On Weird Al

Is it just me, or is Weird Al looking younger every year? I saw him on Yo Gabba Gabba this morning, and that man is lookin’ fine.

New edition of a great NT overview

Paul Barnett is an ancient historian of early Christianity, having produced books on Jesus, Paul, 1/2 Corinthians, and other topics. His overview of the New Testament story and documents, Bethlehem to Patmos, is a great… no, wait, let me just repeat what it says on the back cover of the newly revised and expanded edition of the book:

‘I am thrilled that Paul Barnett’s time-honoured orientation to the New Testament will continue to find an audience with this new edition. In an age in which religion is frequently evaluated by the sound-bytes of its most eccentric representatives, it is essential to find a reliable guide to the actual documents that underlie the Christian faith. Barnett’s familiarity with the documents, sane historical judgement, and engaging storytelling make him just such a guide. The work moves swiftly from the events that opened the New Testament era to those that brought it to a close. Along the way, Barnett shows how these events relate to scholarly understanding of the era, what was at stake in interpreting and committing these events to writing, and why these events continue to have significance. The book is immensely useful as a solid orientation for students of the New Testament, and I commend it gladly.’

Engrossed

Shoes on electricity wires

I’ve been seeing an increase in this practice over the last couple of years, and I must say that I offer my full unqualified endorsement. Keep it up, people.

Note: the views expressed in this blog post do not express the opinions of Matthew or his affiliates.

Hermeneutics book

Good old Pokorny…

My book on 1 Corinthians available for free

It looks like, somehow, my book The World of 1 Corinthians, is available as an e-book for free, here.

Reading Balthasar

Karen Kilby introduces her recent book on Balthasar here. This will be an awesome book – I’ve found the little I’ve heard from Karen about Balthasar before very helpful. The only reason I have not yet bought this book myself is because I am sulking because it’s not available on Kindle, and I want to read it on Kindle. But rather than ask the publisher to put it on Kindle, I prefer to sulk for a while and then quietly buy it in hard copy. That’s how I roll.