Here is an list of readings on Philippians, most of the books relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on this significant, short letter.  One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. I devote a fuller discussion of Philippians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20.  That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts.  If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography.    ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context for Paul’s epistles. Beker, J. Christiaan. Paul the Apostle: [...]

It occurred to me that another nice resource for this “Nutshell” Series might be some of the additional materials I present in my New Testament textbook for each of the books I discuss.  Two separate items I provide there are (a) rapid fire summaries of each book that I call “At a Glance” and (b) a set of study questions that challenge students to take a position on key aspects of the book, that I call “Take a Stand.” I’ll present these on the blog in the same canonical sequence as I’ve provided the Nutshell posts. Here they are for the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. The Gospel of Matthew AT A GLANCE Matthew’s Gospel was written in Greek, around 80–85 c.e. Its author, later thought to be the tax collector mentioned in Matthew 9:9, in fact left his identity anonymous; he must have been a Greek-speaking Christian, probably from outside Palestine. Among his sources were Mark, Q, and M. By studying his additions, omissions, and alterations of Mark (i.e., by doing [...]

Here is an list of readings on Galatians, most of the books relevant to all the undisputed Pauline epistles, with a couple of commentaries specifically on Galatians.  One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on. I devote a fuller discussion of Galatians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20.  That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts.  If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography. Here is an annotated bibliography of books that will deal with Galatians  ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. Includes a superb discussion of the practices of letter writing in Greco-Roman antiquity as the social context [...]

In this series of posts have been summarizing each book of the New Testament, in canonical sequence, “in a nutshell.”  I have now come to 2 Corinthians, a book less-frequently read and known than 1 Corinthians. Have you read it?  Do you know it?  If so, try to give a summary of it, in one sentence of fifty words.  Here’s my attempt.   In 2 Corinthians Paul explores the history of his checkered relationship with the church in Corinth, recounting both his gratitude that they have turned back to him in friendship and loyalty after earlier having rejected him, and severely upbraiding them for questioning his apostolic authority and following other “super apostles.”   Now I will try to unpack the letter at greater, though still nutshell, length. ****************************** One of the great values of 2 Corinthians is that it allows us to trace in some detail the relationship Paul had over a period of time with his converts who made up the church in Corinth.  The book was written after 1 [...]

Here are some questions I've recently received from blog readers on various intriguing topics, and my responses. QUESTION: Thanks for the extremely helpful distinction between apocalypticism and eschatology. I would appreciate clarification on another distinction, namely the distinction between “consistent” eschatology and the “realized” eschatology promoted by C.H. Dodd. If I understand correctly, the “consistent” eschatology of Schweitzer argues that Jesus’s teaching consistently refers to the Kingdom of God being something that was coming in the future, at the end of time. This contrasts to “realized” eschatology, in which Jesus is understood as saying that the Kingdom of God has been fully realized in the present, through Jesus’s person and ministry, and that no future expectation is required. Am I correct in this understanding? If my understanding is correct, would you agree that the realized eschatology argument seems to be a case of “special pleading,” invoked because the proponents of it don’t like the idea of Jesus getting his apocalyptic eschatology so desperately wrong?! I mean, if many Jewish people at the time of Jesus [...]

Since Paul’s letter of 1 Corinthians is so central to the modern study of Paul, most of the scholarly books written about Paul for general audiences will either deal directly with it or be in part based on it. I devote a fuller discussion of 1 Corinthians in my textbook, Bart Ehrman and Hugo Mendez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2024), ch. 20.  That’s a good place to start for a fuller exposition of what I have given here in my nutshell posts.  If you have an earlier edition of the book, it will be pretty much the same, except for the expanded bibliography. Here is an annotated bibliography of books that will deal with 1 Corinthians, most of them as part of their overall discussion of Paul and his letters.  For direct discussion of 1 Corinthians in particular, see especially the book by Dale Martin (The Corinthian Body) and the two commentaries.  ****************************** Aune, David. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. [...]

I have a special request to make of all members of the blog. It won’t cost you a dime, but could help bring in thousands. It involves a bit of participation on your end that should be simple but fruitful. Can you help? Here’s the deal. Those of us who produce the blog (Jen, the whole team of volunteers, and I) are very excited that we are moving into its next phase. The blog has done amazing things till now, as you know: over $3 million raised over its lifetime, $580,000 just this past year. Greater things are ahead, as it just gets better and better. We are confident of that because, as you may also know, we have hired an impressive development team, DesignHammer, to create a new, better, and more creative Blog platform that will allow us to accomplish a lot more and a lot more efficiently. The basics of the blog will be the same – I’ll post 5-6 times a week, members at the silver, gold, or platinum levels will be [...]