TEE Weekend in May

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I had a very busy 2 weekends in the month of May teaching a course on Biblical Interpretation for our Theological Education by Extension programme.

Here is a group photo of the students who took the class with me, and endured a total of 28 hours of gruelling time of instruction. I hope they have learnt something in the course.

For a perspective of one of the students who took the class, please click here. (Thanks, Janelle, for the post).

Review of Biblical Literature May 15, 2009

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature on May 15, 2009

Noam Adler
A Comprehensive Collection of Oil Lamps of the Holy Land from the Adler Collection
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6855
Reviewed by Jodi Magness

Janice Capel Anderson and Stephen D. Moore, eds.
Mark and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6595
Reviewed by Renate Viveen Hood

Roger S. Bagnall, ed.
Egypt in the Byzantine World 300-700
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6510
Reviewed by David Frankfurter

Johanna Brankaer and Hans-Gebhard Bethge, eds.
Codex Tchacos: Texte und Analysen
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6827
Reviewed by Michael Kaler

David B. Burrell
Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6769
Reviewed by F. Rachel Magdalene

Warren Carter
John and Empire: Initial Explorations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6604
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Raymond F. Collins
The Power of Images in Paul
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6723
Reviewed by Nils Neumann

Craig A. Evans, ed.
Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7022
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Susan Haber; edited by Adele Reinhartz
"They Shall Purify Themselves": Essays on Purity in Early Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6736
Reviewed by Jonathan D. Lawrence

Mika Hietanen
Paul's Argumentation in Galatians: A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6562
Reviewed by Johan S. Vos

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
St. Paul's Ephesus: Texts and Archaeology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6423
Reviewed by Jan Van Der Watt

Marvin Sweeney
Reading the Hebrew Bible after the Shoah: Engaging Holocaust Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6700
Reviewed by Jon D. Levenson

Benedict T. Viviano
Matthew and His World: The Gospel of the Open Jewish Christians Studies in Biblical Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6761
Reviewed by Boris Repschinski

"The Sufferings of Christ Are Abundant in Us" is Released

I am pleased to announce that my book, "The Sufferings of Christ Are Abundant in Us: A Narrative Dynamics Investigation of Paul's Sufferings in 2 Corinthians" has been released by T and T Clark for the UK market.

For the US market, the scheduled date for release is July 2009. Pre-order through Amazon.com is available at a price of US$92.51 (retail price is US$130.00), even after a rather attractive discount of 29%!

Review of Biblical Literature, May 9, 2009

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature on May 8, 2009.

John Ashton
Understanding the Fourth Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6733
Reviewed by Craig R. Koester

Yitzhak Berger
The Commentary of Rabbi David Kimhi to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6210
Reviewed by Amos Frisch

Reimund Bieringer, Emmanuel Nathan, and Dominika Kurek-Chomycz
2 Corinthians: A Bibliography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6708
Reviewed by Victor Paul Furnish

Michael F. Bird
Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6559
Reviewed by Andreas J. Kostenberger

James K. Bruckner
Exodus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6555
Reviewed by Brian D. Russell

Billie Jean Collins
The Hittites and Their World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6174
Reviewed by Willemijn Waal

Cornelia B. Horn and Robert R. Phenix Jr., eds. and trans.
John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6705
Reviewed by Ilaria L. E. Ramelli

Dirk J. Human, ed.
Psalms and Mythology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6461
Reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard

Patricia A. Kirkpatrick and Timothy Goltz, eds.
The Function of Ancient Historiography in Biblical and Cognate Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6671
Reviewed by Ernst Axel Knauf

Ilana Pardes
Melville's Bibles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6384
Reviewed by Michael Kaler

Stanley E. Porter, ed.
Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6100
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Blazej Strba
Take Off Your Sandals from Your Feet! An Exegetical Study of Josh 5, 13-15
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7043
Reviewed by Ovidiu Creangă

Daniel J. Treier
Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Recovering a Christian Practice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6649
Reviewed by Edward W. Klink III

Robert L. Webb and Betsy Bauman-Martin, eds.
Reading First Peter with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of First Peter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6447
Reviewed by Bonnie Howe

Missing in Action?

I know I have not been blogging for a while - to be precise, 24 days - and this has given rise to speculation of my missing in action.

Some say I have found a girlfriend and am now busy spending time with her (you wonder how people can come up with such a reason!).

Some say I have been too busy having vacation (can one be too busy vacationing?).

For whatever reasons, I have been busy - and I have been away from home for some time.

But I am now back. And I am back blogging. More to come soon!

Busy TEE Weekend

Over the next two weekends (8-10th May and 15-17 May), I will be busy teaching a course on Biblical Interpretation for the seminary's Theological Education by Extension programme at the Petaling Jaya/Kuala Lumpur centre.

As at last count, there are a total of 25 students who have signed up for the course. The number for this class is slightly bigger than usual, partly due to the fact that this is a core course for the TEE programme.

I look forward to having a good time with the students this coming two weekends. It's no rest for the wicked budding NT scholar!

Publish or Perish? OR Publish then Perish?

Some months ago, I had a rather interesting conversation with a faculty member teaching in a theological institution in the country. The conversation went something like this:

Lecturer A: "So what have you been busy lately?"
KY: "Proof reading my book, and at the same time, hoping to get my other book done by September."
Lecturer A: "Why are you so busy writing books?"
KY joked: "As an academician, its either publish or perish!"
Lecturer A: "You should stop writing and go and do some ministry."
KY: Speechless......

What is ministry? Isn't book writing also constitutes a form of ministry? Since when do we have such a narrow view of 'ministry'? Is this an indication of the health of our theological institutions in the nation?

Some food for thought

Moving From Youth Camps to Family Camps.....

About 6-10 years ago, I used to speak regularly at youth and young adults meetings and camps. These days, there is hardly (if any) invitation to speak at youth and young adults meetings and camps.

But on the other hard, I find invitations to speak at family camps have been increasing in recent months.

What does this suggest? It can only mean one thing - that I am fast aging.....

Review of Biblical Literature, 29 April 2009

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature:

William S. Campbell, Peter S. Hawkins, and Brenda Deen Schildgen, eds.
Medieval Readings of Romans
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6528
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

Adrian Curtis
Oxford Bible Atlas
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6734
Reviewed by George Athas

Lois M. Farag
St. Cyril of Alexandria, a New Testament Exegete: His Commentary on the Gospel of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6274
Reviewed by Hennie Stander

Terence E. Fretheim
Abraham: Trials of Family and Faith
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6633
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia

Susan Haber; edited by Adele Reinhartz
"They Shall Purify Themselves": Essays on Purity in Early Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6736
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Justin K. Hardin
Galatians and the Imperial Cult: A Critical Analysis of the First-Century Social Context of Paul's Letter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6651
Reviewed by Mark D. Nanos

Susan R. Holman, ed.
Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6597
Reviewed by Preston M. Sprinkle

Cornelia B. Horn and Robert R. Phenix Jr., eds. and trans.
John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6705
Reviewed by Pauline Allen

Henry Ansgar Kelly
Satan: A Biography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5590
Reviewed by James A. Metzger

Dale B. Martin
Pedagogy of the Bible: An Analysis and Proposal
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6609
Reviewed by Renate Viveen Hood

R. J. R. Plant
Good Figs, Bad Figs: Judicial Differentiation in the Book of Jeremiah
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6432
Reviewed by C.A. Strine

Regards croisés sur la Bible: Études sur le point de vue (Actes du IIIe colloque international du Réseau de recherche en narrativité biblique Paris, 8-10 juin 2006)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6101
Reviewed by Jean-François Racine

Kenneth Schenck
Cosmology and Eschatology in Hebrews: The Settings of the Sacrifice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6593
Reviewed by Jason A. Whitlark

F. Scott Spencer
The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6499
Reviewed by Gregory E. Sterling

Ivar Vegge
2 Corinthians-A Letter about Reconciliation: A Psychagogical, Epistolographical and Rhetorical Analysis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6980
Reviewed by Laurence Welborn

Off to Camp

In a short while, I will be heading off to Harvest Haven, Gopeng, speaking in a family camp. I am looking forward to having a good time with members of the Faith Evangelical Free Church.