In his detailed two-volume commentary on 1 & 2 Kings, John N. Oswalt highlights the prophetic value of Old Testament narrative. In our interview below, Oswalt discusses the unique contribution these EEC volumes make. John N. Oswalt is visiting distinguished professor of Old Testament at A| Lexham Press
Some years ago, Martin Saunders (of Youthscape) wrote an excellent article highlighting four issues which often prevent evangelicals from understanding what has been happening in the Israel/Gaza conflict—and these problems come up each time the conflict hits the news. It seems particularly pertinent at the moment. First, he comments ‘It’s not as simple as good| Psephizo
Russell Gmirkin did not argue that ALL of the books of the Jewish Bible originated in the Hellenistic era. When I began to post on the earlywritings forum that "Why the Hellenistic era for ALL "Old Testament" books should be taken seriously" I was attempting to set out why it is both possible and pl| Vridar
To follow on from my Part 2a comment ….. The biblical works have traditionally been understood as the product of an evolution over centuries, usually said to be from the ninth or eighth to the third centuries, under the influence of Mesopotamian, Hittite, Syrian, Ugaritic, Egyptian cultures. There is a serious problem with that view, … Continue reading "Defending Russell Gmirkin’s Hellenistic Dating of the Old Testament – Part 7"| Vridar
Why the Hellenistic era .... Part 2a In this post I will explain "my personal reason" for strongly suspecting a Hellenistic origin of the biblical literature -- though I am sure I have come across the same ideas throughout different books and articles over the years. It follows on from #5 in the pr| Vridar
By the way, I have informed Stephen Goranson that he is welcome to respond here to my resposting of his criticisms of Russell Gmirkin — despite my earlier prohibition on his posts to this blog. For this series alone I have lifted my relegation of SG’s comments to spam. In Part 4 I pointed to … Continue reading "Defending Russell Gmirkin’s Hellenistic Dating of the Old Testament – Part 5"| Vridar
Stephen Goranson has been a regular critic of Russell Gmirkin. Stephen posted the following points (in the earlywritings forum) that he claimed gave reasonable grounds for dating the entire Hebrew Bible (he referred to the "TaNaK") before Hellenistic era: There are reasons to consider some TaNaK te| Vridar
I've addressed the Documentary Hypothesis several times before (see a list of post beginning here). The DH is the basis through which the Hebrew Bible is understood to have begun its development as early as the days of David and Solomon, and in the time of the Babylonian Captivity and through to the| Vridar
In response to the post that I copied here, one consistent critic of Russell Gmirkin's thesis in particular (and of the Hellenistic era hypothesis for the creation of the Hebrew Bible more generally) posted the following response: Elephantine is the site of a Persian era garrison settlement of| Vridar
Since I don't expect to have much time to write new posts again before the end of the year, I will from time to time copy what I once posted on another forum in defence of Russell Gmirkin's thesis dating the Old Testament books to the Hellenistic era. The orthodox view is that biblical books abou| Vridar
By now many of you will have learned of Russell Gmirkin's sudden passing. I am still trying to process the shock. I was privileged to have had frequent communications with him in the past few years and he was on my short list of people I had hoped to meet in person. His website: https://russellgmirk| Vridar
Continued from Review 3 . . . And when it is pointed out that, after all, we are talking about texts written in Koine Greek (and so the language ability is pretty important), and that . . . requires a lot of study, all this if one wishes to make some kind of soundly-based judgement . . . (Hurtado| Vridar
Many readers by now will have heard of a new book, freely available, arguing that the first century Jewish historian Josephus really did write a passage about Jesus. The book has been discussed on public forums, blogs, youtube channels, other websites, etc. If you happen not to have heard about it,| Vridar
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Trinity Sunday in this Year C is John 16.12–15. It is another very short reading (four verses) from the 'farewell discourse' of Jesus, and I think is actually quite a difficult reading to preach from. Like much of this part of the Fourth Gospel, it is reflective, repeats things| Psephizo
How can war stories, farming proverbs, and strange visions draw you closer to Jesus? In Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion, Michael Niebauer shows how to see the Bible’s big story and meet with God in his word. In our interview below, Niebauer discusses the inspiratio| Lexham Press
In Created for Communion with God: The Promise of Genesis 1 and 2, Harrison Perkins explains that the creation account of Genesis 1–2 is primarily about God and his relationship with human beings. These chapters are God’s word for God’s people, to summon us into communion with him. In our interview below, Perkins discusses how the goal| Lexham Press
You want to study the Bible because you want to know God better. Yet it is not always easy to understand, and it is not always easy to see how some passages connect to others. So you turn to devotional materials. But where do you begin? There is a wide variety of devotionals out there, with some org| Lexham Press
Lexham Press is delighted to announce new volumes in the Spurgeon Commentary series as well as brand-new covers for the entire series. Benefit from the incredible wisdom of Charles Spurgeon, passage by passage. Four volumes in this series were previously published in 2015 and an additional four were released as digital Logos editions. Those digital-only| Lexham Press
In Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds: Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls, Andrew B. Perrin reintroduces readers to the scrolls while correcting common misunderstandings and highlighting overlooked issues. In our interview below, Perrin discusses goal of bringing the highly technical world of the De| Lexham Press
by Ed Goode Applying the imagery in the Song of Solomon to the relationship between God and His church, it tells us that the Lord sees His church being as “beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners” (6:10, ESV). However, we are sometimes tempted to doubt this depiction […]| Helwys Society Forum
James M. Hamilton Jr. and Matthew Damico are the co-authors of Reading the Psalms as Scripture. They guide the reader to delight in the spiritual artistry of the psalms. Psalms is a carefully arranged book saturated in Scripture. The psalmists drew from imagery and themes from earlier Scripture, whi| Lexham Press
The NT epistle for the Second Sunday before Lent is Rev 4, the first half (with Rev 5) of John's vision and audition (seeing and hearing) of worship 'in heaven' as he is 'in the Spirit'. This is a fascinating passage, in part because it is so dense with theological ideas, but also because this| Psephizo
Lexham Press is delighted to introduce an expanded edition of the bestselling title The Unseen Realm by the late Michael S. Heiser, releasing on October 1, 2025 in celebration of the book’s tenth anniversary. This new edition includes additional content from Heiser and features an exceptionally beau| Lexham Press
Previously, I have reflected on why the New Testament appears in the order that is does and how considering different orders can better inform our engagement with Scripture. Of course, talking about the New Testament in this way raises the obvious question, “what about the Old Testament?” This article is an attempt to answer that question by looking at the major orders in which the Old Testament can appear. First, we will consider canonical order: The post The Old Testament in Order appea...| Conciliar Post
It’s been a while since I posted here. I’ve been meaning to revive this site but, as with most things, I just don’t have the time to blog as much as I’d like. However, I’ve recently been asked: “What is the best Bible Commentary Series?” I’ve had to write up answers elsewhere, so I thought […]| The Sacred Page
In my Bible study with my church recently, we talked about Acts 4-5, which include the account of Ananias and Sapphira being immediately struck down for their deception in selling land and donating the proceeds. This passage raises some interesting questions, and I am curious about its implications for Christian ethics, if any. In this […]| What the Gospel Demands
Introduction Historical criticism of the Bible can be a polarizing topic for evangelicals, sometimes causing a mess. This is especially true for seminary professors like Michael Licona who was forced to leave his job as a result of his use of the historical-critical method with “undesirable” conclusions. In this post, I will criticize the evangelical […]| What the Gospel Demands
Previous posts in this series: Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 1: Historical Facts and Probability Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 2: Certainty and Uncertainty in History Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 3: Prediction and History * For| Vridar
These past few weeks I've been trying to untangle my way through the data strands that seem to relate to Christian origins and early development (again) and I find myself coming back to the chimerical figure of Paul (again). When I reach this point, as I have done so many times before, I tend to| Vridar
Paul's letter to the Galatians has "always" been understood to have been as certainly "Pauline" as his letters to the Romans and Corinthians. Other New Testament epistles (e.g. Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy) have fared less well in the authenticity stakes along with reasons explaining why someone other| Vridar
Murray J. Harris is the author of Navigating Tough Texts, Volume 2: A Guide to Problem Passages in the New Testament. In his new book, he concisely considers more than eighty tricky passages in the New Testament, showing how these texts offer insights with implications for theology, apologetics, mis| Lexham Press
The influential French theologian who was excommunicated by the Pope for his views, Alfred Loisy, concluded that there were two different "Pauls" authoring the main letters attributed to him. The reason Paul's letters are generally considered "hard to understand" is because they intertwine two incom| Vridar
I have copied here a translation from an 1886 publication of ... ... two researchers from different fields of knowledge .... A. Pierson is the theologian ..., whose work has made him known as an astute and fearless critic .... S. A. Naber, on the other hand, is a philologist and thus offers a guara| Vridar
The previous post presented a historical Dutch language criticism of Galatians and here I offer a sceptical analysis from France. I have selected from Henri Turmel's discussion those paragraphs that address Galatians 1-2, -- as per my earlier explanation. In my coming post on J.C. O'Neill's detailed| Vridar
This is a summary of each episode related to baptism from Michael Heiser’s Naked Bible Podcast. Please note that these …| Ex Vitæ Verborum
At Cary Christian School, I occasionally try to summarize the findings of New Testament scholars in a way that shows the relevance for studying Biblical Greek. Kenneth Bailey has done groun…| Studium et Liturgica