Phronesis

Conservatism and Christianity are, for many ring-wing pundits, inextricably linked. There is no way to separate them, we are told, for the values of Christianity undergird the conservative worldview through certain interpretations of the Bible on issues like property rights, the family unit, and the general comprehension of human nature. Fair enough, nothing overtly controversial about that. To each their own meaning, right? But when it comes to issues like creationism and defences of a literal, historical resurrection of Christ, conservatives who aren't full-time apologists tend to find themselves either on the back foot or peddling misinformation to students who are curious about these topics (when certain apologists aren’t doing this anyways). Founder of Turning Point USA , Charlie Kirk, found himself in this situation recently during his ironically titled  Brainwashed Tour  of US campuses. At what I believe is the University of Wisconsin-Madison (don't quote me on that), Ki

A new chapter has closed for myself as of a few weeks ago: I have finally concluded my time at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David for my Level 6 in Bible and Theology. Having finally submitted my final piece and subsequently spent a week in Scotland with my beautiful girlfriend for our anniversary, I have had some leeway to reflect on my time at UWTSD, where I'm at in terms of my thought-life right now, and what the future holds for me in the realm of biblical studies and beyond. I would first like to offer my thoughts on the diploma and the my experience as a UWTSD student. I certainly had the best results of my academic life doing this course, with only about 2 or 3 of my essays going under 70/100 which was brilliant. That being said, work and other commitments precluded me from packing my bags and leaving for the tranquil countryside of Lampeter campus in Ceredigion, Wales. I was thus forced to complete my diploma online.  I, like many ill-fortuned students of the early

That there is a stagnation in New Testament studies (particularly on the historical Jesus) is a given in our current decade. Consensus opinions have been long-cemented and aspects of the field that have been dropped as antiquated are yet to be replaced by more robust methodologies or perspectives. You are hard pressed to find new and exciting elements to biblical studies in the 2020s. But I have found that one scholar, though not exactly out of the blue, is changing things for the better to reorient the discipline: Chris Keith. Keith burst onto the scene of NT studies in the late 2000s with his doctoral dissertation The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus (2008) which was completed under two legendary NT scholars Helen Bond and Larry Hurtado. Quickly getting revised and republished in the New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents series the following year. Keith immediately set his eyes upon historical Jesus and gospel studies, with a special emphasis on

The methodologies and approaches that constitute biblical studies have always been a contentious topic. Relationships between language, literature, history, and faith are all elements that present challenging questions for how biblical critics go about their business as academics. What even is biblical criticism and why does/should it exist? These sorts of questions cause problems for those in the lay arena to understand what our discipline is comprised of and what its end goals are.  Take, for example, an amateur documentary from about a decade ago entitled "What's the Big Deal About the KJV?"  created by American pastor Sam Gipp. An ardent King-James-Onlyist, Gipp disparages the "critical text" of the New Testament, that which is decided upon by scholars to be the best and most reliable of the NT manuscripts. He says, with great confidence, " if you think about that, just the fact that it's 'critical' should tell you there's a problem &quo

Our 2024 general election has come to an end with some staggering outcomes, though not unanticipated ones. Seats have been lost and gained by unexpected parties and our future remains somewhat hazy despite the changes. Though I often refrain from politics on this blog (I nevertheless anticipate there will be more to come from here on out), there is much I wish to say about these results that we are likely to discuss for decades to come. Elements of separatism and ideology will be discussed in conjunction with my summary of the wildest results. I hope this brief post will be of interest to my readers from across the world and will mark a turning point in our country. That's Sir Prime Minister to You The big story of this election was, of course, Labour's insurmountable landslide, securing over 400 seats in their best result since 1997. Also comparable to their 1997 defeat, the Conservatives lost nearly 250 seats —a staggering blow, though not a surprising one. Although the  exp

Today I finished a recent volume on history edited by Helen Carr (PhD candidate at Queen Mary University London) and Suzannah Lipscombe (professor of history at University of Roehampton), the former being the great-great-granddaughter of legendary historian E. H. Carr who pioneered the field with his seminal What is History? (1961) . It was only fitting that this new volume, featuring brilliant contributors including Peter Frankopan and Simon Schama, should be entitled What is History, Now? which seeks to expand upon the work that Carr did in the 60s in exposing the nature of historical inquiry as a far more subjective endeavour than had previously been anticipated. In spite of this glowing repertoire for a potentially outstanding book, I found that many of the individual author's political concerns tainted some of the entries, but in a way I did not expect. The issues with this volume, inconsequential as they might be for some, have larger implications for how we do history in the

A  New Testament Studies  publication by the eminent Francis Watson on the nature of the New Testament canon has recently been published.  Entitled "Critical Reflections on the Role of the Canon in New Testament Scholarship," Watson seeks to outline the categorical priorities in current New Testament studies and proposes that our present conception of the canon and the boundaries it delineates are problematic for a purely historical analysis. Out of all the discussions about the canon I have read, I have found this article to be especially pivotal in contributing to our understanding of the New Testament collection in modern scholarship. For starters, Watson prefers to refer to our familiar 27-book New Testament as an "anthology" as opposed to other labels such as "collection." It highlights the nature of the New Testament as being selective in its inclusion and exclusion of other documents and provides those who interact with it a normative guide of value

Slowly but surely, I am reaching the end of my Bible diploma at UWTSD. The modules have given me an unprecedented appreciation for the humanities and scholarly approaches to the texts in the Bible and I am very grateful to all my lecturers (particular thanks to Prof. Catrin Williams, Dr. Jessica Keady, Angus Slater, and Beatrice Bandeniece). In some strange but inevitable way, however, there has been an increasing tension between my studies —reading the literature for myself, taking notes, and learning what the experts say —and the popular level apologetic discourses on the internet that we've all become so familiar with.  In recent memory there have been too many incidents of pointless beef between online interlocutors for me to ignore, with both laypersons and accredited academics getting involved in reactionary personal drama over what someone said concerning the Bible. Some instances I have given my thoughts on over the last few months, particularly the incendiary galivanting o

I uploaded a post  in late March summarising the 2015 book  Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christian Contexts  edited by Paul A. Hartog, an evangelical rejoinder to the Bauer Thesis and its modern appropriations. We saw that, while the Bauer Thesis had an immeasurable influence on biblical studies by highlighting the theological diversity of the early church, it is by no means impervious to criticism and many of it's central tenants are far less watertight than some scholars have led popular audiences to believe. No matter what one thinks of Bauer's heed to the variegated character of early Christianity, there are clearly still questions to be asked about the precise nature of this character and whether Bauer is trustworthy in his reconstructions of those mysterious first few centuries. While these contributions are absolutely worthwhile, there lingers a discomforting shadow over this discussion that goes far beyond what the evidence says about power and politics in early Christ