Upon arrival at Saint Louis University this morning, I was pleased to find Michael Bird’s An Anomalous Jew: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans (Eerdmans, 2016). I am most thankful to Eerdmans for sending this my way, and look forward to reading and reviewing what promises to be a stellar read. From the Eerdman’s catalogue:Continue reading “In the Mail: An Anomalous Jew”
Tag Archives: Paul
What Happened to the Apostles?
While Christians often think about the death (and resurrection!) of Jesus, many Christians (especially Protestants) rarely consider how the earliest followers of Jesus lived out their last moments on earth. In part, this is because–unlike with Jesus–we have relatively few historically credible accounts of the death of the earliest leaders of the Jesus Movement. WhatContinue reading “What Happened to the Apostles?”
The Trinity in the Early Church (Part II)
Historian J.W.C. Wand argues that the orthodox belief of the early church included the deity of the Holy Spirit, as it was essentially argued along with the deity of Christ in the Christological debates and was held as popular belief among Christians.[8] Yet as Rebecca Lyman argues that one cannot merely accept popular opinion asContinue reading “The Trinity in the Early Church (Part II)”
The Trinity in the Early Church (Part I)
The doctrine of the Trinity–espoused by the Cappadocian Fathers as “God is one object in Himself and three objects to Himself”–is commonly understood to be one of the more difficult concepts to grasp in Christian theology. Much of Early Church history revolved around debates concerning the Person of Jesus Christ and His relationship to theContinue reading “The Trinity in the Early Church (Part I)”
Thinking about Salvation in Early Christianity (Part II)
Most early Christians seem to have lived with a fairly basic understanding of soteriology. Beginning with Tertullian of Carthage, however, deeper investigation into specific aspects of soteriological doctrine began to circulate within the Church.[14] Philosophical language and concepts began to find more frequent use among the Fathers, and soon after the Fathers began teaching thatContinue reading “Thinking about Salvation in Early Christianity (Part II)”
Thinking about Salvation in Early Christianity (Part I)
By the early fourth century, the Christianity had spread across the Roman world with surprising speed, tenacity, and relative uniformity of belief. While the early Church was by no means completely uniform in doctrine, belief, or practice, the vast majority of Christians professed what has become known as Christian Orthodoxy.[1] Heresies such as Docetism, Ebionism,Continue reading “Thinking about Salvation in Early Christianity (Part I)”
SSP: Confessio 25 and Romans 8
This post is part of an ongoing series on the Scriptures of Saint Patrick of Ireland. Confessio 25 & Romans 8:26 Patrick O’Loughlin (154) ‘Likewise the Spirit helps the weakness of our prayers; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with ineffable sighsContinue reading “SSP: Confessio 25 and Romans 8”
SSP: The Contents of Patrick’s Bible (Part I)
This post is part of an ongoing series on the Scriptures of Saint Patrick of Ireland. Patrick’s overarching approach to the scriptures in hand, I now turn to some more specific considerations of his citations from the Old and New Testaments. Of central importance for Patrick were the Gospels (primarily Matthew and Luke), Pauline EpistlesContinue reading “SSP: The Contents of Patrick’s Bible (Part I)”
Book Review: The Pauline Effect (Strawbridge)
While the influence of Pauline writings on early Christianity remains widely recognized, few studies investigate the particulars of Paul’s theological and exegetical influence on ante-Nicene Christianity. Beginning this immense task of studying the specific reception histories of Pauline pericopes is Jennifer Strawbridge’s The Pauline Effect, winner of the 2014 SBL-De Gruyter Prize for Biblical StudiesContinue reading “Book Review: The Pauline Effect (Strawbridge)”
The Acts of Paul and Pastoral Epistles
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting upon Women and Gender in Early Christianity. In his article “I Permit No Woman to Teach Except for Thecla: The Curious Case of the Pastoral Epistles and the Acts of Paul Reconsidered” (Novum Testamentum 54 (2012): 176-203), Matthijs den Dulk offers a reanalysis of the relationshipContinue reading “The Acts of Paul and Pastoral Epistles”
Pursuing Veritas 