"Yellow" Snow in STM!

It snowed on Maundy Thursday in the seminary - and it was not white but yellow! The tress dropped the yellow flowers and covered part of the campus in a carpet of bright yellow colour. And it "snowed" on gardening day. But I guess divine providence had it that it rained just before gardening time, and gardening was cancelled. If not, pity the students who have to clean up that section of the campus.

For another perspective, see my colleague's post.

Maundy Thursday Reflection

I was going through several paintings on Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. I wonder which of the following reflects this account more accurately?

Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship

The Society of Biblical Literature announces the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship. The purpose of this Scholarship is to "stimulate the finest and most penetrating work in New Testament Studies."

An award of US$1,000 will be given to an SBL member who, in the judgement of the award committee, "submits a paper of publishable quality in New Testament Scholarship; delivers the paper for discussion at an SBL national or international meeting; and demonstrates excellence in New Testament research and teaching."

For details on eligibility and submission requirements, please click here.

Another Busy Week Ahead....

Even with the D Min module on Advanced Hermeneutics and Homiletics behind me now, there is still no rest for the wicked budding NT scholar!

For the upcoming week, I still have the Palm Sunday and Good Friday sermons (including a script for a skit for Good Friday) to prepare. With whatever remaining time I can find (apart from the regular teaching responsibilities), I need to complete 3 papers to be submitted to the Evangelical Free Church Malaysia Ordination Committee by April 11 for their deliberation. My ordination interview and examination is now scheduled on April 25.

I am looking forward to my vacation during the semester break in May.

Review of Biblical Literature 3rd April 2009

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature. Note the reviews on Neil Elliot's The Arrogance of the Nation, and Joseph Fitzmyer's commentary on 1 Corinthians.

Piotr Bienkowski, Christopher Mee, and Elizabeth Slater, eds.
Writing and Ancient Near Eastern Society: Papers in Honour of Alan R. Millard
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5108
Reviewed by Raymond Person

Gerald L. Borchert
Worship in the New Testament: Divine Mystery and Human Response
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6648
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Thomas L. Brodie
Proto-Luke: The Oldest Gospel Account: A Christ-Centered Synthesis of Old Testament History Modelled Especially on the Elijah-Elisha Narrative
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6054
Reviewed by Gerbern S. Oegema

Stephanie Lynn Budin
The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6566
Reviewed by Mayer Gruber
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Roland Deines
Die Gerechtigkeit der Tora im Reich des Messias: Mt 5,13-20 als Schlüsseltext der matthäischen Theologie
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6024
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Neil Elliott
The Arrogance of Nations: Reading Romans in the Shadow of Empire
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6481
Reviewed by Glenn E. Snyder
Reviewed by Graydon F. Snyder
Reviewed by Ben Witherington III

Weston W. Fields
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Short History
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6369
Reviewed by Eric F. Mason

Benjamin Fiore
The Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6157
Reviewed by Matthew D. Montonini

Joseph A. Fitzmyer
First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6687
Reviewed by Anthony C. Thiselton

Matthew E. Gordley
The Colossian Hymn in Context: An Exegesis in Light of Jewish and Greco-Roman Hymnic and Epistolary Conventions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6564
Reviewed by Vincent Pizzuto

Wouter J. Hanegraaf, ed.
Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6316
Reviewed by David E. Aune

Edith M. HumphreyAnd I Turned to See the Voice: The Rhetoric of Vision in the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6286
Reviewed by Greg Carey

Matthias Köckert
Die Zehn Gebote
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6248
Reviewed by Paul Sanders

Andreas J. Kostenberger and Scott R. Swain
Father, Son and Spirit: The Trinity and John's Gospel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6661
Reviewed by Mary Coloe

Oded Lipschits, Gary N. Knoppers, and Rainer Albertz, eds.
Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6106
Reviewed by Allen Kerkeslager

Linda M. MacCammon
Liberating the Bible: A Guide for the Curious and Perplexed
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6631
Reviewed by Martin Meiser

Chaim Miller, ed.
The Gutnick Edition Chumash: With Rashi's Commentary, Targum Onkelos and Haftaros with a Commentary Anthologized from Classic Rabbinic Texts and the Works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6652
Reviewed by Jason Kalman

Eckart Reinmuth
Anthropologie im Neuen Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6907
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Robert Rezetko
Source and Revision in the Narratives of David's Transfer of the Ark: Text, Language, and Story in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13, 15-16
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6463
Reviewed by Terrance A. Clarke

Eric A. Seibert
Subversive Scribes and the Solomonic Narrative: A Rereading of 1 Kings 1-11
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5656
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

First Historic D Min Module in STM

It has been a great learning experience for me in teaching the first Doctor of Ministry module for the past few days.

There are a total of 20 DMin candidates taking the first modules offered in both the English and Chinese programmes. A total of 15 candidates signed up for the first Chinese module taught by Prof Kung Lap Yan from Hong Kong, with another 5 signed up for the English module.

Today will be the final day for the DMin module. I trust and hope that those who sit in my class would have, in some ways, benefited from the module, and that they have enjoyed it just as I have in interacting with them. It has been very tiring and exhausting, but equally enriching and rewarding for me.

Fancy a High Paying Job as a Pastor?

Sze Zeng blogs about the recent report in the Singapore Straits Times concerning big pay-checks for church leaders there. It is reported that one church leader is paid between S$500,001-550,000 as reported in the church's last financial year report.

Sze Zeng also mentioned that the church is currently hiring. That piece of news got me excited - perhaps I could apply for a higher paying job - finally! But when I checked out the website of the church, I was a bit disappointed. There is no position for NT Scholar or pastor....Looks like I am not needed there!

Latest Issue of Berita STM

The latest issue of Berita STM Vol 26 No 1 is now published. It contains some of the latest news of the seminary.

Please click here to read it or download it.

Teaching Doctor of Ministry Module

This coming week will be another super busy one for me. I will be teaching the Doctor of Ministry module on Advanced Hermeneutics and Homiletics throughout the next 5 days, from 8am - 6pm.

This module is a historic one for the seminary, as this is the first ever DMin module that we are offering. I hope the candidates that will be here later this morning will find the course useful for their ministry.

I will be so dead by the end of this week.....

Review of Biblical Literature March 28, 2009

Here are the new reviews:

Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll
The Psalms of Lament in Mark's Passion: Jesus' Davidic Suffering
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6496
Reviewed by Steve Moyise
Reviewed by Adam Winn

Adele Berlin
The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6402
Reviewed by Allan Rosengren

Gabriele Boccaccini and John J. Collins, eds.
The Early Enoch Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6453
Reviewed by William Loader

Pieter Craffert
The Life of a Galilean Shaman: Jesus of Nazareth in Anthropological Perspective
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6328
Reviewed by Robert J. Miller

Pascale Dominique; Carmen Bernabé and Carlos Gil, eds.
Reimaginando los orígenes del cristianismo: Relevancia social y eclesial de los estudios sobre Orígenes del cristianismo (Libro homenaje a Rafael Aguirre en su 65 cumpleaños)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6525
Reviewed by Leif Vaage

Michael Dübbers
Christologie und Existenz im Kolosserbrief: Exegetische und semantische Untersuchungen zur Intention des Kolosserbriefs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6877
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea Weiss, eds.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6470
Reviewed by Yael Shemesh

Yosef Garfinkel and Susan Cohen, eds.
The Middle Bronze Age IIA Cemetary at Gesher: Final Report
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6194
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

Pauline Nigh Hogan
"No Longer Male and Female": Interpreting Galatians 3.28 in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6664
Reviewed by Susan G. Eastman

Jurie Le Roux and Eckart Otto, eds.
South African Perspectives on the Pentateuch between Synchrony and Diachrony
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6464
Reviewed by William Johnstone

Jill Middlemas
The Templeless Age: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the Exile
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6072
Reviewed by Flemming A. J. Nielsen

Uwe-Karsten PlischThe Gospel of Thomas: Original Text with Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6592
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas

Jean-Louis Ska
Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6291
Reviewed by Reinhard Achenbach

Bruce Wells
The Law of Testimony in the Pentateuchal Codes
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=4622
Reviewed by Jeffrey Stackert