Prof. Steve Taylor left Westminster for Biblical Theological Seminary

I'm glad I had him for New Testament Introduction before he left. I wonder who will be teaching that class now? He was an excellent professor (all of Westminster professors are excellent -- I've never disliked any of my professors).

The NTI class looks at various issues related to the New Testament: Second Temple Judaism, the history of Israel up until Christ's birth and beyond, cannon issues, textual criticism issues and the use of the Old Testament in the New. It really was an interesting class and I learned a lot. Here are three of the books we had to read for the class that I found the most helpful:


This book was very helpful in giving me an understanding of what the environment was like when the New Testament was written. It has chapters on Roman law, rulers, Greco-Roman religion and philosophy. This is a very easy read with pictures :-)


We had to write a paper on this book. I found it helpful in understanding why a Jew would reject Jesus. It isn't hard to see why a Jew who loved the Torah would have a problem with a man would claimed to be the Son of God and who said things like this:

Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

This book was helping in understanding the issues related to compilation and transmission of the New Testament.

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

G. K. Beale and D.A Carson have edited a commentary on the New Testament's use of the Old Testament. This looks like it will be a very helpful commentary, one that will give the reader an understanding of the context of the Old Testament passage being quoted:

Readers of the New Testament often encounter quotes or allusions to Old Testament stories and prophecies that are unfamiliar or obscure. In order to fully understand the teachings of Jesus and his followers, it is important to understand the large body of Scripture that preceded and informed their thinking. Leading evangelical scholars G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson have brought together a distinguished team of scholars to provide readers with a comprehensive commentary on every quotation, allusion, and echo of the Old Testament that appears from Matthew through Revelation.

Here is the table of contents, introduction and a sample from the commentary for Acts by I. Howard Marshall.

Here is a list of the contributors:

Contributors: Craig Blomberg (Denver Seminary) on Matthew; Rikk E. Watts (Regent College) on Mark; David W. Pao (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) and Eckhard J. Schnabel (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) on Luke; Andreas J. Kostenberger (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) on John; I. Howard Marshall (University of Aberdeen) on Acts; Mark A. Seifrid (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) on Romans; Brian Rosner (Moore Theological College) and Roy Ciampa (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) on 1 Corinthians; Peter Balla (Karoli Gaspar University, Budapest) on 2 Corinthians; Moises Silva (author of Philippians in BECNT) on Galatians and Philippians; Frank Thielman (Beeson Divinity School) on Ephesians; G. K. Beale (Wheaton College Graduate School) on Colossians; Jeffrey A. D. Weima (Calvin Theological Seminary) on 1 and 2 Thessalonians; Philip Towner (United Bible Societies) on the Pastoral Epistles; George Guthrie (Union University) on Hebrews; D. A. Carson (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) on the General Epistles; G. K. Beale (Wheaton College Graduate School) and Sean McDonough (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) on Revelation

If enough of you guys buy it, I will be able to afford it :-)

Dr. Richard Bauckham Lectures at WSC

"The Four Gospels and the Other Gospels: Is Our Canon Right?" You can listen to it here. Dr. Bauckham is the author of a number of books including Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony and James which is a commentary I'm reading now for my General Epistles and Revelation class.

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