The Bauer Thesis Recently, Dr. Michael Kruger and I filmed a series of videos on our book, The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity. In these videos, we discuss the Bauer thesis, named after the German scholar Walter Bauer. Beginning with Bauer in 1934, the denial… Read More
What Was Crete like in Paul’s Day?
The apostle Paul’s charge to Titus is “to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town” (1:5). A literate audience would be familiar with the statement by the famous classical poet Homer, who spoke of “Crete of the hundred cities” (Homer, Iliad 2.649), no doubt by way… Read More
What Did Jesus Teach about the Future?
What Did Jesus Teach about the Future? Jesus’ most explicit teaching on the end times is found in the so-called “Olivet Discourse,” which is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The main interpretive challenge in studying the Olivet Discourse is that of determining which sections relate to the events of the… Read More
Best Books in Biblical Studies 2016
The past year has been a particularly fruitful year in biblical studies, including scholarship on the Gospels, Paul, NT Greek, and other topics. Listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name, here are the Biblical Foundations™ awards for 10 best books in Biblical Studies for 2016. Following this list, I have taken the liberty to… Read More
Best Books in Biblical Studies 2015
“Best of” book lists have certainly continued to proliferate since Biblical Foundations first started to compile these lists close to a decade ago. However, quite a few of these lists are compiled by individuals whose specialty is primarily in historical or systematic theology rather than biblical studies, biblical theology, or hermeneutics, which is our primary… Read More