The Great Migration: Moving from Sente to Bookends Reference Manager

The writing was on the wall for a long time, but I didn't want to believe it. I have been using Sente as my reference manager for over 5 years and loved it. But over two years ago, the developers stopped blogging. Then over a year ago, the forum closed down. Then the support emails stopped. It kept working, including its syncing feature, and I hoped that perhaps the developer was just on an extended vacation. Recently, I held my breath as I updated to High Sierra and updated to Mellel 4. Still it worked. But then the syncing stopped. In a last-ditch attempt, I tried again to contact the developer – I even found a phone number online. No luck. I could delude myself no longer. I had to migrate.

Luckily, I knew that I had a wonderful option. Bookends has been a high-rated reference manager for many years, I am even a former user. And the developer of Bookends, anticipating the demise of Sente, has improved its ability to import references from Sente. But despite this all, I still had to put in a lot of grunt work to get all of my information, and especially my PDF highlights, into Bookends.

For those, like me, who are now making the move to Bookends from Sente, here are the steps I had to go through. Before I get to that, a few other comments.

Things that I will miss from Sente

• Being able to double-click and go into a full window reading view was excellent, as was the ability to open a tab to browse. *edit* The recent release of Bookends 13 added a full screen reading ability, which I'm very happy about.
• Attachment and Annotation. By far this is my biggest lament, but I am already adjusting to Bookends and the way it does things.
• While I will get used to and enjoy the notecard stream, in particular being able to add tags and be able to cite directly from them, Sente had a custom highlighter and notes that remains unparalleled. Being able to quickly choose to quote and choose the color was in a pop-up immediately when highlighting was excellent.
• The Bookends notestream is quite different and will take some getting used to. I imagine that former Sente users will most use the “Highlight Selection and Make Bookends Notecard” from the annotations menu. What remains somewhat clunky in this process, in my opinion, is that this creates 2 notecards, one to links to the PDF (so you can jump to the spot) and the other the actual notecard to take your notes. I so wish these were combined into a single item so that the note stream wouldn’t be cluttered. This can be hidden in the annotations menu at the bottom, but  clicking on the notecard doesn’t jump to the spot in the PDF. Thankfully, you can still jump to the notecard spot in the PDF via a shortcut key, or by right-clicking the notecard and choosing "Find in PDF."
•  Whereas Sente had the automatic layout for title, page, quote, and notes, only the page and quote are automatic in Bookends. For the rest you need to learn the syntax Bookends utilizes. And unless I’m doing something wrong, Bookends doesn’t know automatically which page is being cited, it takes the page of the PDF, rather than the actual page number (pulled from the page range). This creates extra work.  *edit* The recent release of Bookends 13 has changed this functionality to reference the actual page number, which is fantastic.
• Sente’s auto-links were beyond wonderful and helpful. Auto-links built off of the DOI or ISBN, this was a great way to see other web metadata and especially being able to do a book search in google books.

Bookends Features that I Look Forward To

I actually started out as a Bookends user so I am very familiar and like the app. I have never had any hesitation in recommending Bookends to people. The above issues are the reasons I ultimately moved to Sente. But since my departure from Bookends, some additions have been made that I look forward to utilizing or making use of again.

• Bookends importing has always been better than Sente overall. The Bookends Browser works extremely well and I am very happy with it.
• Bookends has always worked amazingly well with Mellel, my Word Processor of choice. The integration has only gotten better over the years.
• Bookends does cloud sync with iCloud now, and has added a very nice iOS app. Of course this means that I have to rely on iCloud syncing which isn't always 100%, but that is getting better too.

My Steps For Migrating Data from Sente to Bookends

 

Step 1: Duplicate your Sente library for safe keeping

Duplicate your Sente library, as the steps below will slowly delete items from the Sente library.

Step 2: Prepare Bookends Library to match your Sente library

1. Replicate your “Sente Statuses” from the Library setup in Bookends preferences>Lists
2. Replicate your bookmarks from “Web Bookmarks” from the Library setup in the Bookends bookmarks found when you click on an item and open the Browser
3. Replicate your Sente reference types in Bookends preferences Refs>Reference types (I recommend  not changing any - leave those that are there, and any new ones you need)
4. Replicate your Sente Reference Type fields for any special fields you may use
5. Decide how you want your PDFs named. Unlike Sente, which does a really nice folder hierarchy, Bookends places them all in a single folder. I created a simple format file for Bookends to use the last name date - short title for all attached PDFs.
6. You can customize the summary view in the Preferences to look how you would like it. (I’m happy with the default, but may create my own format for the summary view in the future)

Step 3: Confirm your Attachments

Unfortunately for some of us, Sente may have done us wrong at some point – or the use of multiple computers might mean that some of your attachments aren’t on the computer you are using for the migration. Hopefully none of them are MIA (i.e. sitting on Sente’s now-defunct server). If you have some missing, make a list of them in some way (static group or a bibliography) in order to check another computer.

Step 4 (optional) : Attachments

People will need to decide if they are happy to keep the notes/quotes made without them being linked to the PDF. When importing directly from Sente to Bookends, Bookends will bring all of the notes over into its notestream, but the highlights and connection to the PDF in Sente will be stripped, as this was stored in a special way in Sente.

After thinking about this, I made the decision to put in the grunt-work of keeping my highlights for the bulk of my PDFs. The result was the following process:

1. Scan through your Sente library. Whenever you find an entry with the attachment and notes icon, I added a quick tag.
2. I then imported this group into Sente, and then went through each one, adding new highlights in Bookends. After doing this, I deleted each item from Sente.

Step 5 (optional): Set up Sync

1. If you want your library and attachments cloud synced and available on your iOS devices, you need to purchase the app, then purchase the yearly subscription.
2. In Bookends you will see a cloud icon to sign in to iCloud and enable the sync. If you have lots of PDFs you will need to pay for additional iCloud storage as well. Alternatively, you can use another sync service (dropbox, google drive, etc.) for your attachments and custom folders.
3. Alternatively if you do not have iCloud, you can also sync Bookends over wifi.

Procedure for Moving Library Over

Keep in mind that the things which do not get transferred over are Sente statuses (Bookends labels) and the reference type does not always come over correctly, particularly for special citation types that you may use. You are safe, as far as I can tell, with the standard Books, Book chapters, edited book, journals.

Bookends has made it very easy for Sente users to import. In Bookends, go to File>Import>from Sente and click okay. Then highlight the items you want to import in Sente and click OK on the little dialogue button you will see.

1. I highly recommend that you take 1 of each type of reference in your library and import it to Bookends. Inspect and make sure that all of the info came over and into the expected fields. For the most part this should be fine, but if you have customized Sente, this may complicate the process. In my case, dissertations didn’t bring the info over correctly. Luckily, Bookends is amazing and mass changes, and I was able to correct the problems quickly.
2. First move over from the group you’ve made for Attachments (see below). Move them over by status>type to ensure that they get moved over as the right type of citation. Upon bringing them in, THEY WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED. IMMEDIATELY use the correct shortcut to apply the label necessary. there is no other easy way to mass change labels later.
   **As an alternative, you can use temporary tags in Sente to mark your labels and different Reference Types. This would allow you to import your entire Sente library at once and then fix your labels and reference types doing a search for those temporary tags in Bookends. The reason I chose to do it this way (i.e. without the temporary tags) is to minimize the chance of import errors which can occur from time to time.
3. Go back to Sente and delete each of these imported citations to remove them from the database.
4. Once you are done with these in the group, go to the folder with the exported PDFs on your desktop, and attach each of them to the correct citation.
5. Now continue the process through your status groups, bringing them in by type to ensure they come through correctly by type and immediately assigning the label. The easiest way to do this is to use the Status filters on the right and then using Sente’s list view and click on the Type column to organize them by type.
6. One other thing I noted during the process is that at times some “stray code” came in as attachments. This may not bother people, but it annoyed me. So I had the added process of going through Bookends and whenever there was a double paperclip icon, I went in the BE Inspector to delete the stray code attachment.
7. Bookends is great at doing mass find and replaces. One thing I needed to do was replace ^{with ^, and} with ^ . This is how superscripts are indicated in Bookends. Any ampersands come through as “&amp;” so replace those as well. In my abstracts and notes I frequently used line breaks, which come through as <br>, so I replaced them.

Those are the steps I took. I've unfortunately had to spend an inordinate amount of time on the process, but it is done and I'm now the proud user of Bookends.

Steps for Achieving Inbox Zero

I try every month or two to achieve inbox zero — i.e. no emails in my inbox. A colleague on social media recently mentioned the sizable inbox she had. It prompted me to write this little post on the steps I take to achieve inbox zero on a semi-regular basis (this one's for you Anna Robbins!). Of course not everyone feels the need to achieve this, but I feel that it is a nice little productivity win for me, and when you achieve it, there is some positive internal pressure to keep it that way. So for those to whom this might be helpful, here it is...

1: I am ruthless with the unsubscribe button

I am subscribed to very few newsletters and mail lists. It needs to be something that I read 75% of the times I receive it to stay subscribed to. As soon as I have received a newsletter/mail list and have 3+ in my inbox and unread, that is a sign that I am not really finding enough value in the email to keep receiving it, and I unsubscribe.

2: I use Mail Filters to Siphon eMails

There are a number of mass emails that come from my institution. Rather than have these clutter my inbox, I have set up a mail filter to move these automatically to a folder. I then make it a point to peruse this folder and delete every few weeks. This allows my inbox to remain clear of the less important material. This same trick can also be used for newsletters and mail lists.

3. I use Gmail for Archiving

Many emails come to us that are important to keep on file. Quite often people make the mistake (at least I think it's a mistake) of developing an elaborate email folders system for storage. If you have an assistant doing that job for you, then go ahead. But for most of us, the search capabilities of our mail client, and especially of Gmail through the browser, is powerful enough to find those emails, should you need them again. Too often people leave emails in the their inbox to properly file at a later time. This can be a major source of clutter. Instead, have a simple archiving system consisting of just a few folders, and quickly dump emails into them.

4. Batch Task Your Email Time

I try as best I can to look at email only twice a day (this is what I need to work on the most). Constantly checking your email is such a waste of time and really breaks your concentration on more important work. I also make sure that notifications on my computer and devices don't notify me of new emails – I don't need the distraction.

5. To-Do, 2-Minutes, Delete, Flag, or Archive

If I remember correctly, I picked this up from David Allen. When it comes time to go to my inbox, I try to have a system for what to do with every email. If the email requires a response that will only take 2 minutes (either a task or a reply) I do it immediately. If the email indicates another task I need to do, I create a quick task in my to-do app (The Hit List for Mac and iOS). If I simply don't need it, I delete it. If I should keep it, I archive it. The one time (when I'm on my game) that an email stays in my inbox is if the email requires a longer reply. In this case, I flag it and it remains where it is. This generally is the only exception to my inbox philosophy of not using it as my to-do list.

There you have it! Do you have any email tips or tricks that I didn't mention? I'd love to hear about them in the comments

iGreek Reborn! The latest update to my Greek reference app

Many moons ago I created a reference app for iPhone called iGrεεk. The goal was to provide the Greek student with a handy reference to their Greek paradigms and other relevant information, without having to carry around their introductory Greek textbook.

Unfortunately, I did not keep iGreek up to date. This wasn't due to negligence on my part. It was, rather, because the software I used to create the app was discontinued. Fortunately, iGreek kept functioning well as the iOS was updated. Then iOS 11 finally broke iGreek.

I received a number of emails asking if iGreek would be updated for iOS 11. This was the pressure I needed to look to updating the app.

I am very happy with the result and hope that current users and future users will be too. In addition to an updated user interface, iGreek is now universal, running on iPhone and iPad and available on Android devices too. With this update also comes the addition of some material on Greek discourse, and the addition of the Singing Grammarian videos.

Please take a minute to see my page on iGrεεk to see if it might suit your needs! And for those of you who previously purchased iGreek (and perhaps deleted it off of your phone because of iOS 11) I hope you are happy with the update!

Devotional Art: Bringing Color to Your Time with God

Over the last two years or so I noticed with appreciation some artwork done by students at Acadia Divinity College. But it was not simply paintings or drawings, but artwork done in their Bibles. I appreciated the images not only because I am a terrible artist, but because it displayed a wonderful integration of the arts with Christian devotion. So much of Church instruction on devotional time is simply "read and pray" or "use this new devotional book." But on display here was a practice that I think beautifully integrates using one's gifts as worship to God and using one's gifts to express devotion. As Creator and Designer of the universe — the one who stretched out the neck of the giraffe, made the rolly face of the Manatee, put a duck-bill on a Platypus, and put the brilliant colors in the skyline — I have no doubt that God delights in beautiful and artistic expression of His Word.

In this post I interviewed my two ADC students who regularly share their devotional art on social media. At the bottom you will find some examples of their work as well. Thanks Samyi and Susan for sharing!

First, what is it you call what you do. Bible Art? Devotional art?

Susan: Either of those terms work, but I generally refer to it as Bible journaling.

Samyi: I prefer calling it Bible Journalling because I do not see my work as big masterpieces. Most of my ‘work’, so to speak, are little pictures, colourful bible verses, notes from a sermon, quotes, prayers, special dates, and they all are there to help Scripture come to life for me.

How long have you been doing it for? Who introduced you to it?

Susan: I started Bible journaling in September of 2016. I used to be the type of person who would not even underline something in my Bible. Over the summer of 2016, Samyi showed me her own journaling Bible, and I was intrigued. That September I ordered a fancy Bible specifically for the purpose of drawing, writing, painting, etc in it. Since then it has been my favourite and most rewarding (in terms of connecting with God) form of devotion.

Samyi: I have been Bible Journalling for over a year now. No one really ‘introduced’ me to it. I was looking for a more reader-friendly bible that I could write notes in, and I found out that there was the NLT Inspire Bible on pre-order through Amazon. I pre-ordered it a few months before it came out. In the waiting time, I got my markers and pens from Michael’s and Walmart. I did not really know what I was going to be doing, so I did a lot of things through trial-and-error.

When someone first sees a page of your Bible with artwork in it, what kind of responses do you get?

Susan: I will start off by saying my Bible is filled with entries that I would never show anyone. I treat it very much like a journal that I share with God. There are notes and prayers included on some pages that are just between God and me. The artwork that turns out pretty terrible—it happens!—also doesn’t get shown. The pages that I do show I think look at least somewhat nice and have minimal wording that is not obviously personal. With all that said, the responses I usually get are positive in some way or another. People will either like the art itself, or they will be intrigued by the fact that I am “decorating” my Bible—much like I was first intrigued when Samyi first introduced me to it. Some people are genuinely surprised that there is so much I can actually do to a thin Bible page, and it will lead to discussions about supplies and techniques. (Unfortunately no conversations have led to discussion about faith yet.)

Samyi: I get a lot of “Wow! Did you colour/draw this?” Most people are really interested and intrigued by the creativity and how fun it looks. I was concerned people were going to think I was crazy for drawing in a bible, but I have never had someone dislike it.

While devotions and Bible reading are (or should be) a regular habit of Christians, you have taken this habit and practice it in a very different (and beautiful) way. How do you explain what you do and why you do it?

Susan: The reason I ultimately chose to dive into Bible journaling is because, as a new Christian at the time (only about half a year at that point), I wanted to increase my prayer life, but I have a very difficult time focusing. My prayers always get derailed just like most of my other thoughts, and I felt like this was preventing me from growing spiritually. When I Bible journal, I will either search out a passage on something that I need to pray about, or I will come across something as I flip through the pages (or as I am gradually reading front to back) and it will stand out to me. Once I start reading it and praying over it, even if my thoughts stray, the prayer stays in my heart as I am concentrating on the art for the passage. This is the only way I have discovered thus far that I am able to truly focus in prayer and devotion.

Samyi: Like I stated earlier, it makes scripture come to life. When I draw a picture, it most likely is something I pictured while reading a passage, so I draw it as a way of really solidifying what I read. It could be as small as my drawing of a cartoon house beside Hebrews 3:6 that says “And we are God’s house” (NLT), or as big as my drawing of an angel wing beside Psalm 34 because it says "For the angel of the LORD is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him." (Ps.34:7). I write important dates beside certain passages, like my engagement ring has Matthew 19:4-6 inscribed inside of it, so by that passage I have the date Chris proposed to me. I will write quotes from a chapel service or sermon in my Bible and then draw clouds around it to make it pop out, or draw clouds or scrolls around passages to make them pop out because it popped out at me while listening or reading. I do all of this because I know God speaks to me through Scripture in a way that I will listen. Bible journalling is my love language, and God speaks it fluently.

Can you give an example or two of a time when the processing of drawing illuminated the meaning of a passage for you?

Susan: This has not really happened for me during the process. There have been times when a passage would be illuminated somehow in my mind (through personal reading or study or an aha moment, in a lecture, through a sermon, etc), and then afterword I would journal it. There have been times, however, when I realized either during or shortly thereafter that God was using the content of the passage to speak to me about something. It was through Bible journaling that I began learning how to listen to God. 

Samyi: One example is my drawing where I have a hand reaching down the page [see image below] with the verse that stood out to me, "He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters.” (Psalm 18:16). Of course, I am not David, I do not have Saul and his army chasing after me, but there have been times where I, like David, feel like I am in ‘deep waters’. David knew that God was there with him, God was the one who rescued him from Saul and his enemies. On that particular day, I pictured God reaching His hand down from heaven, very gently and slowly. He takes great care in lifting me out of deep waters. I knew I had to draw it, so I did. Now, every time I go over that psalm, which, being one of my favorites means I go over it often, that picture of God lifting me up and holding me in His hand always comes back. It is a wonderful reminder that God is always with me.

For others who are interested in transforming their devotional time like this, is there a process you’d recommend?

Susan: It’s such a simple process, and you can jump in as much or as little as you want. My art supplies have grown quite a bit since September, but you can start out with just a package of coloured pencils. Any Bible can be used, but if it is not a journaling Bible (NIV example), there is far less room for expression in the margins. 

Samyi: When it comes to Bible Journalling, you cannot sit in front of your bible and think “What now am I going to colour? What will I draw today?” It is still Scripture, it is still God’s Word sitting right in front of you. Take time to pray, asking God to speak to you through His Word, through the pictures that pop up as you read Scripture, and pray that He will help you listen. 

Second tip is to read slowly. We live in a busy world, we are always on the go, and sometimes that gets into our Bible reading time. We are so quick to get the reading plan we have done that we take nothing in. Read slowly, even if it means not finishing all of what your “Read the Bible In 90 Days” plan recommends for the day, because reading slowly gives you a better chance of being able to listen and understand. 

When a passage does pop out at you, or you picture an image that you want to draw, or you hear God say something to you while reading, do not be shy to start journalling. I am no artist, despite what people see on Instagram. I drew out that hand on scrap paper about 4 or 5 times before I was satisfied enough to then draw it in my Bible. I do Google images to find one close to what I saw, and use those as guidelines to look at while I draw. It is 100% okay to do those things, as long as you keep it as a time of listening to God, rather than drawing something amazing for the world to see. 

Lastly, I want to state that, just because you journal in your bible, does not mean you have to share it with the world. Many people in the bible art/bible journalling community do share their creativity and how they do things with others, but you do not have to. There are many things I have not shared online because it is either a prayer I wrote or something very personal to my heart. I actually wrestled with whether or not I should share my journalling online, and I came to the conclusion that I have a tool that could inspire others with Scripture, so I share some of my journalling when I feel like maybe someone, even just one person, might need some Scripture that day. If there ever is a time that you feel you are journalling to make a post, I would say you should sit and wrestle with that a while before continuing. 

Finally, for those same people, is there a particular Bible or Bibles you recommend, and perhaps particular types of pens or pencils?

Susan: I prefer the ESV single column journaling Bible (the translation doesn’t mean so much to me; the key words here are “single column” and “journaling Bible”). Some journaling Bibles have some artwork already on certain pages that the person can then colour in. I chose not to go this route because I wanted the freedom to put whatever I wanted on every single page. For people who find that daunting though or they just like colouring, those other Bibles are great too.

 For writing, my favourite pens are Gelly Roll pens that can be bought as sets or individually. These will ghost through (meaning that you can see them slightly from the other side of the paper), but they flow so beautifully that I think it is worth it. Regular ballpoint pens are fine too, and they cause less ghosting. I never journal in pencil unless I am colouring with coloured pencils or drawing something that will eventually be coloured over. I just use regular mechanical pencils for that. For coloured pencils, I prefer Crayola Twistables (they are never sharpened, so they are never overly pointy on the delicate paper). A lot of it is trial and error. 
     It does not need to be an expensive endeavour at all, or anything elaborate. If you do move beyond pens and coloured pencils, however, it is trial and error. Crayola watercolour paints, for example, bleed through the pages terribly, even if you prep the page with gesso. I only know this because I’ve tried it myself. Other watercolours (still cheap!) don’t require page prep at all. Trial and error is part of the fun of it. Because it is a devotion and prayer between the person and God, my advice is to not worry about perfection and attempting to make a masterpiece. I stopped being disappointed long ago when something bled through my pages. In my opinion, someone Bible journaling shouldn’t be going into the experience with the mindset that they are creating art. I go in each and every time with the mindset that, if something doesn’t turn out the way I have pictured in my mind (which happens often!), that is okay because the purpose of the devotional period was actually not to create art but to grow in my relationship with God. The art is just a means to an end.

Samyi: Of course, I want to recommend the NLT Inspire Bible as a starter. It has pre-printed scriptures and pictures for you to colour in, but has plenty of room for your own creativity! If you are looking for a more literal translation of Scripture, I would recommend the ESV single column journalling bible. When it comes to pens or pencils, I always use mechanical pencils (doesn’t matter the brand) because I find them easier to draw with. I use Sharpie fine tip pens for most of my colouring, but I have also used pencil crayons and markers, which I use Crayola. I personally would invest in PIGMA Micron pens because the few times I have used them, they worked amazing and did not bleed. When it comes to using markers, paints, and pens that bleed through thin bible pages, you will need to put a layer of white gesso on your page, which you can buy at Michael’s or any other art’s store. I am not sure if this happens with others while using gesso, but it tends to fade the writing on the page, even with the thinest layer, so I tend to stick to using things that do not bleed.

Thanks so much Samyi and Susan! I hope this inspires others to engage God and His Word in creative ways too! And check out some of their pages below!

Analog Meets Digital: Meet the Notebook that Connects to the Cloud

I have had a bit of a dilemma over the last few years. You see, those of you who know me know that I'm a bit of a tech geek, and make heavy use of my digital tools. But, at the same time, I've come to learn and recognize that writing things out by hand is actually much better for learning, comprehension, and retention. I have lived with this conundrum for a little while, and I tried when I am able to actually write things.

However, I do not intend on going back to the old days of filing papers in a drawer. The reality is that notes and documents are much more usable when they are stored on my computer in an easy to use fashion.

There are two items that are now in my repertoire which it helped me to bring handwriting back into my life, albeit in a limited capacity. Still, I found them very helpful and I can foresee continuing and increasing my use of them. The first is the Apple pencil, which works with my iPad Pro. This is truly the first tablet stylus that actually feels like a pen. The delay is almost non-existent. My main apps are DEVONthink To Go and Notability, and the pencil works great especially with Notability.

But while the Apple Pencil is kind of old news, the Everlast Rocketbook is the new kid on the block. It was a Kickstarter project and was even on Shark Tank. It is an actual notebook, which comes in a smaller size and a larger 8.5x11 size, with pages that can be erased with a moistened paper towel, provided that you use Pilot FriXion pens or highlighters.

But while it is cool enough to have erasable pages, the link between analog and digital comes with the free companion app. With the app, you scan the page and check off which cloud folder you want to send it to (see it in action in this video). I have this set up to go to a Dropbox folder, which is connected to my DEVONthink database. I then tag the PDF with some information, so that the information is easily accessible later via searching.

I wish I had known about the Rocketbook before the publication Surviving and Thriving in Seminary, as I would have recommended it in the book. But this blog post will have to do. Check it out!

Quality Bible Study Resources for $0

As a teacher and a scholar of the New Testament, I’m passionate about good resources for Bible study. The reality is that most of the best resources cost something, particularly the more in-depth resources. But, the good news is that there are still a number of great resources that don’t cost a dime, though you will need to jump around a bit on the internet to get at the best stuff. The unfortunate part is that the good resources are often drowned out by the amount of old and outdated resources on the internet (like all of the commentaries you find on biblehub.com and blueletterbible.org). This post highlights some high quality and FREE resources that I recommend. These are the kind of free resources that I would be content with my students using in assignments.

After recommending my number one resource, I’ll break down the resources by type rather than by website.

Faithlife Study Bible

The Faithlife Study Bible (FSB) is an incredible free resource from Faithlife (the makers of Logos Bible Software). After you sign up for the FSB on the site, the best way to access it is through the app, especially a tablet. But if you don't have a smart device, the Faithlife resources can be accessed through your web browser here, or you can download and install the free engine of Logos Bible Software to access your FSB resources.

Especially if you are a novice, the FSB will significantly increase the caliber of your study. The following resources are part of the FSB:

1. Translations. The FSB comes with some very good Bible translations, including two of my personal favorites, the Lexham English Bible (Faithlife's own word-for-word translation) and the NRSV. Also included is the ESV, KJV, NKJV, NASB, and the NIV.
2. Lexham Bible Dictionary. This is what continues to make the FSB stand out for me. Bible Dictionaries are amazing resources for learning more about the Bible, but there is no up-to-date Bible encyclopedia that is free online. Furthermore, the Lexham Bible Dictionary is comprehensive and written by top-notch scholars (and schmucks like me who wrote a few articles as well). This resource alone is worth the effort to sign up for the FSB.
3. Study Bible Notes. Almost everyone has a Study Bible with notes at the bottom of the page. The FSB is the largest and most up-to-date collection of study bible notes that are often multi-layered. These notes are excellent, and often link back to the Lexham Bible Dictionary for further information. The study bible notes will also link to media to further enrich your study.
4. FSB Media. Yet another thing that makes the FSB shine is all of the media included. There are stellar infographics, photos, and videos.
5. Search and Take Notes. The FSB enables you to search the Bible and take your own notes.

Commentaries

Unless I am missing something (and please let me know) there are no up-to-date commentaries worth your time that are free on the internet. You can find plenty of dated resources like Matthew Henry's commentary online. But these are severely dated and largely devotional commentaries that do not engage in any of the critical issues surrounding the text.

The closest we do get to commentaries online are study bible notes. I have already mentioned the excellent study bible notes in the FSB above, but another group of very good study bible notes is from the NET Bible. The NET Bible is connected with the excellent Bible.org website, and can be accessed through their online Lumina Bible reader. Their study bible notes are those that are tagged as "sn" (study note).

Greek Lexicons

Many people who don't really know the original languages will tend to use whichever Greek or Hebrew lexicon that happens to be on the site they are looking on (bible gateway, biblehub, etc). Unfortunately, many of these are simply the Strong's dictionary entry, which are both dated and very slim.

Fortunately, there is a good Greek lexicon, the Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek lexicon (LSJ). This is available through the Step Bible. Find the word in the English translation, click on the word, and it will show you the Greek word and the LSJ entry. Alternatively, you can look up the LSJ entry directly using the 2 Letter Lookup website.

Although it is older and not as good as the LSJ, Thayer's Greek lexicon is okay as well. This can be accessed through Biblehub. Go to your verse and access the interlinear. Above the word will be a little number (the Strongs number) – click on that to find the Thayer entry on the word.

Hebrew Lexicons

Unlike the LSJ which is still considered a standard Greek lexicon, none of the standard Hebrew lexicons are online. Fortunately, there are a few good ones with valuable information that are online. The first one is the Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) lexicon. Like the Thayer lexicon, this one can be accessed through the interlinear on Biblehub. Two other alternatives, available through 2 Letter Lookup is Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon and Jastrow's Hebrew lexicon. 

Text Critical Notes

For those interested in text critical issues (issues related the manuscripts and variants), the NET study bible includes text critical notes. These type of notes are almost nevery part of study bible notes, which makes these NET notes quite unique and valuable. Like the NET study bible notes, these can be accessed through the Lumina Bible reader. All of the notes tagged as "tn" (textual note) are text-critical notes.

Into Academic Waters – Journal Articles Online

For those that want to delve deeper into the academic study of the Bible and want to stay in the free realm can access many free journal articles online. A great spot to find these is the comprehensive biblicalstudies.org.uk. Use the menu to find the relevant Bible book or topic and see what articles you can find.
 

To close, I want to reiterate that a sizeable portion of Bible Study resources on the internet are dated. And if you are serious about Bible study, you should dive in with Logos Bible Software. If I missed anything good, let me know in the comments!

It Has Arrived! Surviving and Thriving in Seminary with Lexham Press

I was very happy to receive word yesterday that my latest book Surviving and Thriving in Seminary: An Academic and Spiritual Handbook has been released into the wild! It can be purchased for Logos Bible Software or through Amazon (publisher page here).

As many of you know, this book has been a labor of love for my students. I first wrote it as a self-published ebook a number of years ago. I continued to feel that it could be beneficial to a larger audience, and was thrilled that Lexham Press felt the same way.

During the rewrite stage, Benjamin K. Forrest joined me as a co-author, bringing his expertise on spiritual formation to the project. I'm very proud of the result and hope that the book will be a help to many seminary students.

I was also deeply appreciative of the many endorsements we received, the bulk of them from seminary presidents. Here are the three endorsements being used on the Amazon and Logos pages:

This is a very fine, well written book. It will help more seminarians start well, do well, and finish well. I will gladly and enthusiastically commend it to our students.
—Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Surviving and Thriving in Seminary is essential reading for the next generation of seminary students. In this carefully designed book, Forrest and Zacharias, with much wisdom and pastoral guidance, have thoughtfully introduced their readers to the multiple aspects of theological education, including shaping minds, transforming lives, as well as forming men and women for ministry. The authors have presented students with a great gift, providing both current and prospective students, as well as their families, with a thorough overview of the realities, privileges, blessings, responsibilities, and challenges involved in pursuing seminary education. Forrest and Zacharias are to be congratulated on producing this extremely helpful and beneficial volume.
—David S. Dockery, president, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Daniel Zacharias and Benjamin Forrest have written an immensely helpful book on how to prepare yourself when you’re totally unprepared for seminary. If you’re starting seminary, this book will give you a head start, and hopefully prevent you from turning your Christian life into a train wreck. This book covers everything you should know from prayer life to research skills to time management. I wish someone had told me this when I went to seminary.
—Michael F. Bird, lecturer in theology, Ridley College

If you are or know someone heading to seminary, this is the perfect book for them!

There Was No InnKeeper — and There Was No Inn Either! Some Christmas Reflections

Since the Christmas season is upon us, and I had the great pleasure of participating in my church's Live Nativity this past weekend, I thought I would blog some reflections on Luke 2.

Those of us who truly celebrate Christmas and its remembrance of the birth of Jesus are well familiar with the story. Mary, close to being full term, travels with Joseph her betrothed to Bethlehem, as there is a census that requires he return to his hometown. Upon arriving in Bethlehem, the InnKeeper breaks the news to them there is no open room, but they are offered a stable. Here is Luke 2:1–7 (LEB):

Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire. (This first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town. So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered together with Mary, who was legally promised in marriage to him and was pregnant. And it happened that while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Notice the unfortunate words of the InnKeeper — oh wait, there is no InnKeeper! It is a small point, but it a simple reminder that we often read back into the Bible what isn't there. I have heard New Testament scholars talk about the InnKeeper on televised specials! This character is so fixed into the Christmas story in our mind that we assume his presence. The InnKeeper is a great additional character for the Nativity plays in our churches each year, but let's make sure we understand what we are adding to the story.

Now what about the Inn itself? On this point I will need to do a little more explanation because almost every English translation uses the word "Inn" to [mis]translate the Greek word katalyma (κατάλυμα). Unfortunately, most of our English translations are doing us a disservice in continuing the translation of the KJV for this word as "Inn" – the NIV is an exception. When modern readers hear this word, we think of hotels. This is anachronistic and inaccurate. Let's hope that English translations going forward correct this mistake.

Our Greek word here occurs only 3 times in the NT, once here, and the other two are Mark 14:14 and Luke 22:11. In both of those instances, it is the "guest room," or simply "room," in which Jesus and his disciples will eat the Passover meal together. So katalyma is a room in a regular house — not a specially designated building. The study of this Greek word and its proper understanding in Luke has been best argued most recently by an NT scholar named Stephen Carlson. You can find the article here, or a summary of it here.

Two pictures below show what ancient houses would look like. This first picture is the same as that found in the wonderful book The Epic of Eden, which first introduced me to ancient housing styles.

I have no rights to this photo. Please click the image to find the source page.

Another image, somewhat different but still similar, is supplied by Logos Bible Software's infographics:

Part of the free Faithlife Study Bible infographics.

In both of these cases, the animals, including the feeding trough (commonly translated as "manger") which the baby Jesus was placed in is part of the house. Animals were not usually far separated from the living quarters. Having a barn far from the living quarters was susceptible to wild animals and thieves. Their livestock was some of their most prized and important possessions, so they kept them close.

What does this all mean? The traditional Nativity that plays out in the movies of our mind is almost certainly incorrect. In the popular retelling of the story, the heavily-pregnant or in labor Mary, on the back of a donkey being led by Joseph, comes to an Inn and desperately asks for a room. The InnKeeper tells them there are no available rooms, but knowing their desperation, he tells them there is a stable somewhere behind the Inn. Joseph hurriedly brings Mary to the stable, pushes some hay together, and with a stable full of animals, Mary, with just Joseph there to help her, gives birth to Jesus.

In reality, the picture that Luke paints is different. Joseph and Mary, coming close to term, traveled to Bethlehem. It is highly unlikely that they traveled alone, as traveling alone would be dangerous. Also, it may have been in their mind to go to Bethlehem at this time not just because of the census, but because they had some family support that could help Mary with the birth and to support her afterward. Mary and Joseph arrive at either a public house (an ancient type of hostel), or more likely to a family home of Joseph, either his father's or an extended family member's house. It does seem that Mary must have been in the throws of labor, as it was urgent enough that they had to choose the lower level of the home to give birth. There were some animals around, but there were also people close by in the same home, with other women very likely being there to assist, including those that likely traveled with them.

So in closing, I would suggest that this is a more accurate translation of Luke 2:7:

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was not enough space for them in the guest room.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments! 

Who is the Beloved Disciple? The Contenders

I am teaching for the first time a class on the Gospel of John, and having a great time doing so. One of the first things I tackled in the class was authorship – namely, who is the Beloved Disciple, the author of the Gospel? While church tradition has always pointed to the apostle John, son of Zebedee, there have been other scholarly opinions that have gained traction. As with all of the canonical Gospels, they are written anonymously. In this post I want to very briefly summarize the current positions on Johannine authorship, as well as point readers to further scholarly work on the options.

Contender 1: John the Apostle

The strengths of the traditional position are still quite strong in my opinion. John the son of Zebedee is one of the seven "acknowledged" apostles in John (see John 21:2), but is not specifically named (unlike Peter, Philip, Thomas, Judas, and Judas Iscariot). This leaves him known but anonymous. From the synoptic Gospels we that Peter, James, and John composed an inner circle of disciples, and in the Gospel of John it is the beloved disciple and Peter that are sometimes paired together. I think it is likely that early readers who knew of the synoptic gospels would have been predisposed to see John as the beloved disciple. Outside of the canon, the early church is for the most part unanimous in their attribution to John, though there are some interesting "quirks" in the early church discussion about John (mentioned below). Part of this early tradition is the early manuscript tradition in the form of the title: all evidence and manuscript evidence we have points to this gospel always being called "According to John."

Against the traditional position, we may look to the same verse above (John 21:2). If the epithet "beloved disciple" was meant to be anonymous, why mention the sons of Zebedee at all? And if the beloved disciple was John, and his brother James was by now martyred, why completely remove him from the entire Gospel? James is never mentioned by name. Furthermore, as the inner circle of disciples, we know from the other gospels that John was privy to several unique events: the transfiguration, the raising of Jairus's daughter, and Gethsemane. All of these are absent from the Gospel of John. Finally, in John 18:15 it seems clear that the beloved disciple was known by the Jerusalem leadership, yet John the apostle was a Galilean fisherman, and it seems odd that John would be known by the leadership. Finally, the "testimony" of the beloved disciple is a very important theme in John. It seems somewhat odd that this defense for the beloved disciple would need to be made if he were John of Zebedee.

Andreas Köstenberger, who is one of the finest Johannine scholars today, has argued in numerous writings on John for John the apostle as the author. See his 2004 commentary in the BECNT.

 

Contender 2: John the Elder

Many Christians don't realize that early church testimony, specifically from Papias (via Eusebius) tells us about two other apostles, Aristion and John the Elder. He was called "the Elder" because he was, well, old. He was a long-lived disciple, with Papias indicating that he out-lived the other disciples. If this is the case, then it would make sense of John 21:22-23, as this passage indicates that the beloved disciple had in fact died by the time John 21 was added as an epilogue. Identifying John the Elder as the author would for some help to tie in the Johannine letters as well, as 2 John and 3 John both state that they are from "the Elder," quite possibly indicating that these written by John the Elder. If John the Elder were the beloved disciple, the integrity of the title of the Gospel is maintained. It could also help to explain the weaknesses of contender 1 – perhaps John the Elder did hail from Jerusalem and was known by the leadership, perhaps even being a priest at some point. (This would possibly explain Polycrates's reference to John wearing the sacerdotal plate. cf. Eusebius, Church History, 5.24.2-3)

The weaknesses of this position are precisely the strength of arguments for contender 1. An addition weakness is the presence of the beloved disciple at Jesus' final meal with his disciples. While Mark is unspecific enough to allow for other disciples beyond the twelve, Luke (with his use of "apostle") and especially Matthew 26:20-21 restrict that meal to Jesus and the twelve. While John the Elder (and Aristion) may have been disciples of Jesus, they certainly were not part of the 12.

For those interested in this position, I encourage you to see the excellent book by Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.

Contender 3: Lazarus

Beyond being a fun option to consider, there is some decent internal evidence for seeing Lazarus as the beloved disciple. The main champion of this position has been Ben Witherington III, with a good blog post defending the position here. The biggest point in favor of this, in my opinion, is chapter 11 of the Gospel of John. Specifically, it is Lazarus (John 11:3) and his sisters who are the first people that Jesus "loves" in the gospel (John 11:5). Later, when Lazarus is sick, the sisters call for Jesus saying "the one whom you love is sick" (John 11:3) and later the love Jesus has for Lazarus is mentioned (John 11:36). It is not until after this episode that the "beloved disciple" is so-named (John 13:23). Based on internal evidence, it is not hard to make the move from chapter 11 to then identifying the beloved disciple as Lazarus. In addition, John 12:2 has Lazarus reclining with Jesus at a meal. The first mention of the Beloved disciple in John 13:23 has him reclining at a meal with Jesus (same Greek word ἀνάκειμαι used). Lazarus and his sisters live nearby Jerusalem, which may explain the focus on Jesus' Judean ministry, as well as how Lazarus was known by the Jerusalem leadership (John 19:27). Furthermore, if Lazarus were the beloved disciple, it may explain how the rumor that the beloved disciple would not die came about (John 21:23): Lazarus had been raised from the dead by Jesus. Perhaps the earliest followers believed he would just go on living!

As with all of the positions, there are difficulties with Lazarus as well. As far as the internal evidence goes, readers need to note that John 11:3 uses the Greek word φιλέω rather than ἀγαπάω in reference to Lazarus, but the "disciple whom Jesus loved" is always ἀγαπάω. As with Contender 2, the presence of Lazarus at the final meal is also potentially problematic. While the titles of the Gospels were not original to the first copy, they are still very early tradition that cannot be easily dismissed. As mentioned previously, church tradition has quite uniformly pointed to John the apostle as well.

For those more interested in this position, I point you towards Witherington. But I also want to point to a very fine MA thesis recently written by one of our grads at ADC. Dwight Crowell wrote on the authorship of John and defended Lazarus. Within the thesis, Dwight also did some very good work on the early church traditions surrounding John's authorship. You can access the thesis online here.

 

Contender 4: The Johannine Community

More than any other gospel, John has been connected with a Johannine community in academic discussion. Not only do we find "we" passages in the final epilogue chapter (John 21:24), but "we" is present in the prologue (John 1:14, 16) and at various spots through the gospel as well (John 3:11, 4:22, 9:4). The majority of Johannine scholars recognize some literary puzzles, with internal evidence of source usage and rough transitions (See John 1:18-19; 2:11, 4:54; 3:22; 7:3-5; 7:53-8:11; 11:2; 14:31; 16:5; 19:5, 9, 13; 20:30-31). This has led some to see the gospel as a community-compiled document, with much of the source material perhaps originating with John the apostle, but perhaps not. Most scholars of John see at least some sort of evolution, with stages or editions, to the Gospel of John (though see Stan Porter's article The Ending of John's Gospel)

The strength of this is the "we" passages. As mentioned, the literary seams in the Gospel seem to at least indicate multiple editions or a multi-stage composition. The weakness of a community-author idea is the frequent emphasis on the testimony of the beloved disciple. The gospel of John wants the reader to know that the testimony comes from this person, and I find it hard to believe that we ought to see the beloved disciple as a literary creation that is symbolic of a group.

 

Contender 5: The Gospel of "Johns"

I must admit that through my research in preparation for this course, I have become a fan-boy of the Johannine scholar Paul Anderson. I think Anderson has provided a strong-case for the Gospel of John to be understood as the Gospel of "Johns." Anderson agrees with most scholars that there was stages in the writing process, in his case he argues for two. He also agrees with the recent trend in scholarship to reclaim John as a source for the historical Jesus. At the same time, he recognizes the "community voice" that is sometimes heard in the Gospel.

The result is his two-stage edition hypothesis. It looks like this:

1. 1st Edition, 80-85 CE. John the Apostle composes a short gospel, as a response/augmentation of Mark, in order to supplement the church with Jesus' ministry in Judea and other teaching. This first edition ended at John 20:31, and begun with John the Baptist (just like Mark).

2. interim period, 85-95 CE. John the apostle and his community of disciples, which included John the Elder, continue preaching and ministering. During this time, the 3 letters of John are written by John the Elder, and John the apostle dies.

3. Final edition, 100 CE (or so). After the death of John the apostle, John the Elder compiles the gospel that we now have, adding the prologue (John 1:1-18), inserts chapter 6, inserts additional teachings of Jesus (chs. 15-17), inserts some other material to highlight the eyewitness material (John 13:23; 19:26, 34–35; 20:2) as well as added the chapter 21 prologue.

I see this theory as quite unifying and worthy of serious consideration. It has the advantage of taking seriously the above evidence for contenders 1, 2, and 4 and incorporates them together, along with helping to capture the relationship between the Gospel and the letters of John. The theory also maintains the integrity of the title and church tradition, while cogently responding to literary puzzles of John and incorporating the community aspect. Perhaps the greatest weakness is that it is a little complicated, but John is a complicated beast!

For those interested in this argument, I encourage you to check out Paul Anderson's book, The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel.

Conclusion

You can probably tell that I think Contender 5 is the best and has the most explanatory power. The authorship of John and the identity of the Beloved Disciple is a fun topic, and I hope I've peaked your interest in not only this topic, but this masterful text that we call John.

Coffee and Career Coaching with NT Scholar Gary Burge

Over the last week I had the pleasure of receiving some sage career advice from Gary Burge. Now I don't know Gary Burge (though I hope to meet him some day), but his advice comes to academics through his recent book Mapping Your Academic Career: Charting the Course of a Professor's Life. 

While I have been teaching for a number of years at the seminary level already, my move to academia has been felt much more with my recent move to Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College. People remind me often that I have big shoes to fill in the wake of Dr. Craig Evans, something I very much understand. Yet at the same time, Craig and I are different people, with different interests, and different strengths. What Burge's book also reminded me is that we are at different stages of our careers as well, and I can't expect to measure myself against someone who has mastered his craft, while I am still in the process.

Burge walks his readers through what he calls the "three cohorts:" 

• Cohort 1, age range approx. 28-38. Driving Question – "Will I find security?"
• Cohort 2, age range approx. 39-55. Driving Question – "Will I find success?"
• Cohort 3, age range approx. 50-70. Driving Question – "Will I find significance?"

For each chapter devoted to the cohorts, Burge discusses the potential pitfalls, the areas where academics ought to spend their time, fears, and of course revolves his discussion around what he considers to be the driving question during that time.

This book is sage advice from someone who is now in cohort 3. I appreciated hearing from someone in my specific area, and who happens to be an NT scholar I greatly admire. While reading, particularly the cohort 1 chapter, there were several times where I laughed out loud. Several times he put into words exactly what I was feeling – and more than anything it was nice to know that I wasn't the only one. While reading the other cohorts, it also helped me to understand other colleagues and scholars who I know, and prepared me to think more clearly about what my future may look like. It also reminded me that, while I may sometimes unfairly measure myself to senior colleagues in terms of something like publication, they may do the exact same thing back towards younger academics, but this time comparing things like technological savvy, rapport with young students, and stamina. At every stage of our careers, we are working through our own anxiety and (often self-imposed) pressure.

Whether you are new to the academic scene or have been teaching for 20 years, Burge's book will be a delightful read with gems of wisdom on every page.

And if anyone reading this knows Gary Burge, please tell him I said thank you!

Logos 7: Here is a Sampling of its Awesomeness

It has been two weeks since Faithlife launched Logos version 7, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it! But given my love for the software, you can bet that you'll be hearing more in the days to come.

The truth is that I don't get quite as excited as I used to, because I subscribe to Logos Now – so all of the shiny new features of Logos 7 have been released to me in six week cycles over the past 2 years. But it is still exciting, and I'm excited to talk to you about some of the new features in Logos 7. It is chalk full of awesomeness. Why do I say that?

Increased Access to Rich Data

Logos has spent many years adding rich data to the biblical text, but up until recently it hasn't always been that easy to access. This really started to change in Logos 6, and the trend continues in Logos 7. Faithlife has created so many awesome in-house resources that are available to users (like the Parallel Passages in the Pauline Letters that I helped create!). This is typified in the new interactive resources that are plentiful in Logos. Below shows off the new Bible Browser, as well as the Miracles in the Bible and the Speaking to God interactive resources. This video, by the way, is one of a number of new videos being added to my Logos Video Course that trains students on how to make full use of Logos, and I'm proud to say that it is still the best AND most affordable Logos training available.

Logos as a Learning Lab

Logos has always been a great place to turn for learning more about the Bible, but Logos 7 has really brought this to a whole new level. Two areas in particular highlight how Logos has really become a learning lab for users, guiding them into new knowledge and insight. The first spot is the new Courses feature. Here users will find a library of both video based courses (like Mobile Ed. courses) as well as text-based courses, where the student is guided through readings on a topic. While I know that Logos is pushing the mobile ed courses, I love the idea of a "guided reading" course, and I hope that Logos will continue to add to this section in the future. The second area which is focused specifically on teaching are some of the new interactive resources. Logos 6 introduced interactive resources like Who Killed Goliath and Counting the Ten Commandments. Logos 7 brings some great new teaching interactives like An Empty Tomb, Exploring Biblical Manuscripts, and Ancient Inscriptions.

Love for the Pastor and Scholar

Logos continues to keep both the pastor and the scholar in mind. The focus on media rich resources for pastors, as well as continuing to equip the Guides (passage guide and exegetical guide) with new features is great to see. I'm also excited to see the new Sermon Builder, and intend to write my next sermon with it so I can give a full review. and new datasets like the NT Manuscript Explorer, LXX Manuscript Explorer, Hebrew Bible Manuscript Explorer, and the Dead Sea Scrolls Interlinear Bible are awesome resources for scholars.

Have you had a chance to explore Logos 7? What's got you excited? Let me know in the comments.

Arguments for a pre-70 CE Dating of Matthew's Gospel

During my time of study under Craig Evans, he flirted with the idea of a pre-70 CE dating of Matthew's gospel at various times in class or in conversation. During my undergrad, I had for the most part come to follow the standard post-70 CE dating for most of the Gospels, with Mark being the only serious consideration of a pre-70 CE Gospel. During my dissertation work, I ran into this issue anew, particularly in the excellent Matthew commentaries by John Nolland (who was my external advisor) and Richard France. France in particular puts forth his case in his book Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher, which he regards as the fuller introduction to his NICNT commentary. Anyone who appreciates France's Matthew commentary should really have this prelude volume.

In reading the work of these scholars, I have become more persuaded that Matthew may indeed have been written before the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. This has important ramifications for the dating of at least Mark, pushing it perhaps to the 50s or even the 40s (as Crossley has argued). In addition, I have in the last few months stumbled upon the work of Alan Garrow, who puts together an excellent case for what he called the Matthew Conflator Hypothesis. Garrow argues that Matthew was the last of the synoptics written, utilizing Mark, Luke, and Q. I highly encourage you to watch his video presentations on his website. If both of these things are true (Matthew is pre-70 CE and is the last synoptic gospel written), this pushes Luke into the 60s as well. But that is an issue for another day!

 

A Survey of Recent NT intros and Matthew Commentaries

When discussing the dating of Matthew, it is good to get a sense of what modern scholarship is saying on the subject. The following introductions & Bible dictionaries date Matthew as follows:

• W. D. Davies (1969): 85 CE
• Ralph Martin (1975): 80-90 CE
• Ancho Yale Bible Dictionary (1992): 80-90 CE
• McDonald & Porter (2000): 80-90 CE
• Lea & Black (2003): pre-70 CE
• DeSilva (2004): post-70 CE
• Drane (2001): 80-100 CE
• Ehrman (2008): 80-85 CE
• Elwell & Yarbrough (2013): pre-70 CE
• Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 2nd ed. (2013): non-commital

A survey of the major commentaries on Matthew reveals similar diversity:

• Carson (1984): 60s CE
• Harrington (1991): 70s CE
• Morris (1992): 50s-60s CE
• Blomberg (1992): 58-69 CE
• Gundry (1994): 65-67 CE
• Hagner (1998): pre-70 CE
• Davies & Allison (1998): 80-95 CE
• Nolland (2005): pre-70 CE
• France (2007): pre-70 CE
• Luz (2007): early 80s CE
• Turner (2008): 80s-90s CE
• Keener (2009): late 70s CE
• Evans (2012): 66-69 CE

View fullsize

This itself is interesting in that the NT introductory textbooks lean more to a late dating, with a majority of the commentaries leaning to an early dating. Obviously this is a sampling and not exhaustive lists. But I think it provides a solid sample of current discussion on the issue. Davies and Allison provide a thorough list of some of the older commentaries, and can be seen by clicking the image to the right.

Arguments for a Late Date

Without being too reductionistic, the main arguments for a late date of Matthew fall into 3 main points:

1. The date of Mark's gospel being 65-70 CE. Because Matthew used Mark, we need to allow for some time to pass.
2. Jewish-Christian Relations. The tension found in Matthew is thought to reflect a time closer to Jamnia (85-90 CE) and the  birkat ha-minim, a clause in the Eighteen Benedictions, attributed to the rabbis at the Jamnia council: “Let Nazarenes and heretics perish in a moment, let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written with the righteous.” The counter this is, of course, the rest of the NT - namely Paul and the book of Acts. Tensions developed early on – there is no reason to push what we see in Matthew to after the temple's destruction.
3. More Developed Theology. Matthew seemingly contains more developed theology that better fits into a later time period. The areas most mentioned are christology (Matt 24:29-31, Matt 25:31-46), Ecclesiology (Matt 16:18, Matt 18:17), and the trinitarian formula of Matt 28:19. The counter to this is again the apostle Paul. Christology developed early, as evidenced by Paul (like Phil 2:1-11), and we have a trinitarian formula in Paul as well (2 Cor 13:14; Tit 3:4-6; 1 Pet 1:2)
4. Matthew 22:7: “the king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city”. Scholars who argue for a late date point to this Matthean addition to the parable (compare Luke 14) as being reflective of the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. In my opinion, this is a poor argument, as it would therefore equates the king of the parable with Caesar, when it is very clearly God. There is a simple alternative: It is punitive military language drawn from the OT and similar to other Jewish literature.
5. Olivet Discourse?? Notable by its relative absence in arguments for a late dating is Matthew's Olivet Discourse. If the destruction of the temple were to leave any residue on the text, surely it would be here. Hagner states: “Matthew’s redaction of the Markan eschatological discourse makes no attempt to disentangle the references to the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the age (chap. 24). Luke very deliberately does so in his redaction of Mark 13, and we might expect Matthew to do the same had it been written after 70.” (Hagner 1998, lxxiv)

Arguments for an Early Date

There are a number strong arguments from internal evidence that Matthew was written prior to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. In this list, I will put them in the order of strongest to weakest arguments.

1. Approving of the Temple Tax. Jesus in Matthew approves of the temple tax in Matt 17:24-27. While it is of course conceivable that Matthew is simply passing on Jesus tradition faithfully, the issue is that the temple tax after 70 CE became a tax for the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome. Bob Gundry states: “The distinctive passage 17:24 – 27 teaches that Jewish Christians should not contribute to their fellow Jews rejection of the gospel by refusing to pay the Temple tax. This exhortation not only shows Matthews concern to win Jews. It specifically favors a date of writing before AD 70; for after the destruction of God’s temple in Jerusalem the Romans shifted the tax to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome (Josephus J.W. 7.6.6 §218; Dio Cassius 65.7; Suetonius Dom. 12), and m. Šeqal. 8.8 says that the laws concerning “the Shekel dues … apply only such time as the Temple stands.”  Surely Matthew does not include this passage to support upkeep of a pagan temple, for then the argument implies that the disciples are sons of the pagan god! Nor can we suppose that Matthew is urging Jewish Christians to support the school of pharisaical rabbis that formed in jam yet during the aftermath of the Jewish rebellion, for he excoriates the Pharisees throughout his Gospel. The argument from 17:24 – 27 for an early date gains further cogency from the evidence that Matthew himself composed the passage.” (Gundry 1994, 606).
2. Swearing by the Temple. In a section unique to Matthew, Matt 23:16-22 talks about swearing by the altar and sanctuary. While again this may be a faithful passing on of Jesus material, it nonetheless becomes antiquated post-70 CE, and if Matthew was the composer, it would make even less sense.
3. Gift at the Altar. Like the previous passage, Matt 5:23-24 is unique to Matthew and would be teaching of Jesus that could no longer be followed if it was passed on, and make little sense for Matthew to compose after 70 CE if he composed it.
4. Den of Robbers. Matt 21:13 is a passage used from Mark 11:17, and paralleled in Luke 19:46. What is interesting about Matthew's version is that he makes a verb change to a present for the verb "saying,", making it a Historic Present that stands out. He then also edits Mark's verb "turning" to a present tense as well: "you are turning it into a den of robbers." This change to a historic present main verb and switch to a present in the reported speech may be to highlight the current situation - i.e. that the temple is still standing.
5. Jewish Persecution. If Matt 23:34 is reflecting current Jewish persecution of Christians by the synagogue, the verse implies an authority to punish that Jewish leaders did not likely have after the temple destruction.
6. Fleeing on the Sabbath. Jesus in Matt 24:20-21 tells his hearers that he hopes their flight in 70 CE won't be on a sabbath or in winter. Yet if Eusebius is trustworthy, we know what happened: “the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.” (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 3.5.3). If Matthew wrote after 70 CE, we could perhaps expect some revision to the words of Jesus to conform to historical reality.

To this internal evidence we can also add patristic evidence, as Irenaeus in Ag. Her. 3.1 states that Matthew wrote while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome (i.e. in the 60s).

Taken all together, I think there is more evidence for a pre-70 CE dating of Matthew, and as I said, this has implications for the dating of the other synoptic gospels. Have I missed any arguments for the late or early dating? Let me know in the comments!

The Relationship Between John and the Synoptics

In preparation for my first time teaching the Gospel of John at ADC this year in my new role as Professor of New Testament, I have been reading scholarship on the Gospel of John. In particular, I have been enjoying Paul Anderson's work on John. I may be wrong, but a preliminary looks suggests to me that he has published more on John than any living scholar (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Part of his research that has fascinated me is his theory of composition  for John and his theory on the interrelationship between John and the synoptic gospels.

Anderson presents a diagram that he titles Johannine-Synoptic Interfluential Relationships in The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus (pg 126) and The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel (pg 151). I would like to represent this diagram here for your consideration (with some jazzing up), as well as explain the diagram somewhat. You can also read an article by Paul Anderson on this theory in more detail in this article. After the explanation, you will see 3 more diagrams. Anderson's diagram adopts the 2-source theory of the synoptic gospels. I thought I would also create alternative diagrams adopting some other prominent synoptic theories (Farrer-Goodacre, Matthew Conflator Hypothesis, and Holtzmann-Gundry) – you'll find them at the bottom of the post. What I have linked to are some summaries of these theories. I especially commend to you Alan Garrow's page on the Matthew Conflator hypothesis. I'm currently quite taken with Garrow's hypothesis of Matthean posteriority, and his video on the linked page is a great presentation of the argument.

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Paul Anderson rightly critiques the common discussion on the synoptic relationship (a discussion which I enjoy) while leaving John out of the picture. This is a valid critique. Most synoptic discussion assumes no relationship between John and the synoptic gospels, yet numerous scholars believe there is in fact some sort of relationship. Anderson labels this an Interfluential relationship, meaning that at numerous stages in the composition of John, there was mutual influence within the traditions, which ultimately shows itself in the final writings of the Gospels. For the Gospel of John, we do not have a textual relationship as we do the synoptics, but Anderson argues that John nonetheless displays awareness of the other gospels.

In regards to Anderson's understanding of the writing of John (right side of the image), Anderson believes that the early Johannine tradition and the first edition of John is rooted in the Beloved Disciple's work, the disciple John, and is written somewhat in response to the Gospel of Mark. He continued his ministry and tackled false teaching, as evidenced in 1-3 John. After the apostle John's death, John the Elder compiled the Gospel in its final form, adding the Prologue (John 1:1-18), the feeding and sea-crossing (John 6), the discourse material (John 15-17), the additional ending (John 21), and some other scattered material on the beloved disciple (John 13:23, 19:26, 19:34-35, 20:3, 21:7, 21:24). This additional material is what has interfluence with the Gospel of Matthew.

Some final notes on the diagram:

• Anderson's diagram displayed Q as entirely oral. I've added a green outline and lines to indicate that Q shouldn't be seen as only an oral tradition.
• I've also altered Anderson's "interfluence" lines to demarcate textual connection with interfluence connection. This helps to better understand the relationships between the gospels, as the synoptic connections are clearly textual.
• As with most discussion on the dating of the Gospels, the dates are flexible. I personally lean towards a pre-70 CE dating for Matthew (something I'll blog on at some point), which pushes Mark into the 50s or 60s.

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Saent – A New App to Keep You on Task

When I hear about apps that might help me be more productive, I'm always eager to try them out. And while I may be a bit of an app junkie, it means that I come across some really good apps that I can pass along to others.

Introducing Saent

Saent is actually two things: a device and an app. The device and app began as a Kickstarter project. The concept for the device is actually quite brilliant – activating it blocks distracting websites on any devices, be it tablet, smartphone, or computer. I have not (yet!) tried the device, but I have been using the app and really like it.

The app which you can download here is similar to the device, but is confined to your computer. Saent combines website and app blocking with a pomodoro timer, and combines that with gamification so that you earn points depending on how well you do. I had previously done these types of things with a combination of AntiSocial, Breaktime, and Toggl. But AntiSocial is no longer developed, and has morphed into Freedom, which is somewhat similar to Saent, but in app-form only.

With Saent, you start a work session, choosing how long you want the session to be (30 minutes should be the least amount of time you choose!). You tell Saent what you are working on, and then you hit start. At that point you start working, and Saent will keep an eye on what apps and websites you are using. If you go on something like Facebook, it will warn you that you shouldn't be on there, telling you that you only have 2 minutes left. If you go beyond, it will attempt to push you off or give you a big jarring red screen, telling you to stop. Saent will also encourage you to take breaks, which is important for productivity. After a session, you can refine the list of "blocked" apps and websites, so that in the future Saent can keep you accountable based on what you see as distractions.

So far, Saent has been great. It is still in its early stages of development, but so far I'm very impressed. I encourage you to check it, or Freedom, out.

What's In My Ears – The Podcasts I Listen to

I have earbuds in my ears a lot. I love reclaiming time, or multiplying my time, by listening to something while doing something that doesn't require my ear attention. Yard work, driving, watching my kids play soccer, walking to work, exercising – all of these are times when I can listen to podcasts without affecting whatever else I am busy with. Before I list the podcasts that fill my time, I'll also mention that you need to find the correct times for listening to podcasts, and when to turn them off. For instance, I started writing this blog post with a podcast on. Two sentences in and I realized that I hadn't really heard anything on the podcast. When you need to be paying attention and focused on what you're doing, don't distract yourself.

Biblical Studies (and other Academic)

Probably no surprise tha biblical studies podcasts are the ones I gravitate to the most. And there are some great ones out there that I can heartily recommend to you. There are probably more than this, and if you have a suggestion, please leave them in the comments.

Kingdom Roots Podcast: The Kingdom Roots podcast is a podcast by Scot McKnight. I find McKnight to be a great communicator, I actually find him most clear in speech over against writing. The podcast genre, with a host that asks him questions, really puts McKnight in his element.  

Naked Bible Podcast: Michael Heiser is a force of nature in my opinion – in fact I'd love to sit down with this man at some point to understand how he manages to produce so much. He works at Logos, he has a busy blog, a great podcast, and is publishing books and articles. The first dozen or so episodes are a little slower as it is strictly a monologue. But it becomes a little more casual and natural once the new format of having a host comes into play. Many of these podcasts are like audio commentaries on chapters of the Bible, and Michael is unapologetic in his desire to understand what the text meant. He eschews any theological or practical considerations. In short, he's my kind of guy!

The PaulCast: This is a new podcast but has already had some stellar episodes and I have no doubt the quality will continue. Kurt Willems is a pastor and a pauline scholar who really knows his stuff. The early episodes called "Entering the Convo" will help many to understand the state of discussion on Paul in scholarship today.

NT Pod: Mark Goodacre, as usual, was at the forefront of the new technology and has one of the first (perhaps the first?) podcast for academic Biblical studies. While I don't ultimately agree with Goodacre on all issues, he is a bright and articulate scholar whom I highly respect. A minor annoyance with the podcast feed is that the episodes are listed out of order (not sure why).

Reasonable Faith Podcast: WL Craig is the main apologist of our time and I appreciate that he covers a range of issues. This podcast also helps me stay somewhat current on apologetics in general, and the intersection of faith and science in particular.

Occasional Listenings

I subscribe and listen to every episode of the above podcasts. Here are some other biblical studies and academically related podcasts I cherry-pick from.

Theology in the Raw: A little shorter and a little less in-depth by nature, I nonetheless really enjoy Preston Sprinkle's podcast. His multi-part podcast on the issue of homosexuality (stemming from his book People to Be Loved) is quite good. However, and this is most unfortunate, the early episodes (including the ones I just mentioned) don't seem to be on the feed anymore. This kind of goes against the whole point of podcasts, but my guess is that the radio program that then publishes the podcasts doesn't want to pay for the storage space, which is very unfortunate.

History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: A student turned me on to this one and I've enjoyed a few episodes of it so far and look forward to listening to more of them.

History of Christian Theology: This is a brand new one I've stumbled upon and so far I'm enjoying it. It may move soon to the "listen to every episode" list.

Church Leadership / Sermons

All of these podcasts sit in the "occasional listening" category for me, as I don't listen to every single episode of any of them.

Meeting House Sermon Podcast: Bruxy Cavey is a great speaker/preacher that is quite rich in content. I've listened to quite a few sermon podcasts, including all of the big names, and Cavey in my opinion seems to be the best read in the academic arena on the topics he preaches on. This is a breath of fresh air and I would love to see more preachers like this. He doesn't water down the content for his people, he provides a buffet and challenges them to go deeper.

Woodland Hills Sermon Podcast: Greg Boyd is another preacher who reads widely in academia and doesn't water things down in the sermon. I appreciate people like Boyd who stands in the old-school tradition of being a serious theologian/academic while also being active in ministry.

Leadership Momentum Podcast: I am not one who follows any one mega-church pastor religiously, but I'm also not one to bash these people and think they don't have anything worthwhile to say. The podcasts interacting with these people is enormous. So I've chosen one to subscribe to that has these big-named pastors on as guests.

Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast: Similar to the above podcast, but longer and published more frequently. I really respect Nieuwhof and I cherry-pick episodes on this podcast.

Parenting

There aren't a ton of parenting podcasts from a Christian perspective. The first one is newer and I listen to all of them, the second one I cherry-pick.

Parenting Great Kids: I got turned on to Meg Meeker when I read her book Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. So I was happy to see her new podcast on parenting.

Growing Leaders Podcast: I've called Tim Elmore at times my at-a-distance parental mentor. I really enjoy his blog and his podcast. This is a bit of a blend between leadership, youth, and parenting. I cherry-pick the episodes more related to parenting and teens.

Productivity (and Business-type-stuff)

Readers know I'm a bit of a productivity and lifestyle junky. I've learned a lot from these podcasts, been inspired, learned skills, and have received tips on blogging and advertising (for things like my courses).

This Is Your Life: I'm not sure how I stumbled upon Michael Hyatt, but I've enjoyed his blog and podcast for a long time. A mix of business, leadership, and productivity, I'm subscribed to this one.

EntreLeadership Podcast: This is a lot like the above in that it has a wide range of topics, but mixed in with this is talk on stewardship that I enjoy (It is under the David Ramsey brand after all). I'm subscribed to this one as well.

Related more directly to online business-type stuff, I also cherry-pick from the Freedom Fast Lane podcast as well as the Smart Passive Income podcast. Related more to life-coaching and productivity, I cherry-pick from the Tim Ferris podcast and the School of Greatness podcast.

By way of conclusion, I want to mention that if you use an iOS device for podcasts, I'd recommend Overcast as your podcast app. While I love apple, the apple podcast app doesn't hold a candle to Overcast (which is free, but is happy to take a donation as payment if you want to). Lastly, you see that I listen to a lot. One way I get through a lot of listening is by speeding up the podcast, usually to about 1.75x speed. Your brain can process listening faster than most people speak. And with Overcast, you can set a speed for each podcast (if a speaker is especially slow or fast). It also has a setting that analyses the podcast and skips dead-air space.

There's my list! Let me know if I'm missing any stellar podcasts, particularly in the Biblical studies area.

photo credit: iPhone Headphones via photopin (license)

Hiatus Over! What I've Been Up To

For regular readers of my blog you may have noticed the sound of crickets the past few months – my apologies. Life has been busy but I intend to get to more regular blogging. So what better way to break the silence than by telling you what has been filling my time!

Hudson

My wife and I welcomed our fourth child on March 19. Pregnancy is always tough on my wife, but as usual she was a trooper. There were some further health complications during the birth and after, but I'm happy to say that everything is great now. He brings joy to the house, and one thing I really enjoy is seeing my older children interact with Hudson, as well as them seeing how hard their mother works for her children.

 

Ordination

During my MDiv & MA at ADC I worked towards my ordination during my field education, but I did not complete the process, as I began working on my PhD immediately. Now that I have my PhD behind me, I have returned to completing my ordination process. It has been a great time working at my home church New Minas Baptist Church, and this August I go before the convention council. It has been an enjoyable process and I have appreciated working with my pastors and with my intern mentor.

 

Parallel Passages in the Pauline Epistles

In 2015 I pitched an idea to Logos Bible Software to create a parallel pauline reader. Logos had a parallel reader by Rick Brannan just on the pastoral epistles. I was happy to have Rick Brannan champion the project, and I spent many hours on this project. I was also most grateful to have a handful of grad students at ADC assist me with this project. The module is now published. Currently it is confined to Logos Now subscribers only, but I suspect it may be part of Logos 7, or purchasable on its own, at a later time.

Surviving and Thriving in Seminary

Many of you know that I self-published a small eBook a couple of years ago that has done quite well, but I really wanted to get some wider distribution for it. I am now under contract with Lexham Press to revise the work under the title Surviving and Thriving in Seminary: An Academic and Spiritual Handbook, and I am happy that Ben Forest has agreed to co-author the book with me. It should be out by the end of the year.

Young Scholars Summit

The Ellis Foundation has for the last 5 years hosted a young scholars summit, an annual meeting at Tyndale House. It was an honor to be asked to participate in the discussion on how Matthew makes use of Isaiah with several other young scholars from the states. Being in Cambridge was a wonderful experience, filled with great things to see, new friends, great conversation, and the wonderful atmosphere of Tyndale House. Out of the summit will come a presentation at an IBR session during SBL as well as a publication. 

Job Transition

As many of you know, Craig Evans transitioned to Houston Baptist University at the end of 2015. This meant some additional work for me last semester, particularly in the form of thesis supervision. I'm happy to report that I have officially been made the Assistant Professor of New Testament, beginning July 1. In addition, my role as go-to guy for technology has ceased, as I assume two new roles as the Director of the Hayward Lectures and Direct of Online Education. As part of our new online education initiative, I spent several weeks preparing and recording lectures for ADC's Interpreting the New Testament course. Part of coming into this new teaching position is the teaching of courses I have never taught before, which means I will be creating several new courses over the next few years. As I am deep into the Gospel of John, I suspect I will spend some time on John related issues in blog posts.

Psalms of Solomon Commentary

I'm currently in the midst of writing  brief commentary on the Psalms of Solomon for a one-volume commentary on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha being published Eerdmans. Ps. Sol. 17 and 18 were the focus of my MA thesis, so I am appreciating the chance to revisit this important pre-Christian work.

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

I am currently in the midst of a major revision of the Greek Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The Greek text and English translation was published by Accordance over a decade ago, back when I was just Craig Evans' TA. I am extremely grateful to numerous grad students who have assisted me in the revision process, and I look forward to completing this massive project and seeing this updated edition come to print.

Keeping on Top of New Testament Scholarship

We live in the information age and are continually bombarded by new information. For the majority of people, this information comes through the internet – specifically through content that is essentially curated by our friends (Facebook) or those whom we are interested in (eg. following someone on Twitter). I myself ditched ditched my RSS reader a long time ago in favor of those items that get into my social media feeds.

But there is no social media feed for scholars that apprise us of the latest research and scholarship. Unlike the 140-character world of Twitter and the YouTube hit sensations that are here today and gone tomorrow, scholarship and research is a slow and steady plod. And that is exactly how it should be. Publication and peer-review is where real advances are made in Biblical studies, not on Twitter, blogs, or YouTube.

So how best can scholars stay fresh in their field? I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m not perfect at this, but I’m learning along the way. And I have had several students ask me this very question - this blog is my answer.

Periodicals: General

Peer-reviewed journal articles is where new scholarship sets out and either gets accepted or sinks. The scholarship will then filter into wider scholarship and monographs.
The first and most basic thing someone can do is to at least see the titles of new articles, which can at least alert you to articles that you should read. Almost every journal has email alerts which you can subscribe to. Alternatively you can make use of my journal alerts feed.
More important than simply seeing the titles of new published articles is getting a better sense of the articles. In this regard, New Testament Abstracts and Old Testament Abstracts are essential. The first thing I do when I find a new article for research is grab its abstract from the OTA and NTA online archive. Every July NTA and every April OTA are updated in the online archives. The disadvantage of the online archives is that there is no way to read each issue of NTA or OTA (they are 3 published a year). This is why I recommend subscribing to NTA and/or OTA, this puts the abstracts in your hand 3 times a year and allows you to get a good sense of the ideas being published in your field on a regular basis. Both NTA and OTA also abstract books in the field.

Periodicals: Specific

Unless you are a speed-reader you can’t expect to read every article of every periodical that interests you. But you can be strategic and pluck a few which you will subscribe to. If you have institutional access to articles, then this is just a time commitment. But if you have to pay for your subscription, then you really need to be particular. Because every person’s interests are different, I hesitate to recommend which periodicals to get, but I’ll dip my toe into New Testament studies. If you had to only subscribe to 2 periodicals, I would recommend Journal for the Study of the New Testament and Novum Testamentum. I especially appreciate not only the high quality articles but also the book reviews in these periodicals.
The following is my attempt at a good list of Biblical studies journals. Please let me know what I missed.

• Aramaic Studies
• Biblica
• Biblical Interpretation
• Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture
• Bulletin for Biblical Research
• Currents in Biblical Research
• Dead Sea Discoveries
• Horizons in Biblical Theology
• Journal for the Study of Paul and his Letters
• Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus
• Journal for the Study of the New Testament
• Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
• Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
• Journal of Biblical Literature
• Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
• Journal of Semitic Studies
• Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies
• Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
• Journal of Theological Interpretation
• Journal of Theological Studies
• Novum Testamentum
• Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses
• The Expository Times
• Themelios
• Tyndale Bulletin
• Vetus Testamentum
• Vigiliae Christianae

Keep an Eye on Published Books

The big danger in keeping an eye on newly published books is the desire to put it on your to-read list, which is perpetually too big (at least mine is). You need to be safeguard that list of to-read books. Keeping an eye on newly published books is to make sure that you see the books you need to read, as well as what is current in your field.
There are several ways you can do this. Each publisher has a newsletter, and several also have email lists specifically  for their new catalog. You can also choose to get the actual catalogs in the mail. I only do this for a few publishers (I feel guilty for wasting the paper).
Another way to keep a (minimalistic) eye on recent releases is to read a “books received” list, the problem with this, though, is that not every publisher contributes to these lists. As a member of IBR I receive Bulletin for Biblical Research, and each issue ends with a list of books received. These are simple lists, but keeps us apprised of recently published books. Below is a list of the main academic publishers for Biblical studies (let me know if I missed any):

• B & H Academic
• Baker Academic
• Bloomsbury
• Brill Academic
• Cambridge University Press
• De Gruyter
• Eerdmans
• Eisenbrauns
• Fortress Press
• Hendrickson
• IVP
• Kregel Academic
• Mohr Siebeck
• Oxford University Press
• SBL Press
• Tyndale Press
• Vandenhoeck & Reprecht
• Westminster John Knox Press
• Wipf & Stock
• Zondervan

Book Reviews

Like most scholars, I love to read and would love to get paid for just reading books. But life doesn’t work like that. This is why book reviews are so valuable, they allow you to get a snapshot of a book to make sure it is worth reading, or to at least get something out of the book if it doesn’t make it on your reading list. Book reviews have already been mentioned, but just in case you missed it, NTA and OTA, as well as the periodicals offer book reviews by scholars. These are more valuable than reading the summary by the publisher, as it offers some critical feedback and interaction on the book. You simply cannot read every book in your field. Be a regular reader of book reviews.

Finally...

Do you need help reading? Well that's why I created my eCourse Reading for Information Extraction. I'd love to see you there!

Example Paper for Seminary and Bible College Students

I'll make a confession on behalf of all professors: we dislike poorly formatted papers. And while students may find it nitpicky, there are actually good reasons for properly formatting an assignment. It allows the professor to focus on your content, rather than getting distracted by the presentation. And most importantly, it helps us to see the ways in which you made use of sources and interacted with them.

Because of this, I spent a chunk of my time last summer creating an example paper for students at Acadia Divinity College. I'm happy now to offer up the paper here for other students, as well as professors who may want to use it as a resource for their own students. Enjoy!

photo credit: (302/365) Q W E R T Y via photopin (license)

Learning From Senior Scholars — What Would You Ask?

Biblical scholars, this one is for you.…

If you could sit down right now with a scholar you deeply respect, what would you ask? Now, before you start firing off theological, biblical, or exegetical questions that you can learn by simply reading their published works – what other questions would you ask? About teaching? About work habits? About writing? Publishing? Educational experience? Writing?

As a young and newly minted PhD, I desire to excel at my job. This means continuing to work at my skills as a teachers, as well as honing my skills as a researcher and writer. For me, this means learning from others. There are plenty of scholars I look up to and appreciate, scholars that I not only learn from but from whom I also desire to model my career after.

So I pose the question to you again: If you could sit down with a scholar whom you admire, what questions would you ask?

Why am I asking? Because I intend to ask these questions on your behalf to some senior scholars through the course of the next year. So I need your help so that I know what questions to ask.

Please leave the questions in the comments below. Thanks, Danny.

photo credit: My #AcWri #GetYourManuscriptOut process via photopin (license)

Encouraging Your Children to Read the Bible: 6 Options for Any Age

As Christians we are people of the Book. And as my children grow, one regular habit I want to cultivate in them is Bible reading. We often read the Bible together at dinner time, as well as talk about what we learn at church. The number one way to encourage your kids to read God's Word is to model it yourself. If you are able, do your Bible reading is such a way that they see you doing it regularly. In my case this doesn't work so well, because I get up early and part of my morning routine is reading the Bible. So I make sure that I mention what I read, or casually remind them every once in awhile that I read the Bible in the early mornings.

This year I have decided to challenge each of my kids to read the Bible. The common challenge to read the whole Bible can be daunting for adults, much less kids. I think that is a challenge that we can work up to. So I spent some time over the last few days to create Bible reading plans for each of my kids. Choose the option that best works for your child, but remember – they will develop this holy habit most effectively by seeing you do it.

Plan 1: Pre-Readers and Early Readers

My children were introduced to Bible stories first by me reading them. In this regard, I'd recommend Eugene Peterson's My First Message as well as the Jesus StoryBook Bible.

Plan 2: Young Readers

The Action Bible has been one of our best investments. Illustrated by a former comic illustrator, even I like looking at the pictures. This Bible is heavy on the visuals, but touches on most of the major stories. While my daughter never took to it, both my boys devoured it.

Plan 3: Bible Stories Reading Plan

This is the plan that I have challenged my two youngest children with this year. It goes beyond the previous options which are retellings of the Bible, and now encourages them to read the actual Bible on their own. I have chosen 110 stories from the Bible, with a few sections also covering some of Jesus' teaching and parables. Here is the PDF of this plan.

Plan 4: The Bible StoryLine Reading Plan

If you know your Bible, you know that a huge chunk of it is poetry as well as prophetic oracles. But children (well really, all of us) are especially drawn to stories. My oldest son is a reader, and I wanted to challenge him with something close to a chapter a day. This plan is just shy of that, so that if they miss a day here and there they will not be off track. I'm doing this plan with him this year, and I have enjoyed already the discussion we've had on the chapters. This plan goes through the entire story line of the Bible, with a focus almost entirely on narrative. Here is the PDF of this plan. If you would like to add a little more challenge, encourage your child to also read one psalm per day, and after that one chapter of Proverbs.

As your child (or yourself) begins to read whole books of the Bible (or almost whole books) with this plan, I'd highly encourage you to show them the awesome videos created by The Bible Project. This is a huge project and not every book of the Bible yet has a video, but the ones that are there are top notch. There is nothing else comparable, in my opinion, to these videos. Before your child begins reading a new book of the Bible, watch the video on that book with them first, so that they can see the overall picture of that book.

Plan 5: The New Testament

A good challenge, particularly I think for teenagers and up, is to read the New Testament. There are 260 chapters in the NT, so reading 1 chapter per weekday is more than doable. Encourage them to also take time to read the study notes from their Bible, and again I'd encourage watching The Bible Project videos that correspond to each book.

Plan 6: The Entire Bible

This takes commitment, but is of course well worth it. Before challenging anyone to this, the person really needs to recognize how much reading does need to be done per day, and make a plan for consistent reading. There are numerous options for doing this, with a popular one being a one year Bible like this one. Another option is to turn to our friends again at The Bible Project. They too have a reading plan for the whole Bible that you can find on their Tumblr page. As before, I highly recommend their videos. But I would also HIGHLY recommend a book called How to Read the Bible Book by Book. Only a few pages per book, this reading makes an excellent introduction to each book of the Bible before you read it. I teach the Bible Survey course at ADC, and this along with the Bible is the textbook.

Honorable Mentions

There are some great Bible apps for kids, and 1 in particular is worth mentioning because it is free. It is put out by LifeChurch.tv, and is called Bible for Kids. My daughter loves this app, as it is highly interactive. The other honorable mention is for those who may have read the Bible through before and are looking for a new way to do it – through an audio Bible. In this regard, the Inspired By audio Bible is fantastic. Read by actors, and well produced. I listen to this quite regularly.

Do you know of other good reading plans? Let me know in the comments.

photo credit: A little boy reads a big book with river at background via photopin (license)