IVP has kindly provided me with some great books to give away so we can celebrate the launch of the new blog design/domain. Thanks!

So every Thursday, I’m announcing a new book giveaway. And this week’s book is William J. Webb’s Corporal Punishment in the Bible: A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic for Troubling Texts. The  book has some pretty strong endorsements from people like Scot McKnight, Mark Strauss, Daniel Block, and Christopher Wright. And here’s the publisher’s description:

William Webb confronts those often avoided biblical passages that call for the corporal punishment of children, slaves and wrongdoers. How should we understand and apply them today? Are we obligated to replicate those injunctions today? Or does the proper interpretation of them point in a different direction?

Webb notes that most of the Christian church is at best inconsistent in its application of these texts. But is there a legitimate basis for these lapses?

Building on the findings of his previous work, Slaves, Women and Homosexuals, Webb argues that the proper interpretation and application of these texts requires ascertaining their meaning within the ancient cultural/historical context. In recognizing the sweep of God’s redemptive purposes already evident in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New, we remain truly biblical.

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Thanks to everyone who entered the contest to win Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ. And in keeping with the football theme of this givewaway, I selected this week’s winner by counting the number of times I heard someone reference the Twilight books in the last seven days. And this week’s winner is Rusty Leonard.

Congratulations Rusty. Send me an email and we can make arrangements for me to get the book to you.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another great giveaway courtesy of IVP. And, as always, thanks to IVP for sponsoring these giveaways.

Today is your last chance to enter the contest to win a copy of Rodney Reeves’ Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ. I’ll let you know who won tonight at 8pm (PST). And tomorrow I’ll announce our next book giveaway.

Writing is part of a professor’s life. We write books, articles, lecture notes, emails, and more. At many schools, writing is such an important part of the job that promotions are tied directly to your ability to write. “Publish or perish” as they say. Writing is part of the job.

But blogging? For many, blogging seems like something else entirely. It’s more like a hobby. Professors don’t blog because it contributes to their work as a professor. They blog because…well, why do they blog? Wouldn’t they be better off writing in peer-reviewed academic journals or publishing lengthy and career-advancing scholarly monographs?

I’m sure everyone who blogs does so for different reasons. So I won’t claim to know why other teachers blog. But at least one reason worth considering is that blogging can make you a better teacher.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about whether blogging is worth it. In my last post, I explained why I think blogging has made me a better writer. Today our focus shifts to five ways that I think blogging has helped me be a better teacher.

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IVP has kindly provided me with some great books to give away so we can celebrate the launch of the new blog design/domain. Thanks!

So every Thursday, I’m announcing a new book giveaway. And this week’s book is Rodney Reeves’ Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ.

Spirituality often evokes images of quiet centeredness, meditative serenity and freedom from life’s pressures. It’s become a chic
commodity, with its benefits evoked by images of sunrises and secluded retreats.

Contrast the apostle Paul, who promotes a cross-shaped spirituality for fools making their way though life’s trials. Paul realized that images of crucifixion, burial and resurrection would never be popular images of the spiritual life. So he encourages his fellow travelers, who are spiritually united with Christ, to “follow me as I follow Christ.”

As he explores this ancient spiritual path, Rodney Reeves probes our understanding of what Christian spirituality should be. And to illuminate its transformative power, he gives us living illustrations of what it means to follow Paul as he followed Christ. Here is a book that joins a deep understanding of Paul with a pastoral and spiritual wisdom born of experience.

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Thanks to everyone who entered the contest to win The Historical Jesus: Five Views. And in keeping with the football theme of this givewaway, I selected this week’s winner by picking the number of points that I’m hoping the Patriots will lose by on Sunday. And this week’s winner is Russell Almon.

Congratulations Russell. Send me an email and we can make arrangements for me to get the book to you.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another great giveaway courtesy of IVP. And, as always, thanks to IVP for sponsoring these giveaways.

You only have until tomorrow evening to enter for a chance to win Historical Jesus: 5 Views from IVP. I’ll post the winner tomorrow night at 8pm. So, if you haven’t already, make sure you enter the drawing.

It’s been one month since I redecorated the blog and moved it to its new location. And things seem to be running smoothly. Thanks everyone for being patient with any glitches we ran into along the way.

Here are our top posts from January. I excluded the two book giveaways, though you should check out the current giveaway if you haven’t already. Otherwise, the top five posts from the last month are:

• How bad is the job market for PhDs?
• The Absolute Best Way to Grade Essays
• Augustine vs. Chrysostom: How to read Genesis 1-2
• How to Survive & Thrive as a Postgrad Student
• 6 Challenges Every Postgrad Faces

IVP has kindly provided me with some great books to give away so we can celebrate the launch of the new blog design/domain. Thanks!

So every Thursday, I’m announcing a new book giveaway. And this week’s book is The Historical Jesus: Five Views edited by James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy.

The Historical Jesus: Five Views provides a venue for readers to sit in on a virtual seminar on the historical Jesus. Beginning with a scene-setting historical introduction by the editors, prominent figures in the Jesus quest set forth their views and respond to their fellow scholars.

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Thank to everyone who entered the contest to win Timothy George’s Reading Scripture with the Reformers. And in keeping with the feline theme of this givewaway, I selected this week’s winner by poking my wife’s cat in the head while it was curled up in front the fire and counting how many seconds it took for it to leave the room. (Actually I used a random number generator. Poking the cat was just for fun.) And this week’s winner is Andrew.

Congratulations Andrew. Send me an email and we can make arrangements for me to get the book to you.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another great giveaway courtesy of IVP. And thanks again to IVP for sponsoring these giveaways. They’re greatly appreciated!