Author: wilrens
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Special Project: Reading the Greek NT
Every once in a while my Bible reading starts to run dry. I am not getting much out of it anymore. I catch myself thinking the same things as the last time I read a particular passage. Often, when I reach this point, I am in a rut, and it is simply time to change…
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End Bible Poverty Now, So Henrietta C. Mears Might Say Today
This is the post that almost did not get written. Henrietta Mears originally caught my attention when I found out she was a Sunday school teacher (or so I thought; turns out she was much more) who published a book with an introduction to each book in the Bible, and this book sold four million…
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Do the Feasts of Israel Have Prophetic Significance?
While writing on blood moons for September of this year, I ran into an idea that I had heard before, but have not paid much attention to recently: the Old Testament feasts foretell in some detail the course of salvation history. More specifically: the spring feasts were fulfilled in Christ’s first coming; the fall feasts…
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Paul in Three Words
Paul summarized in three words!? Generations of theologians have wrestled their brains out with Paul’s thought, and now we are able to summarize all of this in just three words? I don’t blame you if you are sceptical, but give N. T. Wright a chance: he thinks he can do it, even though it takes…
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DIY Habakkuk
After the excitement of last month’s issue dealing with blood moons and other “cataclysmic” events, it’s time for something more down-to-earth. In a very real way, this issue is about the book of Habakkuk. At the same time, I am not going to tell you anything about it. This is a DIY, a do-it-yourself issue.…
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Blood Moons Rising: The World Is About to End
We are finally going to get what so many of us have been eagerly awaiting: the end of the world. It is near, and this time it is for real. The harbinger of the apocalyptic mega-event is the fourth and last of an exceptional series of lunar eclipses, also called blood moons, which is to…
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Seven Reasons to Read Leviticus
According to Torsten, a good friend with whom I worked in the School of Biblical Studies for many years, this is the most important book in the Pentateuch. I disagree, of course. My wife thinks it is Numbers; for this reason I did an earlier issue giving six reasons to read Numbers. If you ask…
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How Ancient Rhetoric Helps Us to Understand the Bible Better (II)
For April of this year, I dedicated a post issue to the subject of socio-rhetorical criticism. One fascinating takeaway from that exercise was the realization that most NT letters are not really letters as much as they are speeches or discourses of various kinds. They had to be put in writing because their author could…
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Get Your Digital Toolbox Now!
The blog post for this month is short. It merely serves to introduce the new eBook with links to internet resources and Bible software. This month’s content is to be found there, not in this post! The book in question is not a book to simply read; over 200 links to websites and other resources…
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One Year Anniversary; Plus: Disentangling the Knot of 1 John
This issue of Create a Learning Site marks one year of blog post and training letter writing. The first post and letter, which wrestled with the cryptic second half of Zechariah, appeared on 5 May 2014. I have certainly enjoyed the study projects and the opportunity to learn and share what I am learning with…
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A Fresh Look at Old Letters: Socio-Rhetorical Criticism
With this subject, I am taking you along on my own recent learning experience. Socio-rhetorical criticism is a relatively new approach in biblical studies, and I have taken some time to get to know it better. Admittedly, the term “criticism” is unfortunate, because of its negative connotation in everyday language. No such negative bias is…
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Creative Meditations Using Stations
My first encounter with creative meditations in the form of stations was in 2010 when we came to Spain to do the Leadership Development Course (LDC). On our first full day together, after an impressive welcoming breakfast, we had an hour or so to go around a number of stations that had been set up…
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Six Reasons to Read the Book of Numbers
When Was the Last Time You Read the Book of Numbers? I read the book to write this letter, of course, just so that I could have Uncle Sam point his finger at you! Seriously though, this book is worth reading. Whoever decided to publish it under the title “Numbers” did not understand much about…
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The Power of Story: How Paul Quotes Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10
Things I Am Learning from N.T. Wright’s Colossal Book on Paul, Part 2 In Romans 10, Paul contrasts works-based righteousness with righteousness based on faith, illustrating both by quoting a verse from the Torah. For righteousness based on works, he cites Leviticus 18:5 (ESV): You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a…
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How to Study (and Teach) a Big Book
Here is the bottom line right at the start: to successfully study a big book you have to make it a priority and allocate time to it, or it is not going to happen. But don’t worry, this is not a “you ought to… (do this; do that; do more)” kind of letter/post. Instead, I…
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The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Imperial Cult in the Roman Empire
Things I Am Learning from N. T. Wright’s Colossal Book on Paul, Part 1 I started reading Paul and the Faithfulness of God during the Christmas break and now, more than 10 months later, I am still at it. But I am learning a lot on the way, and this month I want to start sharing…
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Who Is “I” in Romans 7? And: A Fresh Look at Romans 1-8
Paul’s epistle to the Romans is a book I taught quite a bit during my early years in the School of Biblical Studies, but not much at all in later years. In the course of a school one cannot, alas!, teach every great book in the Bible oneself; other staff want their share of teaching,…
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115 Articles: Which Ten Are Most Helpful? (Reading the IVP Dictionary 4)
Yeah! Mission accomplished. I managed to complete my reading project in the ten weeks I gave myself for it. This will therefore be my final report. So I managed to accomplish the mission; but did I fulfil my objectives? As stated in the initial letter on the project, they were: I can only speak for…
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From “Isaiah” to “Sin” in 360 Pages (Reading the IVP Dictionary 3)
This is another “extra edition”, to keep you up to date on my reading project: the IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets. The short version is included in the title: from “Isaiah” to “Sin” in 360 pages. With about 200 pages left to go, I am on track to finish on time, two weeks…
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8 Things I Learned from Living in a Mediterranean Climate
Since I am still in the middle of my reading project, and since the book I am reading has turned out to be rather heavy stuff, I looked for something that is a little lighter for this month’s letter. So I am taking a break from scholarship on the prophets. Instead, I would like to…
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The Prophetic Books: Cut and Paste? (Reading the IVP Dictionary 2)
The good news is: I am on track with my reading, even a little bit ahead of schedule. There is bad news too, and there is a change of plan because of it (see below). Reading this dictionary, I am beginning to accumulate a fair bit of frustration with the contributing scholars. A number of…
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My First Special Project: I Am Reading the IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets (IVP 1)
Finally! I have been waiting to do this for a long time. And I am inviting you to be part of the learning experience. I will summarize the framework for this project below, but this four-minute video does a better job than written words can do, so please watch it and then come back to…
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Hungry? Come and Eat! (Isaiah Says It’s on the House!)
What Do You Do to Feed Yourself Spiritually? There is an unfortunate downside to asking this question. Too many of us respond with feelings of guilt. In a way, this is a strange reaction. Most of us will have dinner tonight. Let’s assume that for some reason we forget or simply don’t get around to…
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Zechariah 9-14: Does It Make Any Sense?
Once again I have been asked to teach the book of Zechariah in an SBS this month. I suspect because no one else was eager to take it on. I can understand why. This is an intimidating book with some very confusing passages in it. I have often thought it may be the most difficult…
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Six Reasons Why I Am Starting This Blog (and Why You Might Want to Follow It)
Any SBS graduate will recognise the “Why?” question; it is often a good one to ask when engaging with a biblical text. Here, I am asking it in relation to this new platform: why bother? In these first few pre-launch posts I explain my motivation a bit more in detail – for those who are…