that, he argues with God precisely because he has faith that God is good, just, and powerful enough to make things right.

Shockingly, though Job hasn't pulled any punches in his verbal battle with God, at the end of the book, God approves of Job's speech (Job 42:8-9) and rewards him for his faithfulness. This reflects a common response to suffering and injustice across the Hebrew Bible. Job joins the heroes of Israelite faith, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the psalmists and prophets, in demanding that God make things right.

Your title, "Wrestling with Job," could mean "wrestling with the content in Job" or "wrestling alongside Job." Does one of these fit better to you?

Bill: That double meaning is intentional—we're glad you caught it! Job is a very difficult book to read, and we want to encourage our readers not to shy away from any of the challenges its content poses, but to wrestle honestly with them.