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Why I’m going to the NEXUS conference on 26 May
NEXUS, on Monday 26 May in Annandale, Sydney, is deliberately designed to maximise opportunities to discuss the ideas that are raised and to grow together in our desire to share Christ with the world.
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Resident Aliens (1 Peter 1:1-2)
A sermon preached at St Augustine’s Anglican Church, Neutral Bay.
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When Paul used the word “Judaism” in Galatians 1:13-14, what was he talking about?
In my book, I argue that the rare word Ἰουδαϊσμός–which is usually translated “Judaism” in our Bibles (Gal 1:13-14)–doesn’t mean “Judaism” in the modern sense of a system of religious thought. Rather, it should be understood in a vocational sense.
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Review: Brian S. Rosner. Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God.
Although some questions remain about the details of his framework, Rosner’s overall approach—“a hermeneutical solution to the puzzle of Paul and the law”—is compelling, and constitutes an important contribution on this key issue.
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A guilt-free Easter
I just got an ad in the letterbox: “Want to know how to give yourself a Guilt Free Easter this year?”
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“The Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16): gospel-believing Jewish teachers
In my book, I argue that the phrase “as many as will conform with this rule” (Gal 6:16) is a reference to a particular kind of Jewish teacher, which implies that the “Israel of God” is a reference to gospel-believing Jews, not to the church of Jews and Gentiles together.
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“We are the circumcision” (Philippians 3:3) is a reference to Jewish preachers (i.e. Paul and Timothy), not to all Christians
In my book, I argue that the phrase “we are the circumcision” in Phil 3:3 should be understood as a reference to Paul and Timothy, as Jewish teachers of Gentiles. Paul is using the term “circumcision” in order to claim a status for himself and Timothy as true (Jewish) teachers of Gentiles, in direct opposition to rival Jewish teachers.
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Does the metaphor of the olive tree (Romans 11:17-24) undermine the notion of Jewish distinctiveness in Paul’s thought?
A number of interpreters regard Paul’s metaphor of the olive tree in Rom 11:17–24 as evidence that Paul is seeking to include Gentiles within a redefined Israel. I contend that this understanding is not consistent with the meaning and purpose of this passage.