Thanks to everyone for participating in this week’s contest to win a copy of Practicing Theological Interpretation. But this week’s winner is:

John Eric Adams

Congratulations John! Send me an email with your contact information and I’ll get that shipped right over to you.

And for everyone else, I’ll be announcing our next giveaway shortly.

Today is the last day to get in one this week’s book giveaway: Joel Green’s Practicing Theological Interpretation: Engaging Biblical Texts for Faith and Formation (Baker, 2012). So, if you’d like a chance to win the book, head over to the giveaway and get your name in by the end of the day today.

And stay tuned tomorrow morning for our next giveaway.

I’m one who loves the smell of old books. There’s something about the smell of musty and slightly-decaying old paper that I find comforting. (Oddly, when I smell something decaying in the back of the fridge, it’s significantly less comforting.) If you’d like to know why old books smell the way they do, here’s a great little video from Abe Books on how an old book is really like an experiment in organic chemistry, with a variety of elements coming together to produce their unique fragrance.

For this week’s giveaway we have Joel Green’s Practicing Theological Interpretation: Engaging Biblical Texts for Faith and Formation (Baker, 2012). “Theological interpretation” has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years, but many still struggle to understand exactly what it is and how you go about doing that. If you’re interested in theological interpretation and would like to learn more about it, this would be a great place to start. So scroll down to see how to enter.

Here’s the description from the publisher.

Much is written about the theory of theological interpretation, but how does it function when it comes to actually working with biblical texts? This volume shows that theological interpretation is not so much an exegetical method as it is a practice concerned with Scripture’s role in the faith and formation of persons and ecclesial communities. Biblical scholar Joel Green demonstrates both the practice of theological interpretation and the fruitfulness of this approach to reading biblical texts, providing students with helpful ways of wrestling with knotty interpretive issues. He also explores how theological inquiry can coexist with rigorous academic study of the Bible.

Entering is simple. Just do one or more of the following. And, as usual, the more of these you do, the better your chances of winning. (To make my life easier, please leave one comment for everything that you do. So, for example, if you “like” the post on Facebook and also Tweet about it, leave two comments – one for each.)

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway to win two books on Jesus and the gospels. Sadly, there can only be one winner. And this week’s winner is:

Vanessa

Congratulations Vanessa! Please send me an email with your contact information so I can get your books shipped over to you.

And if you’re still hoping to win some free books, stay tuned. I’ll be announcing our next giveaway shortly.

This week’s giveaway is almost over. You have until the end of the day today to enter for a chance to win  A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground by Bruce Fisk and  Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg. I’ll be picking a winner at the end of the day. So make sure you get your name in quickly.

And stay tuned for a new giveaway that I’ll be announcing in the morning!

Good Reads

• Learning from Liberals: Dead Germans. They are the subject of a lecture I give every spring in my church history classes: a brief overview of German theologians from the 19th and early-20th centuries.

• An Increase in Reading - “A fifth of American adults have read an electronic version of a book in the last year, a trend that is fueling a renewed love of reading, according to a new survey. The portion of e-book readers among all American adults has increased to 21 percent from 17 percent between December and February, due in large part to a boom in tablet and e-reader sales this past holiday season.”

• I Met a “Celebrity” Pastor Yesterday: I can confidently report that he was normal….The problem is often with those who surround these men. In my experience, it’s often the gatekeepers, the hangers-on, the media, PR & marketing guys, the organizers, the administrators, the “friends,” etc., that create the impression of superiority, aloofness, arrogance, and disinterest in lesser mortals.

• Do Pets Go to Heaven? We have come a long way since Descartes claimed that animals are mere automatons without the capacity for pleasure or pain. We now know the contrary is true: They experience. They suffer. They grieve. They love.

Continue Reading…

Another week, another book giveaway! This time we’re giving away two recent books on Jesus and the Gospels. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground by Bruce Fisk (Baker, 2011) and Jesus and the Gospels (2nd ed.) by Craig Blomberg (B&H Academic, 2009) and Moral Apologetics for Contemporary Christians: Pushing Back Against Cultural and Religious Critics by Mark Coppenger (B&H, 2011). So, if you’re looking for a couple of good introductions to Jesus and the Gospels, scroll down to see how to enter the giveaway. I’ll be picking one person to win both books.

Continue Reading…

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway to win two apologetics books:  Thinking about Christian Apologetics and Moral Apologetics for Contemporary Christians. We had another terrific response. And this week’s winner is:

Brian Roden

Congrats Brian! Send me an email with your contact information and I’ll get those sent right over to you.

If you didn’t manage to win this time (last time, the time before, etc.), don’t fret. I’ll be announcing another great giveaway in the morning. I’m sure you’ll win eventually. Or not.

All right, because things got a little crazy last week, I decide to give everyone another week to get in on the current giveaway. But the time is almost up. So, if you’d like to win a couple of books on apologetics, this is your last chance. I’ll announce the winner later tonight. And tomorrow, we’ll get started with our next giveaway. So stay tuned.