Posted on

We have a Book called ‘The Book’

Father John Behr

Patristic expert, Dr. John Behr (PhD, Oxford), tells the story of how he came to the Orthodox faith.  After discussing some of the differences between the Orthodox and Protestant faiths, he proposes that one difference is the problem: “we have a book called ‘The Bible’ (‘the Book’).  The fact that we divide it into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament, means that we miss something fundamental.

To listen to the podcast (14 minutes) click here.

The Stone Chapel is a podcast of the friends and staff of the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas.  It is hosted by Dr. David Capes, Senior Research Fellow at the library and former faculty member at Houston Baptist University and Wheaton College.  The purpose of the podcast is to bring to our audience great conversations from the world’s leading experts in theology, biblical studies, archaeology, Church history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ethics, ministry, and a host of other topics close to the mission of the library.

The Lanier Theological Library is a magnet for scholars, church leaders and influencers.  For the last ten years, it has welcomed hundreds of academics and church leaders from across the globe for public lectures, study, panel discussions, consultations, and encouragement.

Posted on

The Extent of Theological Diversity

I’m fortunate to be affiliated with a group of scholars at the Society of Biblical Literature.  It is a program unit entitled: The Extent of Theological Diversity in Earliest Christianity.  Here’s a description of its purpose:

The Extent of Theological Diversity in Earliest Christianity Group explores the origin, nature, and extent of theological diversity within Christian communities from the beginnings until approximately 180 CE. Focusing on the evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection as a narrative used to shape the identity of emergent communities, as well as on the alternatives to this narrative preserved in early Christian sources, the unit seeks to clarify the historical origins and relationship of these diverse forms of Christianity and bring greater precision to the study of “orthodoxy and heresy in early Christianity.”

Although  it is not quite up-to-date, the web address below will take you to some of the papers and activities of the group since its inception in 2008.  There are papers there by Richard Bauckham, Birger Pearson, Todd Still, James Ware, Mark Goodacre and many others.  More recently we have hosted sessions with Larry Hurtado, Bart Ehrman, and Judith Lieu. I’ll post the upcoming schedule for SBL 2016 in San Antonio.

 

http://www.austingrad.edu/sbl.html